Lodi Flames, Liberty Ranch notch league victories

After a bit of a stumble in the first quarter on Friday, the Lodi High football team found its groove and cruised to a 37-13 victory over West in Tracy in a TriCity Athletic League game.

“We started off rough, turned the ball over twice,” Lodi coach George Duenas said. “They scored first, and once we got the butterflies out, we started rolling.”

It took all of two plays to “get the butterflies out” — an Angelo Zazzarino kickoff return to the West 45-yard line, and a Jose Bravo touchdown run on the next play.

“The defense started stepping up,” Duenas said. “We kind of came off a rough stretch there with Lincoln and St. Mary’s, so it was very impoprtant to not have a letdown and get back on the ‘W’ side, especially with a big game coming up.”

By the time the smoke cleared, the Flames had four more rushing touchdowns — two from Christian Zamora, one from Niko Cabrera and one from Zazzarino. Adolfo Sanchez added a field goal and was 4-for-5 on point-after attempts.

On defense, Jonas LatteriBrown led a team effort that held the Wolf Pack in check until a last touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Lodi (5-3, 1-2 in the TCAL) will face Tracy (2-6, 1-2) at the Grape Bowl next Oct. 25. Tracy dropped a 28-14 decision against St. Mary’s on Friday.

“We came out healthy,” Duenas said. “That’s a positive, so hopefully we come out firing on all cylinders next week.”

Liberty Ranch 34, El Dorado 14

Aidan Carr ran for two touchdowns and threw another as Liberty Ranch took out El Dorado in a Sierra Valley Conference game at Hawk Stadium on Friday.

Carr scored twice in the first quarter — on a 40-yard run and a 15-yard pass to Isiah Ricci — as the Hawks jumped out to a 14-7 lead.

Ricci found the end zone on the ground in the second quarter on a 5-yard run, and Damion Ochoa kicked a 29-yard field goal for Liberty Ranch (4-4, 2-1 in the SVC).

Carr’s third touchdown came in the third quarter, a 2-yard run, and after El Dorado scored on a pass early in the fourth quarter, Ochoa accounted for Liberty Ranch’s final points with another

29-yard field goal.

Rosemont 48, Galt 30

At halftime, the host Wolverines led Galt (4-4, 0-3 in the SVC) 34-10 in Friday’s game in Sacramento. Galt scored a touchdown and field goal in the second quarter.