Oakdale blasts rival Turlock by 50 points

OAKDALE — The goal of the Oakdale High offense this season, according to head coach Trent Merzon, is to play as fast as possible.

The Mustangs want to hear the whistle, huddle up, call the play, get to the line and snap the ball before the opposition has a chance to admire The Corral's field turf and new west grandstand.

That plan worked to perfection for 29 minutes Friday, or long enough for Oakdale to build a 56-6 lead against traditional opener Turlock, which eventually would be the final score.

But when it came time to start eating up the clock, to do anything possible to avoid running up the score on the Bulldogs, Merzon was at a loss.

The Mustangs never really had to the throw the ball, and every running play they called seemed to be going for significant yardage against a young group of Turlock defenders.

Merzon flashed back to a game from about four years ago, in which his team had a huge lead on Beyer High. In that game, instead of running live plays, Merzon had his quarterback kneel. It accomplished the goal of stopping his own team from scoring, but it upset the Beyer coaching staff.

So late in the third quarter, with his team at the Turlock 12, Merzon delayed the game. With his backup quarterback waiting for the play signal from the sidelines, the coach stood there with his arms crossed.

The next four running plays gained 24 yards, but because Oakdale took a five-yard delay penalty prior to each snap, the Mustangs turned the ball on downs.

"I didn't know what to do, but I knew I didn't want to score any more," Merzon said. "My coaches upstairs were yelling at me through the headset that we were going to get penalized for delay of game. I told them to get serious.

"I knew that we were going to score on whatever we called and I didn't want to score."

It's tough for the Turlock fans that Oakdale taking intentional delay penalties will be a lingering memory from the season opener — until they consider the option.

This was a game the Mustangs could have won by more than 70 points had they kept their starters on the field. As it was, Oakdale's second team outscored Turlock 14-6.

"We weren't surprised by Oakdale," said Turlock coach James Peterson, making his Bulldogs' head coaching debut. "I knew they were good. We've been playing these guys in the first game forever, and they always make you play your A game. We just didn't have that tonight."

Oakdale put away the win with a 35-point second quarter that gave it a 42-0 halftime lead. Tim House scored on runs of 19 and 2 yards, Devin Brooks found the end zone from 7 and 9 yards. Reserve running backs Gino Valente (six carries, 112 yards) and Daniel Linder (six carries, 72 yards, two touchdowns) carried the load in the second half.

Turlock had to feel jinxed coming into the game, losing a top running back to an ankle injury last week in a scrimmage. Then, on Friday's opening kickoff, top receiver Drew Johnson was lost to an apparent broken left leg.

It left talented quarterback Kevin Kramer without much support. He scrambled for 114 rushing yards — including a 75-yard score against Oakdale's second-team defense in the third quarter — but completed only three of 17 passes for 48 yards and was intercepted twice.

"I think we have to improve on playing as a unit during the week," Peterson said. "I'm not talking about the guys who suit up on Fridays, I'm saying that we need to improve during the week."

On the other side, nearly everybody played for Oakdale, which had 10 different players contribute to a 431-yard ground effort.

"Overall, I thought we did everything we needed to do," Merzon said. "Nobody was talking about Oakdale before this week. I think they'll be talking about us now."

Bee staff writer Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeek@modbee.com or 578-2300.