A lot can change in seven days.
Just ask Tracy football.
On Friday, Sept. 4, the Bulldogs celebrated their biggest win in more than a decade. By Friday, Sept. 11, the head coach who guided them there had been placed on leave.
In the span of a week, a season filled with promise could have taken a completely different turn.
It didn't.
Instead, Tracy heads into Friday's Tri-City Athletic League opener at home against Edison exactly where it hoped to be, with its confidence intact and the belief that a league title is within reach.
“This ship sailed back in February when we got the kids together for 7 a.m. workouts,” interim coach Johnnie Oh said. “We’re just keeping it on course.”
And what a course it's been.
A perfect 5-0 finish to non league play, a win
over a Valley Christian team currently ranked among California's top 65, a No. 64 state ranking according to MaxPreps and three straight weeks atop The Record's football power rankings.
“We expect big things,” running back David Grisham said. “Just watch the tape. We’ve been doing what we need to do, and we’ll keep showing that.”
But long before Oh talked about keeping the ship on course, there was the work that got it sailing in the first place.
Much earlier than February, in fact.
“We’re a brotherhood,” quarterback Brady Brown said. “We play for each other. We know how much work we’ve put in and what we’ve been through together. This season is about us.”
'We can do this'
Ironically, the foundation for all of this goes back to Oh.
A 1999 Tracy graduate, Oh began working with Tracy Rampage, a local youth football and cheerleading organization, about a decade ago.
That's where the ship first started taking shape.
More than half of the players Oh now coaches came through Rampage, he said. As an assistant coach, his 14U team won youth Super Bowls in 2018 and 2019, then put together a three-peat from 2021-23.
“We grew up playing with each other, and even if we came from different Pop Warner teams, we were always around each other,” offensive and defensive lineman Maxwell Moore said. “So by the time we got to Tracy, that brotherhood was already there.”
Yet the winning they had grown accustomed to didn't follow them right away.
This senior group endured a 4-7 season in 2023, followed by a 2-8 finish in 2024 and a 5-6 record last year.
The belief, however, never disappeared.
“Some of us knew all along that we were winners,” Grisham said. “We just needed everyone else to believe it.”
A 48-26 homecoming victory over Lincoln on Oct. 17, 2025, showed just how far they had come.
Meanwhile, the junior varsity team was doing nothing but winning, finishing 10-0.
“We all showed up,” Moore said. “We didn't come out on top against Lincoln the year before, but after that 2-8 season, I think that game showed how far we'd come. We came together and showed them who Tracy really is.”
Now it was time to set sail.
It started with 7 a.m. workouts, followed months later by a 15th consecutive victory over crosstown rival Merrill West.
Then came Valley Christian.
“Every team thinks they're good until the rubber hits the road,” Oh said. “That was the game that made everyone truly believe.”
Tied 14-14 in the fourth quarter, Tracy had its chance. Brown saw an opportunity and called an audible to a quarterback sneak, only for Valley Christian to hold him short.
The ship could have stalled right there. Instead, it kept sailing.
“It was a dogfight, but in true Tracy fashion, we never stopped fighting,” Brown said.
Tracy scored first in overtime. Valley Christian answered with a touchdown.
When the extra-point attempt came, the Bulldogs got a hand on the kick, blocking it to pull off the 21-20 upset.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” Moore said. “It had been years since we'd beaten a team like Valley Christian, and that one-point win helped put us on the map. More importantly, it brought us closer together and made us realize, ‘Yes, we can do this.’”
'On the right path'
For all the promise surrounding Tracy, there's still one challenge standing in its way.
The TCAL.
In 2014, the Bulldogs went 10-4 and advanced to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game, knocking off top-60 Granite Bay in the semifinals for a victory that remained among the program's biggest until Valley Christian came along.
Even then, St. Mary's won the league championship, beginning what has become a streak of 11 consecutive titles and 57 straight league victories.
And the competition doesn't stop there.
Edison, which beat Tracy 38-19 last season, is averaging 38.8 points per game on offense. Lincoln has only gotten better, too.
“We understand how good everyone is,” Oh said. “The kids understand that. It comes down to preparation, and we're ready. In terms of effort, we're going to give everything we have.”
Talent isn't something the Bulldogs lack, either.
Brown has produced 734 total yards and 11 touchdowns with just one interception. Grisham has rushed for 631 yards and 10 scores.
Together, they've helped power an offense averaging 47.4 points per game.
Middle linebacker Case Borges has been equally impressive, totaling 59 tackles, three sacks and an interception.
He's part of a defense that has recorded 19 sacks, six interceptions, 21 pass deflections and five fumble recoveries.
So, does Tracy have what it takes to finally dethrone St. Mary's and claim the TCAL title?
“I don't know,” Oh said. “We'll see what happens, but I think we're definitely on the right path.”
Moore added, “I really think people should expect Tracy to come out on top this year."
This article originally appeared on The Record: The long road that made Tracy football one of San Joaquin County's best
