East Union and Ripon venture into unfamiliar surroundings on Friday, while Manteca returns to action at home to face a team it has history with.

All three are in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

East Union (6-5) travels to Merced (7-3) in Division IV, and Ripon (7-4) heads north to Woodland where Pioneer (8-1) awaits the defending Division V champion for a Division V contest. Both local teams, seeded fifth, won in routs in the first round.

Manteca is coming off a much-needed bye. The reigning Division III champion meets Sacramento (9-2), which the Buffaloes have played twice in the last 10 years. Manteca steamrolled to a 49-6 win for the 2013 SJS Division III title, but the Dragons got even a year later in the quarterfinals 34-28 at Guss Schmiedt Field.

Manteca is looking to snap a three-game losing streak, its first since 2003, and has reinforcements. Standout running backs Blake Nichelson and Lyon Colon are back from ankle injuries after sitting out the Buffaloes’ 28-0 Week-10 loss at Oakdale. Also returning is sophomore middle linebacker Tommy Perea, who missed seven games with a knee injury.

Head coach Mark Varnum added that several players from the JV team, including leading rusher KP MacDannald, have been brought up to contribute.

“We just focused on us (during the bye week),” Varnum said. “It was a chance to get healthy and some young guys have stepped up. We’re a healthier team than we were a couple weeks ago. It has been a long month, and we’re looking forward to getting back out there and being us.”

His Buffs are preparing for another spread offense. They’ve already seen six others that implement the traditionally pass-first system, but none had a running back like Lamar Radcliffe. The physically imposing 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore is the leading rusher in the Section with 2,006 yards (8.5 per carry) and 23 touchdowns.

“He’s a beast,” Varnum said. “He’s a guy who once he gets momentum is going to be hard to stop. We want to make sure we hold the line of scrimmage and get to him quick before the legs are churning.”

Sac can keep defenses honest with its passing. Junior quarterback Naaman Branyan (2,004 yards, 24 TDs, seven interceptions) has a deep receiving corps led by Devin Stephens (23 receptions, 577 yards, 11 TDs) and 6-3 senior Lamont Johnson-Burrell (17-483-5).

“They have a couple slot receivers who are really quick,” Varmum said. “We have to make sure we’re disciplined and make sure the DBs (defensive backs) are in the right spots to make some plays.”

Sacramento finished as the third-place team in the Capital Athletic League with losses to Capital Christian (7-3) and Vista del Lago (7-3).  

Here’s a glance at the other quarterfinal contests:

DIVISION IV

East Union at Merced: The Lancers put together a complete, though sometimes-sloppy, effort last week in a 51-7 drubbing of Del Campo. It was the program’s first postseason victory since 1992.

Coach Mike Kuhnlenz said they’ll have to clean it up for their next opponent. East Union will again be locked in battle of spread offenses. Merced, Central California Conference runner-up, is led by third-year quarterback Sam Scheidt and 6-3 receivers Evahn Perez and Enoch Evans. The Bears displayed their explosive abilities in their last game, racking up 625 yards of offense en route to a 58-26 Week-10 throttling of rival Golden Valley.

Merced opened its season at Central Catholic, which had a 31-7 hafltime lead and held on for the 31-28 lead. East Union also gave the Valley Oak League champion reason for worry, leading 21-20 at halftime before coming up short, 38-27. Central Catholic is now the top seed in Division II.

A win for East Union likely gives it another shot at VOL rival Kimball, the No. 1 seed in the bracket.

DIVISION V

Ripon at Pioneer: After dropping its last two in Trans-Valley League play, Ripon got back on track with a 39-13 first-round win over Ceres.

The repercussion for losing those two games is felt this week, however. The Indians were in position to get a first-round bye and host for the quarterfinals, but they’ll instead make the 91-mile trek to Woodland. This is their first postseason showdown with Pioneer, which hasn’t won a playoff game since 2006.

The Patriots claimed a share of the Golden Empire League championship, losing only to co-champ Dixon, 13-7. Starring for them is running back Jack Carner (1,293 yards, 17 TDs), the GEL Offensive MVP as a sophomore last spring. Pioneer’s marquee win of the regular season came against rival Woodland (9-2), 24-14.