It was the final preseason game of the 2026 campaign for the varsity football Mustangs. Oakdale High School hosted Irvine’s Crean Lutheran on Friday, Sept. 18 at The Corral. The visitors won the contest 38-21.
After opening up with a big win on the road against former Valley Oak League rival Sonora, Oakdale has ended the preseason with three consecutive losses to finish 1-3. They fell to Lincoln of Stockton, Escalon and then Crean Lutheran after defeating Sonora at the end of August. The Saints came in ranked at number 42 in the state; Oakdale was ranked at number 141.
On the opening drive of the game on Friday night, the Saints faced a fourth-and-2 from the Oakdale 36 and Eden Gamiz rushed his way for a 34-yard gain. The 15-play opening drive ended when Gamiz found the end zone on the next play to give the Saints a 7-0 lead with 6:36 left in the first quarter. Oakdale countered with a 10-play dive; however, they came up empty. With 1:09 remaining in the first quarter the Saints added to their lead when quarterback Caden Jones rushed for a 22-yard touchdown, but the team missed the point after making it 13-0.
In the second quarter, Oakdale drove to the Saints 39-yard line when Andres Ruiz rushed for a 10-yard gain on fourth-and-5 with 10:30 left in the half. Three plays later the Mustangs’ momentum stalled when Christian Amerine threw an interception to Evan Mack at the eight-yard line. Later in the quarter, the Mustangs got their first points of the night when Anthony Navarro scored on a six-yard reception from Amerine with 3:30 remaining in the half. The Saints responded just 26 seconds later when Braylen Ross scored on a 56-yard catch and run to out the visitors up, 20-7. The fast-paced play continued when Oakdale scored on a Navarro seven-yard rush to make it 20-14 with 1:32 left in the half. This would be the score going into halftime.
Oakdale came out of the locker room and took their first lead of the night when Navarro scored for the third time on a 34-yard reception from Amerine with 8:39 left in the third quarter to go up 21-20. Their lead would last for just over two minutes, however, as the Saints responded with 16-yard touchdown by Nathan Collins to go up 28-21. With 3:33 left in the third quarter, the Saints added to their lead on a 20-yard reception by Ross. The final points of the night came on a Saints’ 31-yard field goal with 4:10 left to play in the game.
“We needed a challenge like that. Our team played very well tonight against one of the best schools in the state of California. They are that good and we held our own. I am very proud of the effort that we put forward tonight,” said Mustangs coach Garrett Martin. “We know that we have an uphill battle when Valley Oak League play begins. We know what we have to do and what is in front of us.”
Amerine finished the game 7-for-12 for 154 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Navarro ran the ball 13 times for 40 yards and had a total of three touchdowns on the night. Oakdale’s leading rusher was Ruiz with nine carries for 90 yards.
Oakdale is scheduled to begin the regular Valley Oak League season schedule with a home game against Sierra this Friday night, Sept. 25. The Wolves are coming off an overtime win over Gregori in their preseason finale.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., following the junior varsity game.
Oakdale’s JV team defeated Elk Grove in a 34-14 contest on Sept. 18 and that completed a 3-1 preseason run for the JV squad.
