Oakdale High football coach Trent Merzon paced the sideline anxiously before the start of the second half on Friday, Oct. 2, ultimately stepping up to a ball boy to offer a bold prediction as the Mustangs and Central Valley spaced out to prepare for the ensuing kickoff.“Don’t get so excited you drop the ball, but I think we might take this one to the house,” Merzon said.He was wrong — but he wasn’t that far off.Oakdale’s kickoff return to the 41-yard line set up Devin Brook’s 59-yard jaunt up the right sideline on the following snap. With the carry, Brooks and the Mustangs advanced to a 27-0 lead and ultimately a 35-7 victory over the host Hawks in the Valley Oak League opener.“We saw the way Central Valley reacted to that earlier in the game and we made some halftime adjustments on that particular play,” Merzon said. “As soon as they lined up I knew it was going to score.”Oakdale outplayed Central Valley with 435 offensive yards to Central Valley’s 216. Aside from a 78-yard touchdown run with Oakdale starters on the bench, the Mustangs held Central Valley to just over 3 yards a play.Central Valley’s normally productive running attack was simply unable to get the ground game going, especially in trap plays near the middle of Oakdale’s defensive front.“We wanted to take away the trap,” Merzon said. “We were not going to give it to them.”Oakdale struck first with 4:57 to play in the first quarter on a 13-yard burst by Tim House (12 carries, 68 yards). Brooks led the Mustangs in rushing with 196 yards on 16 carries while Blake Raham added six rushes for 77 yards and touchdown runs of 44 and 10 yards. Daniel Linder ran hard late in the contest with 66 of Oakdale’s 435 total rushing yards.Quarterback Robert Stout completed two of three passes for 46 yards. Both catches were made by A.C. Brown, who hauled in a 25-yard touchdown grab with 1:15 to play in the first half.Marcos Velasco had two big sacks for the Mustangs as well, including one to end the first half with Central Valley driving to Oakdale’s 19-yard line. GAME STATISTICS OAK CVFIRST DOWNS 15 6TOTAL YARDS 481 216RUSHING YARDS 435 144ATT-COM-INT 2-5-0 5-11-1PASSING YARDS 46 72
Mustangs Trample Hawks In Road Game
