Fourth straight MMC title still in play for Downey

Downey High School rolled up more than 700 yards of offense and set itself up for a fourth consecutive Modesto Metro Conference championship with a 62-22 win over rival Davis in the Block D game on Friday night at Gregori High School’s Don Lanphear Stadium.

“Seven hundred yards of offense is kind of crazy; we had to double check the stats,” said Downey coach Jeremy Plaa, whose team needs a win Friday night against Gregori to finish in a three-way tie atop the conference with Beyer and Modesto (providing they win their finales, too). “(Davis) was bringing the house every time and they jumped up early on us.”

The Spartans moved out to a 14-0 lead when outside linebacker Talolo Limu-Jones swatted a Brett Neves pass out of the air and then caught the deflected ball 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage and raced 53 yards untouched for a very unique pick six.

But the Knights scored 55 unanswered points.

Neves completed 13 of 23 passes for 464 yards and three scores, with Calvin Grover catching four for 206 yards and a score and Andrew Raspo catching three passes for 192 yards and a TD. Meanwhile, Tyran Daniels rushed for 115 yards on 10 carries and caught a 37-yard pass.

Gregori 36, Enochs 28 at Dan Gonsalves Stadium – Angel Moreno’s interception with 80 seconds left helped the Jaguars (6-3, 3-2) hold off the upset-minded Eagles (2-8, 2-4) in an MMC matchup.

Enochs held Gregori running back Demetrius Vinson to 34 yards and a TD on 10 attempts, but Vinson hauled in seven passes for 130 yards and a score.

Jags QB Cam Calton completed 13 of 21 passes for 204 yards and one score. Chris Olson Jr. rushed for 108 yards and a TD on 18 carries for the Eagles, who trailed 29-28 heading into the final quarter. Enochs quarterback Travis Graham, who completed 8 of 15 passes for 75 yards, rushed for 82 yards on 11 carries.

Central Catholic 42, East Union 13 in Manteca – Justin Rice, The Bee’s reigning Player of the Year, ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Hunter Petlansky ran for 107 yards and a TD and threw for a TD as the Raiders rolled past the Lancers.

The big win set up the anticipated Valley Oak League matchup between unbeatens Central Catholic and Oakdale for the VOL title Friday night at David Patton Memorial Field.

East Union couldn’t keep up with the Raiders. Jared Rice closed the scoring with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, his fourth return of a kickoff or punt for a TD this season.

Ripon 18, Escalon 15 in Ripon – The Indians clinched a share of the Trans-Valley League title and sewed up the No. 1 playoff seed with a last-second, come-from-behind victory over the Cougars at Stouffer Field.

Trailing 15-12 with the ball at the 2-yard line, Ripon (6-3, 4-0) was stuffed trying to run up the middle, and it looked as if time might run out. But the Indians lined up and snapped the ball with about four seconds showing. Quarterback Nick Price took the shotgun snap, rolled right and hit Jacob Duxbury, who made a one-handed catch and crossed the goal line as time expired.

Escalon went ahead with about five minutes to play on a one-yard burst by Tim Costa (19 carries, 81 yards). Costa ran in the two-point conversion to make it a three-point margin. Duxbury put Ripon ahead 12-7 with his third-quarter TD.

The loss put a huge dent in the Cougars’ playoff hopes. Escalon (4-5, 1-3) must now beat Modesto Christian on Friday and hope it is awarded one of the rare at-large berths to a 5-5 team.

Central Valley 42, Los Banos 21 in Ceres – Moses Ghiorso ran for 209 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 carries and scored another touchdown on a 15-yard pass play to lead Central Valley to a stunning victory. Ghiorso had a huge first half for the the Hawks (6-3, 4-1 Western Athletic Conference), scoring his fourth TD of the half on a 96-yard run. The score gave Central Valley a 28-7 halftime lead.

After Adam Herrera’s eight-yard TD run pulled Los Banos (6-3, 3-2) within two touchdowns, Jamarea Lumpkin put the game out of reach with a 65-yard scoring run. Ghiorso closed the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 90-yard touchdown run.

Ceres 44, El Capitan 35 in Merced – Bulldogs quarterback Chris Lubinsky completed 25 of 43 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns in a WAC win over the Gauchos. Friday’s effort marked the third time this season Lubinsky has thrown for more than 300 yards in a game. Through nine games, Lubinsky has completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,498 yards with 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.

Senior Austin Stiles caught nine passes for 165 yards and three scores, and Marcellus Boykins caught five passes for 100 yards.

Patterson 69, Livingston 6 in Livingston – Michael Lawson returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and the Tigers (9-0, 5-0 WAC) were off and running. Alec Espos and Jamal Broussard each scored two touchdowns for Patterson. Eddie Avila scored the Wolves’ touchdown on a four-yard run in the first quarter.

Ripon Christian 27, Mariposa 8 at Mariposa – Knights quarterback Travis Zuidervaart threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as the Knights improved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Southern League. Jake Williams caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jake Mayberry for the Grizzlies’ score. The Grizzlies face a must-win this week against Le Grand to reach the playoffs.

Orestimba 76 Waterford 7 in Newman – Austin Martins rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns on just 11 carries, and recorded seven tackles, a sack and an interception on defense as the Warriors rolled past the Wildcats in the Southern League.

Waterford’s score came on a 67-yard strike from Randy Ogden to David Staley. The win pushed Orestimba’s overall record to 9-0, setting up a super showdown for “The Chief” in the annual showdown with Gustine, also 9-0 and 6-0 in the SL, and the Southern League championship.

Gustine 48, Delhi 21 in Delhi – Brandon Labry rushed for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Gustine quarterback Sebastian Figueroa had a 55-yard touchdown run and a passing touchdown to J.D. Laupua for 22 yards.

Le Grand 46, Denair 40 in Denair – Beto Marquez threw for three touchdowns, including two to Jose Renteria. The Bulldogs’ defense preserved the win late when Julian Diaz forced a fumble and Bobby Elias recovered to give the ball back to the Le Grand offense, which was able to run out the clock.

Stone Ridge Christian 69, Turlock Christian 0 in Hilmar – The Knights extended their amazing shutout streak to seven consecutive games. Stone Ridge Christian improved to 8-1 and 4-0 in the Central California Athletic Alliance. Shane Casillas and Jonathan Collazo each scored three touchdowns for the Knights.

Buhach Colony 30, Golden Valley 21 in Atwater – The Thunder overcame injuries to several key players, and its defense set the tone early with four of its six takeaways in the first half.

Donte Askew returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score and Kory Woods rushed for 129 yards on 13 carries and caught a 42-yard TD pass. Cougars quarterback Armando Muzquiz threw three touchdown passes in the loss.

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Fourth straight MMC title still in play for Downey."