ESTRADA: Rout was on in prep football

If you were rooting for a Stanislaus District team this weekend, it's a good bet your team is very good ... or ran into a team that is very good!

It was Blowout Weekend — 17 league games, nine of the winners scored at least 50 points and the closest of those games was decided by 39. It was as brutal a weekend as we've seen in the district this season.

And it's not going to end, either:

• The MMC is full of haves and have-nots: Downey, Enochs and Beyer on top, the other four far below. Each of the Big 3 posted an easy 52, giving up a total of just 33 — average victory margin of 52-11.

• The VOL has long been split in tiers: Oakdale, Manteca, Sierra and Sonora writing the rules, the other four hoping for an upset win every few years. Friday's average score was 46-8, with Sierra scoring 63 and Oakdale getting 56 — while their foes combined for 21 points.

• The SL got downright ugly, as three of four winners scored 50 or more. The average score, 50-11; the closest margin, 36 points. The four losers scored six total TDs.

• The TVL provided one of the few glimmers of excitement, as upstart Orestimba took Hilmar to the wire before falling 24-19 and rejuvenated Hughson nearly upset Escalon before falling 28-18.

• The WAC had a rare tight one as Pacheco beat Livingston 28-19, but it also had Central Catholic punishing Ceres 69-7. There will be plenty more routs, due to the sizable gap between these teams.

• FEELING THE PAIN — Ya gotta feel for the players at Davis High, put in an unwinnable situation by a school district that has shown little regard for their plight. The Modesto City Schools gutted the school's athletic base and drove its enrollment down to 1,465 kids with the opening of Gregori High.

Now the district requires Davis to play city schools with nearly 1,000 more students. Even if you are not offended by the situation the district has put these athletes into, you have to be concerned for the safety in these mismatches.

Since Gregori opened in the fall of 2010, Davis has gone 4-21. It's giving up 50 points a game this fall.

I feel for the athletes at Davis, who have been all but abandoned by their district. It wasn't until The Bee started asking questions this week that MCS officials even acknowledged the dire situation.

Unfortunately for the athletes at Davis, the district is denying them crucial educational opportunities, as well. With so few students, the next-smallest MMC school has 400 more kids, there are classes and extracurricular activities that are denied Davis because it's so small.

• PREP IS OVER — With the most significant game in school history a week away, Waterford recovered from its slow start to race past Gustine 48-12 behind RB Dylan Gonzalez (179 yards, two TDs) and a big game from Jesus Vega. With QB Josh Hickman sidelined by an injury, the Wildcats (4-1, 2-0 SL) were shut out for a quarter.

Vega (52 yards, 2 rushing TDs) burst in on a 7-yard run to open the second quarter, then returned an interception 55 yards for a TD. Isaiah Figueroa cut Gustine's deficit in half with a TD run, but the Wildcats pulled away before halftime on Gonzalez's first TD.

Waterford hosts Le Grand this week, and the Bulldogs (4-1, 2-0) have won back-to-back section Division 5 titles. The winner is the prohibitive league favorite.

Le Grand did its part, routing Delhi 54-14, as big-play sophomore Christian Williams caught TDs of 21, 28 and 96 yards from Mauricio Contreras in the opening quarter. Williams started the game with an 80-yard kickoff return for a score, and Ryan Martinez's 21-yard TD made it 34-0 in the first quarter. Martinez had three TD runs and the Bulldogs never punted.

• DE-FANGED? — It looks like Livingston (3-3, 0-2) and coach Chris Lacey's run of playoff appearances will end at three, after Pacheco held the Wolves to 63 yards rushing on 39 carries in a 28-19 win. Brian Perez's (23 yards, 13 carries) banged-up knee has limited him the last few weeks, restricting Livingston's offense.

The once-moribund Wolves were rejuvenated by Lacey's arrival in 2008, and won a playoff game each of the last two seasons. They still could slip in by winning two of the final four, but those opponents include potent Patterson, Central Catholic and Los Banos.

Jacob Parks scored three TDs for Pacheco, which is 2-0 in the WAC but still has the top four teams to play in these final four weeks.

• RB SHOWDOWN — The TVL is loaded with RBs, and two of its best battled in Hughson in the Huskies' Tanner Duron and Escalon's Nathan Chunn. They combined for 40 carries, 425 yards and four TDs as No. 6 small-school Escalon escaped with a 28-18 win.

Duron (200 yards) had two TDs in the third quarter, but two failed PATs leave Hughson down 14-12. Chunn (225 yards, 27 carries) had a 1-yard run and Phillip Kimble tossed a third-quarter TD pass to put the Cougars up by two scores.

• READY FOR BATTLE — With Oakdale riding a five-year reign as VOL champion, 2-0 this season after outscoring its league foes 105-21, attention shifts to Friday's duel between Manteca and Sierra.

While Sierra lost 49-7 to Oakdale a week ago, Manteca won't see the 'Stangs until Week 9. A home win this week would be a huge one for the Buffs — a loss would only solidify Oakdale's spot at the top.

Eddie Smith didn't get a third consecutive 200-yard rushing game, but Manteca didn't need it as its defense shut out Weston Ranch in a 34-6 win. The Cougars' TD came on Alex Esan's 83-yard kickoff return, but they had no answer for the Buffs' big lines. ...

Sierra, needing to get on track after the Oakdale loss, went with a two-headed QB to pound East Union 63-7. Junior Jake Pruitt threw for 186 yards, completed 13 of 15 and had a 55-yard TD run, while Guillermo Nunez ran for 100 yards and had a role in three TDs.

• FALCONS USE FEET — If there is a surprise team in the CCC, it has to be Atwater. The 4-1 Falcons continued their hot start, rallying past Edison of Stockton 39-16 as the rushing attack piled up 442 yards behind Javier Lopez (117 yards, 12 carries). Edison led 13-0 following a 95-yard interception return, and 16-6 before Atwater shut it out during the second half.

The Falcons open CCC Friday at Golden Valley (3-2) — GV coach Dennis Stubbs' re-introduction to the CCC. He coached the Cougars for years, leaving to rebuild Los Banos' program. As GV struggled in his absence, the administration lured Stubbs back in hopes that he could duplicate his success.

For Week5 video highlights, conference pages and a Mother Lode League roundup, please visit www.modbee.com/prepfootball.com.