In their final road game of the regular season, Oakdale defeated Sierra 69-14 on Friday night, Oct. 24. Offense, defense and special teams contributed in the landslide victory.
Oakdale got things rolling with their defense, as Wes Burford intercepted Sierra’s Jaysen Martinez at the Sierra 32 on the opening drive of the game. Two plays later, Chase Lopez rushed it in for a 13-yard touchdown with 9:03 left in the first quarter. Oakdale added to their lead when Burford scored on an 11-yard rushing touchdown with 2:32 to play in the first quarter to go up 14-0.
The second quarter saw the Mustangs hang 14 more points on the scoreboard in the first 90 seconds. The sequence featured an explosive 90-yard punt return by Richard Flores for a touchdown and then, a fumble by the Wolves on the ensuing kickoff recovered b Oakdale resulted in a two-yard receiving touchdown by Ricky Torrez with 10:34 remaining in the half for a 28-0 advantage.
Sierra’s scoreless evening came to an end when Darien East scored on a two-yard rushing touchdown to make it 28-8 with 4:44 left in the half. The Mustangs answered with a Burford 27-yard rushing score with 2:32 left in the half to go up 34-8. Sierra marched down the field and appeared to be cutting into the deficit but Martinez was intercepted in the end zone by Peyton Wallace, who returned it 84 yards to the 16-yard line with 12 seconds remaining in the first half. Lopez cashed in on the turnover and scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give Oakdale a 41-8 lead that they took into halftime.
On the opening drive of the second half, Burford scored on a 50-yard rushing touchdown to extend the advantage to 48-8 with 11:21 to play in the third quarter. The Mustangs outscored the home team 21-0 in the third quarter as Flores scored on a 28-yard rushing touchdown and Lopez scored on a two-yard run before the quarter was through to go up 62-8.
With a running clock in the fourth quarter, Sierra scored when East found the end zone on a one-yard carry with eight minutes remaining to make it 62-14. The final points of the game came when Anthony Navarro broke free for a 50-yard rushing touchdown for the Mustangs, extending the margin of victory to 69-14 over the host Sierra squad.
Oakdale’s junior varsity shut out Sierra 36-0 and the freshman team lost 67-0.
The varsity Mustang rushing attack was led by Burford who had 136 rushing yards on nine carries. Lopez had 108 rushing yards on 10 carries. The defense was led by Jesse Meza, Caden Adams and Chace Baron.
“We (the defense) did what we had to do tonight, but know that we need to play more tight next week against Manteca. But as far as tonight it was enough,” said Meza, who served as a team captain.
This Friday night, Oct. 31, Oakdale hosts Manteca in the regular season finale. Oakdale has won eight straight and are 5-0 in the Valley Oak League, 8-1 overall. The Buffaloes, also 5-0 in the VOL, are undefeated this season at 9-0 and are coming off a 43-7 home win over Patterson.
Kickoff for this showdown at The Corral is scheduled for 7 p.m.
