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Oakdale Knocks Out Kimball In VOL Play
Friday Football
defense
Hard hitting Robby Bagley (7) knocks the ball out of the receivers hands on Friday night. Oakdale recovered the fumble. DENNIS D. CRUZ/The Leader

 

Friday night, Oct. 2, the Oakdale Mustangs football team found themselves in unfamiliar territory: away from The Corral. In the team’s first road game of the 2015 season, Oakdale went into Tracy and defeated Kimball 38-7.

The Mustangs (5-0 overall, 2-0 Valley Oak League) and Jaguars (1-4, 0-2) exchanged defensive blows throughout the first quarter. Oakdale’s senior fullback Brad Aquino scored the only touchdown of the first quarter on a 22-yard burst down the sidelines to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead with 4:42 left in the opening quarter. Aquino doubled the Mustangs lead when he powered his way past the Jaguars defensive line from a yard out to further the lead to 14-0 with 6:36 left in the half. Aquino finished the night with 14 carries for 95 yards. The sure handed fullback also caught a pass for 18 yards.

Last week the Mustangs were led by an impressive passing game from senior quarterback Adam Olsen. However, Olsen struggled under the Friday night lights this week, as he went 3-for-10 for a total of 60 yards in the air. Olsen’s fifth pass attempt was intercepted by speedy Jaguar cornerback Joshua Simien, who returned it 52 yards the other way for the Jaguars only score of the night with 4:06 left in the half.

Up by seven, the Mustangs continued their aggressive run attack. Bobby DePuy displayed his speed in front of the Mustang faithful, who traveled and packed the visitor’s side bleachers, when DePuy outran the Jags defense on an 11-yard touchdown run with 2:06 left to play in the first half. Thirty-two seconds later Oakdale’s defense opened the game up as Anthony Garcia recovered a Jaguar fumble and took it back to the house from 26 yards out to give Oakdale a 28-7 lead. Oakdale’s defense combined for three sacks, two fumbles and a touchdown.

Midway through the third quarter, Mustangs kicker Lane Trapp connected on a 34-yard field goal to put Oakdale up 31-7 with 5:59 left in the third. The Mustangs ground attack and scoring frenzy was capped off by a Wes Leijten one-yard touchdown plunge with 10:43 left in the fourth quarter.

“We ran the ball well; a lot of kids carried the ball well for us tonight. We had a few penalties though, so that is something we need to look at this week. I think they prepared for the passing game, and that opened up our rushing attack,” said Mustangs head coach Trent Merzon.

Oakdale returns to The Corral on Friday, Oct. 9 as the Mustangs host Lathrop (3-2, 1-1) for Homecoming 2015.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

The Colts improved to 2-0 in league play as they earned a 28-6 road win over Kimball. Oakdale’s special teams got things rolling as the team recovered a muffed opening kickoff at midfield to start the game. Thirteen seconds into the game, Oakdale got on the board as Joshua Jacobson rushed the ball 50 yards on the first play from scrimmage to take an early 7-0 lead. Oakdale never looked back as the team opened up a 28-0 lead that lasted over 38 minutes until Kimball finally got on the board with a five-yard touchdown with 1:04 left in regulation.

“Our game plan was to come out here and grind the clock, we established that the first half, and then Kimball kind of changed their defense on us and forced us to throw the ball a little bit more. It was our first road game of the season and it showed a little bit tonight,” said Colts head coach Matt Miranda.