Lodi 48, Tracy 21

Four Lodi players found the end zone on the ground on Friday as the Flames defeated Tracy for the first time since 2011.

The win left Lodi with a 3-0

record for the second season in a row.

“I believed before COVID that this was the year we could make the playoffs,” said Lodi coach George Duenas, “and tonight kind of reiterated that for me.”

After Tracy scored the first touchdown, Adolfo Sanchez put Lodi on the board with a field goal. In the second quarter, Lodi’s run game dropped into second gear, with two touchdowns by Isaac Bishop and one from Christian Zamora, plus another Sanchez field goal, to put Lodi up 27-7 at halftime.

“At the beginning we got stopped, but coming in we thought we could run the ball, and once we started hitting our strides, it was power by committee. It was blunt force trauma,” Duenas said. “The line, the wings, those guys played outstanding with the blocking.”

Byrce Powell had a 5-yard run in the third quarter, and Kaiden Merryman added a 55-yard run to put Lodi up 41-14, and Isaac Bishop scored his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.

“They’re pretty pumped, man,” said an equally pumped Duenas. “Tracy’s always been a great program, and beating one of the big three of Tracy, St. Mary’s or Lincoln, it’s a big team effort.”

Part of that team effort was Reggie Miles with a disruptive day on the defensive line, Bishop, who grabbed a fumble recovery, and Mason Stout with an interception.

Lodi will take on Lincoln next week at the Grape Bowl. The Trojans took down Tokay 71-6 last week.