As reigning Sac-Joaquin Section Division II champion, Manteca packed its non-league schedule for this year with top-notch competition to help prepare itself for the challenging title defense to come.

After surging past Vista del Lago — which hasn’t lost since and is the No. 2 seed in Division IV — 42-35 in the opener, the Buffaloes (8-3) took on Granite Bay at home, St. Mary’s on the road and Rocklin in a Saturday showcase event.

They outlasted Granite Bay 15-0 in a defensive slugfest before getting blown out the next two weeks with their best player, running back Bryson Davis, sidelined after he tore ligaments in his left elbow at Vista del Lago.

Manteca has a chance to run through that gauntlet for a second time this season.

Seeded fourth, the Buffs again bashed their way past No. 5 Granite Bay last week 21-14, setting up another rematch with No. 1 St. Mary’s (10-1). They’ll get reacquainted at Sanguinetti Field in Stockton this Friday. No. 2 Rocklin (10-1) is in the other semifinal with No. 6 Del Oro (8-4), a Sierra Foothill League rival.

“We knew if we played more like we could and keep winning, we’d definitely run into them (St. Mary’s) in the playoffs,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “Here we are on the big stage, hoping for a much better result.”

St. Mary’s is in the postseason for a 21st straight year and had mostly campaigned in Division I. The Rams own three SJS championships, the most recent (2016) in Division I.

The Tri-City Athletic League champion has noted wins over Clovis West, Central Catholic and Bishop Amat with its lone loss coming against legendary NorCal program De La Salle, 24-10. In the playoffs, St. Mary’s had a first-round bye and is coming off a 38-0 throttling of Vacaville.

With Davis on the mend, Manteca struggled to keep pace with St. Mary’s in their Sept. 1 meeting.

The Rams dominated 44-7 with a balanced attack and stifling defense that limited the Buffs to 159 yards.

“We were still trying to figure out who we were offensively with Bryson out. We had some guys step up and do some things, and as the season progressed we’ve been able to get into our groove a little more.”

Harvard-committed safety Omari Gayles (67 tackles, two interceptions) stars on the St. Mary’s defense, while running back Asante Carter (817 rushing yards, 20 TDs), quarterback Samson Hunkin (119-of-185 passing, 1,941 yards, 23 TDs, five interceptions; 362 rushing yards, four TDs), 6-foot-4 receiver Cayden Ward (28 catches, 466 yards, seven TDs) and sophomore speedster Kenneth Moore III (48 catches, 808 yards, six TDs) lead the prolific spread attack.

Moore has 10 offers from NCAA Division I schools. His best game of the season was the non-league matchup with Manteca, as he erupted for 150 yards and two scores on eight receptions.  

“They have speed everywhere,” Varnum said. “They have it up front and in the secondary (on defense) and in the backfield and receivers (on offense). Their quarterback is a tremendous athlete in his own right. They have dudes everywhere, so we have to play sound football to try and slow them down. We want to control the pace of the game and make it more of a street fight than a track meet. Hopefully we can land some body blows and wear them down.”

Manteca has made strides since the back-to-back losses in early September. Davis is back and leaving defenses battered and bruised with his power-running style, while freshman RB Nikko Juarez and wide out Julian Moncada have emerged as speed threats.

“We got some heavy hitters on our schedule and we have seen some heavy hitters in the playoffs,” Varnum said. “We want to be where we are now, but we’re never satisfied with just getting there. Obviously, we want to defend our title. We feel we’re the champs until someone takes it from us, and we’ll do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. We’ll have our toughest test this week, obviously, but we’re not going to go down quietly.”