Manteca High hasn’t had it easy since its 10-0 shellacking of Kimball in its Valley Oak League opener.

On Friday, the Buffaloes held off visiting Sonora 3-2 for their third straight one-goal victory. They also maintained their perfect start to the season, improving to 13-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Manteca led 3-0 by the 27th minute, but Sonora (1-1-2, 3-3-2) went down swinging.

“Sonora is one of those teams that’s not going to quit and roll over, and we talked about that,” Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg said. “When they scored their first goal they gained some confidence and it just spread. They outplayed us and did a great job of making it a game.

Manuel Nuno scored for Manteca in the fifth and 11th minutes with assists coming from Marcus Montano and Ricardo Marin, respectively. Nacho Valdovinos then converted off an assisted from Carlos Belmonte.

Cameron Armas put Sonora on board in the 31st minute and gave the Wildcats the momentum boost they needed. He struck again just two minutes into the second half.

“It was a tale of two completely different halves,” Coenenberg said. “For the first 30 minutes we were playing really well, dominating possession, moving the ball, switching the point of attack and finishing.”