Manteca High battled Sonora to a scoreless first half, but the Wildcats were able to push across the games’ only score in the Buffaloes 7-0 loss at Gus Schmidt Field.

The Buffaloes looked to be in good position to pull out their second Valley Oak League victory, yet it was not meant to be for the second consecutive week for Manteca.

“My team played their hearts out until the end,” Manteca head coach Adam Liel said. “They never gave up.

“We outplayed them in every phase of the game and should have won.”

Manteca had a pair of long touchdowns called back, giving Sonora a few second chances that they would capitalize on. Offesnively, the Buffaloes were able to have success in the air and on the ground, producing nearly 200 yards of total offense in the contest.

Liel is confident his squad will be able to bounce back after back-to-back losses, trusting that things will eventually begin bouncing the Buffaloes way.

“We have heart and left everything on the field,” Liel said. “The scoreboard didn’t reflect how well we played all night.

“Good things will happen if we keep playing hard.”

Alex Martinez completed 5-of-8 passes for 37 yards, while teammate B.J. Odell led the ground game with 105-yards on 21 carries. Joe Trout chipped in 39 yards rushing and teammate Danny Gouviea hauled in three of Martinez’ five passes.

The Buffaloes will be back on their home field Friday when they play host to the Ceres Bulldogs.

It was all Sierra as Central Valley made their way north and got a rude awakening in a 47-7 blowout in Valley Oak League action. Josh Reed took over the contest, scoring three touchdowns, including one via punt return, one kick return and a screen-pass reception for a score.

Anthony Perea continued his impressive run in VOL play, tossing four touchdowns, two of which were hauled in by Zach Penerian.

Austin Soto also made a touchdown grab, while Austin Acker added a touchdown run. Sierra’s defense was nearly perfect, bottling up the Hawks behind standout play from Manvir Singh, Will Ward, Bret Wilson and Acker.

The Timberwolves will have to make the trek east to take on the Sonora Wildcats Friday at their place. Sonora is coming off of a 7-0 VOL win over the Manteca Buffaloes.

The Oakdale Mustangs were not interested in the Lancers’ homecoming festivities, pouncing on East Union for a 22-8 win. East Union was able to put together a better performance than last week’s 14-0 loss to Weston Ranch, yet it still wasn’t enough to get past the visiting Mustangs.

The Lancers will have to take their act on the road as they travel to Ceres to continue VOL action against the Central Valley Hawks.

The Spartans had their hands full with a tough Christina Brothers High team, but the squad played with passion in a 34-6 loss to the hosts.

Lathrop came into the contest on the heels of an impressive 18-15 win over Belle Vista a week ago, yet the momentum was not enough to get past a talented Falcon squad. Lathrop walked into the halftime intermission trailing 28-0, but made the necessary adjustments holding the Falcons to a single score in the second half, while pushing across a score of its own.

The Spartans (2-4 overall) have been in every contest this season and gained confidence when they handed Belle Vista its only loss of the season.

Lathrop will head into its contest with Soledad High Thursday with a legitimate shot at adding another win to the win column.