The Dogs sit in 2nd place behind St. Mary's in the TCAL after closing out their season with a win over Lodi. There is still a remote chance that they could bump up to first place if Lincoln were to defeat St. Mary's next week.
Congratulations young men and we look forward to your impressive contributions the next three years.
Season Recap (8-2):
Defeated Kimball 43-20
Defeated Modesto 25-6
Defeated Pittsburg 19-7
Defeated Mountain House 47-6
Defeated Downey 35-0
Lost to Rocklin 18-12
Defeated Lincoln 19-13
Defeated Tokay 41-20
Lost to St. Mary's 21-0
Defeated Lodi 42-14
October 12, 2023
The Freshman Bulldogs could not get much going on Thursday night as the Rams won in time of possession, field position, the score, and now league standings. St. Mary's put up 21 first half points and then each team displayed their defense for a scoreless 2nd half.
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On another note: Class of 2020 alumni Logan Fife is scheduled to get the start at QB when Fresno State takes on Utah Friday at 5 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
The Bulldogs defeated Tokay 41-20 on Thursday night to improve to 7-1 / 2-0 in league. They return home next week to face St. Mary's in a pivotal league game.
It took a dogfight to get this win as the Bulldogs were up against a strong and physical opponent. Great defensive plays, a few key big yardage offensive plays and even some special teams highlights brought home a 19-13 Homecoming Week win. Kaeden Gulko would have three touchdowns in this game as quarterback. The defense held Lincoln scoreless in the 2nd half.
Q1 - Tracy would fumble on their opening drive giving Lincoln some early momentum which they utilized to burn much of the first quarter clock and drive the ball on the ground. The scoring drive culminated with a touchdown pass with 2:28 left. The extra point made it 7-0.
With Gulko at quarterback for this game, he would break off a 37 yard run down to the Lincoln 25 with a few seconds left in the quarter.
Q2 - With the Dogs threatening deep in Lincoln territory in the North end zone, Tracy fumbled at the Lincoln 11 on the first play of the quarter. Ryan Foster would intercept a pass to thwart the next Lincoln drive setting up Tracy's first score. Gulko powered his way in to the end zone going up the middle for 4 yards with 6:50 left in the half. The extra point was good by Alfonso Silveira to tie the game 7-7.
Lincoln would take the lead on a 30 yard slant route with 38 seconds left. Edward Luevano blocked the extra point making it 13-7 heading into the locker room.
Q3 - As the curtain was unveiled for the 2nd half what had been a relatively quiet stadium began to get energized with key plays and some on the field controversy. From here on out the game was exciting and tense.
Tracy kicked off and had Lincoln pushed way back. The Trojans were able to break free and move up field, but the defense held giving Tracy back the ball.
Gulko scored again on an exciting 63 yard keeper up the middle with 2:13 left in the quarter. The extra point was mishandled and the game was tied at 13.
Anthony Harter recovered a fumble on the kickoff and Tracy took over at the Lincoln 31 with 2:28 left in the quarter.
Gulko scored his third touchdown of the day from 1 yard out with 56 seconds left in the quarter to give Tracy a 19-13 lead. The 2 point conversion run was no good.
The 4th quarter began with Tracy holding a 19-13 lead. Lincoln assembled a long drive but the Trojan quarterback went out with an injury. On the first play with the new quarterback, Tracy's Ramsey Ahmad came up big intercepting the pass at the goal line with 6:15 left in the game.
Tracy punted with 3:16 left and Lincoln had good field position at the Tracy 38. The final Lincoln drive to at least tie or possibly win it was progressing with time ticking down. On 4th down in the red zone, Lincoln attempted a pass to the end zone and it was broken up by Kevin Barbosa with 10 seconds left to seal the Homecoming Week win for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs took their first loss of the season losing 18 - 12 to Rocklin. They will now finish up with a 4 game league play schedule consisting of: Home vs Lincoln, @ Tokay, Home vs St. Mary's, and then @ Lodi on October 19th to finish their season.
Our Freshmen cruised to victory at Downey as they put the game away early leading 28-0 at halftime. This puts the young Dogs at a perfect 5-0 with another roadtrip next week to Rocklin.
Sorry, no pictures at Downey on Thursday as I stayed local to cover volleyball.
Thursday, September 7, 2023
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
Tracy Bulldogs 16 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 46
Mtn House Mustangs 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6
It was all Bulldogs throughout most of this game as Tracy scored early and often. The defense immediately held the Mustangs on their first three plays and Tracy would start their first drive at their own 10 after a good punt. After a 30 yard run by Kaeden Gulko, a long run by Case Borges and an inspiring run by Ryan Foster running over defenders, the Bulldogs were in good position to score. Ramsey Ahmad would score on an 18 yard run around the left side. Borges ran the 2 point conversion up the middle to make it 8-0 with 5:16 remaining in the quarter.
The defense played tough again giving the ball back to the offense near midfield. Xavier Davenport would take the option pitch and score on a 51 yard run. The 2 point run by Foster made it a quick 16-0.
With defense just clogging up the Mustang offense, the play calls began to go to Gavin Sandoval who scored on a 70 yard keeper. He would then score on a 48 yard run a few plays later with 5:24 to make it 30-0 and then scored again a few minutes later on a 74 yard keeper. A 2 point pitch to Logan Contreras made it 38-0 going into the half.
Foster got on the board in the first series of the 2nd half on a two yard run to increase the score to 44-0. The score was setup with a 19 yard run by Kyle Deperalta. A TJ Fonua 2 point run made it 46-0 and started a running clock in the game.
