Thursday night the freshman Oakdale Ponies saddled up and headed to Merced to face El Capitan under the lights. Oakdale was not fazed by the road trip and dominated the home team 56-6. Picking up where he left off against Sonora, Zeke Saffar rumbled his way to another big game. The young tailback ripped off four touchdowns and nearly 200 yards as he scored from 75, 30, 25 and 10 yards out.

Devin Hackett also found the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. The passing attack was also on point as quarterback Jason Rawe tossed two touchdown passes on the evening. Rawe connected with Zach Alosiso from six yards away and an eight-yard pass to tight end Tyler Brown. The special teams also contributed with a 50-yard punt return by Noah Chelberg.

“It wasn’t our best performance but we will take the win. We are looking forward to getting back to work and preparing for our trip to Folsom,” head coach Rod Long said.

Oakdale travels to Folsom on Thursday night with a kickoff time of 5:30 p.m.

Friday night, the junior varsity team improved to 2-0 after shutting out El Capitan 40-0. This was the second consecutive shutout win of the young season for Oakdale.

“We had a few big plays that went our way,” Jaiden Williams said following the win.

Williams forced three turnovers including two interceptions for Oakdale.

Powering their way through the Gauchos defensive line were backs Leo Ayala and Cole Niemi. Ayala scored on a 59-yard first quarter touchdown run to get things going and Niemi crossed the goal line three times in the win.

“We just got physical. That’s what we want our identity to be. A rugged and physical group,” Niemi said.

The junior varsity will host Folsom on Friday night with kickoff scheduled for 5 p.m.