As the sun beat down inside The Corral this past weekend, all three levels of the Oakdale Mustangs football program took to the field. Oakdale welcomed visiting Tracy for a scrimmage in preparation before the teams hit the field this Friday night for the first preseason game of the 2018 campaign.

In the morning both the freshman and junior varsity Mustangs hit the field for their scrimmage against the Bulldogs and the varsity team stormed the field in the early afternoon. Although a scrimmage is considered a “friendly workout” the Mustangs took warmups very seriously as if it was a Friday night in late fall. They came out and did their regular season pregame stretches and warmups with high energy and enthusiasm.

Football fans in The Cowboy Capital have patiently waited since December for football to return and the wait is over. This Friday night, Aug. 17, Oakdale welcomes Sonora to town. The historic rivalry has spanned more than a century. The junior varsity opens the home opener Friday in The Corral at 5 p.m. with varsity to begin at approximately 7 p.m.

“We are excited to see what we have. We have worked hard this summer and now the time has come,” said junior varsity coach Matt Miranda. “We are a young team though and our defense seems to be ready.”

The new season will officially begin this Thursday night, on the road, when the freshmen travel up the hill to take on the Wildcats. Kickoff for the freshman game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10 with the JV and varsity at home on Friday.