Manteca showcased all of its weapons Friday in the lead-up to the big Week-10 showdown for the Valley Oak League championship.

Quarterback Owen Gully threw for a career-high 299 yards, and three of his four touchdowns passes were to Quinn Martinez in a 43-7 win over visiting Patterson.

The defense also did its thing, coming up with three turnovers — one resulting in a pick-six — while holding the second-leading rusher in the Sac-Joaquin Section to season-low totals.

The stage is now set for the reigning champion Buffaloes (5-0 VOL, 9-0 overall) to face off with their oldest rival, Oakdale (5-0, 8-1), for a winner-take-all on Halloween night.

“We wanted to open up a little bit, make sure they have lots of things to worry about. Pick your poison, you know?” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “Real proud of the offense, real proud of the line. It was an awesome performance overall.”

Gully tested Patterson’s secondary on the first play from scrimmage, connecting with Jaylin Harris for a 45-yard gain. His next four passes fell incomplete, but the senior eventually got into a groove. Gully ended up completing 14 of his 22 attempts and hit three-star receiver Martinez nine times for 180 yards.

Martinez flashed his special abilities in all three touchdowns plays. On the first, he managed to catch and maintain possession of the ball with cornerback Moises Ramirez — who was flagged for pass interference — all over him in the end zone. The 22-yard snag put the Buffs ahead for good 14-7 with 9:10 left in the second quarter.

Martinez turned a swing pass into a 37-yard dash for another touchdown late in the third quarter, using a sudden burst of speed to get past the defense. Then in the fourth, Martinez beat one-on-one coverage on the outside and ran under Gully’s deep heave for a 45-yard score that completed the hat trick.

Harris finished with three catches for 89 yards, and running back Nikko Juarez added 14 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown.

“These guys work their butts off, day in and day out,” Gully said. “Every time I give them the opportunity, they make the play when they can. Even if it’s a little 2-yard screen or a jump ball, they make the play, and they deserve that (opportunity), because they do the little things like block for the run game. I couldn’t ask for a better group of receivers, man.”

Gully also gave kudos to tight end Nate Slikker, who made the big play on a scramble drill that shifted momentum in Manteca’s favor for good at the end of the first half.

The Tigers (2-4, 3-7) came up empty-handed on a time-consuming drive when they missed a 36-yard field goal with 24.5 seconds left in the half.

That gave Manteca the ball on its own 20-yard line, and Juarez’s 23-yard run on the next play had the Buffs eyeing the end zone.

Gully then targeted Martinez downfield for a 31-yard gain, and suddenly, they were in striking distance from the Patterson 26-yard line with 3 seconds left.

On the final play of the half, Gully looked off his first read — a deep post up the middle, he said — and scrambled right after Patterson’s pass rush broke through. He spotted Slikker open for a short pass near the sideline, and the junior took it from there. Slikker evaded one defender and broke a tackle at the 5-yard line on his way to a touchdown with no time left.

It was an important for the Buffaloes, who went into halftime ahead 21-7 with Patterson starting the second half with possession.

“First off, I had to protect (the quarterback), because the play was supposed to go the other way,” Slikker said. “I looked back for a quick second and saw that Owen was in trouble, and I thought that I might as well go help and run out, see if I can do something. He threw the ball my way, and I just had to help my team out any way I could. We were able to put up another score on the board and get us momentum going into half.”

Slikker had an expanded role on defense, filling in at linebacker after standout Kyrin Barajas went down with an ankle injury midway through the opening period. That so happened to be the only defensive drive that Manteca gave up points — a 7-yard touchdown catch from Jace Johnson.

Manteca’s defense clamped down the rest of the way, holding Patterson running back Dasen Pettis to a season-low 75 yards and no touchdowns on 25 carries. Quarterback Caden Lozano, the Tigers’ second-leading rusher on the season, was limited to 22 yards on the ground and another 55 yards on 6-of-17 passing.

Jayden Harris highlighted the Manteca defense with two interceptions, the latter of which came in the end zone on the final play of the contest. Jeremiah Orona put the game away with his 35-yard interception return for a touchdown, which enforced the running clock.

“As a team, we pride ourselves on defense,” Slikker said. “The last couple of weeks, we gave up some extra scores that we didn’t want, so all week in practice we were defensive-minded and rallying to the ball. You saw that tonight, we played as a team. When one guy missed a tackle, there were three or four guys right there.”