The Manteca Buffaloes used a methodical, punishing ground game on Thursday to roll to a 42-7 Valley Oak League freshman football win over host Lathrop at Bennie Gatto Field.

Manteca (4-1 overall, 2-0 VOL) scored six times, five of which came on the round.  James Thomas led the ground attack with eight carries for 67 yards with touchdown runs of 3 and 10 yards. Alex Baker put the exclamation point on the night with a 4-yard touchdown plunge in the game’s final minute and he gained 60 yards on 13 carries.

Gerson Gomez had a hand in two Buffaloes touchdowns – one on a 10-yard run and the other a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tydus Verhoeven. Gomez was 3 of 5 passing for 57 yards. Devyn Gonzales (seven carries, 61 yards) had the other Manteca score on a 4-yard run.

Will Maddox recovered a fumble for the Buffaloes and Joey Goodman tipped a pass into the hands of James Thomas for an interception. The Spartans were held to 9 yards rushing.

Late in the game Donald Garland scored for Lathrop (0-4, 0-1) when he took a short pass from Johnny McCuaig and went back against the grain for a 48-yard scoring play. McUaig finished 5 of 8 passing for 88 yards.

 

East Union 20, Kimball 15



The host Lancers scored twice following Jaguars turnovers and rushed for 233 yards at Dino Cunial Field.

 East Union scored on its opening drive via an 11-yard touchdown pass from Angel Sena to Deon Mackson. After a Kimball turnover to start the second quarter, Sena found Issac Huffman with a 5-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 halftime lead.

Patrick Shouland’s 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter put the Lancers ahead 20-7, but Kimball bounced back to score with 2:30 left to come within 20-15. The Jaguars thought they had recovered the ensuing onside kick, but it did not travel 10 yards before being touched by Kimball so East Union gained possession and ran out the clock.

Shouland led the balanced Lancers ground game with 66 yards followed by Miguel Lopez with 38 and Sena with 35. Shouland and Joseph Reynaga both had eight tackles and Huffman, Lopez and Isaiah Cormier each had four stops.



Sierra 63, Sonora 7

The Timberwolves gave the Wildcats a rather rude going-away-from-the-VOL present with 45 first-quarter points at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.

Marcos Castillo set the bar high for scoring efficiency, turning three carries into three touchdowns of 20, 42 and 54 yards totaling 116 yards, all in the first period. Cristopher Mortano-Monterroso returned the opening kickoff 73 yards for a touchdown and also in the first quarter Nashon Tamiano had a 79-yard touchdown run and SeuSeu Alofaituli had a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Sierra added three more touchdowns with a 6-yard run by Alofaituli, a 4-yard run by Darin Gusters and a 2-yard run by Malachai Knight. Second to Castillo’s 116 yards was Tamiano with two carries for 94 yards.