Ripon and Hilmar went toe-to-toe for more than three quarters Friday, but a couple of non-calls led to a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that helped the visiting Yellowjackets pull away 33-21 in the Trans Valley League finale at Stouffer Field.

Both teams now await the Sac-Joaquin Section playoff seedings to be announced this weekend.

Ripon’s Tipeti Paini forced a fumble for teammate Josh Husband to recover inside the Yellowjackets 20-yard line with 9:32 left in the game, shifting momentum to the Indians (1-5 TVL, 5-5 overall).

Two plays later, Ripon quarterback Andrew Shaw (6 of 12 passing, 65 yards; 10 carries, 46 yards) scrambled and was rocked with an out-of-bounds hit, but no penalty was assessed. There was some chippiness after the play between the two teams, but no profanity, and a dead-ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was assessed to the Indians.

This gave Ripon fourth down and 23 yards to go from the 26-yard line, and Shaw fired a 22-yard completion to Matthew Gaines (three receptions, 46 yards), with Shaw being leveled on the play, causing the Indians bench to protest the second non-call concerning player safety in three plays. This resulted in the second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in those three plays, and instead of Hilmar (3-3, 5-5) taking possession on its own 4, the Yellowjackets were awarded first down at the 19. This led to an 11-play, 71-yard drive capped by Adam Branco’s 1-yard scoring plunge to ice the game for Hilmar.

“I will never blame things on the referees,” Indians coach Cole Williams said. “But there were definitely some concerns about protecting our quarterback on back-to-back plays that I was not happy with, but at the end of the day, we have to play better football.

“We have come a long way from where we have been. We saw a lot of growth with our guys, defensively making stops and forcing field goals. We have had a long road defensively coming into this week, and we responded well. We just had a few things not go our way; we did not convert a couple of things and had a couple of penalties in the wrong spots. Hilmar is a good team.”

Shaw tallied a pair of 2-yard touchdown runs and hit Evans with a 31-yard touchdown pass. Mason Buck recovered a muffed Hilmar punt. Matthew Scheffel and Jordan Becerra totaled six tackles apiece, Marco Arroyo five, Evans four and Xabriel Reyes three.

Cohen Felber was the workhorse for the Yellowjackets with 22 carries for 129 yards and three completions for 39 yards with touchdown runs of 3 and 7 yards. Blake Vitorino booted a pair of 40-yard field goals.

“Ripon is a great program,” Hilmar coach Frank Marques said. “Every time we play them, it’s a battle. It’s a great tradition we have had for a long time with them. We have a ton of respect for the Ripon program and their staff.”

“We are fortunate to get out of here with a win. They are a tough football team with a lot of pride, just like us.”