FRESHMEN VS ST. MARY'S
DOGS WERE CLOSE BUT FALL SHORT
Freshman 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F
St. Mary's Rams 0 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 20
Tracy Bulldogs 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14
The opportunity for the 2024 Freshman Bulldogs to share a league title ended on Thursday as the Rams squeaked out a win at Wayne Schneider Stadium. It was a hard fought game and momentum shifted several times that played a profound impact on the outcome.
"I'm proud of you, we crumbled in the Lodi game when we were down, but this game we fought hard when we were behind and were just a couple of plays away from shifting this game," said head coach Kevin Speer. "We have Bear Creek next week and lets end the season on a high note."
The Bulldogs played well in this game and after dominating the time of possession in the first quarter had a chance to score early in the 2nd, but a tipped pass went in the hands of the Rams for an 85 yard Pick 6 and a major shift in momentum. With the Tracy defense playing well in the first half, they were harmed by a questionable pass interference call giving the Rams solid field position and ultimately another score to go up 13-0 at the half.
Tracy captured back the momentum they so richly deserved right out of the gate in the 2nd half as Liam Young broke free on a 65 yard touchdown run. The point after by Connor Giulliaci made it 13-7.
The Rams then fumbled immediately thereafter and Tracy had the ball on the Rams 32, but the drive was stuffed by the Rams thwarting the Bulldog momentum at that point.
The Tracy defense continued to keep the Rams in check and gave the offense some more opportunities to find the end zone but the 3rd quarter ended with St. Mary's leading 13-7.
In the 4th The Rams were able to drain a lot of clock with a long drive and ultimately scored on a 20 yard run with 4:48 left.
Tracy was able to put one final drive together and eventually found the end zone on a 1 yard keeper by Jacob Palumbo to bring Tracy to within 6 on the Giuliacci point after (20-14).
FRESHMAN VS LINCOLN
FRESHMEN GET THE WIN AT LINCOLN
The Bulldogs had a 7-7 game on their hands at the half but but scored two second half touchdowns and played solid defense to win 21-7 at Lincoln and improve their record to 7-1 / 2-1.
FRESHMEN VS EDISON
FRESHMEN KEEP WINNING AS THEY GET A 20-13 LEAGUE WIN
Freshman 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F
Edison Vikings 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13
Tracy Bulldogs 7 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 20
Tracy played relatively well on both sides of the ball Thursday to start league on a positive note and keep their winning streak perfect at 6 wins. "There are some little things we need to improve and we cannot start the 2nd half flat like we have done in some of our games," said Coach Kevin Speer postgame. "We had some really good drives, but we also had some drives that we should have finished better."
Tracy would take their first touch of the ball and execute well concluding with a Jacob Palumbo rushing touchdown to go up 6-0. The point after by Connor Giuliacci made it 7-0.
Edison started a long drive and had Tracy defending the goal line but Dominic Bellini saved a TD with pick at the goal line and returned it a few yards with 2:10 left in the quarter.
With a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, the two teams played some defense in the 2nd quarter until Palumbo dragged the Edison defenders with him into the end zone with 5:11 left in the half to go up 13-0.
The Bulldog defense would hold again giving Tracy one last chance to score in the half. Palumbo connected on a long pass to Dominic Bellini along the Tracy sidelines, but subsequent plays stalled out leading to the end of the first half at 13-0.
When Edison received the ball to start the 2nd half, they took it to the house to gain some momentum and shorten the lead to 13-7.
The Bulldogs immediately responded to get the momentum back by putting together a nice drive that featured big plays by Palumbo, Jordan Alvarado, and Liam Young. Ultimately Young would punch it in from short yardage to go up 20-7.
As the 4th quarter got underway, Tracy would throw an interception giving Edison some life near mid field but it was short lived as Alvarado would intercept to return the favor. This was one of many plays Alvarado made on defense and offense to be a standout in the game. The Tracy drive would stall with 5:38 left in the game.
Edison would connect on a long touchdown pass play with 4:58 left to shorten the Tracy lead to 20-13.
With some pressure on the offense to control the clock and the game, they responded to the challenge by collecting a key first down on the drive to run out the clock and secure the victory.
