For the second straight year, the varsity Manteca Buffaloes football team earned the Valley Oak League championship … leaving Oakdale in second place. Their repeat came at the expense of the Mustangs on Halloween night, Oct. 31, inside The Corral. Manteca rallied in the second half for a 40-26 road win and ran the table in league play.
Two plays into their opening drive, Oakdale’s Richard Flores broke free for a 25-yard run, setting up a Chase Lopez 15-yard rushing touchdown that gave Oakdale an 8-0 advantage, following a successful two-point conversion, in the first quarter. Minutes later Oakdale’s Peyton Wallace intercepted a Manteca pass. That drive, however, stalled as Chase Lopez coughed up the ball at the Buffaloes’ two-yard line for a turnover. The quarter ended with the Mustangs up 8-0.
Flores, however, would suffer a high ankle sprain early in the second quarter and was unable to return; creating a tough void to fill on the offensive side of the ball.
Oakdale was able to increase its lead in that frame, though, as Wes Burford showed off both his strength and speed when it looked like he was wrapped up in the backfield but broke loose and through the Manteca defense for a 52-yard rushing touchdown (two-point conversion good) to go up 16-0. Manteca did not take long to respond as Nikko Juarez converted on a 41-yard rushing touchdown, but their two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful making it 16-6. Things went from bad to worse for Oakdale, though, as quarterback Grant Gardner’s pass attempt was tipped and intercepted by Xyloh Kuresa and the lineman took it to the house to make it a 16-14 ball game late in the half.
With 3:49 remaining in the half, Burford rushed in for his second score of the night when he went in from 25 yards out to extend the Mustangs lead to 24-14. Manteca answered right back when quarterback Owen Gully connected with Quinn Martinez for a 58-yard catch and run to trim the Mustangs lead down to 24-21. Minutes later the Buffaloes got set to punt but the ball fell into the end zone for a safety making it a 26-21 Oakdale advantage. The Mustangs took the five-point lead into the locker room.
The action slowed down in the third quarter; Oakdale had an 18-play drive that took over 10 minutes off the clock but came away empty. The Buffaloes took their first lead of the night when Gully connected with Jaylin Harris for a 68-yard touchdown to take a 27-26 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Gully and Jayden Harris continued to burn Oakdale, connecting on a 61-yard touchdown to go up 33-26. The final points came when Juarez scored his second touchdown of the night on a 50-yard rushing touchdown.
The Mustangs closed out VOL with a 5-1 mark for second place and went 8-2 overall. They now prepare for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 playoffs, granted the number two seed, hosting number seven Ponderosa on Friday night, Nov. 14 with a 7 p.m. kickoff at The Corral.
CROSS COUNTRY
It was the VOL Cross Country Championships, hosted at Mistlin Park in Ripon, Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Oakdale High School’s varsity girls won the Valley Oak League championship for the eighth year in a row, taking first place honors at the league finals.
Sophomore Addison Wylie was second overall in 18:07 for the 5k race and earned All-League honors; freshman Tenley Wylie was fifth, 19:15, also earning All-League honors. In eighth place was junior Taylor Reams, 19:30; senior Jordan Wylie was ninth, 20:07; and sophomore Kinsley Alves was 13th in 21:41.
The varsity boys took first place at the league meet and also earned the title of league champions, the fifth year in a row for the boys.
Senior Sean Muturi finished second in 16:11; junior Weston McGhee was third in 16:43; freshman Aden Cavanaugh took fourth, 17:14; and senior Mitchell Benning was fifth, 17:18. All four earned All-League honors. Senior Jesus Covarrubias was 10th in 17:43.
In the two-mile Frosh-Soph boys race, Oakdale finished second overall and earned the league championship for the season.
A trio of sophomores were in the top 10, paced by Roman Moreno, first, 10:57; Trevor Powell, fourth, 11:26; Daniel Anderson, sixth, 11:33. Freshman Ezekiel Perez was 10th overall in 11:53 and freshman Brayden Silva was 17th overall in 12:26.
“A very good day for Oakdale High Cross Country,” head coach Guy Fowler said of sweeping the season championships. “This was one of the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. Our runners performed very well.”
Next up will be the Sac-Joaquin Sub-Section Meet, being hosted Saturday, Nov. 8 at Frogtown, the Calaveras County Fairgrounds.
VOLLEYBALL
After playing to a 10-2 mark in Valley Oakdale League action and finishing in first place, the Oakdale varsity Lady Mustangs entered the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 volleyball playoffs as the number eight seed. They were matched up in the first round against number nine seed River Valley.
It was a five-set marathon match in the OHS gym on Tuesday, Oct. 28. The host squad fell to River Valley 18-25 in the first set, then took the second 25-23. After River Valley answered in the third, Oakdale falling 19-25 to the visitors, the host varsity girls took control and won set four 25-18, and ultimately held off River Valley in a 15-11 fifth set to close out the match with the 3-2 win.
That put Oakdale into the quarterfinals on Thursday, Oct. 30 and they had to travel to nearby Ripon to take on the number one seed Indians team. They fell in three straight, but battled hard in each set. Ripon swept to the 25-17, 25-20, 26-24 victory.
Oakdale finished the season with a 14-15 overall record.
Leader Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
