Friday night, Nov. 1 was the final varsity football game of the regular season for Oakdale High School. The Mustangs went into Manteca to take on the first place Buffaloes in their newly revamped stadium. Complete with large video scoreboard, fresh grass, track and lights, it was an experience and a happening. When the final horn sounded, however, it was Manteca celebrating on the field with a 36-24 victory.
Oakdale faced a fourth-and-5 from the Manteca 19 with 5:35 left in the first quarter but Manteca jumped offsides to give Oakdale a fourth-and-1 from the 14. The Mustangs picked up the first down on a Wes Burford three-yard gain. Three plays later Isiah White sacked Mustangs quarterback Grant Gardner. This set up a 33-yard field goal by Dylan Krause with 2:58 left in the opening quarter, as the visiting Mustangs were able to go up 3-0.
The first play of the second quarter saw Manteca get on the board when quarterback Owen Gully found his receiver Landon Baptist for a 45-yard touchdown, giving Manteca a 7-3 lead. Later in the half, Manteca expanded their lead on a Nikko Juarez three-yard touchdown run to go up 14-3 with 1:27 remaining. Oakdale pieced together a long drive to finish the half. On fourth-and-10 from the Manteca 27, it was a play that saw Gardner pitch the ball to Chase Lopez, Lopez was hit as he threw it and it was intercepted but a flag came in to negate the play as it was ruled roughing the passer. Oakdale then scored as the half came to a close on a Burford 23-yard catch and run from Gardner for the score. Oakdale trailed 14-9 entering the second half.
A fast start to the second half for Oakdale as they scored just 1:12 into the third quarter on a 43-yard rushing touchdown by Burford to go up 17-14. Manteca did not fold and answered with a pair of touchdowns of their own in the third quarter. A five-yard rushing score by Juarez and a 25-yard rushing score by Maava Tialavea gave the Buffaloes a 29-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Manteca put the contest out of reach when Kyrin Barajas busted through the Mustangs defense and into the end zone from a dozen yards out to go up 36-17 with 4:11 remaining in the game. Never quitting, the Mustangs ended the game on a Lopez three-yard rushing touchdown with 18 seconds left to make it 36-24.
With the win, Manteca won the Valley Oak League title outright. Oakdale finished third in the VOL with a 4-2 league mark and went 7-3 overall.
The Mustangs earned a first round bye in the playoffs, slated as the top seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 bracket. Oakdale will host a quarterfinal game in The Corral on Friday, Nov. 15 and will play the winner of the opening round Nov. 8 contest between No. 8 Woodcreek and No. 9 Armijo.
