With its best player out with an injury, Manteca put together one of its most impressive non-league performances in recent history Friday night at Guss Schmiedt Field.

It was the defense that starred in this heavyweight slugfest against Granite Bay, which sought revenge after losing to these Buffaloes in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship game last year.

They battled to a scoreless first half in the rematch, but the Buffs bruised and battered the Grizzlies from the formidable Sierra Foothill League on their way to a 15-0 shutout victory.

 “When we do stuff right, we are a dangerous defense,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “Tonight, we did stuff right, and more importantly, we outhit them and out-physicaled them.”

He attributed many of the breakdowns from last week to youth and inexperience in the secondary. The Buffaloes (2-0) were able to overcome their struggles in pass defense at Vista del Lago thanks to Davis’ superhuman effort. The punishing 6-foot-1, 220-pound running back compiled 342 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-35 barnburner but it came at a cost, as he wound up tearing ligaments in an elbow.

Manteca looked to third-year senior Kaden MacDannald and two sophomores to fill the void. Jhadis Luckey led the second-half charge, finishing with 108 yards and his first varsity touchdown on 22 rushes. His 7-yard scoring scamper came on fourth-and-1 with 7:05 left in the game, virtually putting the game out of reach.

“I twisted my ankle going in for that touchdown and making a cut, but hey, it was all worth it,” said Luckey, who also cramped up in both calf muscles earlier in the second half. “I’m going to party in the locker room as soon as I go in then there.”

MacDannald ended with 40 yards on 11 carries, while Quinn Martinez contributed 30 yards on eight attempts.

Chris Chavez was the defensive standout, coming up with two turnovers. The junior defensive back intercepted a pass in the second quarter, then recovered a fumble forced by linebacker Ruben Moreno on Granite Bay’s final offensive play of the night.

“We set this schedule up for a reason,” Varnum said. “We wanted to challenge ourselves as a team and challenge our guys to step up. With Bryson going down, that just added another layer to that. Guys like Quinn and KP (MacDannald) and Luckey ran their butts off tonight. They showed that they can be the dude, too.

“I couldn’t be happier with the result, and obviously the defense, man, what an amazing performance by coach (Rick) James and ‘D-time’, man.”

Quarterback Garrison Reis broke the scoreless tie with a 1-yard run in the third quarter, capping a time-consuming 7-minute, 38-second drive for Manteca. The Buffaloes marched 66 yards on the opening series of the second half after being held to 28 yards for the entire first half.

They wound up outgaining the Grizzlies 195-119 on offensive yardage, limiting them to 31 in the second half.

Manteca clamped down Cal commit Carter Jackson in the second half after he showed some of his explosive ability in the first two quarters. He led Granite Bay with 49 yards (four in the second half) on seven carries. Sophomore sensation Isaiah Ene had just 24 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Lucas Gruia, starting in place of injured Nick Harris (ankle), was uncomfortable in the pocket for much of the night and completed 5 of 15 passes.

“It was two really good teams playing really good defense,” Granite Bay coach Joe Cattolico said. “Obviously, they kind of got us a little bit in the second half, and we didn’t necessarily have much of an answer for stopping their running game. Hats off to them, that’s what they do, and they do a really good job of it.”

It only got tougher for the Grizzlies (1-1) in the second half when their best defensive player, linebacker Frank Cusano, limped off the field with an apparent leg injury for the second time.

“That hurt us, and that hurts on both sides of the ball,” Cattolico said of the Washington State commit, who also plays fullback and tight end. “He’s a really good player, but obviously they’re missing a really good guy, too. Injuries are part of the game, and we just have to play a little better. We’re going back to the drawing board, and hopefully we can figure it out.”