Hitting the road again, Oakdale’s varsity football team improved to 3-0 Thursday night as they knocked off East Union 35-27. The Mustangs took a 7-0 lead when Yahir Ayala rushed the ball in from 21 yards out with just seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. In the second quarter Oakdale built their lead to 14-0 when Jackson Holt connected with Jack Kjeldgaard from 18 yards away. East Union found their way onto the scoreboard when Luke Weaver (who threw for over 200 yards and four touchdowns) connected with Zelmar Vedder from 29 yards to cut the deficit in half. Oakdale answered quickly and Dion Suarez caught a touchdown pass from Holt with less than ten seconds remaining in the half.

The third quarter saw the teams exchange touchdowns. With 7:20 left in the third, East Union scored on a Bryan Howe eight-yard catch and run but the Lancers would miss the point after touchdown closing the gap to 20-13. Late in the quarter Zeke Saffar scored on a nine-yard rushing touchdown to go up 27-13. The slugfest would continue in the fourth quarter as the Lancers scored on a 47-yard catch and run by Kainoa Ontai with 10:39 remaining in the game. However, the Lancers would miss the two-point conversion resulting in a 26-19 deficit. Three minutes later Ayala found the end zone for the second time for Oakdale as he rushed in from 20 yards and also carried the ball in for the two-point conversion to give Oakdale a 35-19 advantage. East Union responded just as fast as they scored on a nine-yard Weaver to Dylan Lee connection with 6:32 remaining. The Lancers two-point conversion was successful but neither team would score again, resulting in the 35-27 final.

Oakdale completes their three-game road trip this Friday night, April 9 when they take on Manteca.

The junior varsity for Oakdale broke a late tie, getting a touchdown on the final play of the game to bring home the thrilling win.