MODESTO — No Montell Bland?

No problem.

With its standout sophomore running back out with an ankle injury for Friday’s Valley’s Oak League opener against reigning champion Manteca, Central Catholic rode 6-foot-2, 200-pound Justin Rice to an epic 29-28 overtime win at David Patton Memorial Field.

Rice grinded out 129 yards on 22 rushes and accounted for all four of the Raiders’ touchdowns in this instant classic to kick off what is expected to be a week-to-week dogfight in the VOL. He, of course, was in on the deciding play — a plowing 2-point conversion run in the extra period. Just moments prior, Rice scored on first-and-goal from the 10, carrying a Manteca defender into the end zone with him for the final 7 yards.

“I don’t blame them (for going for 2),” Manteca coach Eric Reis said. “It’s like, ‘If we can (score) from 10 yards out then shoot we can do it from the 3.’

“You don’t get Bland so you have to give it to a creature like that,” Reis added. “How big is he? How strong ? And he’s only a junior — scary. He’s special and we saw that tonight.”

If his Buffaloes (0-1 VOL, 3-1 overall) learned one thing about themselves Friday night it’s that they have something special going for them, too. In this matchup of 2013 Sac-Joaquin Section champions — Manteca in Division III and Central Catholic in Division IV — the Buffaloes had to overcome early mistakes that led to a 14-0 deficit. The Raiders (1-0, 3-1) had little resistance in cashing in on their first three possessions, taking a 21-7 lead with 10:22 left in the second quarter after Rice’s 7-yard scamper.

The Manteca defense shut down Central’s varied attack for the rest of regulation and came up with a huge goal-line stand at its own 1 late in the third quarter.

Heralded Central Catholic junior quarterback Hunter Petlansky rushed for 54 yards but was limited through the air. He connected just six of his 16 passes for 75 yards and an interception (Mike Padilla) and had a string of six straight incompletions at one point.

“(Central Catholic) did a great job early on,” Reis said. “They did some flicking and shifting on us and it caught us off guard. We were not comfortable with what they were doing. The game was just happening so fast early on and I think it started slowing down a little bit for us.

“But you have to hand it to them. They had a good game plan that we had never seen them do. They had some creativity in what they were doing.”

It was a trademark bend-don’t-break effort from the Manteca defense, which came up with pivotal stops in a second half that Central Catholic had won in time of possession.

Lechi Nkwocha’s 1-yard plunge tied it at 21-21 with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter. The drive was keyed by a 26-yard scramble from quarterback Dakarai Charles and his well-placed 36-yard toss to Ronald Tijero (3 receptions, 58 yards).

Manteca momentarily lost its hard-earned momentum when Rice returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards from the 1. Central Catholic made it down to Manteca’s 12, but with no timeouts left had to settle for a 26-yard field goal attempt with 14 seconds remaining. Javaun Dunn blocked Bryce Wade’s kick to force overtime.

That Manteca played so well in the second half without one of its top two-way players makes it that much more impressive. Running back/linebacker Hector Soto limped off the field — and never returned — with an apparent leg injury following the first play from scrimmage in the second half. He piled up 106 yards on 10 attempts in the first half and even through a 35-yard TD pass to Luis Reyes.

 “Anytime you think we’d have no chance, boom, we’re making plays out of nowhere,” Reis said. “It showed some of the resolve from this team. We were on the absolute ropes at many points in the game.”

Manteca had the first possession in overtime, capped by a 1-yard run from Darrion Kitson (11 rushes, 62 yards, 2 TDs) on fourth down.

Minutes later, it was Central Catholic celebrating.

“You know what? If you wanna be the champ you gotta beat the champ,” Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa said. “That’s a great football team. Two great teams. It was a great game, it’s too bad somebody had to lose.”

The good news for Manteca and the rest of the VOL is that no champion has been crowned just yet. Anything can happen in the next six weeks with other perennial powers such as Oakdale and Sierra left for both teams to play.

“We’ll definitely get better from this,” Manteca center/linebacker and team captain Chase McKee said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t bounce back. We did the same thing last year; we lost one game early and got better from it. We didn’t lose up until that NorCal game and we just played our hearts out every week. We have to continue to play our hearts out for the rest of the season.”