East Union considered last week’s game with Lathrop to be its “Super Bowl.”

After pulling off the mild upset 28-21, what do the Lancers make of their upcoming encounter with undefeated Sierra?

Mission Impossible, perhaps.

East Union head coach Willie Herrera figures outsiders will deem his team to be a long shot in the intra-city showdown, and that’s alright with him. Expect the Lancers (2-2 Valley Oak League, 3-4 overall) to put up a fight Friday night, as they remain mathematically in the hunt for a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth.

Sierra has won 10 straight against East Union and leads the all-time series, 14-5.

“Make no mistake about it, the coaching staff is not letting the guys forget that this game is extremely important to us,” Herrera said. “The goal is to win it.

“There probably aren’t a whole lot of people who expect us to win so we have to use that in our favor. We’re hoping that Sierra is taking us lightly and looking ahead at Manteca.”

But?

“I know they’re not,” Herrera continued. “Coach (Jeff) Harbison is too good of coach to let that happen.”

The Timberwolves (4-0, 7-0) will have their focus tested after their big 31-20 win over Oakdale, the team predicted to win the league title according to a media poll conducted by the Bulletin. It’s also homecoming week for Sierra, which has its anticipated Week-9 clash with Manteca on Halloween night.

Herrera is well aware of what his squad consisting of nine sophomore starters is up against. Sierra has vaulted up to the No. 4 spot in the Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Division II Bowl rankings and remains at No. 8 in the MaxPreps SJS rankings.

“Sierra is the real deal,” Herrera said. “They’re big, fast, strong, physical and they’re disciplined. They are definitely the strongest in the league as far as all three phases of the game. There aren’t a whole lot of weaknesses and their confidence is growing every week.”

Sierra running back Mark Paule Jr. recorded his fifth 200-yard game of the season last week, gashing Oakdale for 217 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing totals (1,329 yards, 27 TDs) place him among the state’s best.

As explosive as Sierra’s spread offense is, Herrera is especially impressed by its defense, led by linebacker Trevon McCray (47 tackles, 4.0 sacks, 5 forced fumbles).

“Me being a defensive guy, I love how they fly around and hit everything,” Herrera said.

East Union also has some confidence going in after winning two of its last three. Sophomore quarterback Jack Weaver threw three touchdown passes to Austin Miller against Lathrop. Miller finished with 171 yards on nine receptions.

“They’re excited to play kids they grew up with,” Herrera said. “They’re obviously playing the top dog in league right now, so they need to prepare way better than they did the week before. We’re trying to make the playoffs, but the reality is that the playoff run has started early for us.”

In other VOL action this Friday:



Weston Ranch (1-3, 2-5)

at Manteca (2-2, 5-2)

Manteca hasn’t won back-to-back games since winning all three of its pre-league contests. The Buffaloes have an opportunity to do so Friday while tuning up for their big game with first-place Sierra next week.

They throttled Kimball 55-7 last week and held the Jaguars to just 66 yards of offense. Quarterback Dakarai Charles threw for 115 yards, rushed for 85 and was in on three touchdowns. Manteca was able to get back on track on both sides of the ball after its 42-21 loss to Oakdale at Levi’s Stadium.

Weston Ranch came from behind to knock off Kimball 18-14 two weeks ago but was since clobbered by Central Catholic, 42-0.



Lathrop (1-3, 2-5) at

Central Catholic (3-1, 5-2)

The Spartans’ bid for a postseason berth may have slipped away with their Week 7 loss to East Union. Their next two opponents are among the VOL’s elite, Central Catholic and Oakdale

Cal-Hi Sports has Central Catholic as the top-ranked team in the small-school division. The Raiders are coming off shutout wins over East Union (52-0) and Weston Ranch (42-0) and haven’t given up points since a 17-14 loss to Sierra on Oct. 3.

Manteca is still the only team to score at least 20 points against CC’s stout defense. Central won that VOL opener, 29-28 in overtime.