The Central Valley High School football team’s comeback bid fell short against host Buhach Colony during the opening week of Central California Conference play.

The Hawks put up a fight before losing 20-14 in overtime to the Thunder Friday evening in Atwater.

 “I’m really happy with how we played and how resilient the guys were throughout the game,” head coach Derrick Goblirsch said. “We battled back and gave ourselves an opportunity to win. Unfortunately, somebody had to lose. In this case, it was us.”

Central Valley dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the CCC standings.

Previously-winless Buhach Colony improved to 1-4 and 1-0.

The Hawks have lost their last two games.

“I don’t know if our guys underestimated them or not,” Goblirsch said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game. We talked about that all week. Buhach played a really tough preseason schedule. They’re well-coached and disciplined. They do things right.”

Central Valley totaled just 147 yards of offense in defeat.

“Buhach controlled the time of possession,” Goblirsch said. “We only ran 24 plays on offense the entire game. We had a hard time getting them off the field on third down during the first half.”

Hawk Joseph Alamo gained 74 yards and scored one touchdown on five carries.

Felix Arellano totaled 37 yards on five carries. He caught one pass for 5 yards.

Omar Mendoza added 37 yards on three carries.

Yeshua Trujillo, who started in place of Roberto Tiscareno at quarterback, completed 1 of 4 passes for 5 yards.

Tiscareno logged playing time at receiver and cornerback.

“Yeshua is capable of doing the job,” Goblirsch said. “They both have a good understanding of what we want to do. There’s a lot of movement and misdirection. We’re trying to keep Tiscareno healthy. He plays a huge role for us on defense. He’ll provide a threat for us on the outside on offense.”

Central Valley’s Ruben Valenzuela racked up 14 tackles on defense.

Sophomore Darrius Jackson had 11 tackles and one pass deflection.

Alamo and Arellano both had nine tackles.

Alejandro Hernandez and Luis Munoz each had seven tackles.

Alexis Becerra had six tackles.

David Lewis had five tackles and a 20-yard interception return touchdown.

Elijah Jackson had five tackles.

Edgar Garcia had four tackles and one sack.

Tiscareno had four tackles.

Central Valley’s potential, go-ahead touchdown in OT ended with turnover at Buhach Colony’s 1-yard line.

A bad quarterback-running back handoff exchange led to a fumble.

Buhach Colony secured the victory with a 3-yard TD run.

“To lose it that way is definitely heartbreaking,” Goblirsch said. “I feel bad for the guys.”

Alamo raced 55 yards for a touchdown and Garcia added the point-after kick to even the score at 14-14 with 8 minutes, 37 seconds left in regulation.

The Thunder had an opportunity to win the game in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter but missed a 20-yard field goal.

Central Valley trailed 14-7 at halftime.

Lewis accounted for the Hawks’ touchdown.

He returned an interception 20 yards for a score.

“Our defense stepped up,” Goblirsch said. “We didn’t give up any points in the second half until overtime. We expect that kind of effort from our defense.”

Central Valley will play on the road this week.

The Hawks will travel to Merced today to face the Golden Valley Cougars (1-3).

Kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m.

CROSS COUNTRY

Central Valley’s and Ceres High’s cross country programs had mixed results while competing at the Central California Conference and Western Athletic Conference No. 1 cluster meets, respectively, on Sept. 15.

Central Valley’s varsity girls posted a team score of 108 en route to a fourth-place finish behind Atwater (24), Buhach Colony (39) and Golden Valley (108).

Ashley Anaya was the Hawks’ top finisher.

She took 12th with a time of 22 minutes, 27 seconds on the 3-mile course at Lake Yosemite in Merced.

Mariana Campos (26:17), Keilany Torres (31:25), Yahaira Torres (35:32) and Milianna Rios (35:32) placed 31st, 34th, 35th and 36th, respectively.

Central Valley’s varsity boys posted a team score of 124 on their way to a fifth-place showing behind Atwater (31), Buhach Colony (38), Merced (71) and Golden Valley (97).

Alexander Contreras was the Hawks’ top finisher.

He took 23rd with a time of 19 minutes, 02 seconds on the 3-mile course.

Roberto Rosales (19:02), Jeremy Alvarez (19:13), Alfredo Garcia (20:14), Armando Guajardo (10:18), Daniel Soares (21:37), Jonathan Macias (21:44) and Kevin Lee (24:06) placed 23rd, 24th, 25th, 30th, 32nd, 36th, 37th and 39th, respectively.

Central Valley’s Jackson Stokes placed 26th with a time of 15 minutes, 32 seconds during the 2-mile frosh-soph boys race.

Hawk teammate Joshua Michelena took 27th (15:39).

Ceres High’s varsity boys finished seventh in the team standings (156).

Beyer (35), Mountain House (55), Grace Davis (100), Los Banos (120), Lathrop (120), Johansen (139) and Pacheco (168) took first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively.

Rey Soto was the Bulldogs’ top finisher.

He placed 17th with a time of 20 minutes, 07 seconds on the 3-mile course.

Bulldog teammates Eddie Ortiz (21:41), Elijah Vas Dinis (21:50), Adrian Ontiveros (22:07), Erick Valladares (22:40), Cesar Bolanos (22:52), Diego Ayala (22:59) and Nathan Martin (26:13) placed 30th, 35th, 36th, 38th, 40th, 41st and 54th, respectively.

Ceres High’s frosh-soph boys finished second in the team standings (63).

Los Banos (54), Mountain House (69), Lathrop (73) and Beyer (78) took first, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Salvador Erenas was the Bulldogs’ top finisher.

He placed sixth with a time of 16 minutes, 54 seconds on the 2-mile course.

Bulldog teammates Gabriel Sandoval (17:03), Julka Atul (18:03), Simon Pezzoni (18:11), Eddie Garcia (18:33), Alejandro Plantillas (19:46), Erik Bonilla (22:00) and Alexander Vas Dinis (22:41) placed eighth, 17th, 18th, 21st, 32nd, 42nd and 44th, respectively.

Jaden Stahl was Ceres High’s top finisher during the frosh-soph girls race.

She took 10th with a time of 18 minutes, 31 seconds on the 2-mile course.

Bulldog teammates Maricela Saavedra (22:03) and Alexa Romo (22:57) placed 31st and 33rd, respectively.

WATER POLO

Ceres High’s girls water polo team topped host Pacheco 17-11 in Western Athletic Conference play on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs improved to 3-1 in the WAC standings.

Elise Cannella led Ceres High in scoring with seven goals.

Lillian Blevins added five goals.

Amberlin Hopwood and Karen Bernal both had two goals.

Maci Farinha contributed one goal.

Ceres High’s boys water polo team lost 23-12 to Pacheco in WAC play.

The Bulldogs dropped to 1-3 in the league standings.

Nicholas Campbell poured in a team-high five goals.

Cayden Jantz tallied four goals. Blake Barr, Mackay Cannella and Jaden Joy all contributed one goal.