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Stampede Captures Super Bowl Championship
stampede
Members of the Oakdale Varsity Stampede youth football team came home from the CenCal playoffs with the Super Bowl trophy. Photo Contributed

After months of hard work, dedication and competition, the Oakdale Varsity Stampede youth football team ended their season hoisting the Super Bowl trophy.

This past Saturday, Turlock High School hosted the 2017 CenCal Youth Football Super Bowl. Representing the American Football Conference, the Oakdale Stampede took on the National Football Conference representative Merced Bears. Oakdale tamed the Bears 49-26.

The Stampede entered the game as the number two seed in the AFC varsity playoffs and defeated the Bulldogs 40-0 in the first round and then knocked off the top seeded Ceres Seahawks 16-6 two weeks ago. For Merced, they reached the Super Bowl by only surrendering a total of eight points in a pair of victories over two weeks.

The highly anticipated championship game was a seesaw battle between the two schools as Oakdale led 16-14 after the first quarter. The Bears jumped out to a 26-24 advantage late in the first half. This did not discourage the Stampede and the team scored a late touchdown to go up 32-26 at the break.

After another score, Oakdale put the final touches on the game with a 40-yard field goal by Kevin Camelins with 5:26 remaining in the game to go up 41-26.

“We are very proud of these boys,” said head coach Jason Rowe. “It was a great team effort to achieve our goal. They played hard and with class all year. It will be fun to watch them at the high school level.”

The varsity Stampede would like to thank the families, volunteers, and the community for their support throughout the season.