OAKDALE – The stage is set.

The Oakdale football team will play for a share of the Valley Oak League championship next week, an opportunity solidified by a 56-0 beatdown of Lathrop Friday.

Brock Whiting led the onslaught with a pair of first-half rushing touchdowns, as the Mustangs remained in a dead-heat with Sierra and Central Catholic in the league standings.

All three are 5-1.

Sierra can clinch a share of the title with a win at Weston Ranch. The other half of that prize will be decided at The Corral when Oakdale (8-1) hosts the Raiders (7-2).

Chances are the final score won’t be quite as convincing as Friday’s tune-up.

Nicolas Ruiz returned a fumble 20 yards to open the scoring. From there, the touchdowns streamed in.

Whiting had scoring runs of 1 and 4 yards. Full back Frankie Trent rumbled in from 4 yards, and Adam Olsen hooked up with Bobby Deput on a 38-yard pass to make it 35-0 at the half.

CJ Domingo, Robby Bagley and Brad Aquino rounded out the scoring with second-half touchdowns. Domingo scored on a 2-yard plunge, Bagley recovered a fumble in the end zone 14 seconds later, and Aquino zipped in from 38 yards out.

Lathrop slipped to 1-5 in VOL play and 2-7 overall.

The Spartans close the season at Kimball next Friday.