It's a stampede! Oakdale rolls

OAKDALE -- The Oakdale High football team waited a year to exorcise the demons of last season's first-round section playoff loss to Placer.

On Friday night, the Mustangs took any lingering frustrations out on Natomas, which never had a chance.

Tim House carried 26 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns; Devin Brooks for 124 yards in 18 attempts and a score, and linebacker Charlie Gilstrap anchored a defense that allowed the visiting Nighthawks just 91 yards in total offense as the Mustangs rolled to a 36-0 victory in a Sac-Joaquin Division 3 playoff opener at The Corral.

Oakdale (10-1) will travel to Fairfield Friday to take on Vanden (10-1) in the D3 quarterfinals.

"The kids played their butts off tonight," Oakdale coach Trent Merzon said. "We might not get to play at home anymore this season, and I was real proud of our seniors for playing as well as they did in their last game at The Corral."

Oakdale ran the ball 72 times in its 75 plays from scrimmage and amassed 419 of its 422 total offensive yards on the ground.

"It felt great," House said of the Mustangs' putting last year's playoff disappointment behind them ion dominant fashion. "We didn't want a repeat of what happened last year. It was a great night."

It wasn't such a great night for Natomas, which managed just four first downs the entire game.

"Last year was going through my mind before the game," said Gilstrap, "but after the first couple drives, I had a good feeling that we were gonna stay strong."

Oakdale led 23-0 at the end of one quarter.

One play after a 53-yard Kyle Derby punt pinned Natomas inside its own 1-yard line, defensive back Daniel Gazdik and linebacker Garrett Martin sacked Nighthawks quarterback Jakori Ford in the end zone for a safety. On the ensuing possession, Oakdale extended the lead to 9-0 on a 19-yard scoring run by Brooks and the first of Derby's four extra points. The Mustangs then increased their advantage to 16-0 on a 1-yard TD run by House.

Oakdale regained possession after a Braydon Stephens interception, and the Mustangs wasted no time upping their lead to 23-0 when Blake Raham (15 carries, 92 yards) rumbled 29 yards for a score just five plays later.

Following a missed 35-yard field goal attempt by Kris Schultz, the Mustangs put the game away with a seven-minute, 17-play, 80-yard drive punctuated by a 2-yard touchdown run by House that made it 29-0 with just eight seconds left in the first half.

Gazdik capped the scoring with just over three minutes left in the game when he intercepted a Ford pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.

"The offense did great and the defensive line did great, too," said Gilstrap. "It's really hard for our linebackers to make tackles because our defensive linemen are just tearing it up."

Said Merzon: "It's a great time of year. It's Thanksgiving time. The season is over for a lot of teams, so we're happy to still be playing."

Now it's on to Vanden and a date with the Vikings.

"We're supposed to be underdogs," said House. "We'll see about that next week."