The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 21

The Modeeto Bee LOCAL SPORTS THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 7 2006 C-31 Merced high schools open season with bang WILL DEBOARD High schools The 2006 high school football season came a week early in Merced County It sure opened with a bang We saw Merced open eyes up and down the state with a 27-21 win over Crenshaw in a game that had many heroes And in Fresno Golden Valley fared well against a tough Central High team before falling 41-29 While every other team in the Stanislaus District was scrimmaging Merced and GV received permission to play these out-of section foes to help fill out their schedules It was quite a Friday We already knew about Merced's talented trio of receivers in Carter Todd Carlos Acosta and Jarrett Sparks And we already knew about hard-hitting safety Dion Bland who forced a fumble against UCLA-bound running back Raymond Carter in one of Bland's first tackles of the season But just as impressive was the It was a bang-up beginning to the season And with 26 games on Friday night's docket it's only going to get better BY NOW WE know about Oakdale and its grass roots fund raising effort to install artificial turf on its football field Atwater's going to see another team installed the turf in pretty much the same way as Oakdale when the Falcons take on Nevada Union of Grass Valley Friday night The town began fund raising in January and by mid summer had a gleaming new field The Miners wiH christen the new turf when they play host to Atwater on Friday night at 7:30 "It'll be nice to see the new turf" Atwater coach Paul Bristow said "But mainly we'll find out very fast how we stack up with one of the best teams in the state" Nevada Union is ranked No 9 in the state in Division I and No 4 in Northern California regardless of division by CalHiSportscom it's as tough an opener as you can get DO YOU NEED those high school football scores immediately? A new addition to our high school football coverage this season is text messaging of scores including halftime scores of the games The Bee is covering to your cell phone Friday nights Signing up is simple By phone you can send a text message to 877-698-4636 including the name of the league you wish to receive scores on You can also send "all" and that will subscribe you to scores from every league Entering "halftime" places you on a list to receive the halftime scores of the selected games Modesto Bee reporters are covering By the Internet you can go to smsnetinformercommodbeeindexa sp and follow the prompts remainder of the Bears' defense They flew to the ball holding an extremely talented Crenshaw team the defending Ixm Angeles Section champions to 21 points With 5000 people crammed into the West side of Merced Stadium 76 it felt like a playoff game And thanks to a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown by Jamichael Turner the home crowd went away happy At Kerman High Golden Valley battled Central in a wild offensive game before falling 41-29 The Cougars gave the Grizzlies a member of the powerful Tri-River Athletic Conference of the Central Section aU they wanted Golden Valley quarterback Chris Randle passed for 287 yards completing nine passes to tight end Kyle McMillin for 118 yards and rushed for 40 yards and two touchdowns Eric Green the Cougars' featured back rushed for 156 yards three players had outstanding games" Golden Valley coach Dennis Stubbs said Golden Valley pulled within a score with two minutes remaining in the game and tried to recover an onside kick Instead Central returned the kick 60 yards the other way for a touchdown and the Final margin Retooled Pride set for kickoff N0TES jrf meters or 31 miles while the lower levels will run two miles RIP0N CHRISTIAN TOURNEY Patterson the three-time defending champ meets Turlock Christian Saturday at 10 am in the Ripon Christian Boys Soccer Invitational Other openers include Ripon vs Chavez of Stock-ton and Escalon vs Waterford at 9am and Ripon Christian faces Big Valley Christian at 10 am SONORA TOURNEY Threetime defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division