The 107th edition of the Manteca-Oakdale rivalry turned out to be as competitive as most have been over the decades.

That didn’t surprise coach Mark Varnum, whose Buffaloes held on for a 43-35 victory on homecoming night. They repelled a gritty and opportunistic Oakdale team that trailed 36-14 after three quarters.

The Mustangs (3-1 Valley Oak League, 4-4 overall) struck on the first play of the final period, a 74-yard catch-and-run from Dex Edwards II on third-and-11. Beau Kesterson then recovered an onside kick, and Edwards II found the end zone again on an 18-yard scamper to close Oakdale to within a score with still 9:35 remaining.

Nikko Juarez answered with the last of his five touchdowns of the night for Manteca (4-1, 6-3), but the Mustangs stuck around.

Two plays after William Brown VI had what would have been his second interception of the game called back to a penalty, Andres Ruiz strolled through the goal line uncontested to cap the final score with 2:17 to go.

Lucas Oberg attempted another onside kick, but this time, Ka’Ron Grisham was there to recover it. Manteca quarterback Brody Carabello’s first-down run of 10 yards secured the sixth straight win — and 10th in the last 11 meetings — against Oakdale, which still leads the all-time series, 53-50-4.

“We did not play our best game, but anytime you beat Oakdale it means something,” Varnum said. “We’ve been on a heck of a run against them lately, but I told the kids it was going to be a battle. We made some mental mistakes and there were some calls that bailed them out all night long, but I’m excited about this group because we still have our best football ahead of us.”

In most of its scoring drives, Oakdale was able to get out of third- and fourth-and long situations with some razzle-dazzle plays or penalties that went against the Manteca defense.

Ultimately, the Mustangs had no answer for Manteca’s balanced attack led by Juarez, who finished with 21 carries for 151 yards to go with an additional 39 yards on three catches. He was also a pest defensively, coming up with area-high 10th sack of the season to go with a tackle for loss and a pass break-up

“We talked about it in the offseason and said, ‘You know what? Who’s going to block that guy coming off the edge?’” Varnum said. “Actually, I owe him a steak dinner, because I think he’s leading the league in sacks right now.

“Nikko’s just a phenomenal athlete. We talked about all the legends, all the great ones who have balled out against Oakdale, and he did that tonight on both sides of the ball.”

Carabello accounted for the Buffs’ other touchdown, a 6-yard scamper with sophomore fullback EJ Johnson (six rushes, 47 yards; 17-yard catch) and Juarez serving as lead blockers.

Carabello ran for 77 yards on 14 attempts and worked efficiently in the passing game, buying time with his legs for a few of his big connections. He completed his first 11 passes and finished 17 of 19 for 178 yards, hitting Jaylin Harris (10 receptions, 93 yards), Jayden Harris (2-18) and D’Angelo Riego (1-11).

The Buffaloes piled up 457 yards off offense compared to Oakdale’s 324.

“We felt like we could just have anything we wanted,” Carabello said. “We knew were going to dominate up front, and we have receivers who are going to make plays. We just stuck to our game plan, and that worked for us.”

The only time Manteca didn’t score was at the end of each half.

The Buffaloes came up empty-handed on a 14-play drive that included a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Harris that was negated by a holding penalty. They still had a chance to over come that, as well as a sack from Logan Mata that went for an 11-yard loss, in the closing seconds.

On fourth-and-goal from the 8 and no timeouts left, Carabello got the snap off in time and scrambled to his left before flinging it high to the 6-foot-3 Jayden Harris in the back of the end zone, but the ball skipped off the fingertips of the receiver.

Manteca went into halftime leading, 22-14.

“I should have a put a better ball on him, and after watching film I was missing a couple other people that were open,” Carabello said. “Other than that, we played great offensively, and we couldn’t have asked for much more.”

Manteca’s defense did well to limit Oakdale running back Anthony Navarro (16 rushes, 57 yards, touchdown), who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, but Edwards II had a season-high 162 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns.

With its bye ahead, Manteca has an extra week to enjoy this big win while getting ready for its regular-season finale at East Union on Nov. 6. This was an especially important result for the Buffaloes, who are battling to remain in contention for a playoff berth in the Sac-Joaquin Section’s most loaded division.

“We’re just going to continue to work,” Juarez said. “We’re in playoff mode right now. It’s not just about (getting ready for) East Union. We’re ready to go. We have nothing else to do but work hard for playoffs.”