Ceres High School's junior-varsity football team struggled during the second half of its 31-8 loss at Los Banos on Sept. 25. The Bulldogs yielded 23 unanswered points.
Ceres High fired on all cylinders for four quarters in beating Livingston 28-13 on Friday at Bulldog Stadium.
"We've had some struggles with execution and knowing our assignments the last couple of weeks," Bulldogs head coach Clinton Goblirsch said. "We made some adjustments. We ran the football well. Our offensive line played great."
Ceres High improved to 2-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Bulldog running back Andrew Gibson gained 133 yards and scored two touchdowns on just 10 carries. He also caught two passes for 24 yards.
Gibson scored on runs of 55 and 6 yards.
"Andrew had a great game," Goblirsch said. "He's very shifty. He has good acceleration. He has great vision."
Ceres High quarterback David Nichols rushed for 57 yards and one TD on eight carries. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 42 yards.
Brian Becerra ran for 22 yards and one score on six attempts.
Ceres High led 14-7 at the break.
The Bulldogs outscored the Wolves 14-6 during the second half.
Ceres High increased its lead to 28-7 with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter.
"We played really well, especially defensively," Goblirsch said. "We had a game plan going into the game to stop their quarterback. They run the read option."
BOYS SOCCER
Central Valley High School's varsity boys soccer team didn't win but might have taken a step in the right direction this past week.
Two days removed from suffering a disheartening 3-0 loss to crosstown-rival Ceres High, the Hawks showed a lot of fight in falling 2-1 to 2014 Western Athletic Conference champion Patterson on Wednesday in Ceres.
"We played very well," Central Valley head coach Omar Leon said. "Our best game so far. If we keep playing that way, we might have better results soon."
Fourth-place Central Valley dropped to 5-10-2 on the year and 1-4-0 in the WAC standings.
The first-place Tigers improved to 9-1-1 and 5-0-0.
Central Valley had a 30-match unbeaten streak in WAC play dating back to the 2012 season snapped by Pacheco earlier this year.
"None of the teams that we play are any different than previous years," Leon said. "We're playing under our level. We are the ones that are not playing as a team. Lots of individual plays don't produce anything. We go into games distracted, tired physically and mentally, before we even play from playing and practicing too much."
Central Valley's Axel Hernandez tallied a goal versus Patterson.
Hawk goalkeeper Cristian Gonzalez had five saves.
Central Valley lost by shutout at Ceres High on Sept. 28.
Hawk goalie Enrique Garcia made three saves in defeat.
Bulldog Martin Reyes totaled 10 saves.
Adrian Espinoza scored twice and dished out one assist for Ceres High.
Osvaldo Padilla had one goal.
Ceres High stunned Central Valley with a three-goal barrage in the opening 15 minutes.
Espinoza found the back of the net in the first and sixth minutes.
Padilla scored in the 14th minute.
"We gave up cheap goals," Leon said.
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie during the second half.
Ceres High totaled nine shots.
The Hawks and Bulldogs combined for 28 fouls.
Central Valley's Angel Lopez and Jose Yepez were both assessed yellow cards.
GIRLS GOLF
Ceres High School's varsity girls golf team lost twice in Western Athletic Conference play last week.
"Ceres has a target on its back because of our success in the past," Bulldogs co-head coach Dave Fry said. "Everybody else turns it up a notch."
Ceres High defeated Los Banos by 23 strokes, 162-185, on Sept. 3 at St. Stanislaus.
The Tigers avenged the loss with a 227-237 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday at Pheasant Run.
"Los Banos has drastically improved," Fry said. "They have one of the best golfers in the league. I'm not sure if we were mentally ready."
Ceres High dropped to 4-4 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Los Banos improved to 4-4 in the league play.
The Bulldogs had a perfect 12-0 mark while placing first in the WAC a season ago.
"It's going to be a dogfight," Fry said when asked if his team would secure one of the conference's three playoff berths. "We're going to need help."
Abigial Nou fired a 16-over-par 52 to lead the Bulldogs.
Hannah Smith, Monika Ramirez and Savanah Beltran posted rounds of 55, 60 and 70, respectively.
Morgan Pimentel paced the Tigers with a 13-over-par 49.
Second-place Livingston earned a WAC-dual series sweep of Ceres High.
The Wolves edged the Bulldogs by nine strokes, 161-170, on Sept. 29 at St. Stanislaus.
Livingston topped Ceres High 231-239 on Sept. 8 at Rancho Del Rey.
"It was very competitive," Fry said. "They have a well-coached program."
Nou carded a 15-over-par 42 during the rematch.
Ramirez and Rose Sammons had identical scores of 42.
Smith rounded out the Bulldogs' lineup with a 44.
Annie Winton led the Wolves (6-1) with a 38.
"There's a lot of parody in our conference," Fry said. "Everybody has improved."
