After suffering their first Central California Junior Youth Football loss in four weeks, the Manteca Jaguars rebounded Saturday with a 26-8 victory over the Los Banos Wildcats.

They took very little time in getting down to business. On the third play of the game, Armando Herrera recovered a Wildcat fumble. From there, it took Kody Justis three plays to find the end zone – he scored on a 13-yard run.

On the Jaguars’ next drive, Marcos Castillo went 50 yards for the touchdown. He later had a 54-yard run, but was stopped at the Los Banos 1. Unfortunately, Manteca was unable to capitalize, turning the ball over.

The defense once again stepped it up by recording its third safety of the season. Justis was credited with the two-point stop.

In the second half, Carlos Juarez scored on a 13-yard TD run. Castillo, who tallied 147 rushing yards on nine carries, added his third PAT kick of the game.

Juarez chipped in with 74 yards on seven pops.

Defensively, Justis had six tackles while Mike Relloque finished with five stops. Harold Lopa, Julian Diaz, Noah Moral, and Damon Lynch had three tackles each.

In addition, Armando Herrera had two tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

On Saturday, the Jaguars will close out the regular season against rival Oakdale Stampede at Sierra High’s Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.

Regardless of the outcome, they’ve already clinched the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.



Junior Varsity

Los Banos 24, Manteca 12

Few details were available. But the despite the loss, the Jaguars clinched the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.



Pee Wee

Manteca 14, Los Banos 0

The Jaguars overcame a mistake-riddled first half thanks in part to Angel Garay’s 75-yard kickoff return, scoring at the start of the third quarter.

Kyle Lynch later managed a 10-yard touchdown. Jaylen Jackson, Jason Steel, and Jakub Kawakami also took advantage of the holes opened up by the Jaguar offensive line.

Jonathan Dunn, Dominic Wolfson and Adrian Acuna were credited for their line-play efforts.

Lynch, Jackson, and Nyco Mendoza were among the defensive standouts.

Manteca is the No. 2 seed entering the playoffs.



Rookies

Manteca 28, Wildcats 7

Zelmar Vedder scored twice and Lorenzo Ceja and Jaimare Wayne scored twice for the Jaguars.

Ceja finished with 102 rushing yards. Vedder and Wayne tallied 88 and 84 yards, respectively.

Defensively, Jessie Miranda racked up six saves. Vedder had four and Dominik Thomas, Ceja and Wayne each had three tackles.