A battle of Valley Oak League unbeaten squads took the spotlight on Friday, night, Oct. 16 when East Union hosted Oakdale in a junior varsity showdown. Oakdale went into Dino Cunial Field and was not intimidated by the Lancers, as Oakdale knocked off the previously unbeaten Lancers 28-0.
Oakdale’s (5-0) defense made a statement early and often throughout the night including an interception by Cameron Cherry at the East Union 45 yard line with 3:58 left in the first quarter. The Colts offense cashed in the turnover when sophomore Corey Hinojosa turned on the burners and out ran the entire Lancer defense for a 28-yard touchdown run with 2:42 left in the quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the Colts recovered a fumble by East Union to regain possession. Hinojosa made the Lancers defense pay dearly when he found the end zone for the second time, this time on a 19-yard dash up the sidelines to give Oakdale a 14-0 lead with 1:05 left in the quarter. Oakdale’s defense put the brakes on an East Union drive late in the opening half when Kyle Seese sacked the Lancers quarterback as time expired.
“We knew they wanted to come out and change momentum over to their side in the second half, so our goal was to grind out the clock. This is a physical team and we went toe-to-toe with them,” Oakdale JV head coach Matt Miranda said of the team’s second half adjustments.
Seese shut down the East Union offense early in the second half as he found his way to the quarterback for a sack on the first play of the third quarter for a loss of 17 yards. Zach Campbell scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 26-yard run to give Oakdale a 21-0 lead with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
The Colts capped off the game with another big defensive play. Campbell blitzed the quarterback forcing him to roll to his right, Campbell wrapped the quarterback’s legs, prompting him to throw Cherry’s way. Cherry pulled down his second interception of the night and took off on a thrilling 90-yard interception return for a touchdown with 8:05 left in the fourth quarter.
“That is always nice to have a defensive score but (Zach) Campbell applied the pressure on the quarterback and wrapped his legs forcing the bad throw and that was impressive to me too,” Miranda said.
FRESHMEN
The Oakdale Ponies hosted the East Union Lancers on Thursday night, Oct. 14 at The Corral. The Lancers shut out the Ponies 55-0 to remain unbeaten in league play. Oakdale will host Weston Ranch on Thursday, Oct. 22. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
