High school football: Flames host Wolf Pack with both teams looking for first league win

Oct. 13—Entering the third week of play in the Tri-City Athletic League, Lodi High football is still searching for that all-important first league victory.

The Flames (2-5, 0-2 TCAL) will be ready to go tonight when West (4-3, 0-2) comes to town, and Lodi coach Joe Rohles said his team needs to put some points on the board.

"I think our team needs to show up, we need to start off right away ready to play," Rohles said. "And we've got to be able to set the pace. We need to be able to play almost a perfect game and not step on ourselves the way we have."

The Flames are coming off a brutal three-game stretch of Manteca (48-6 loss), St. Mary's (55-0 loss) and Lincoln (42-26 loss). Rohles said it's been a grind, but the team is better for it.

"As a football coach, you want to be able to test your guys," Rohles said. "We had that stretch, now is the time that shows which kids are in the weight room, which kids are putting the time in to better themselves."

Against Lincoln, the Flames stayed in the game as quarterback Matt Shinn racked up 165 rushing yards and 55 passing yards, scoring twice on the ground and once in the air. He threw two interceptions, but he also snagged one on defense, as did receiver/backup quarterback Chase Whiting, who had an interception on defense and a touchdown throw on offense.

"We were just sticking to what we do. We let Shinn kind of guide the offense, and stuck to the option which is our bread and butter. Once in a while we'll take a shot down the field," Rohles said. "With our guys, every win is important, but if we want to even start thinking about some kind of postseason play, it starts with Friday night."

West comes to town with an offense similar to what Lodi saw against Manteca. The Wolf pack is 0-2 in league play with blowout losses to Tokay and St. Mary's.

"West lines up in some tradition pro style sets, and they're not afraid to throw it," Rohles said. "They love to run the trap and run the power."

Meanwhile, Rohles is sending thought to Lodi's rival Tokay, which played last week's loss to Tracy under a cloud with three athletes out following a car accident. One of them, Lino Ruiz, was in the ICU with severe injuries.

On Thursday, Tokay coach Collin Rhoads said Ruiz is still on a ventilator, but is moving a little more each day.

"Slowly, every day, there's more positive improvement," Rhoads said. "It's just slowly. He's fighting. We're just waiting for that good news."

Rhoads did say that one of the student-athletes involved in the crash, starting nose tackle David Ruiz, has a possibility of returning this week from a concussion. Vincent Marin, the third student in the crash, will be out for a while with broken arms. Rhoads said Marin should return to action about halfway through the wrestling season.

The event takes Lodi's Rohles back to his senior year at Sierra High, when his teammate Daniel Teixeira died in a car accident over the summer before the season.

"My heart goes out to the Tokay football team," Rohles said. "Every day football coaches see adversity with their kids, but to have three kids in that kind of accident in the middle of the season, that's tough."

Tokay (4-3, 1-1) has another big game on their slate tonight, with a road game at Lincoln (also 4-3, 1-1). This matchup in Stockton will have huge playoff implications on both sides of the ball.

The Tigers aren't too worried about trying to land anywhere in particular, though.

"That's not something that we're worried about. Playoffs are three weeks away, and our focus is beating Lincoln right now. We'll have those opportunities later," Rhoads said. "If you want to be a playoff team, you have to beat good teams like that. We played good teams and we were a play or two away from coming away with wins in those games. We got the short edge on a lot of those games, so we're excited for another opportunity to play a good football team."

Lincoln comes into the game with a vicious rushing attack, with running back Jordin Thomas already over a thousand yards at 1,280 yards and 17 touchdowns on 148 carries. He ran for 220 yards last week against Lodi.

"He's a guy who doesn't go down easily. They run a spread offense, and they're very successful in the run game, but he spreads wide a lot of times," Rhoads said. "He rarely takes one tackle to bring down. Our defense preached this week 11 hats to the football."

On the other side, former Tokay defensive coordinator Josh Sitkin is now running the Lincoln defense.

"We're excited, because Coach Sitkin is still one of our best friends," Rhoads said. "But we're looking at a 4-2-5 defense, similar to what we play. So we have a pretty good game plan developed. It's the same defense we play against all spring and summer."

Galt returns home this week after starting Sierra Valley Conference play with two road losses. The Warriors, which have not won an SVC game since 2010, will face a 1-6 El Dorado team that is also 0-2 in league play.

The Cougars' passing game has split time between junior quarterbacks Sage Pittman (588 passing yards and nine touchdowns) and Jason Wilson (459 passing yards and three touchdowns), while Tyler Villa leads the ground attack at 401 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Liberty Ranch (4-2, 2-0) will have a first-place battle on its hands in Sacramento, playing at Bradshaw Christian (5-2, 2-0). The Pride started league play with wins over Union Mine and El Dorado.

Running back Mateo Mojica leads Bradshaw Christian's ground attack with 645 yards and seven touchdowns, with quarterback Ethan Rickert holding 587 passing yards and five touchdowns, with no interceptions.

Liberty Ranch has a number of ground threats, but Joseph Brown leads the Hawks with 843 yards and 10 touchdowns. Quarterback Kymani Fenika has 379 yards and six touchdowns, Brannon Cathey had 327 yards and three touchdowns, and Shaye Setter has 249 yards and three scores.