Manteca’s Lily Dundas threw five touchdown passes and the Buffaloes defense bent but it did not break in a 32-4 win at Sierra in Valley Oak League flag football action at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
“I felt really good,” Dundas said. “I felt like this is the best we have played all year. I thought we came out strong and finished strong.
Dundas finished 17 of 20 for 252 yards with an interception, and her favorite target was Sari Lawson with 10 receptions for 201 yards including touchdown catches of 12, 14, 40 and 58 yards.
“I felt confident in my QB,” Lawson said. “I am really proud of my team. We came out with energy and I told the girls our key word for this game was energy.”
Late in the third quarter, Gabby Leon grabbed a tipped pass from Dundas and raced 16 yards to give Manteca (6-2 VOL, 11-6 overall) a 19-6 lead.
“It was great,” Leon said. “These games against crosstown rivals are the best. I’m glad we were able to show the city of Manteca what we are about and how we play flag football.”
Lawson tallied 11 flag pulls including a key fourth-down stop deep in Buffaloes territory. Myah Hatter added seven pulls, Jaelyn Rosas six, Jaqueline Lopez four with three each for Raniya Nelson and Avina Harrington. Leon snagged an interception.
Through 18 games, Manteca has given up less than 10 points per contest.
“One thing about our defense is that we don’t allow a lot of points,” Buffaloes coach William Riddick said. “We do give up yardage occasionally, but I was proud that when we had to make big stops our girls were up to the task.”
Twice early on the Timberwolves (6-3, 11-7) got inside the Manteca 2-yard line and twice the Buffaloes stopped them. However, shortly after each of those stops Sierra forced a safety, on a pull by Stella Vaughan and the other on a dropped pitch in the end zone. Emalina Latu grabbed an interception for the Timberwolves.
“We had a hard time punching it in,” Sierra coach Chris Zalunardo said. “We got in the red zone a few times and we weren’t able to punch it in and that hurt. Kudos to their defense; they made some good defensive stands. They made the adjustments they needed.”
Tessa Zalunardo had 133 all-purpose yards to pace the Timberwolves offense.
Sierra travels to Patterson on Monday night at 7 and Monday night at 6 the Buffaloes host East Union.