III champion Oakdale is the favorite at the Yosemite Cup Tournament in Tuolumne County Friday's first-round games are Bret Harte vs Mariposa and Oakdale vs Argonaut at 2 pm at Columbia College while Summerville faces Livingston at noon and the host Wildcats play Calaveras at 4 pm at Sonora High Play resumes Saturday with semifinals at 10 am at each site The third-place game is at 2 pm and championship at 4 pm at Sonora WATER POLO Interested in learning more about water polo? Johansen High's pool will be the place to be as free training sessions will be held twice a week from 4:30 to 5 pm Practices will be Sept 18 through Oct 25 open to kids through the eighth grade For more information e-mail bbrentpolofeaol com bryanhiguchil0( yahoo com or lornalynottyahoocom By RICHARD ESTRADA BEE STAFF WHITER Pitman High reached the quart-terfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I football playoffs last year before losing 27-22 to eventual finalist West of Tracy Repeating that performance however could be challenging Not only did the Pride graduate its top offensive players quarterback Colin Kaepemick and running back Anthony Harding combined for 3600 yards and 50 touchdowns but coach Larry Nigro resigned and is in Idaho The new-look Pride with Bra-din Hagens moving from receiver to quarterback opens tonight against Granite Bay at Turlock High Kickoff is at 7:30 pm Hagens an all-Central California Conference pick had 21 receptions for 471 yards and nine TDs He will lead an offense designed by Brandon Harris the offensive coordinator last season Granite Bay which won Sacramento's Metro League crown the last two years can empathize with Pitman's rebuilding effort Most of its offense is gone making flyback Devon Wylie the top returner The 5-foot-9 180-pounder had 931 yards and 1 1 TDs averaging 10 yards on his 51 carries and 14 yards on his 27 catches SIERRA INVITATIONAL -A flat course and early season competition is enough incentive to attract nearly 30 schools to the Si- erra Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at Tuolumne River Regional Park in Modesto a nice course for this early in the season because it has just the one hill and there are plenty of trees for shade" Sierra coach Lisa Shrock said usually a good gauge for kids to see where at in their training" The varsity boys race begins at 10 am and the girls start at 10:35 am Shrock said Frosh-soph races begin at 9 am Riverbank is among the top teams in the field though it will be difficult to equal last year's performance when its runners set meet records in the varsity boys and girls competition The Bruins won the girls' event and were second in the race Saturday's meet also features Valley Christian of San Jose Sonora St Mary's and Johansen It will be without Riverbank's German Fernandez however He won last year's varsity race in a record 16 minutes 1 second but injured his knee and underwent surgery last spring Riverbank's Maritza Garcia The Bee's 2005 girls cross country runner of the year is back to defend her title She won in a meet-record 18:38 last year The varsity races are five kilo ALISON YIMTHE BEE Sonora High School golfer Kelly Adams swings away during Wednesday's Valley Oak League match against Sierra at Manteca Municipal Goll Course Sierra went on to beat Sonora 238-295 Oakdale serves up a victory DIGEST ATHLETES OF THE WEEK Girls golf DAVIS 294 ENOCHS 338 at Muni Jessica Munoz shot a 47 to lead the Spartans (2-2) past the Eagles (0-4) in the Modesto Metro Conference Enochs a first-year school playing with freshmen and sophomores was led by Mary Silva's 57 CENTRAL CATHOLIC 182 OAKDALE 223 at Dryden Park Julie Stokman fired a 3-over 40 six pars and three bogeys and Hillary Burden added a 44 to lead the Raiders (2-0) past the Mustangs (2-2) HUGHS0N 217 MODESTO CHR 254 at Mum Dani Ferguson and Jericha Marini each shot 50 but Ferguson got more help from her teammates as the Huskies (3-0) stayed perfect in the Valley Foothill League by beating the Crusaders Hughsqp's Chelsee Rodriguez and Erica Ballard shot 52s BEE STAFF REPORTS OAKDALE Courtney Zellmer an all-Stanislaus District