Matt Chachere enjoyed coaching against his former team this past month when Ceres High traveled to Modesto to face Grace Davis.

Chachere and the Bulldogs closed out the 2018 Western Athletic Conference varsity football season with a 42-7 loss to the Tim Garcia-led Spartans on Oct. 25 at Modesto Junior College.

Matt was Grace Davis’ defensive coordinator in 2017 and 2016. 

“It’s always exciting playing against teams you’ve coached,” said Chachere, Ceres High’s new leader. “You game plan a little harder. It makes the coaching aspect fun and brings more competition out of you. It adds to the level of excitement.”

Ceres High compiled a 1-9 overall record and placed fifth in the Western Athletic Conference standings (1-6) during Chachere’s first year as head coach.

The Spartans went 5-5 and 4-3 (second place).

Grace Davis was 3-7 in 2017 and struggled to a 2-8 record in 2016.

“Davis is making really good strides,” Chachere said. “I’m happy to see they got to the .500 mark even though they’re our rival now. I have a lot of respect for Tim and the rest of the coaches there.”

Spartan quarterback Xavier Rodriguez threw for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns against the Bulldogs.

He completed 226 of 360 passes for 3,518 yards with 37 TDs and just five interceptions on the year.

Rodriguez finished the season as one of the top QBs in the state.

 “It was cool seeing some of the players I coached the past few years grow and get better,” Chachere said. “Xavier played really well. As a sophomore, he had some talent. I’m interested to see what he does next.”

Chachere was an assistant on Garcia’s staff at Grace Davis for two years.

Garcia was the founding head coach of Central Valley High School’s football program.

“We had to change the names of my defensive play calls,” Chachere said. “I knew a couple plays Tim was going to run. I called them out and he called a timeout. It was a fun experience even though we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. I got to talk to the majority of their coaches briefly after the game. I congratulated them on their season.”