Football Roundup: El Capitan delivers dominant win in debut for first-year head coach
The El Capitan High football team made first-year head coach Xavier Ramirez a winner in his debut game.
The Gauchos did it in dominant fashion, defeating Hug 52-0 on Friday night in Sparks, Nev., despite making the 250-mile trip on the day of the game.
“It’s just a breath of fresh air,” Ramirez said. “Man, it was great to come all this way and come home safely and healthy with all these guys, that was the biggest thing. They came over here and represented this school well. They represented the state of California well. And they just did a great job.”
Four different Gauchos players scored rushing touchdowns with Diego Ultreras, Dejuan Franklin, Lorenzo Peters and Fernando Rios all scoring on the ground.
Sergio Mendoza tossed two touchdowns, connecting with Arthur Villa and Elias Ruiz, and Anthony Jones returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Gauchos defense set up the offense with turnovers all night and kept Hug out of the end zone.
“Defensively, we did a great job,” Ramirez said. “I think we had close to six turnovers. Special teams played well, I mean we had a kickoff return for a touchdown, we had a punt return for a touchdown that got called back. Guys were just flying around.”
Bullard 35, Golden Valley 0 — The Knights raced out to a big lead in the first half and then a power outage left Veterans Stadium in darkness to the game was called at halftime.
The Cougars have another tough game next week when they travel to Escalon.
Gregori 47, Buhach Colony 12 — Blake O’Brien returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and quarterback Dayton Fitzgerald scrambled for a score to account for the Thunder’s two touchdowns.
Buhach Colony lost four players to injury in the second half, including receiver/defensive back Charles Peterson to an ankle.
Dos Palos 30, Los Banos 7 — Broncos quarterback Gavin Estrada threw three touchdowns as Dos Palos defeated the Tigers in the Westside War to gain possession of the Cotton Bale Trophy.
Sixto Ibarra, Jacquez Jones and Billy Scott all hauled in touchdown passes from Estrada.
Dos Palos’ Jesus Bon also hauled in a 40-yard touchdown catch from Earl Riley.
The Broncos travel to Chowchilla next week.
Chowchilla 33, Firebaugh 7 — Travis Selby hauled in a touchdown catch from Davian Stephenson with 8 seconds left in the first half. The two-point conversion gave the Tribe an 8-7 lead at intermission.
Chowchilla then outscored Firebaugh 25-0 in the second half to pull away for the win.
Dwayne Hemphill rushed for two touchdowns and Selby and Dellvonta Vaughn also added touchdown runs for Chowchilla
Yosemite 42, Mariposa 40 — The Badgers scored with 30 seconds left to win a thriller.
Mariposa battled despite losing two quarterbacks to injury. Starter Hayden Hill threw two touchdown passes and ran for another before exiting the game in the third quarter due to a concussion.
Konnor Lobough replaced Hill at quarterback and threw a 44-yard touchdown to Laten Butler, then he left the game with an elbow injury.
Butler moved to quarterback from slot receiver and finished the game at quarterback for the Grizzlies.
Standing 5-foot-3 and 125 pounds, Butler turned in a monster performance, accounting for 245 yards receiving and rushing. The junior finished with six catches for 177 yards and four touchdowns to go along with eight carries for 68 yards and another touchdown. Butler also had seven tackles on defense.
Calaveras 27, Stone Ridge Christian 7 — Ryan Clifton scored three touchdowns to help lead the Red Hawks to a win as the Knights played their first game in their new on-campus stadium.
Grace Davis 19, Hilmar 14 — Nathan Ayala and Tanner Westmoreland scored touchdowns for the Yellowjackets, but it wasn’t enough against the Spartans.
Hilmar star Caden Bailey didn’t play and isn’t expected to take the field until Hilmar plays Atwater on Sept. 13. Bailey is nursing a hamstring injury he suffered during track season this spring.
Other Merced-area scores:
Delhi 28, Esparto 0
Orestimba 56, Gustine 12
