The scoring in Friday night’s varsity football road game against Weston Ranch was fast and furious. Oakdale jumped on the Cougars within 20 seconds and never let up in the 59-18 road win. Cameron Cherry busted his way through the Cougars front line, and then their secondary for a 46-yard rushing score with 11:43 remaining in the first quarter to go up 7-0. Weston Ranch answered with a 62 yard pass connection to pull the Cougars within one after missing the point after at the 10:11 mark in the first quarter. Oakdale scored four more touchdowns in the first quarter to go up 33-6 by the end of the opening frame. Fullback Josh Jacobson scored on runs of 48 and 85 in the first quarter, and Cherry found the end zone for the second time in the quarter on a short three yard run. He also added a 31-yard scoring drive.
The Mustangs scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter when Bronson Harmon found his way across the goal line on a 54-yard rush with 10:57 left in the half and Oscar Ramos got in on the act with a one yard score with 3:24 left in the half. Oakdale went into the locker room up 46-6.
“It was a big first half. Weston Ranch is a talented and fast team. They jumped on us early but we kept grinding,” Mustangs head coach Trent Merzon said.
With a running clock to start the second half, Weston Ranch wasted little time and returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for the score making it 46-12. Oakdale answered with a long drive that was capped off by a Justin Jericoff two yard rushing touchdown extending the Mustangs lead to 52-12. In the fourth quarter Weston Ranch scored their third and final touchdown of the game on a 13-yard touchdown catch and run with 10:10 remaining in the game.
Oakdale’s scoring night came to an end on an Anthony Martinez two-yard rush with just under two minutes to play.
Although the team scored nearly 60 points on offense, the defense made adjustments after allowing the deep touchdown on the Cougars opening drive. Oakdale’s defense got to the quarterback five times, with sacks by Corey Hinojosa, Junior Rodin, Jon Singleton and Matt Kjeldgaard, who had multiple sacks. On special teams, Zach Campbell delivered heavy hits. Oakdale’s secondary came away with an interception as Makai Harris made an adjustment midair to come down with an interception in the red zone with 2:41 left in the first half to stall the Cougars drive.
“Coach wanted us to be ready. All week we worked on just being prepared,” Harris said. “The front line did a great job with applying pressure and forcing them (Weston Ranch) to throw the ball early.”
Levi Ichord recovered a fumble that was forced by Rodin in the third quarter to stop another Cougars drive in Mustang territory.
With the win Oakdale improved to 2-0 in the Valley Oak League and are 4-1 overall. Oakdale will host Manteca (4-1, 1-1) on Friday night, Oct. 6 with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Oakdale’s second Valley Oak League game was awarded to Oakdale via forfeit. The Weston Ranch Cougars did not have enough players to field a full roster for the Friday night showdown. Oakdale will now turn its attention to Manteca inside The Corral on Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
FRESHMEN
The young Mustang Ponies are playing with determination this season and defeated Weston Ranch 41-12 on Thursday evening inside The Corral. Oakdale will travel to take on Manteca Thursday night, Oct. 5 with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
