Tracy Press

Cougars battled, but the Bengals took the novice Delta Youth Football League Super Bowl title.

Tracy Cougar Christian Velasco is stopped by the Bengals’ Dario Reynoso on the last play of the game. Enrique Gutierrez/Tracy Press

STOCKTON — Tracy Cougars novice head coach Rob Miller didn’t need to look at the scoreboard to know how close his team came to a Delta Youth Football League championship Saturday at Lincoln High’s Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

The 10-2 Cougars, playing in their organization’s first championship game, enjoyed an early 7-0 lead over the undefeated Bengals. But, in the end, the older team won out, adding onto a 12-7 halftime lead to take home the trophy, 30-13

"The game was a lot closer than the score," he said. "We have a young team — these guys played hard."

The Cougars went up on an early touchdown run from Jalen Ratliff, who finished with 114 yards on 18 carries. His was the only Cougar tally until the fourth quarter, when the Cougar offense responded to a fourth-down stop from the defense and capped off a short drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Juan Velazquez, who finished with 55 yards on 12 carries.

That meant the Cougars trailed only 18-13. Tracy looked to take the ball back as the Bengals quickly put themselves in a third-and-22 situation, but the Stockton coaching staff concocted a 60-yard scoring passing play after a timeout to go up 24-13, and their marquee running back added another score for the final tally.

Tracy also left the red zone without a touchdown in the first half, after the team ran out of time following another defensive stop.

Quarterback Lorenzo Hotel made some hard throws and finished the game 2-for-6 with 17 yards. Jonathan Harvey added 23 yards on seven carries.

The defense was led by four tackles from Issa Yusuf and four from Brooks Miller, who also recovered a fumble. Jonathan Lopez made three stops for the Cougars.

"We’re young," said Miller, who estimated that three-quarters of the team will return for another season of novice football. "We’ll be back."

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written by bigdog , December 02, 2007

great article.. Great job cougars . Heck of a season.