A flat effort on offense was more than made up for with yet another outstanding performance on the defensive end.
The Manteca Cowboys varsity squad improved to 5-0 in the National Youth Football League while recording its fourth straight shutout 13-0 against the Modest Jr. Eagles at East Union High Saturday.
Mikey Gonzalez was responsible for most of Manteca’s scoring. His first touchdown covered 60 yards on the ground, and his second was off a 5-yard pass from quarterback Chris Hocker. Hocker tacked on the final point on the conversion attempt.
Gabe Munoz, who racked up 60 rushing yards on offense, anchored the defense with 12 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. Gonzalez added 11 tackles.
L.J. Alofatituli, Rigo Jauregui (sack), Luckie Cordova (fumble recovery) and Issac McClain each recorded seven tackles. Kyle Morris and Billy Sharmoug (sack) contributed six tackles apiece.
The Cowboys will next square off with the Weston Ranch Ravens at Weston Ranch High Saturday for their first Tri-Valley Conference showdown.
Jr. Buffaloes 30, Steelers 0
Against the Salida Steelers at Manteca High’s Guss Schmiedt Field, Manteca booked its fourth shutout of the Trans Valley League season Saturday and was led by Mathew Wilkerson’s 173 yards and two touchdowns offensively.
Hector Soto rushed for 84 yards on 12 carries. Garret DeVillenueva and Tony Smith each punched in a TD, while Michael Hatfield chipped in three point-after conversions.
DeVillenueva had nine tackles and recovered a fumble on defense. Wilkerson rolled up two sacks, and Chuck Good contributed one.
Kingsmen 19, Chiefs 13
The Modesto Christian Kingsmen scored the deciding touchdown with 47 seconds remaining to knock off the host Chiefs at Stouffer Field in TVL action. An 85-yard fumble return for the game’s first points also proved costly for Ripon’s Chiefs.
Michael Morris scampered 35 yards for a touchdown, and Luke Bunting ran in the point after to give the Chiefs the first-half lead. Chase Deprue later connected with Jace McFetridge for a 37-yard TD strike.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Rebels 40, Falcons 13
At East Union High Sunday, Devin Nunez rushed for touchdowns of 60 and 71 yards, returned an interception 80 yards for another score and hooked up with Chad Ott for a 64-yard catch-and-run for six more points.
Nunez ended up with over 250 all-purpose yards to go with three tackles on defense in the Delta Youth Football League contest. Josh Sanchez rushed for 78 yards, most of which came on TD runs of 35 and 18 yards. Mario Maher paced the defense with eight tackles, and C.J. Manning recorded five to go with an interception.
Cowboys 44, Jr. Eagles 0
The Manteca Cowboys have now gone five weeks without giving up a score or even a first down, and with Saturday’s fifth straight shutout comes another drubbing at East Union High.
Nathaniel Arriola sparked Manteca on both ends, scoring two rushing touchdowns while leading the defense with 10 tackles. Nicholas Lucchetti punched in two of his own scores, the second a 27-yard pass play from QB Jordan Perry. Dionicio Samoy added a 65-yard TD off a punt return.
Pawl Johnson highlighted the stout defensive effort with two quarterback sacks, with one apiece coming from Adrian Rodriguez and Demaurier Blackwell.
Steelers 6, Jr. Buffaloes 0
A third-quarter touchdown was all that was needed to decide Saturday’s junior varsity contest at Guss Schmiedt Field.
Sam Rohovit had two quarterback sacks, while Alex Martell, Anthony Andrade and Jake Bechtel turned in six tackles each. Martell also led the offense with 52 rushing yards on 10 carries. Quarterbacks Don Sanchez and Jeremy Silva combined to complete four of eight passes for 30 yards.
Broncos 36, Jaguars 0
Turnovers killed the Manteca Jaguars’ chances of making it a game Saturday in Central California Conference action at Modesto Christian High.
Lechi Nkwocha provided most of Manteca’s offense with 13 carries for 51 yards. Mark Paule had a team-high seven tackles, with Raul Uribe and Nkwocha adding six each.
Jerrod Guzman turned in five tackles, Noah Moral chipped in a sack, Anthony Palomarez had a fumble recovery and Julian Dias recovered a fumble and batted away a pass.
Chiefs 31, Kingsmen 0
It only took two minutes for the Ripon Chiefs to get on board at Stouffer Field, as Cody Haines pounced on the loose ball in the end zone following Cody Beato’s blocked punt. Nick Navarro’s point-after kick was good to make it 8-0, and the rout was on.
Navarro went on to boot another conversion attempt while rushing in a TD from 5 yards out. Nick Price and Dwight Jackson added touchdown scampers from 12 and 10 yards out.
NOVICE/ROOKIES
Cowboys 24, Jr. Eagles 0
Seuseu Alofatuli amassed 235 yards and three touchdowns on 16 touches to lead Manteca’s rout of the Modest Jr. Eagles at East Union High Saturday. Alofatuli also paced the defense with eight tackles.
Darrin Young accounted for the Cowboys’ other score, while contributing six stops on the defensive end. Cade Smith and Joseph Dunham pitched in five tackles apiece. The Cowboys improved to 4-1 in the NYFL.
Chiefs 19, Kingsmen 6
The 4-1 Chiefs set the tone on defense in the first quarter at Ripon High Saturday when Andrew Durrer and Mitchell Ulrich both recovered fumbles to stuff Modesto Christian’s first drives. Donovan Fontillas put Ripon up with a touchdown.
R.J. Davis extended the Chiefs’ first-half lead with a touchdown run, and Luke Navarro put the Kingsmen away for good with a plunge into the end zone set up by his own 35-yard rush.
Zachery Bailey, Griffin Brow, Logan Orlando, Aaron Pachini and Marcello Longstreth anchored the defensive effort.
JR. NOVICE/STARTS
Cowboys 29, Jr. Eagles 6
Eric Nascimento (seven carries, 104 yards), Anthony Martinez and Tony Rosillo each scored a touchdown for the Manteca Cowboys Saturday at East Union High.
Quarterback Manuel Guerrero completed three of four passes to help the offense chug along, but much of the credit went to the offensive line.
Presley DeMello notched two sacks and a fumble recovery to lead the defense. Brijon Fitzpatrick and Bryan Larkin each contributed a sack, and Nascimento recovered a fumble.
