Ground game carries locals to playoff wins

If you can run the ball and play some defense, chances are your season has at least one more week before it ends.

Showing a willingness to commit to the ground game and being able to stop foes at key moments was the common thread for the Stanislaus District teams who celebrated with wins in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

Most of the region's elite teams enjoyed easy wins — Oakdale's 61-21 rout of Center, Escalon's 49-7 ripping of Marysville and Buhach Colony's 48-13 roll over Lodi were representative — but there were nailbiters in Modesto and Ripon.

Beyer had never won a playoff game, and now the Patriots will never forget the first one. Cecil Jenkins caught a 5-yard TD on the final play for a 23-21 win over Stagg. Fans flooded the field, so they skipped the PAT.

Beyer limited Stagg to 13 yards rushing on 26 carries and got five sacks. Beyer QB McKay Marshall ran 13 yards for a TD, adding a new element to the offense. The win over Stagg also is noteworthy because this is Beyer's best team since 1975: That team fell to Stagg in the Turkey Bowl, which passed for a section playoff at that time.

Livingston had lost its last four games, but shut down Ripon 12-10 in a stunner. Ripon was averaging 34 points a game, but that offense was sidelined much of the night as Livingston ran for 274 yards. Ripon had just 187 yards, total.

• JUST SHOWIN' OFF — Escalongave its future foes something to think while it was eliminating Marysville, taking a 49-0 lead after three quarters. Before the game got out of hand, however, coach Mark Loureiro was able to show off his quarterback.

Gino Franceschetti completed all seven of his passes for 175 yards and two TDs. He's thrown just 56 passes in 11 games, but he's completed 37 for 847 yards — 23 yards a connection — and 11 TDs. Franceschetti was 55 of 96 in 15 games as a junior, leading Escalon to a state title, throwing 22 TDs and five interceptions. He has yet to throw a pick this season.

• FATIGUE FACTOR — Anunwanted side affect of Downey's no-huddle, pass-heavy offense is that it leaves the Knights fatigued in the second half. The pass patterns weren't as sharp, the catches not as certain and the run-blocking not as solid.

All three of those factors came into play in Friday afternoon's 34-12 upset loss to Del Campo, as the Cougars pulled away in the second half.

Downey QB Aaron Zwahlen said offseason conditioning is going to be vital. Strength and endurance will be emphasized, and Downey's commitment will be tested early.

The Knights' ambitious schedule begins with Golden Valley and Merced on the road, then features a home game vs. Central Catholic.

While Zwahlen struggled while throwing in the rain and wind, as well as into Del Campo's defense, he boomed a 64-yard punt that was downed at the Del Campo 1.

• PLAYOFF NOTES — Only seven teams in the section finished the regular season 10-0, including Buhach Colony, Oakdale, Escalon and Le Grand. If you believe in past performance, one of them will win a title this year. The section's had at least one unbeaten champion 16 of the last 18 years, according to Will DeBoard, the section's director of communications. ... Two teams were sub-.500, and Dixon and Marysville lost their openers by a combined 63 points. ... You can count on these teams showing up every year, or so it seems: Grant is in the playoffs for the 21st year in a row, with Calaveras (15) and Escalon (14) close behind. This is Central Catholic's 11th straight appearance. ... Rio Vista, which visits Division 5 top seed Le Grand, returns to the playoffs for the first time since 1980 — the longest drought in section history. That's a bit deceiving, though, because Rio Vista had moved to the Northern Section and only returned two years ago. Among the section's continuous members, Downey had the longest drought (eight years) before making the playoffs this year.