VOL showdown: No surprises here

OAKDALE -- Their relationship spans decades, reaching back into the annals of California community college football.

To say Oakdale's Trent Merzon and Manteca's Eric Reis, two of the Stanislaus District's young coaching stars, know each other well would be an understatement.

They were teammates once, back in the fall of 1988. Long before he was the Buffaloes' shot caller, Reis was a 'Stang. Yes, a Delta College Mustang lineman charged with keeping Merzon clean and upright in the pocket.

These days, they spend time on opposite sides of the field, trying to crush each other's title hopes.

Still, it begs the question: How do two men that once led Delta to a Community Bowl victory, and know each other so well, surprise one another on game night?

They don't.

Oakdale (8-0, 5-0 Valley Oak League) and Manteca (8-0, 5-0) will meet inside The Corral on Friday for what amounts to a backyard wrestling match, 11 on 11, scripted and choreographed.

Just the way they like it. Just the way it's always been. In one corner, Merzon and his Wing-T. In the other, Reis and his I-formation.

"I think teams that win consistently don't have to surprise people. There is some predictability to good football teams; there really is," said Merzon, his program 111-29-1 with seven VOL crowns since 2000; Manteca is 106-27-1 with three VOL titles in that same span.

"Here and there, you can do things to keep people off balance. But the game won't decided on a trick play. You're not going to trick good teams all night."

But you can leave them guessing. Reis hasn't committed to a starting quarterback and is open to the idea of running a two-man system, splitting snaps between Alex Martinez and Ryan Fox.

Martinez missed two games with an injury to his throwing hand, but returned during last week's 34-18 victory over Lathrop.

A classic pocket passer, Martinez banged his thumb on a follow-through against Weston Ranch, knocking an all-conference type of season off the tracks. The senior was 51 of 76 for 817 yards in the first 18 quarters of the season.

Fox, a run-and-gun junior, has filled in admirably, showcasing his arm (201 yards and a TD versus Sonora) and legs (74 rushing yards, 3 TDs) along the way. He's played with poise too, leading Manteca to wins at Sierra and against Sonora on homecoming.

"We're very pleased with his development. He got thrust into the spotlight," Reis said. "Kids will either swim or sink, and he's swam.

"We're pretty excited about the opportunity we have now and in the future. It's no secret, we're young. For us to be in this position this year, and have a chance to compete with Oakdale, it's something we're very, very excited about."

Still, the "Fox and Martinez" saga is but only a wrinkle in a game that should play out like a demolition derby — last one running wins.

Oakdale will look to gash Manteca with chin-down bursts from Marcus Hernandez, Marcus Northcutt and Josh Watts, who scored two touchdowns last week in his most extensive action of the season. They'll look for time and space behind a veteran line: seniors Tyler Daley, Jason Peterson, Stefan Aguilar and Cody Cole and junior center Tyler Malone are coached by former NFL player and Oakdale alum Zach Quaccia.

Manteca, meanwhile, will lean on its own stable of backs — Danny Gouveia (622 yards, 7 TDs), Cameron Harvey (360 yards, 6 TDs), Jamontee Jones (339-4) and Joe Trout (279-2) — and a massive line anchored by two sophomores, Isaac McClain (6-foot-3, 291 pounds) and Billy Sharmoug (5-10, 251).

"When you think of the Valley Oak League, you always think about the Sonoras, the Mantecas and the Oakdales. This game goes back a long time. Even when I was here, it was our biggest game of the year," Merzon said. "We know them and we have a lot of respect for them. They know us and we'd like to think they have some respect for us, too.

"They're the reason we work so hard in the offseason. We talk about them in January up until (game) day."