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Bulldogs go 0-10
• CHS football closes out season with 56-0 loss to Davis
Elias Saldana
Third-year starting lineman Elias Saldana poses for a picture with his parents, Isacc and Nina, before suiting up for Ceres High’s football team for the final time on Nov. 1 at CUSD Stadium. - photo by Dale Butler

Ceres High’s varsity football team struggled to a 1-9 record in 2018.

The Bulldogs failed to win a game this fall.

“It’s really shocking,” said Elias Saldana, a two-way starting lineman for the past three seasons. “I thought we were going to do great.”

The Bulldogs closed out the 2019 campaign with a 56-0 loss to visiting Grace Davis this past Friday on Senior Night at CUSD Stadium.

The last-place Bulldogs went 0-10 overall and 0-7 in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Spartans (8-2, 5-2) finished in a three-way tie for second place with Los Banos and Johansen in the WAC standings.

Grace Davis failed to make the playoffs due to its strength of schedule.

 “Obviously, it hurts,” Saldana said. “We didn’t do as well as we wanted.”


“It was a long season. It was mentally draining on everyone. This the first time I’ve gone 0-10 as a coach or player. I told the players to remember the feeling.”
Matt Chachere

“It was a long season,” second-year leader Matt Chachere said. “It was mentally draining on everyone.  This the first time I’ve gone 0-10 as a coach or player. I told the (returning) players to remember the feeling.”

Ceres High turned the ball over four times against Grace Davis.

The Bulldogs had minus-38 rushing yards.

Ceres High totaled just 57 passing yards.

Junior all-purpose player Amare Padilla completed 3 of 13 passes for 53 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

Sophomore quarterback Bryce Piatt finished 1-for-6 with 4 yards and one pick.

Fernando Sosa grabbed two passes for 45 yards.

Sophomore Verlis Smith caught one pass for 8 yards.

Padilla had a 4-yard reception.

“You can game plan all you want,” Chachere said. “But if you don’t execute, it’s not going to work.”

“The outcome we got isn’t what I was expecting,” Saldana said. “We didn’t do the simple things right. That really bothered me.”

Ceres High allowed 28 points in the opening quarter on its way to falling behind 49-0 in the first half.

“They executed well and beat us up physically,” Chachere said. “We couldn’t do anything. Their run game killed us. They kept pounding it on us and we had no answers.”

“We knew they were a good team,” Padilla stated. “We didn’t play to our potential.”

“As good as they were, I never would have guessed my last game would go like that,” Saldana added. “It’s disappointing.”

Saldana and 16 other upperclassmen were greeted by Chachere and their family members after walking through the inflatable Bulldog tunnel for the final time prior to kickoff.

“It sucks,” Chachere said. “You really feel bad for the seniors. You wish you could have done more for them. Hopefully, they learned some life lessons.”

When asked if Ceres High would experience success in the immediate future, Chachere said: “It’s definitely going to take some time. It’s going to take a total buy-in of wanting to get better. It starts in the offseason. We have to get stronger in the weight room.”

Ceres High hasn’t posted a winning record or qualified for the playoffs since 2004.

Fernando Sosa
Bulldog senior Fernando Sosa kneels on the sidelines to pray prior to competing against the Spartans on Friday in Ceres.