Turlock High School administrators will meet with officials from the Sac-Joaquin Section office on Friday regarding allegations made by area football coaches about improper pre-enrollment contact with their players.
Concerns first came to light on March 18 at the Central California Athletic League meeting in Modesto, where THS administrators were presented with evidence regarding the allegations, prompting them to launch their own internal investigation.
At the heart of the controversy is The ’Lock, a non-contact, 7-on-7 and 5-on-5 offseason football program that is operated, in part, by members of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff. Players from different schools can play for The ’Lock. But if those players end up transferring to play high school football for Turlock, it’s considered undue influence (enrolling at THS before joining The ’Lock is allowable).
Not all of the CCAL’s five other members have cried foul. Some of the concerns stem from programs in neighboring school districts.
“It’s our job to enforce the rules within the Sac-Joaquin Section,” said SJS assistant commissioner Will DeBoard. “In general, when we start getting a lot of calls about something, we work with our schools to find out what’s going on. Typically, we ask the school to look into it and we cooperate with the school.”
The Journal talked with six head coaches and four athletic directors from around the region, and all but one AD said they’d heard claims of illegal contact by The ’Lock prior to the CCAL meeting.
“On Friday, site administration and myself will be meeting with members of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section office,” said THS principal Dave Kline. “They’ll share information with us at that time, and then we’ll begin looking at our next steps.”
So far, two players from Central Catholic (Modesto), one from Merced, one from Los Banos, and another from Denair have said they’ll play for the Bulldogs in the fall.
Turlock head coach James Peterson, whose only connection to The ’Lock is that many of his charges play in the program, said he’s confident his assistants have run the program properly.
“We’ve only had post-enrollment contact with these players,” said Peterson. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and people are questioning my character and my integrity. It's unfortunate.”
At the CCAL meeting, Turlock’s contingent was presented with a timeline that highlighted recent player migrations.
In February, the document alleges, players from Denair, Central Catholic, and Merced enrolled at Turlock after playing for The ’Lock. It goes on to claim that a Modesto eighth-grader, who played for The ’Lock’s 5-on-5 team, posted on Instagram that he will attend THS. Another Central Catholic player and one from Los Banos, both of whom also played for The ’Lock, announced this month that they, too, will be attending Turlock High.
While it’s unclear what will transpire during Friday’s meeting, the section could find there was no wrongdoing and clear all players to participate in the fall. If irregularities are discovered, the section could suspend the players for half or all of the 2025 season, put the school on probation, limit the team’s contacts by 10 percent (nine games instead of 10), or suspend the team from competing in the playoffs.
Peterson thinks the whole matter smacks of sour grapes.
“Look at the teams who are pointing fingers,” said Peterson, referring to Central Catholic and Downey.
Central Catholic, the section’s winningest program over the years, was upset by Turlock 43-42 in a highly anticipated playoff game last fall — the first meeting ever between the schools on the gridiron. Downey, meanwhile, has played second fiddle to the Bulldogs in the race for the CCAL title the past two seasons.
“Look, if we’ve done something wrong, we’ll pay the price,” said Peterson. “But we’re going to be OK. We’ll get through it.”
