NEWMAN - For a second consecutive week, the Orestimba High School football team will be making the short trek to Westside rival Gustine High.

But the Warriors and Reds are not facing each other for a second consecutive week.

Orestimba (1-0), fresh off its 21-13 win over Gustine (0-1) in the Battle of the Chief game on Friday, returns to Gustine High School Stadium this Friday to play Grace Davis (1-0) for a non-league game. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

According to Orestimba head coach Austin Martins, the reason for this Friday’s game moved to Gustine’s stadium is because renovations on the new all-weather track at Warrior Stadium are not complete yet.

“We’re excited to get back over there and play there again,” Martins said. “Obviously, it’s a short drive. It will be a little bit different (but) we’ll have our Orestimba logos on the goal posts. It will be a little bit different and weird, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. We can play at Orestimba, we can play at Gustine, we can play at a dirt lot. Football is football. Just put the ball down and let’s play.”

Gustine plays at Riverbank, also in a non-league game, this Friday at 7 p.m.

The Warriors will be facing Grace Davis, out of Modesto, which posted a 43-28 win over El Capitan, out of Merced, in their regular-season opener on Friday. The Spartans jumped out to a 26-14 lead in the first quarter. The score remained the same entering halftime.

“Davis has a really good offense,” said Martins of the Spartans. “I really like what (Grace Davis head coach Trevor Mew) does over there at Davis, with the offense. He does a great job running that program.”

Grace Davis outscored El Capitan 17-14 in the second half to secure the win.

Orestimba will be playing back-to-back Western Athletic Conference teams in the preseason this and next week. 

The Warriors will host Livingston, which is also a member of the WAC, on Friday, Sept. 11. This Friday, Livingston will host Stevenson out of Pebble Beach in a non-conference game at the LHS Football Stadium.

Livingston (0-1) lost its season opener at home to McNair, out of Stockton, 34-14, also on Friday. The game was tied 14-all at halftime.

Martins said the program should know sometime in the middle of this week if the Livingston-Orestimba game will be played at Warrior Stadium or moved to GHS Stadium.

Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.