Officials from Turlock High met with Sac-Joaquin Section commissioner Mike Garrison and associate commissioner Jason Feuerbach on Friday morning to discuss allegations of improper transfers onto the Bulldogs’ football team.

THS principal David Kline, assistant principals Joe Cusenza and Aaron Mello, incoming athletic director Sean Gilbert, and outgoing athletic director Mike Brown met with section brass for about 90 minutes at the school.

In recent weeks, coaches from other area high schools have raised concerns about improper pre-enrollment contacts made by members of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff, and the validity of their players leaving for Turlock High.

“The Turlock High administration will be looking into the things that were discussed today,” said Garrison, who provided no timetable for THS to complete its inquiry. “We’re working together through this process, but it’s their school, their program, and their community. Ultimately, these are things that they need to look into.”

At the center of the controversy is The ’Lock, a non-contact 7-on-7 and 5-on-5 football program that helps players to stay sharp during the offseason. Since not every community has such a program, players from schools outside of Turlock’s boundary play for The ’Lock, which is run by Bulldogs assistants.

All of that is perfectly legal.

Trouble can begin, however, if players decide to leave their original school for Turlock High after joining The ’Lock. That is considered undue influence, and according to section bylaw 510.A “the use of undue influence by any person(s) to secure or retain a student or their parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver as residents may cause the student to be ineligible for high school athletics for a period of one year and shall jeopardize the standing of that high school in the CIF.”

Following the meeting, Kline provided remarks through the Turlock Unified School District office.

“We had a cordial and cooperative meeting with section representatives,” said Kline. “No punitive action was taken by the section at this time. We will be following up with an internal inquiry to answer the questions brought forward.

“We appreciate the section sharing information it has gathered and having the opportunity to provide clarity regarding THS football’s off-season activities. The THS inquiry and its results will be conducted in a transparent manner and we look forward to sharing our findings with the CIF.”

The issue came to a head on March 18 when Downey High officials aired concerns during a Central California Athletic League meeting in Modesto.

“We heard things regarding Turlock and we took the information to the other members of our league,” said Downey athletic director Stephen Garrett. “We just wanted to make sure everybody in our league knew about it. Turlock said that it had properly vetted the players and that the section was OK with it, but it seemed to us that prior contact and undue influence had occurred.”

Central Catholic, a Modesto parochial school, also had concerns.

“I did not agree with some of the information on one of the transfers,” said Central Catholic athletic director Billy Hylla, who is also an assistant coach for the Raiders’ football team. “After the paperwork is submitted, our role as the former school is to agree or disagree with what’s been submitted. I chose not to agree with what the student put on his transfer application. I felt there was a strong possibility he’d had a previous relationship with somebody working at Turlock High School.”

Hylla said that over the past two years, four Central Catholic football players have departed for Turlock — two that he signed off on, one that he questioned, and another who has yet to file the necessary paperwork.

Hylla said he questioned the one transfer based upon social media posts that established a relationship between the player and a Turlock High representative.

Prior to Friday’s meeting, Bulldogs head coach James Peterson said the whole matter smacked of “sour grapes,” based on Turlock’s victories over Downey the past two seasons that decided the CCAL championship, and on a 43-42 overtime upset of Central Catholic in the Division 1 playoffs last year — the first time the schools had ever met on the gridiron. 

“Look at the teams who are pointing fingers,” said Peterson, who noted that he’s lost players to both Central Catholic and Downey (though no 510 violation was ever alleged).

As it stands now, ’The Lock will compete using Turlock High players and other regional talent this offseason, and the Bulldogs will begin preparations for the 2025 campaign with summer practices in June. But what, if any, disciplinary action the section will take depends on what Turlock reports.

“We've made Turlock administrators aware of our concerns and they are sensitive to those concerns,” the commissioner said. “But I’m not in a position to say there will be sanctions or there won’t be sanctions. If they find any issues, they’re going to let us know.”