In the 4th quarter the Tracy defense allowed the Mustangs to threaten at the goal line. The defense pushed the Mustangs to a 4th and goal situation but could not hold giving Mountain House 6 points and a moral victory.
Coach Speer with his postgame comments: "Pittsburg is always one of the top teams in the Bay Area so it felt really good to go there and get a win. We challenged our players this week to play Bulldog football and they did just that. I'm happy to be 3-0 and proud of how hard this team works."
Unoffical game summary:
In the first series on offense the Bulldogs struggled and could not cross midfield. Pittsburg started on the Tracy 40 and was met with a tight Bulldog defense that prevented any significant progress.
In the 2nd offensive series, Xavier Davenport broke out for a 32 yard run and Tracy would eventually get down to Pittsburg 5 but could not find the end zone from there as the game had now entered the 2nd quarter.
The Tracy defense swarmed in their next opportunity forcing a Pittsburg punt that only got as far as the Pittsburg 38.
Kaeden Gulko found Davenport streaking up the middle for a 25 yard touchdown pass. The extra point made it 7-0.
With time running down in the 2nd quarter the Tracy defense allowed one long pass play but then toughened again preventing numerous Pittsburg scoring attempts. The series culminated with an end zone interception by Davenport.
Starting the 2nd half the Bulldog defense continued to play a well rounded game holding Pittsburg as far as the Tracy 33 before turning it over on downs. The next big Tracy play came on a pitch to Ramsey Ahmad who would go 48 yards down to the Pit 22. Davenport would run it down to the 1 and then Case Borges powered up the middle for the score. The kick was wide left and Tracy had a 13-0 lead.
Pittsburg put a nice series together that tested the Bulldog defense and the Piracy (Pit's mascot name) found the end zone late in the 3rd for a 13-7 game.
Tracy would score once more early in the 4th on a Gulko one yard run to finish the scoring at 19-7.
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Sorry, I don't have photo coverage of the Freshman win at Pittsburg Thursday night but I will be at the JV and Varsity games @ Sheldon on Friday. Congratulations to the Freshmen who have started strong this season.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
Modesto Panthers 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6
Tracy Bulldogs 13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 25
The night started with a false start on the National Anthem but the stadium quickly recovered and the Bulldogs were all business to start the game. Ramsey Ahmad would score the first of two touchdowns on a 29 yard run. The extra point was no good and Tracy had a quick 6-0 lead.
Immediately thereafter Isaiah Galvan recovered a fumble at the Tracy 38. Case Borges would score from 8 yards out with 1 minute left. The kick by Alfonso Silveira was good to make it 13-0.
Starting the second half Modesto finally got the ball and the defense showed they came ready to play. With Modesto unable to gain significant yardage, Tracy got the ball back and Kaeden Gulko scored on a 25 yard run with 5:33 left before halftime. The extra point was blocked.
Modesto would fumble around the 3:16 mark at their 35 yard line. A few plays later Ahmad scored again this time on a 14 yard run with 2 minutes left. The kick came up one foot short and hit the crossbar. Tracy took a commanding 25-0 lead into the locker room.
The second half was a back and forth field position battle until Modesto got on the board with 2 minutes left in the game and finished the scoring at 25-6.
The Bulldogs will go on the road next Thursday to Pittsburg High for a game at 5:30 p.m.
Game 1 - August 17, 2023
FRESHMAN 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
Kimball Jaguars 8 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 20
Tracy Bulldogs 7 | 8 | 7 |21| 43
800 photos have uploaded here.
"It was a great way to start the season and I'm really happy with how hard the team played," said new Freshman head coach Kevin Speer. "I feel like we got better as the game went on. As a coaching staff we are excited to see what this team will be moving forward."
The Freshmen Bulldogs took the field for their first high school game ever and walked away with a victory against their rival they will see three more times in their career. It was rough game to watch at times as it lacked a flow due to penalities on both sides, some technical clock issues, and the normal things that come with any Freshman game early in the season as players adapt to their playbook. The Bulldogs would overcome some lapses in their secondary and special teams in the first half to dominate Kimball in the 2nd half.
Tracy started their season with a nice return on the opening kickoff by Ryan Foster to the Kimball 45. Ramsy Ahmad would get the first Tracy score of the 2023 season with a 16 yard rush. The Alfonso Silveira extra point was good.
The Tracy defense looked strong in their first defensive series and at one point had the Jaguars 3rd and long, but the Kimball offense expolited a hole in the Bulldog secondary to complete two long passes that would result in a 44 yard passing score. Their 2 point conversion gave Kimball a 8-7 lead with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
The 2nd play of the 2nd quarter resulted in a Tracy score on a 5 yard power run up the middle by TJ Fonua. The extra point turned into a run by the holder Kaeden Gulko to make it 15-8 with 8:19 left in the half.
Tracy was cruising in the 2nd half but allowed a 75 yard Jaguar punt return for a score to close to within one point of Tracy 15-14 at the break.
3rd Quarter - Kimball would fumble on the first offensive series of the 2nd half. This would result in Xavier Davenport scoring on an inspiring 26 yards rush with 8:42 left in the 3rd. The extra point was good to make it 22-14.
In the 4th quarter Case Borges would add on to the Tracy scoreboard on a 9 yard run to make it 28-14. The Silveira extra point bounced the score to 29-14.
Gavin Sandoval would score from 12 yards out with 5 minutes left. The Silveira extra point was good to make it 36-14.
Kimball would add six on the board late in the 4th on a 12 yard run to make it 36-20 but Tracy responded with time expiring on another Sandoval run this time of 30 yards. The Silveira extra point was the final play of the game making it 43-20 and placing the Bulldogs at 1-0.
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