TURLOCK HIGH SCHOOL

from Prep Football Tab 2021-BLITZ Season 09

BLITZ SEASON 9 INTRO

Turlock High Bulldogs

BY ANGELINA MARTIN

The Turlock Bulldogs continued their Central California Athletic League dominance during last year’s five-game season, finishing with their fifthstraight undefeated season enroute to a third-straight league title. Now, the varsity team returns hungrier than ever with a full season ahead of them and the possibility of playoffs looming at its end.

The Bulldogs lost quite a bit of seniors to graduation following the spring season, head coach James Peterson said, but their absence in practice so far hasn’t hindered the team thanks to a new crop of leaders stepping up.

“We have a lot of young guys who are filling their shoes now, and they’ve come a long way,” Peterson said. “It’s new leadership, and the kids have just taken over that responsibility.”

Leading the charge on offense will be two juniors: quarterback Cole Gilbert, who started a majority of the spring season under center for the Bulldogs as a sophomore last year, and running back JT Foreman, who is expected to be the lead rusher for Turlock. On defense, the Bulldog linebacking corps of seniors David Salazar, Ty Teixeira, Brock Muirbrook and Ashton Baucom are doing an outstanding job of leading the team, Peterson said, and will surely bully opposing offenses this season.

“These guys are really stepping up. They’re not only good athletes playing football, but they’re character guys with good grades,” Peterson said. “They’re the total package.”

The team’s goal is to win a section title this year now that playoffs are back in the picture (they were cancelled last season due to COVID), and the Bulldogs are preparing for the gauntlet with a challenging pre-league schedule including games against Sacramento and Fresno schools.

“Probably the most exciting thing for us is having a chance to go back to Sacramento for playoffs, and we’re also playing a game up there in the preseason,” Peterson said. “...I just don’t see how an easier preseason would benefit us. If our goal was to be a top team in Stanislaus County, then we could do that and not play as tough a schedule...

I think we’ve got a big target on our back, but a lot of our motivation this year is coming from not being able to have playoffs last year and that’s motivated us to get bigger and stronger, faster and better.

— Cole Gilbert, Quarterback

COVER PLAYERs Cole Gilbert Brock Muirbrook

Aug. 20 @ Rocklin Aug. 27 v. Clayton Valley Charter Sept. 3 @ Bullard (Fresno) Sept. 10 v. Manteca Sept. 17 v. Clovis West Oct. 1 v. Pitman Oct. 8 @ Downey Oct. 15 v. Modesto Oct. 21 @ Enochs Oct. 29 @ Gregori

2020 record: 5-0 (CCAL Champs) Head Coach: James Peterson Points per game scored: 51.6 (258 total) Points per game allowed: 12.6 (63 total)

We’re trying to play the tough teams now, because we don’t have a choice in league.”

Whether or not the Bulldogs earn their fourth-straight CCAL championship and a section title is still to be seen, but Peterson and the boys are just happy to be back playing in a somewhatnormal season.

“I’m just feeling really lucky to have this group of guys and I’m happy to be there to support them,” Peterson said. Nolan Ashbaugh Logan Bankson Aston Baucom Martin Bertao Bryce Campbell Manuel Castro Valentino Cisneros Joey Crivelli Delbert Curtice Logan Durkee Johnny Flucas Jamel Foreman Jakob Garza Cole Gilbert Noah Gonzales Israel Gonzalez Addan Gutierrez Logan Hart Chase Hendrix Cole Hendrix Sebastian Hilton JD Horton Dalton Howry Armaan Kahlon Calvin Kirchhoff Aiden Lopes Luis Macias Zachary Macklin Kael McBay Peter Mello Jordan Mikkelson Fransico Molina Brock Muirbrook Phoenix NunezBradshaw Kyle Parker Ashton Patterson Morgan Perrien Ian Petersen Braidon Porter Gage Pritt Brandon Reed Marcos Rodriguez Jason Rose David Salazar Nicholas Salcedo Daniel Sanchez DJ Sizemore Ty Teixeira Jason Thompson Alex Velasquez Joshua Weatherbee Cody Weaver Christian Zavala