Freshmen vs Pleasant Valley
FRESHMEN 5-0 TO FINISH FIRST HALF OF SEASON
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Freshmen 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F
Pleasant Valley Vikings 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7
Tracy Bulldogs 7 |7 | 0 | 0 | 14
It wasn't easy to advance to 5-0 tonight as Tracy had numerous internal errors that could have cost them the game, plus they were up against a strong opponent that limited a lot of the big plays that the Bulldog offense were accustomed to generating. But in the end, the defense helped to lift an offense that was not putting up huge numbers rushing and passing to ultimately get win number 5 and close out the first half of the season.
Tracy got the ball first on this 5 p.m. start game and was unable to make much happen. Once Pleasant Valley (PV) touched the ball, Tracy was able to generate a fumble that was recovered by AJ Byrd at the PV 13. Jacob Palumbo handed the ball off to Luke Navas who went up the middle for a 2 yard score. The point after by Connor Giuliacci made it 7-0 with 5:16 remaining in the first quarter.
The Tracy defense showed they came to play and were frustrating the PV offense to keep it 7-0 through the first quarter.
Q2 - With 6:01 left in the half, Palumbo kept the ball for a touchdown to go up 14-0 after the Giuliaci point after.
The defense would hand the ball back to the offense late in the first half and Liam Young had a long run from scrimmage that put Tracy in good field position, but on the next play, an interception was thrown putting the defense back on the field. PV threatened late in the half, but once again were thwarted by the Bulldog defense as the time was beginning to expire in the first half.
Q3 - Trailing 14-0, PV put together a very impressive drive that chewed up 90 percent of the 3rd quarter that resulted in a score with 1:09 left on the clock. Tracy contributed to the success of PV drive with several penalties.
Q4 - With the game tight at 14-7, the Tracy offense began to control the clock themselves converting some key 3rd and 4th downs. They almost gave the ball back to PV on an easy interception but the ball was dropped by PV. Ultimately PV got the ball back with 3:48 left on the clock at their own 38 to mount a final challenge to the Bulldogs.
In this final drive to tie or possibly win the game, PV was challenged by an intense pass rush that disrupted several passing attempts. Ultimately the drive was stopped and the game was won at the Tracy 32 yard line with 58 seconds of clock left.
The Bulldogs will now go into the Bye looking to fix some fundamental things and examining their next opponent Edison who will arrive during Homecoming Week to start the newly structured league play (Edison and Kimball in, Tokay and West out).
FRESHMEN VS MTN HOUSE
TRACY DOMINANT ON THURSDAY
Freshman 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F
Mountain House Mustangs 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Tracy Bulldogs 14 | 19 | 15 | 7 | 55
The Tracy offense, defense and special teams combined to put a lot of points on the board this evening. The Bulldogs were able to utilize a plethora of personnel to get in on the party this evening at Wayne Schneider Stadium. The defense completely kept the Mustangs in the stable as they were never able to generate any sort of momentum with the ball.
Competition will get much stronger next week as the undefeated Dogs play at 1-1 Liberty who are very strong program.
Scoring Summary (awaiting review of film)
Q1, 5:23 - On the first drive Connor Giulliaci scores from a few yards out. His extra point is good to make it 7-0.
2:13 - Tracy blocks a punt and recovers at the Mountain House 7 yard line. Jacob Palumbo keeps and scores from 8 yards out. The extra point makes it 14-0 with 1:44 left.
Q2, 9:43 - A low snap on a Mountain House punt attempt ends with a sack by Giulliaci
8:07 Palumbo scores around the left side for an 18 yard run. The extra point makes it 21-0.
6:47 - Jayden Ballard-McClellan has a pick 6. The 2 point conversion is no good. 27-0
:38 seconds - Luke Navas scores from a couple yards out. The extra point is wide right 33-0 entering the half.
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Q3 - Nicholas Lavell starts the 3rd quarter with an interception that he returns to about the 15.
6:20 - Giuliacci scores from 1 yard out. The kick is good to increase the lead to 40-0.
:04 - Sammy Ahmad scores from 2 yards out. A 2 point conversion pass from Palumbo to Dominic Bellini makes it 48-0.
