Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

Estrada: Defense not high priority for most area teams

The phone rang at about 9:30 Friday night and it was Steve Nigro, one of The Bee's advertising guys. He was in Turlock to see Downey play Pitman in what we expected to be a high-scoring game. Even I was surprised, however, when he told me the score.

"Rich, you're not going to believe this game. Pitman, 63-21, and Dominick Walker had a 99-yard touchdown run," Steve said. "It was incredible. Pitman scored 42 points during in the second quarter."

That's when it hit me: Pitman had 63 points, and it was only halftime. Yes, that's right, it was just halftime!

When Buhach Colony scored 67 two weeks ago to beat Beyer, everyone in the office was amazed. They didn't believe it when I told the Pitman score.

And how could I blame them?

I was impressed last weekend when I saw three Oakdale running backs each run for 100-plus yards, but the Pride took that feat to a new level.

Walker had 251 yards and four TDs on just eight carries, and Marcus Sanders had 183 yards and a TD. Not wanting to be left out, Nathan Romo ran for 164 yards and three TDs.

Downey coach Jeremy Plaa said "we knew we would have a difficult time with their running game. They are a great team, with some top talent."

The Knights provided plenty of big plays, too. Quarterback Jason Lee was 29 of 46 for an incredible 488 yards and five TDs, the second week in a row with five TD passes. He also ran for 79 yards — ya' kiddin' me!

His favorite targets were probably gasping for air by the time this game was over, as Corey Keller had caught 12 balls for 215 yards and a score and Javon Kelly had hauled in 11 balls for 193 yards and four touchdowns.

It wasn't nearly enough, however.

The Pride ran for 731 yards, and Hayden Baldwin passed for 90 yards and a TD. The teams combined for 1,420 yards of offense — and remember, high school games are only 48 minutes.

By the time it was over, Pitman was celebrating a 77-35 win. The two averaged 355 yards and 28 points per quarter, but their explosion was far from Friday night's only outburst:

Manteca (56), Atwater (54) and Riverbank (51) also topped 50 points, while Modesto (48), Mariposa (46), Summerville (45) and Johansen (44) were within a TD of hitting 50.

The 27 games involving Stanislaus District teams produced 1,311 points, or 48.5 points a game. The winners averaged 36 points, for an average margin of victory of 23.5 points.

The six Modesto Metro Conference schools had a big role in the night's pyrotechnics: The six games involving its schools produced 427 points — 71 points a game! Lost in all the scoring was that Davis, The Bee's top-ranked large school, fell 16-13 to Sonora in a defensive battle.

DEFENSE, ANYONE? You can expect Oakdale (3-0) to replace Davis atop the large-school standings, after its impressive 24-7 win over Whitney in a battle between two of Northern California's top Division 2 schools.

Oakdale's defense held its ground for the third week in a row, allowing a first-quarter TD and then shutting out the No. 7 Wildcats the rest of the way. Linebacker Charlie Gilstrap recovered two fumbles for Oakdale, which gave up six points to Turlock in the opener and then allowed just one TD drive vs. Novato in Week 2.

Whitney had won 15 consecutive games, going back to a 34-27 loss to Oakdale in the Sac-Joaquin Section medium-school title game in 2007.

BIG, BAD BEARS — It's been a difficult start for Merced. The Bears are playing their same demanding schedule, but lack the talent to stay close. Lopsided losses to Bullard of Fresno, Napa and Edison of Fresno — the average score was 39-8 — have Merced 0-3 going into Friday's game at Del Oro (3-0 and a NorCal power).