The long wait for football season is over.
On Thursday night, Aug. 16 the freshman team loaded up the bus and made the trip up the hill to take on Sonora while the junior varsity team stayed home and hosted the Wildcats on Friday night. Both teams were successful as the Mustang freshmen won 42-12 and the JV team won 21-6.
In the road win for the freshmen, it was a heavy dose of rushing the ball and dominant defense. In the blowout win, Oakdale had two 100-yard rushers. Jose Torres and Yahir Ayala powered the backfield as Torres had three touchdowns and rushed for 117 yards on 13 carries. He scored from 1, 18 and 12 yards out. Ayala carried the ball just five times but made the most of his carries. He ripped off a 53 yard run on the team’s opening drive and finished with 111 yards and a touchdown in the win. Dalton Vargas rushed for a six-yard touchdown in the third quarter to help put away the game.
Quarterback Omar Baez completed two of his three passes for a total of 63 yards and a touchdown. He only played in the first half of the game but connected with Jack Kjeldgaard both times. Oakdale led 35-0 at the half.
“Our defense shut them out in the first half, it was a great performance by our defense the entire game,” said head coach Rodney Long.
Sonora’s program only had 18 total players suit up for the showdown. This week the freshmen have a bye but return to action Thursday night, Aug. 30 to take on El Capitan at 6 p.m.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The following night the junior varsity team took the field in front of a large crowd inside The Corral. Sonora struck first when Rylan Matysock scored from four yards out in the first quarter; it was the only score of the first quarter and the only trip to the end zone for the Wildcats. Oakdale’s defense was led by Gage McPhee, Caden Frazee, Noah Chelberg and Derek Vermeulen. The defense shut out the Wildcats the rest of the way and Vermeulen scored on a pick-six with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game.
On the offensive side of the ball, Rylan Kerr found the end zone twice as he scored from 72 and 76 yards out in the second quarter to give Oakdale a 14-6 halftime advantage. This Friday, Aug. 24 the team travels to San Jose to take on Archbishop Mitty with kickoff scheduled for 5 p.m.