volleyball pick as a junior showed Wednesday that she's on top of her game again this season Her seven first-game assists helped Oakdale High get off to a strong start and the Mustangs rolled to a 25-22 25-14 25-17 nonleague victory over Turlock Zellmer led the Mustangs (4-0) with 16 assists to go with seven kills while Mary Waterman had four kills in the first game Waterman also finished with three blocks while Alexis Evans and Jenny Sihler had 13 digs each BIG VALLEY CHR 3 TIOGA 0 at Big Valley -Kelly Williams had 11 kills as the Lions (1-3) posted a 26-24 25-23 25-24 victory over the Timberwolves Danielle Evans added five aces for Big Valley ESCAL0N 3 CALAVERAS 0 at Escalon Jennifer Costa and Charlene Swickard had seven kills each as the Cougars (3-1) beat the Redskins PATTERSON 3 LOS BANOS 2 at Patterson Junior Jill Goubert rallied Patterson (2-1) in the decisive fifth game as it held off Los Banos 25-23 11-25 25-18 23-25 15-10 Goubert led her team with 12 kills five blocks and four aces while Los Andrea Lugo had four blocks and four aces SIERRA 3 JOHANSEN 2 at Sierra The one-two combination of Brianna Johnson and Sarah Corbett led the Timberwolves (3-0) past the Vikings (1-1) 23-25 25-10 25-22 19-25 15-7 Corbett had 11 kills and 10 blocks while Johnson had 11 digs Johansen's Emily Myers had 38 assists 14 blocks and five aces while Kelsey Mummert had 14 kills 0RESTIMBA 3 HUGHS0N 0 at Orestimba Marlene Sousa's court play which included 17 assists helped the Warriors (5-3) roll past the Huskies (0-3) 25-11 25-17 25-18 The Huskies' Alyussa Hobby had three digs Boys soccer CERES 1 BEYER 0 at Ceres Edwin Chavez scored with 10 minutes remaining to lift the Bulldogs (1-2-1) over the Patriots Goalie Edgardo Ye-pez had seven saves in the shutout MODESTO CHR 7 DENAIR 0 at Denair Robbie Freeze had two goals and goalies Brice Bizzini and Jonathan Sneed combined on the shutout as the Crusaders (3-1-1) beat the Coyotes (0-2) PATTERSON 1 BUHACH COLONY 0 at Patterson Rodrigo Aldana received a cross from Eduardo Chin with 13 minutes remaining then placed it into the left corner of the goal to lead the Tigers (5-2) over the Thunder (5-2) Goalie Luis Torres had six saves while getting the shutout ESCALON 3 WATERFORD 1 at Waterford Ramon Valencia had two goals and Jose Lopez had three assists to lead the Cougars over the Wildcats (6-3) Andres Lopez scored for Waterford CHRISTINE UHALDE Johansen golf The freshman shot two 39s as Johansen beat Davis 223-334 and defending Modesto Metro Conference champ Beyer 223-239 in conference matches at the nine-hole par-36 Modesto Municipal Golf Course PARENTS: Susan and Roberts Uhalde FAVORITE GOLF COURSE: 1 really like Muni The greens are nice and it's a well-kept course There are a lot of trees so you have to hit straight I also like Pacific Grove in Monterey It has a lot of bunkers is along the ocean and has a lot of (out of bounds area)" ON YOUR IPOD: "I like to listen to rap I don't have a favorite singer I just like the way the music sounds I don't like alternative music I like hard rock" PREMATCH RITUAL: always hit balls and practice my putting before I play a round I like to see how I'm hitting the ball before I tee off It lets me know if my swing is off so I can change it" WHAT I DIO LAST SUMMER: had a weekly lesson with Greg Silva (the club pro) at River Oaks (Golf Course) and I would go out to the park with my bag to practice chipping He'd have a baseball glove to catch them I also played in six junior golf WHEN I'M NOT GOLFING: "I like to play poker Texas I play against a bunch of my friends who are boys and I'm good" NOTABLES: Kelly Simpson Beyer volleyball: Had 22 kills and 18 digs in 3-2 win over Pitman and 13 kills with 12 digs in 3-0 victory over Oakdale Hillary Burden Central Catholic golf: Shot two-over 39s in wins over Lincoln (175-220) and Ripon (174-205) at Dryden Park Rebecca Mele Sonora volleyball: Had 28 kills 20 digs and five aces in 3-1 win over Ripon and 3-2 loss to Summerville Courtney Zellmer Oakdale volleyball: Had 39 kills and 12 aces as Mustangs won two of three matches RICHARD ESTRADA JESSE HORTA Atwater soccer Horta a 