The drought is over, but the season is not.

East Union isn’t satisfied with just getting its long-awaited postseason victory. The Lancers weren’t perfect, but the 51-7 outcome was reflective of how dominant they were against 12th-seeded Del Campo on Friday. They’ll travel to No. 4 Merced (7-3) next week for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV quarterfinals.

Friday’s win is the program’s first in postseason play since 1992.

“It’s cool, but we’re not really looking at that right now,” EU quarterback Luke Weaver said. “We’re looking at how we’re going to figure out next week and prepare in our practices leading up to Merced.”

Weaver was once again at the center of the fifth-seeded Lancers’ explosive spread offense, completing 19 of 27 passes for 307 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed 11 times for 76 yards and two TDs.

Dylan Lee was on the receiving end of the biggest play of the game, a 63-yard catch-and-run touchdown. The 6-foot-2 junior finished with 150 yards on five catches. Jacob Toste (four receptions, 76 yards) added two touchdown catches, while running backs David Flores (eight rushes, 58 yards) and Johntae Maggard (three rushes, 27 yards) each scored once. Kainoa Ontai contributed 66 yards on nine receptions.

“Our offensive line killed it,” Weaver said. “We got plays off easily because of them, my receivers made some fantastic plays and our running backs were running super hard.”

The Lancers (6-5) did have two turnovers and struggled with penalties. East Union had a chance to extend its lead late in the first half, but Weaver was picked off in the end zone by Stan Chambers. Weaver also mishandled a snap and lost the fumble on East Union’s first series in the second half. The lead was 35-7 at the intermission.

“Leading up to the half we were playing very sloppy, turning the ball over and making poor decisions,” East Union coach Mike Kuhnlenz said. “We just gotta put it all together, because next week Merced is going to play really, really good. If we play in the first half the way that we did tonight, it could get ugly for us. We have a lot to clean up. Obviously, very happy for the boys and we got the win, but it just gets harder from here.”

As good as his offense has been this season, the defense is deserving of some shine, as well. East Union held Del Campo (4-7), which has a 1,000-yard rusher in Logan Forssell, to minus 14 yards on the ground. Quarterback Terrence Ballard (11 of 32, 151 yards) was plagued by drops by his receivers and intercepted twice (Keanu Duenas, Ontai). Lee recorded the lone sack for East Union.

East Union also had a big play on special teams in the first quarter, as Adam Jimenez blocked a punt that set the Lancers’ up on the Del Campo 30. Flores tallied his 5-yard touchdown run two plays later, giving EU a 14-0 lead.

The Cougars of Fair Oaks needed a trick play for their only touchdown, taking advantage as East Union blitzed its free safety on fourth-and-19. Richard Johnson took the handoff on a sweep and hit a wide-open Chambers for a 35-yard score to make it 14-7 in the first quarter.

 It was otherwise a gem produced by defensive coordinator Nick Ortiz’s unit.

“People look at our offense and Luke Weaver and go, ‘Wow,’” Kuhnlenz said. “Offense is the fancy thing, I guess, but what gets overlooked is how good the guys on defense play. Hats off to Coach Ortiz for having them dialed in and to the boys for flying around and smacking.”

Senior defensive end Zane Salgado believes the defense can still get better.

“We haven’t showed out completely yet,” he said. “If we continue to do our jobs we can, we just have to keep working at it. We didn’t have a shutout tonight. We still have stuff to work on.”