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Hawks' mistakes prove costly again
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Trevor Mew and his Central Valley High School varsity football teammates returned home late Friday night following their 35-24 setback at Dunlavy Field. The 54-mile bus ride from Sonora to Ceres was quiet.

"Everybody's disappointed," the senior quarterback said. "We just have to stay positive. Hopefully, things start rolling our way."

Sonora (5-0 overall) remained in a first-place tie atop the Valley Oak League standings at 2-0 with Oakdale and Sierra.

Central Valley (2-3) dropped to 0-2 in conference play.

"For the most part, we played really well," Hawks head coach Tim Garcia said. "We were competitive. We're starting to gain some respect throughout the league."

Mew completed 17 of 30 passes for 304 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Receiver Deangelo Williams caught three passes for 138 yards and two scores.

Timmy Henley and Vince Lopez both scored rushing TDs.

Central Valley's defense allowed more than 300 yards rushing.

Dan Link, Sonora's powerful fullback, rumbled for 194 yards and two scores. He totaled 248 yards and one TD in a 35-34 win at Ceres High the previous week.

"He's an absolute stud," Garcia said. "He's very talented, physical and tough. He just wants to win."

Wildcat quarterback Matt Relei totaled 119 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdowns.

Slotback Jake Crow tallied one rushing and one receiving TD.

Central Valley trailed 21-18 at intermission.

Williams had TD catches of 78 and 58 yards in the first quarter.

Henley scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

For the second straight week, the Hawks struggled in the second half. Sonora limited Central Valley to six points and intercepted Mew three times in the final 24 minutes.

Trevor entered the game as the No. 2 rated passer in the Sac-Joaquin Section.

"I made some bad decisions," he said. "That just can't happen. If I don't make those mistakes, it's a whole different ball game."

Added Garcia: "They made some adjustments, defensively, that gave us fits."

The Hawks and Wildcats traded scores in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.

Lopez's 3-yard rushing touchdown closed the gap to four points at 28-24.

Link sealed the victory with a 16-yard TD jaunt.

Friday's homecoming game against Sierra will be held at Bulldog Stadium.

The contest was supposed to be played at Central Valley but was moved because the scoreboard has yet to be installed.

The Timberwolves secured the biggest win in their 13-year history last Friday, edging VOL powerhouse Manteca 7-6 at Guss Schmiedt Field.

"Whoever makes the least mistakes is going to win the game," Mew said.

Added Garcia: "I think we have a very legitimate shot. We just got to put everything together at one time. I think we will this week."

• JV Bulldogs struggle after fast start

Ceres High's junior-varsity football team got off to a fast start Friday against visiting Oakdale when Brent Ward scored a 60-yard rushing touchdown 14 seconds into the Valley Oak League game.

The Mustangs dominated the rest of the way, scoring three unanswered touchdowns en route to a 21-7 victory at Bulldog Stadium.

"We just never got it going after that (Ward's TD)," Ceres High assistant coach Anthony Dean said. "It's pretty disappointing. We're going to turn the intensity up at practice this week."

Ceres High fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the VOL.

Oakdale improved to 2-0 in conference play.

The Bulldogs totaled just 175 yards on offense.

Ward rushed for a team-high 101 yards.

David Brazil added 58 yards on the ground. He also saved a touchdown on defense in the second half when he picked off an Oakdale pass in the end zone for a touchback.

Ceres High quarterback George Borden completed two of six passes for 16 yards with three interceptions.

The Bulldogs trailed 14-7 at the break.

•Central Valley frosh suffer disheartening loss

The Central Valley High School freshman football's team home crowd erupted after running back Sterling Shaw rumbled 65 yards for a touchdown behind key blocks from Wyatt Faulkner and Cody Melton to give the Hawks a 12-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter against Sonora.

The Wildcats responded with a five-plus minute scoring drive that was capped by Dylan Fernandez's 1-yard quarterback keeper with 45 seconds to play, and held on for a 14-12 victory Thursday night at Bulldog Stadium.

"This shouldn't have happened," Central Valley linebacker/offensive lineman Kyle Martinez said.

Said Shaw: "It's pretty disappointing. I thought our defense would be able to keep them from gaining yards."

Central Valley dropped to 2-2 on the year, including 0-2 in the Valley Oak League.

Previously-winless Sonora moved to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Hawk players admitted they entered the contest with too much confidence after reading about Sonora's struggles in a 45-7 loss the previous week.

"We underestimated them because of how they did against Ceres High," Martinez said. "We thought we were going to blow these guys out."

"That's a tough loss to swallow," Hawks head coach Tim Garcia Sr. added.

Sonora led 7-0 at intermission.

Shaw cut the deficit to one point in the third quarter with a 27-yard TD scamper.

"We weren't gelling at the beginning," Garcia said. "For some reason, we came out real flat. Our kids played tough in the second half."

Central Valley's final possession ended when all-purpose player Josh Claudio picked up several yards on fourth down before getting tackled as time expired.

The Hawks were penalized twice during Sonora's game-winning drive. A 15-yard personal foul moved the ball to Central Valley's 10 with 1:04 left in regulation.