5-foot-11 155-pound junior forward had five goals and two assists as Atwater went 4-0 last week He has 1 1 goals and three assists for the 9-0 Falcons PARENTS: Maria and Valentine Horta GREATEST INFLUENCE: would be my dad He gives me a lot of advice about a lot of things but my sister also influenced me She's at UCLA and took (Advanced Placement) classes in high school That's one reason I'm taking three AP classes: biology US history and Spanish" MOST CHALLENGING CLASS: is tough because of all the formulas to remember Math is hard because each class carries to the next year so if you don't get it one year the next is even more difficult" BEST SUMMER MOVIE: 'Underworld with all the vampires and werewolves I like the second movie better than the original because it used a lot more technology" FAVORITE GOAL: "We were playing Johansen and I trapped the ball with my right foot I cut in and eliminated a defender with a quick move then my shot curved inside the front post" FAMILY TIES: was on the varsity with my two brothers last year After games we'd talk to each other about what we did right and what we did wrong and we'd learn from that" NOTABLES: Mike McNeil Oakdale soccer: The senior goalie had three shutouts (2-0 Escalon 3-0 Downey 1-0 Pitman) as the Mustangs improved to 5-0 Andres Lopez Waterford soccer: He had two goals in an 8-0 win over Gustine and added a goal in a 2-1 victory over Ripon Eli Oavis Turlock Christian soccer: He had three goals and four assists as the Eagles beat Gustine 6-0 and Orestimba 4-2 raising their record to 4-0 RICHARD ESTRADA Girls tennis CERES 5 DOWNEY 0 at Ceres McKeney Harden turned in a dominating performance winning the No 1 singles 6-1 6-1 as the Bulldogs (3-0) blanked the Knights (1-2) college soccer MODESTO JC 0 CHAB0T 0 at Chabot Julie Ross and Lauren Bean combined on the shutout as the Pirates (4-0-1) and Gladiators tied Bean provided a defensive highlight as she jumped to slap a 25-yard shot over the goal Girls water polo JOHANSEN 1 7 GOLDEN VALLEY 0 at Johansen Camille Hackett and Andie Plunkett scored four goals apiece and Lyne Holmes got the shutout as the Vikings (2-0) topped the Cougars (0-1) Krys-tine Sargent and Melanie McBroom added two goals apiece for the Vikings Men's college soccer MODESTO JC 2 CHABOT 1 at Chabot Pablo Nava scored twice to lift the Pirates (1-0-1) over the Gladiators (1-1) STANISLAUS STATE 1 MONTEREY BAY 0 at Kyle Nicolson's goal in the 20th minute lifted the Warriors (2-2 1-0) past the Otters (0-2 0-2) in their California Collegiate Athletic Association opener Goalie Jose Herrera made two saves Boys water polo GOLDEN VALLEY 12 JOHANSEN 4 at Johansen Nick Koenig and Devin Rocha scored four goals apiece to power the Cougars (1-0) past the Vikings (1-1) top golfers at Merced tourney TKadetfob Stone! 1700 McHenry Ave Suite D-50 McHenry Village (209) 523-5681 wwwvalleysgcom 0 VMrfeiMYuur- Award Jackets! 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Check out the world's most comfortable stadium seat in your school colorjust of the Year as a junior while Hernandez was considered the second-best golfer Martinez made the NorCal Tournament while Hernandez reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Tournament They appear to be swinging just as well this year having played with male professionals in last week's Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach and will be among the featured players for the 10 am shotgun start The field also features: Johansen off to a hot start behind Christine Uhalde Aliys-sa Pena and Rachel Reynor Sierra and Julie Shutler who shot a par-37 Tuesday at Manteca Golf Country Club Central Catholic and Hillary Burden an all-District performer as a junior Defending Valley Oak League champion East Union 1 BEE STAFF REPORTS MERCED Some of the Stanislaus top girls golfers will tee oil Monday morning in the Merced Invitational at the Merced Golf Country Club The 16-team field is led by Beyer and Golden Valley who boast the region's best from a year ago Marina Martinez and Belen Hernandez respectively Martinez was The player 6 month no paymentno interest linanclng available 1.