OAKDALE — Down by five points at halftime to Oakdale on Friday night, Manteca standout senior linebacker Kyrin Barajas knew just what his team needed.

“I told everyone to count to three, take a deep breath and smile,” Barajas said. “Then I reminded them that we needed to get back to the fundamentals, and make the plays we know how to make and pull out the win.”

It was all smiles in the second half for Barajas and the Buffaloes, as the Manteca defense pitched a shutout after the break and got big plays from the offense in a 40-26 victory to stay undefeated on the season and lock up a second straight outright Valley Oak League title.

“You know coming here it’s going to be a wild one, and this one lived up to it and more,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said, drenched in Gatorade. “We made some mistakes, had some things go against us, but I couldn’t be more proud of how this team battled back and accomplished another one of our goals.”

Manteca (6-0 VOL, 10-0 overall) came into Friday’s contest having cruised through its previous six contests, but found itself trailing 16-0 early in the second quarter after a pair of Mustang touchdown runs from Chase Lopez (13 carries, 59 yards) and Air Force commit Wes Burford (31 carries, 177 yards).

The Buffaloes struggled to run the ball early against a stout Mustangs front seven that seemed focused on stopping Manteca running back Nikko Juarez (10 carries, 106 yards). Juarez was finally able to break through in the second quarter, going 41 yards untouched to make it 16-6 Oakdale.

Manteca’s defense would make a big play on the ensuing possession, showing signs of what was to come in the second half. After great kick coverage saw Oakdale (5-1, 8-2) starting its drive deep in their its half, Xyloh Kuresa caught a tipped pass from Oakdale quarterback Grant Gardner and rumbled 6 yards for a touchdown to make it 16-14.

Burford would cap an 11-play drive with his second touchdown of the evening, this time from 25 yards out to put the Mustangs back up 24-14. Manteca would answer on the next possession, as quarterback Owen Gully (237 yards passing) found do-it-all receiver Quinn Martinez from 58 yards to cut the lead to 24-21.

A safety on a low long snap on fourth down for the Buffaloes would make it 26-14 at the intermission, capping a second quarter that saw both teams combine for 39 points.

Varnum knew that while his group was down, it wasn’t out.

“We’ve been a second half team all season long,” Varnum said. “Honestly, it’s a testament to the adjustments our coach staff is able to make and our kids’ ability to take those adjustments and change the course of the game.”

As they did for much of the night, Oakdale controlled the clock on the opening possession of the third quarter. With running back Richard Flores, the lightning to Burford’s thunder, sidelined, Oakdale leaned even more heavily on the senior fullback. The 16th play of the drive saw the Mustangs facing a fourth down and two from the Manteca 26 yard line. The Buffaloes needed a big play, and got it as senior linebacker Mathieu Evans brought down Burford on a sweep from the wildcat formation for a loss of 5 yards and a turnover on downs.

“The coaches preached to me all week long to keep my outside containment,” Evans said. “Our line did a great job getting pressure inside, so he had to bounce it outside, and I was just happy to be in the right spot to make a play to get us the ball back.”

Manteca wasted little time in capitalizing on the game changing stop by Evans. Two plays later Gully found Jaylin Harris (four catches, 96 yards) from 68 yards out to put Manteca up 27-26 with just 42 seconds to go in the third quarter.

“We worked all season for moments like that,” Jaylin Harris said. “Game on the line, I want to make the big play and make the most out of the opportunity that was given to me.”

Up for the first time in the game, the Buffaloes defense seemed to come alive even more on the next Mustangs possession. After a sack of Gardner by Kuresa, Evans got in free himself on fourth and 20 and brought down the Oakdale quarterback to give the ball back to Manteca.

Three plays later, Manteca found itself in third and 21. Desperately needing to not give the ball back to Burford and the Mustangs, Gully dropped back to pass and found Jayden Harris, twin brother of Jaylin, who caught the ball at the first down marker, evaded a defender and went 61 yards for a touchdown to put the Buffaloes up 33-26. The massive performances from both of the Harris brothers were underscored by the fact that Martinez left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

“We have such a talented group of receivers,” Gully said. “We knew with them focusing on Nikko, we were going to need to make plays in the passing game, and it’s just electric watching these guys work with the ball in their hands.”

Manteca sealed the league title with five minutes left in the fourth quarter when Juarez scored from 50 yards out for his second touchdown of the game to put Manteca up 40-26, capping a 19-0 scoring run to end the game.

Friday’s win all but locks Manteca in for the number one overall seed in the Sac Joaquin Section Division II playoffs that will kick off on Nov. 14.

“We’re just getting going,” Varnum said. “No one comes to school here to play 10 games, they come here to play 14-15 games, and we’ll go to work these next two weeks and be ready for whoever comes to our place.”