Manteca head coach William Riddick got three key goal-to-go stops from his defense in the fourth quarter highlighted by a Samantha Lopez sack on the final play of the game to clinch a 13-6 victory over the Sierra High School Timberwolves Wednesday night at Guss Schmiedt Field.

“Man, I am so proud of these girls,” Riddick said. “The theme of the season so far has been adversity – these girls keep getting challenged and put in positions to rise to the occasion, and they keep doing it.”

The flag pull by Lopez sealed the win for Manteca (1-0, 6-2) after Sierra quarterback Tessa Zalunardo (91 yards passing, 47 yards rushing) led her team into the red zone before taking a timeout with just 5.1 seconds left in the game.

Like she had done all game, Zalunardo tried to buy time with her legs, but Lopez managed to pull her flag as the Manteca sideline erupted, propelling the Buffaloes to 1-0 in Valley Oak League play. Zalunardo was injured on the play and walked off a few moments later to an ovation from both sides.”

“Coach challenged us during that final timeout,” Lopez said. “He asked us what we were going to do to finish this thing off, and I knew I had to go out there and run her down. She’s a great player; I hope she is OK.”

Wednesday’s league opener was a rematch for the two clubs after Sierra (0-1, 5-5) fell 33-6 to the Buffaloes in tournament play back on Aug. 22.

“Credit to them; they made a ton of adjustments since the first time we played them,” Riddick said. “Luckily, we were able to do just enough offensively early on to give the defense enough to work with.”

Riddick’s offense played from behind after Zalunardo led a 13-play opening drive totaling 66 yards that was capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Emalina Latu (four catches, 35 yards) on fourth and goal.

“I think we knew coming into this game that the opportunities offensively were going to come on the ground,” Sierra coach Chris Zalunardo said. “That first drive was big and set the tone for us; we just weren’t able to sustain things from there.”

Led by senior signal caller Lily Dundas (172 yards passing), the Buffaloes came stampeding back with touchdown drives on their next two possessions. Dundas found Gabby Leon (two catches, 36 yards) from 10 yards out to cut into Sierra’s lead, 7-6. After the Manteca defense forced a three-and-out, Dundas and the offense got back to work, this time going 42 yards in three plays that ended in an eight-yard touchdown pass to Myah Hayter (three catches, 39 yards) to make it 13-7 and cap the scoring with 50 seconds left in the opening quarter.

“Lilly was really good early on in the game,” Riddick said. “She did a really good job spreading the ball around, and our receivers were making some plays for her out there. I think she took a couple of licks there in the second quarter that slowed her down a bit, but luckily by then, we had done enough.”

The majority of the second half saw each teams’ defense bend but not break before forcing turnovers and punts from the opposition. The Timberwolves moved the ball into the Buffaloes 10-yard line twice in the fourth quarter before the Manteca defense stood tall with big plays.

Jaelyn Rosas pulled Tessa Zalunardo’s flag at the 1 on fourth-and-goal from the 3, then a few minutes later, sophomore Kamari Williams came up with a huge fourth down play of her own, intercepting Zalunardo’s pass to stall yet another Sierra drive.

The interception from Williams would have been the defensive play of the game had Tessa Zalunardo and Sierra not battled back to get themselves within range of tying the game before Lopez’s sack ended the game.

“We’re going to try to keep this thing rolling,” Riddick said. “We know this is going to be a tough league grind, but the confidence that comes from a win like this is huge for our team.”

For Sierra, the focus is on healing and having short term memories.

“We’ve yet to play a game this season with a full squad,” Chris Zalunardo said. “We don’t have long to rest getting back at it tomorrow, but I know this team will keep battling while we wait for reinforcements to come.”

Both teams will get back at it tonight, as Manteca heads across town to take on East Union, while Sierra will look to get it going at home against Patterson.