Oakdale runs wild, hammers Manteca

OAKDALE — If you play football at Oakdale High, this isn't the Wing-T offense your daddy grew up playing.

"We want to play at full speed, sideline to sideline, and we believe we've got the athletes to do it," coach Trent Merzon said Friday. "When you get (quarterback Spencer Thomas') feet into the offense, it's tough to defend."

Manteca was the latest to discover that, as it struggled to keep pace with the Mustangs once they hit the edge.

As a result, a much-ballyhooed battle of unbeatens was instead a rout.

Thomas sprinted for TDs of 32 and 60 yards the first two times he ran as the No. 2-ranked Mustangs blitzed No. 5 Manteca 49-14 to earn at least a piece of the Valley Oak League title.

An estimated crowd of nearly 6,000 squeezed into The Corral to watch 8-0 rivals battle. There wasn't a seat left by the fourth quarter of the JV game.

While capacity crowds are common for games such as this, what they saw from Oakdale was far from common.

The Mustangs (9-0, 6-0) opened with an empty backfield, with Thomas taking snaps and the rest of the skill players spread from sideline to sideline.

Manteca, expecting a heavy dose of fullback Marcus Hernandez, packed the middle with big linemen. They couldn't grab Thomas, whether he was running in traffic or going downfield.

The scheme was similar to what Oakdale used in last year's section final, but this was the first time the opposition had seen it this season.

Thomas dodged defenders on a 32-yard TD run just 3:25 into the game, then the junior showed his speed during a 60-sprint that made it 14-0.

Thomas (five carries, 120 yards; 5 of 6, 95 yards, TD) received a key block from guard Stefan Aguilar on the long TD. Aguilar, pulling on the play, overpowered a defenders to open a huge hole.

Guard Cody Cole and center Tyler Malone were pulling most of the night, as the Mustangs invited defensive tackles to step across the line as the offense attacked the other areas of the field.

Oakdale capitalized on Thomas' mobility having him roll out, knowing he was too fast for Manteca's interior lineman to chase him down.

Thomas' 15-yard TD pass to Mike Arpoika — making it 21-0 in the second quarter — came on a roll to his right, as did his long TD run. His shorter run was on a roll to the left, so the Buffs (8-1, 5-1) were forced to spread wide.

That's when Oakdale used a traditional Wing-T, with Hernandez (12 carries, 173 yards, three TDs) banging up in the middle and Marcus Northcutt (10 carries, 101 yards, TD) running wide before he could cut upfield.

Northcutt's 56-yard scoring run in the third quarter pushed the lead to 42-7, then Hernandez went up the middle for a 45-yard score.

Oakdale finished with 446 yards rushing on 38 carries, more than 11 yards a carry. Tackles Tyler Daley and Jason Peterson were able to pin the linebackers in the middle, allowing Northcutt and Thomas access to the edge.

"Teams will need to take account of Spencer now, because he's quick," said Merzon, whose quarterback outran defensive backs on his 60-yard dash. "We came out with a spread and I told my coaches, 'If something goes wrong early, don't let me go away from this.' We wanted a commitment to this look."

Manteca didn't get much of a bounce from the return of quarterback Alex Martinez, as his injured throwing hand still affected his play.

A bigger problem, though, was the pass rush. Arpoika had three of Oakdale's seven sacks, and Martinez rarely finished a play upright.