Ceres High School's varsity boys water polo team opened the 2014 Western Athletic Conference campaign this past week.
The shorthanded Bulldogs, playing without the services of Tim Campbell, won one of their two matches.
Campbell suffered a season-ending injury at practice.
"He hurt his right elbow a couple weeks ago," Ceres High head coach Tracy Bull said. "On Monday night, he went to urgent care and was diagnosed with a strained tendon. A radiologist looked at the X-ray of his elbow Tuesday night and saw a hairline fracture. It's devastating. He's still got an opportunity to play in college. Tim puts fear into people with the power of his arm. He's got a canon."
Campbell's productivity was sorely missed during Ceres High's 14-10 loss to newcomer El Capitan of Merced on Thursday in Ceres.
"I knew it was going to be a tough game," Bull said. "They have a great coach. If we had Tim, we would have beaten them. Without Tim, it allows other teams to double and triple up on Zach Jones. We need to get back in the water and figure out how to get Cole Silva more shots."
Jones scored a game-high eight goals against the Gauchos.
Silva and Bobby Baranski both tallied one goal.
Sean Carr made 10 saves.
Ceres High was held scoreless for six-plus minutes in the second half.
The Bulldogs trailed 10-8 heading into the final period.
Ceres High led 8-6 midway through the third period.
Bulldog Fernando Olmos earned his third kickout and was ejected from the game with five minutes to play.
"It was frustrating," Bull said. "We just couldn't score. It kills us not having Tim. He's one of the top seven players in the league. We had two dominant scorers. Now, we have one."
Jones poured in a program-best 15 goals while leading Ceres High to a 21-4 win over host Pacheco on Sept. 30.
Zach set the previous school-record of 13 last year.
"It was incredible," Bull said while talking about Jones' dominant performance. "We tried to get him 16 goals. That's his cap number."
Bulldog teammate Erik Weststeyn totaled three goals.
Olmos collected two goals.
Baranski had one goal.
Carr accumulated 15 saves.
