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Defensive Effort Leads Oakdale To Gridiron Victory
McDonald 11-15
Utilizing the stiff arm to keep the Merced defender at bay, Oakdale’s Gabe McDonald looks to make some headway up the field in Friday night quarterfinal playoff action. He scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Jeff Kettering/The Leader

While defense was key, it was also an offensive surge in a 28-point third quarter that helped propel Oakdale to a 56-35 home win over Merced. Friday night, Nov. 10 the Mustangs hosted the Bears in the 2023 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs, in the Division 3 quarterfinals. Oakdale trailed the Bears 28-21 at halftime but the Mustangs outscored the Bears 28-0 in the third quarter to thrill the hometown crowd at The Corral and earn the right to keep playing for another week.

The high scoring battle began when Merced took a 7-0 lead with 9:38 left in the opening quarter on a 38-yard reception by Jeremy Garcia from quarterback Quintell Dupree. Less than four minutes later, the Mustangs tied the game at 7 on a Joseph Delte 16-yard reception from Tommy Chance. Oakdale took their first lead of the game on a three-yard rushing touchdown by Wes Burford with 2:34 remaining in the first quarter. Merced tied the game with less than a minute left in the first quarter on a Chase Smith seven-yard touchdown.

Burford scored on a two-yard touchdown with 8:04 left in the half to put the host Mustangs up 21-14. However, the Bears scored two more touchdowns in the final six minutes. With 5:58 remaining in the half, Julian Higareda scored on a 14-yard reception from Dupree. With 3:03 remaining in the half, Tommy Chance was hit just as he released the ball and Merced’s Anthony Mendoza intercepted the ball and returned it 60 yards for the touchdown.

The third quarter was dominated by Oakdale, however, as Gabe McDonald scored two touchdowns. His first touchdown came on a 53-yard rush with 10:04 left in the third quarter. He then scored less than two minutes later a two-yard touchdown with 8:20 left. This touchdown was set up by a Jackson Gilton interception. Special teams got in on the act as Gage Ginger blocked a punt, the ball was scooped by Gilton and returned for a score from three yards out. This gave the Mustangs a 42-28 lead late in the third quarter. Rafael Rios-Avila intercepted the ball for Oakdale at the Merced 18 with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter, resulting in a Delte 14-yard touchdown to extend the Mustangs lead to 49-28. Rios-Avila got his second interception early in the fourth quarter and the Mustangs scored on a Burford 17-yard rush to go up 56-28. Merced scored the final points of the game on an 11-yard reception by Antonio Aaron with 8:26 left in regulation.

Oakdale’s defense had a total of eight turnovers, seven interceptions and a fumble recovery. Gilton had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Chance, who played both quarterback and safety, had an interception, Rios-Avila had a pair of interceptions, Ginger had an interception and Jacob Kindrick also had an interception for the Mustangs.

“The defense did a great job coming up with timely turnovers, which is something we have not been able to do a ton this year,” said Mustangs coach Garrett Martin following the game.

With Oakdale’s victory in the Nov. 10 quarterfinal, the team will now face the top seed in the bracket, Grant, traveling to Sacramento for the Nov. 17 contest.

Chance 11-15
Quarterback Tommy Chance looks for a receiver downfield during Friday night quarterfinal action in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The host Mustangs emerged with a 56-35 victory in the Division 3 contest against Merced. Jeff Kettering/The Leader
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After coming down with the reception for a touchdown, Mustang Joseph Delte signals the catch while on his back in the end zone, covered by a Merced player who was unable to break up the play. Jeff Kettering/The Leader