El Capitan, Merced both improve to 2-0 with strong second half finishes.
For just the second time in school history, the El Capitan High football team has started the season 2-0 after a 26-21 road win over Central Valley in Ceres. Gauchos quarterback Gio Mendoza connected with receiver A.J. Jones on a 31-yard touchdown pass to give El Capitan the 26-21 lead in the second half.
Jones finished with two touchdown catches, hauling in both scores from Mendoza. Lorenzo Peters added two rushing touchdowns for El Capitan. “Those are our guys right now,” said Gauchos head coach Xavier Ramirez. “That's the three-headed monster that we have going.”
The Gauchos overcame turnover issues in the first half. “I really have to give it to our defense,” Ramirez said. “They're a gritty group. They were on the field the majority of the time and they never backed down, they never blinked. They just kept fighting.”
The Gauchos started the 2023 season 3-0 before finishing 4-6. Ramirez says he’s happy to see this year’s group find ways to pull out victories. “It’s a great day to be a Gaucho,” Ramirez said.
Merced 45, Gregori 13 – The Bears also started slow with four first-half turnovers before outsourcing the Jaguars (1-1) 35-0 in the second half. Merced quarterback Vincente Cortez threw two touchdowns and ran for two more scores as the Bears improved to 2-0.
Cortez connected with Hayden Czirban and Israel Rodas for touchdown passes. Cammarri Jackson scored on a short touchdown run and Tyson Espinoza broke free for an 82-yard scoring run in the second half.
“I'm proud of our response in the second half, but we're very, very fortunate we were only down by three points with four turnovers in the first half,” Merced coach Rob Scheidt.
Tokay 41, Golden Valley 23 – The Tigers (2-0) scored 34 points in the second half to erase a 10-7 deficit at the half to spoil the Cougars’ home opener. Golden Valley dropped to 0-2 on the season. Darion Bondurant hauled in a touchdown catch from Mario Perez in the first half to help the Cougars jump out to a 10-0 lead.
Johansen 27, Buhach Colony 6 – Blake O’Brien returned a kickoff 85 yards for the Thunder’s lone score of the game. Charles Peterson intercepted a pass on defense and hauled in a 40-yard reception on offense. The Thunder dropped to 0-2 this season.
Sonora 51, Livingston 0 – The Wildcats improved to 2-0 and displayed why they are one of the top teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Sonora stifled the Wolves (0-2) all night. “They return their entire time from last year and they brought up guys from a really good JV team from last year,” said Livingston head coach Steven Wine. “That’s a really good team and they’re really well coached.”
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.