Q4 - 4:10 - Ethan Burks intercepts leading to a final score by Giulliaci later with time winding down. 55-0.
FRESHMEN OVERCOME EARLY MISTAKES
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Freshman 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
Tracy Bulldogs 13 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 34
Turlock Bulldogs 12 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 20
Tracy looked sloppy in the early going of this game and they were paying for it as Turlock put 12 on the scoreboard, but to their credit, our Bulldogs did not panic and they found their mojo relatively quickly and then put a licking on the host Bulldogs from Turlock.
The Tracy offense was led by strong quarterback play as Jacob Palumbo made good reads on his options and got to his 2nd level reads often. Palumbo was aided by receivers who made stellar catches in each half. The Ace Back was able to stay on their track in many plays as the lineman pushed with solid technique up field. The Tracy defense showed excellent tackling skills for only their 2nd game of the season and the coverage was tight all night on defenders after the first defensive series.
Game Summary:
Things began sloppy for Tracy as they fumbled on the first play from scrimmage giving Turlock excellent field position. Turlock would execute a 20 yard touchdown pass two plays later and go up 6-0.
On their 2nd possession, the Tracy Bulldogs put together a nice drive with Jacob Palumbo running the ball and Jayden Ballard-McClellan getting a 13 yard run up the middle to tie the game at six.
Tracy would later mishandle a punt giving Turlock great field position that they would capitalize on and go up 12-6 with 2:31 left in the quarter.
Palumbo would find Jordan Alvarado for a 43 yard touchdown pass with 1:21 left in the quarter. The extra point by Connor Giuliacci was good giving Tracy a 13-12 lead.
Tracy put together a nice drive with 5 minutes left in the half when Palumbo would run it in off the left side for 2 yards to go up 20-12.
The Tracy defense held late in the 2nd quarter after a very long drive by Turlock got the ball deep in Tracy territory.
With time running out of the first half, Tracy went to the air and connected on 34 yard touchdown pass to Ballard-McClellan. The touchdown had been set up by another great pass and grab when Palumbo found Dominic Bellini along the Turlock sidelines. The half ended with a 2 point conversion by Palumbo to make it 28-12.
Q3 - Jordan Alvarado intercepted a pass and had a long return to the Turlock 10 with 6:04 left in the quarter. Palumbo would score from 1 yard out with 5:30 left. 34-12
Turlock scored with 1 minute left in the quarter 34-20.
Q4 - No scoring as the Tracy defense held and the offense worked the clock.
FRESHMEN
FRESHMEN DOMINATE GOLDEN VALLEY
Thursday, August 22, 2024
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
Tracy Bulldogs 14 | 26 | 0 | 7 | 47
Golden Valley Cougars 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
On the ground, in the air, on offense, defense, and on special teams, the Bulldogs dominated the Cougars in every aspect to start the 2024 campaign. With a 40-0 lead going into halftime, the running clock came into play for the entire 2nd half limiting how much time the team took the field in the back half of the game.
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Note: This is a very general scoring summary as I have not seen the tape nor did I have some equipment with me at the game to document scoring drives.:
Q1 - Bulldogs waste little time after taking the opening kickoff and go up 7-0 after 2 minutes elapsed time on a 12 yard run from Jacob Palumbo. The extra point by Connor Giulliacci is good.
Jaiden Perez makes a nice interception with 4:46 left in the quarter which then sets up an approx 50 yard run by Jayden Ballard-McClellan. The Giuliacci extra point is good and the Dogs lead 14-0.
Nearing the end of the quarter Evan Velasco recovers a fumble.
The quarter ends with the Bulldogs leading 14-0
Q2 - Liam Young scored from 6 yards out on the first play of the 2nd quarter. The extra point is wide left 20-0.
AJ Byrd recovers a fumble with 7 minutes left in the half. He would score at the 6:48 mark receiving a 35 yard pass from Palumbo. 27-6
Velasco intercepts a pass with 6:10 remaining to stretch the lead to 34-0.
Palumbo would finish the scoring in the first half with a short yardage keeper. 40-0.
2nd Half - Running Clock
Q4 - Sammy Ahmad scored from 1 yard out. The extra point makes it 47-0.
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