SCORING SUMMARY
Manteca 7 15 13 0 – 35
Central Catholic 10 14 8 7 – 39
First quarter
M – Julian Moncada 65 pass from Garrison Reis (Matthew Kong kick), 11:44
C – T.P. Wentworth 1 run (Xavier Diep kick), 7:53
C – Diep 27 field goal (2:10)
Second quarter
C – Trace Hernandez 45 pass from Wentworth (Diep kick), 7:12
M – Bryson Davis 63 run (Kong kick), 6:11
C – Carter Meeks 17 run (Diep kick), 3:11
M – Davis 3 run (Reis run), 1:01
Third quarter
M – Nikko Juarez 57 run (kick fail), 7:09
M – Moncada 26 pass from Reis (Kong kick), 45.9
C – Brooklyn Cheek 51 pass from Wentworth (Wyatt Dragoo Pass from Wentworth), :00
Fourth quarter
C – Meeks 4 run (Diep kick), 5:02
MODESTO — Manteca came out swinging Friday night and scored quickly against host Central Catholic, but in the end the Buffaloes came up a few yards short of the end zone and lost 39-35 to the Raiders in Valley Oak League action at David Patton Field.
Carter Meeks scored his second touchdown of the night for the Raiders (4-0 VOL, 7-2 overall) on a 5-yard run with 5:02 left in the game to put them ahead for good. Central Catholic clinched at least a co-championship and is now 9-0 against Manteca since joining the VOL.
“They made some plays,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “They are a very good football team and they went and got some dudes that were not on the roster last year and they got some dudes that can make plays, and when that happens we can’t make mistakes.”
Manteca (3-1, 6-3) got the ball back following the Meeks score and needed to drive 81 yards for the game-winning score, but time ran out on the 5-yard line with a 5-yard pass from Garrison Reis (5 of 6, 141 yards, two touchdowns, interception) to K.P. MacDannald as time expired.
“Last year it came down to the end, but it didn’t come down to the end like this,” Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa said. “That was a great effort by both teams.
“We didn’t play our best game in the first half but we fought back. Holy mackerel, what a game.”
The Buffaloes stunned everyone in the entire stadium when on the first play Reis connected with Julian Moncada (three receptions, 114 yards, two touchdowns) for a 65-yard touchdown pass.
“We knew we had to take some shots to get some momentum,” Varnum said. “We took a shot and executed great.
Garrison (Reis) threw a great ball and JuJu (Moncada) had a heck of a night. Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep that momentum and made some mistakes, but we came out swinging and we were swinging to the very end.”
A great defensive stop led to Manteca’s final score of the night on a 26-yard pass from Reis to Moncada. With 4:18 left in the third period, Thomas Perea and Joshua Mellion stuffed the Raiders on fourth and less than a yard. Moncada scored less than 4 minutes later.
As usual, Bryson Davis was the workhorse for the Buffaloes, gaining 198 yards on 25 carries with scoring runs of 3 and 63 yards, both in the second period. Nikko Juarez (four carries, 66 yards) added a 57-yard touchdown run.
T.P. Wentworth came up big for Central Catholic, going 11 of 16 passing for 197 yards with a 1-yard touchdown plunge and two touchdown passes.
Manteca travels to the Corral next Friday to wrap up VOL play against Oakdale at 7 p.m.
