It all started off great for the Manteca Cowboys varsity Saturday afternoon.

Darrien Parnell took the game’s opening kickoff down to the 20-yard line, where Manteca’s offense took over and quickly found itself down at Weston Ranch’s 2-yard-line.

But rather than scoring, they fumbled and lost possession.

Four downs later, the Cowboys managed to shut down the Falcons offense, and quickly began an assault that surely spelled points on the board. But this time it was a fumble at the 8-yard-line that turned the tables again and gave Weston Ranch another opportunity.

Mistakes, as it would turn out, ended up costing the Cowboys in a 14-8 loss at the hands of undefeated Weston Ranch.

The Falcons would strike early in the second quarter on a 40-yard touchdown pass – a margin they would carry until the fourth quarter.

Manteca’s Nilo Yuson finally connected with Donicio Samoy for a 38-yard touchdown pass and Parnell booted the two-point kick to tie the game. The same two hooked up again with only a minute left in the game for what surely looked to be the game-winning score. A flag brought that possession back, and then the unthinkable happened.

On the next snap the ball went past quarterback and a Falcons defender picked it up and ran it in for the game’s final score.



Starts

Falcons 26, Cowboys 20

Joelle Urtega finished with 150 yards and a pair of touchdown scores but it wouldn’t be enough to beat Weston Ranch.

Joshua Grabowski also found the end zone on the ground and finished with 58 yards rushing. Both Grabowski and Nicco Cedolini tallied four tackles.