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Varsity Game Results
Bulldogs quiet Thundering Herd

By Tim Roe
Posted: 10/10/2009 01:00:58 AM PDT

Here's some bad news for future Vacaville High School football opponents ... Blakelyn Birks may catch everything thrown his way for the rest of the season.

After struggling against Granite Bay two weeks ago, the Bulldog wide receiver had a breakout game last week, then added another stellar effort Friday night as Vacaville blasted visiting Elk Grove 49-7.

Birks finished with six catches for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Bulldogs scored early and often.

"We had to get that game behind us," Birks said of the loss to Granite Bay. "Basically ... that's not going to happen again. Now we just have to get ready for league."

The Bulldogs (4-1) looked plenty ready for next week's Monticello Empire League opener. They rolled up 488 yards of offense, and held the Herd -- a team they last saw in the 2007 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs -- to just 246 yards.

They also put the game away by halftime.

Senior quarterback Tyler Irwin threw three touchdown passes in the first two quarters alone, completing seven of nine attempts for 136 yards.

Birks caught four of those passes for 105 yards, including touchdowns of 19 and 16 yards.

One of the scores came on a flanker screen, and Irwin added a 13-yard scoring pass to Quincy Forte on another screen pass with 39 seconds left in the second period.

Irwin added a 13-yard screen pass to C.J. Jacobe that kept another scoring drive alive.

"We save that for big games," admitted Irwin, who finished the night completing nine of 12 attempts for 160 yards. "Whether it's the fullback of the tight end, it seems to work ... and Blakelyn made a great play to score on his."

The short passes -- and few long ones -- were made possible by a running game that pounded the middle. Eleven different players combined for 328 yards on a whopping 58 attempts.

Ross Lopez led the way with 68 yards, and Forte 66 yards, including a 27-yard scoring run.

Jimmy Hines added a more workmanlike 63 yards on 14 attempts, including a 2-yard TD run. Roman Hauser finished with 58 yards on 12 carries.

Hudson Buck and Derek Jenkins added scoring runs of seven and five yards, respectively.

Vacaville plays its MEL opener at Fairfield next.


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