Ceres High’s girls flag football team faced its toughest test of the season this past week.

The 53rd nationally-ranked Bulldogs played the 16th-ranked Escalon Cougars twice in a span of three days.

“I think we did make a statement,” Ceres High standout quarterback/defensive back Marissa Renteria said. “We heard a lot of talk about our team being overrated. It motivates us every single game.”

“We’ve heard a lot about Escalon and how good of a team they’ve been all year,” Bulldogs’ head coach Curtis Hulstine said. “We’re also a very good team. It’s a matchup we were looking forward to. We made a big statement. We just didn’t beat them once. We beat them twice in the same week.”

The Bulldogs improved to 11-2 and 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference standings following its two-game sweep of the Cougars.

Escalon fell to 14-4 and 1-1.

Ceres High climbed from 53rd to 46th, while Escalon dropped from 16th to 22nd in the MaxPreps National Rankings.

“I’m not surprised,” Renteria said while talking about her team’s success this year. “At practice, we don’t joke around. We take every practice seriously.”

“I think we’ve put ourselves on the map,” Hulstine added. “We let everybody know we’re a good team, too.”

Ceres High battled back from a two-score deficit on its way to edging Escalon 14-12 in WAC play on Thursday at CUSD Stadium.

“It was very competitive,” Renteria said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge. They didn’t start their starters the first game. It was Senior Night.”

“It shows the resiliency our team has,” Hulstine stated.

Renteria passed for 89 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 47 yards.

She intercepted one pass on defense.

Nehemiah Valenzuela and Savannah Leifried both had one receiving touchdown.

Ceres High trailed 12-0 at the break.

The Bulldogs outscored the Cougars 14-0 during the second half.

“There was a change in confidence,” Hulstine said. “The communication was better. They were hungry. They wanted to win.”

“We didn’t give up,” Renteria added. “After halftime, we came out and executed.”

Bulldog defensive back Joselin Ruiz sealed the win with a sack in Ceres High territory on the final play of the game.

Ruiz was penalized for roughing the passer on the previous play.

“She made up for it,” Hulstine said.

Ceres High defeated host Escalon 25-14 in non-conference play on Sept. 19.

The Bulldogs’ spoiled the Cougars’ Senior Night.

Renteria threw for 152 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 113 yards and one score.

She also had one interception on defense.

Hailey Tsurui, Mariah Renteria and Maria Bravo all had one receiving touchdown.

Ceres High led 12-0 at halftime.

“The girls were very hungry to finally play these games,” Hulstine said. “They definitely showed up and showed out.”

The Bulldogs have won their last seven games.

“We just play well together,” Hulstine said. “We have camaraderie. We make it a point to not look past the next opponent. We take everybody seriously.”

“We still have a lot of room to get better,” Renteria said. “We want to face good teams. We don’t want it to be easy.”