In the Valley Oak League regular season finale, the Manteca Buffaloes administered a lopsided 55-0 victory Friday over visiting Oakdale.

Manteca (4-1, 8-1) last beat the Mustangs by such a large margin back in 2005, when they scored a 34-7 victory.

Manteca Coach Mark Varnum was thrilled with his team’s overall performance, given their heart-breaking loss the week prior to league champion Central Catholic, the only blemish on their record.

“We wanted to answer back from that loss,” he said.

Oakdale (2-3, 6-4) was the unfortunate recipient of the onslaught.

“We got beat by a really talented team,” conceded Oakdale head coach Trent Merzon, with his team failing to get on the scoreboard. “Onto the playoffs.”

The visiting Mustangs provided an early push in the contest thanks to a 42-yard gain by Cameron Guthrie but they couldn’t turn it into any points.

Pinned down inside their own 10, the Buffalo defense reacted by turning back Oakdale. Ayden Marshall and Mason Gibson converged on the fourth-down stop.

From that point on, it was all Manteca.

After that initial stop, the Buffalo offense answered with a 77-yard score and Manteca all but put the game away in the second quarter by reaching the end zone four times.

Oakdale does continue on to the postseason; the Mustangs will get a home game Friday night, Nov. 4. The team drew the No. 7 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 playoffs and, with the top four teams getting a bye, the Mustangs will host in the first round. They will welcome No. 10 Roseville to The Corral for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

“Roseville is a good team,” Merzon noted. “D3 bracket is open, team that gets hot can win it.”

The bracket includes No. 1 Placer, followed by No. 2 Patterson, Grant, Christian Brothers, Merced, Vista del Lago, Oakdale, Woodcreek, Golden Valley, Roseville, Yuba City, and No. 12 Ceres rounding out the D3 teams.

Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.