Bulldogs host Edison in first round of section playoffs on Friday
Nate Jones protects the ball from Lodi.
November 14, 2013
The San Joaquin Athletic Association champion Tracy Bulldogs will host Edison Vikings in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs at the Wayne Schneider Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.
Tracy finished league 5-0.
Tracy beat Bear Creek, 38-0, on Nov. 8, and finished first in league.
Edison and Tracy have both played Bear Creek, Chavez, Franklin, and West. Tracy beat Bear Creek, 38-0, and Edison won, 26-25. Against Chavez, Edison won, 36-21, and Tracy won, 56-14. Edison also beat Franklin, 34-31, and Tracy won, 43-7. Against West, Edison won, 38-0, and Tracy beat West, 60-0.
Tracy head coach Matt Shrout believes that although Tracy outscored Edison against the common opponents, it is a little misleading.
“It does make us feel like we are a better team,” Shrout said, “but it is a little misleading because those games were early in the season for Edison and they have gotten better.”
On a player stat match of key players from both teams it might seem like Edison has better key players, but Tracy has more key players so the stats are more spread out.
“They have one or two players they rely on,” Shrout said. “We have 10 or 11 we rely on, so our stats are more spread out.”
Overall, Tracy has more rushing yards per game than Edison, 324 for Tracy and 236 for Edison. Edison has more passing yards per game at 103 and Tracy has 68. Tracy has more total yards per game at, 392 to 339. Finally, Tracy averages 40 points per game while Edison averages 31.
Edison finished 2-3 in league, beating McNair and West while losing to Stagg who is 157 in state, St. Mary’s who is 107, and Tokay who is 314 in state. Edison is 428 in state.
Tracy is ranked 209 in state.
Shrout believes in hard work and staying focused the whole game will allow Tracy to do its best.
“The team needs to play hard all four quarters,” Shrout said.
Senior starting center Clayton Fegett believes the reason the team does so well is because of team chemistry.
“Since summer conditioning it has been our goal to win league and go to playoffs,” Fegett said. “That goal brought the team together to work harder and pushed the limits.”
As a team captain, Fegett is confident that his team will do well and he believes in staying humble.
“I think we will win if we do not get ahead of ourselves,” Fegett said. “I want to at least win the first round of playoffs, but getting to the section final would be amazing.”
Looking back on the season, Fegett sees the Lincoln game to be the hardest thing he has had to overcome the season.
“The Lincoln game really pushed me to do my best,” Fegett said.
With this being Fegett’s last high school sport, he is going to miss his teammates
“I am going to miss my teammates from the last four years,” Fegett said. “We have made some great memories.”
Senior starting fullback, Chaz Briggs, believes the team will do well Friday. He believes that although Edison has a few great players, Tracy overall has better players and coaches.
“We’re going to win, I have a good feeling,” Briggs said. “I also think we are going to go farther in playoffs than most people think.”
Briggs is excited to have this opportunity to have the team go this far and play better teams.
“All the games from here on out will be close,” Briggs said. “Even if we lose, it is great to have this opportunity to play better teams and to be pushed to play better.”
