Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

Estrada: As season winds down, the games mean more

We've sat through plenty of bad football this season, both blowouts and erratic performances, but the good times are arriving just as the playoffs are approaching. It's going to be difficult to match the excitement from Friday night, short of the Sac-Joaquin Section finals.

The Stanislaus District was full of crucial games, and just about all of them provided the thrills and chills they promised:

Game of the Night honors go to the Santa Fe Bowl, once the district's premier rivalry between Highway 99 rivals Atwater and Merced. It lost some luster when both towns opened second high schools, but the good times returned when the CCC's top two teams met at Merced College.

Atwater won it 21-20 on a miracle play with 5 seconds left, as Steve Odom caught a 41-yard TD pass from Nathan Sanchez and John Guerrero kicked the biggest PAT of his life.

It leaves Atwater, Merced and Los Banos all at 3-1 in the CCC with two games left: Atwater at Los Banos and Turlock the next two weeks, Merced hosting Turlock and Pitman and Los Banos at Buhach Colony in Week 10.

It was a heartbreaker for Merced, as Jaquari People had two TDs called back. A 63-yard return of a pick was canceled by a clip and an 80-yard fumble return was nullified by an official's inadvertent whistle.

Oakdale got its biggest challenge of the season, but escaped -- barely. Manteca exploited the secondary, using backup QB Matt Burrows and receiver Reggie Bell to help take a 23-21 lead in the third quarter.

The Mustangs, who didn't throw a pass in the second half, churned out drives of 65 and 92 yards for their final TDs and a 35-23 win to stay perfect in the Valley Oak League.

It was the game you'd expect from The Bee's top-ranked large schools, with No. 1 rallying to beat No. 2 -- and don't be surprised if Manteca is still No. 2 in next week's rankings.

The Buffs put it all together with the triumvirate of Burrows, Bell and tailback Marquis Miller. Big runs by Devin Brooks (78 yards) and Blake Raham (58 yards on third down in the closing minutes) were two of the few errors by Manteca's defense.

Summerville's Zach Roberson also responded to a challenge with his Bears trailing 21-14 at halftime to nemesis Calaveras. Roberson tied it with a 56-yard TD pass, then led the Bears to another TD and a field goal.

It capped a remarkable eight days for the Bears, as they beat foothill powers Argonaut and Calaveras in consecutive games. The Bears clinch the MLL title with a win either of the next two weeks -- and going 2-0 assures the Bears no less than the No. 3 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4B playoffs.

MMC FINALE -- Give a blue ribbon to the person who drew up the MMC schedule, because they couldn't have done a better job. With Modesto, Enochs and Davis battling for a title and two automatic playoff berths, the teams will determine their own fate.

Davis (2-1) faces Enochs (3-0) Friday and Enochs plays Modesto (3-0) the last night of the season. If Enochs and Modesto win this week, they clinch playoff berths -- while Davis likely has to win twice to advance.

It could be quite a show Nov. 13, as the city's three best running backs -- private or public school, it doesn't matter -- meet in Enochs' Donnavan Johnson and Modesto's duo of James Ingram and Arquel Rogers. Best of all, they'll be on Downey's slick turf.

IT'S SHOWTIME! -- OK, enough of these ridiculous TVL games. It's time for Escalon and Modesto Christian to decide the league title -- and who is the biggest threat as Central Catholic pursues the inaugural D4B crown. Escalon and MC are each 8-0 and they beat their TVL rivals by a total of 121-0 Friday -- ouch! Both games used running clocks to limit the carnage.