Manteca is bound for the North Bay the next two weeks for back-to-back bouts against North Coast Section heavyweights.
The Buffaloes are first facing a star-studded cast at Cardinal Newman headed by Frank McManus, whose résumé includes an Open Division state championship with a national power.
Also tonight, Sierra and Lathrop continue their intra-district rivalry, while Ripon Christian celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its stadium against an old Southern Athletic League foe.
Here’s a closer look at Week 1 matchups for area teams:
Manteca (1-0) at Cardinal Newman (0-0): The Buffaloes have not shied away from squaring off with other storied programs outside the Central Valley.
Tonight, they’ll stampede into Santa Rosa to meet a 13-time NCS champion that also owns two state titles. Frank McManus now coaches the small-school titan after spending nearly two decades at SoCal juggernaut Mater Dei. He took over as Mater Dei head coach in 2023 and led the Monarchs to the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division championship and a mythical national crown.
He inherits a stacked Cardinals roster that returns several standout players, including sophomore quarterback Tino Retamoza and his top receivers, Jonah Bertoli and Zion Cargill.
Senior lineman Devon Bertoli anchors the Cardinals in the trenches. The 5-foot-10, 278-pounder is also an accomplished track and field athlete, as he placed sixth in the state shot put finals last spring.
Newman’s defense features 6-4, 285-pound Kahlio Vatoe and 6-3, 225-pound defensive end Everett Self. Vaetoe is a three-star rated defensive lineman with offers from USC and Cal.
The Cardinals are in the same league — Redwood Empire Conference — as Marin Catholic, the reigning champ. Marin Catholic will host Manteca next Saturday, Sept. 13 in an anticipated rematch. Last season, Marin Catholic overcame a late two-score deficit to stun the Buffaloes, 29-28. The Wildcats went on to stifle Cardinal Newman 13-3 to win their league title, only to lose to the Cardinals in the NCS Division I playoffs, 20-7.
Manteca, coming off a 29-0 thumping of Elk Grove, is currently ranked No. 13 in the MaxPreps NorCal Top 20, Cardinal Newman is 15th and Marin Catholic 19th.
Sierra (0-1) at Lathrop (1-0), East Union HS: Lathrop ended a three-game skid against the Timberwolves last year, 28-24, and went on to have its best season in program history.
Coach Ryan Teicheira, a Sierra graduate and top assistant for his alma mater’s 2015 state championship team, has the Spartans rolling after they stomped another rival in Mountain House, 43-16. Two-way star Pablo Peña rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns and compiled 15 tackles and a sack defensively.
While Lathrop shut out its season-opening opponent in the second half, Sierra was engaged in a wild back-and-forth with Enochs. Untimely turnovers were the difference in the T’wolves’ 61-55 defeat, but they had productive efforts from sophomores Jaysen Martinez (221 passing yards, two TDs; 60 rushing yards two TDs), Darien East (271 scrimmage yards, three TDs) and Ozias Siga (four tackles, interception).
Sierra leads the all-time series, 9-4.
East Union (1-0) at Freedom (0-0): After a thorough 64-12 thrashing of Kimball, the Lancers ride into unknown territory for a first-time meeting with Freedom of Oakley.
The Falcons are coached by alumnus Stephen Rodriguez, who goes into his second year at the helm with high hopes following a 1-9 campaign. In fact, Freedom is 7-32 since 2021.
Freedom returns a battle-tested senior class that lost to Division III-A state champion Vanden and Division I-AA state finalist Pittsburg last season. The versatile Tah’Kai Edwards spearheads a Falcons offense that brings back most of its top skill position players, while 5-11, 230-pound middle linebacker Wyatt Burnett leads a defense that will look to slow down EU’s balanced attack.
River Islands (0-1) at Delhi (0-1): River Islands took its lumps against an experienced Waterford team last week, and now the Riptide are back on the road to encounter a reigning Southern League co-champion.
Delhi, however, lost much of its 2024 talent to graduation and was battered by Bret Harte in its opener, 35-7. Bret Harte, a Mother Lode League rival of River Islands,’ is coming off an 0-9 season.
The Hawks were outgained 233-61 in offensive yardage, according to the Calaveras Enterprise. Bryan Martinez accounted for Delhi’s lone score, a 9-yard run in the first quarter. The Bullfrogs answered with 28 unanswered points.
Enochs (1-0) at Ripon (1-0): Expect more offense out of these teams in the rematch. Last year, the Indians were shutout for three quarters but came away with a 10-7 victory.
They combined to score 100 points in their 2025 season openers. While the Eagles soared past Sierra 61-55, Ripon ran wild in its 48-26 win over Golden Valley. Quarterback Andrew Shaw piloted the Indians’ balanced Gun-T offense, and Isaiah Maestas threw for a whopping 352 yards and six touchdowns for Enochs.
The Indians’ defense will be tested by 6-2 receiver Isaiah Maxey (204 yards), 6-3 receiver Anthony Brown and running back Kayden Brown (205 scrimmage yards).
Le Grand (1-0) at Ripon Christian (1-0): This reunion of old Southern League rivals was delayed after Le Grand had to bow out of the Week 1 encounter last year because of its involvement in a fight during a scrimmage.
Both teams are riding momentum going into the game, which will break the 7-7 deadlock in their all-time series.
Ripon Christian knocked off reigning Division VI-A champion Summerville 35-21, and Le Grand edged out Livingston 35-29 behind third-year quarterback Diego Martinez’s efficient effort. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 91 yards and three scores and rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown. Martinez was the quarterback for Le Grand’s 9-3 squad as a sophomore.
Martinez is flanked by freshman Thomas Benting in the backfield. Benting ground out 73 yards and totaled two touchdowns — one receiving. Blake Lua caught the other two TD passes.
