Downey’s Woodmansee, Sacuskie sign to play Division I football in the Big Sky
Two more Downey Knights are headed to the Big Sky after the first day of the football regular signing period.
All-CCAL and Bee All District players Ethan Woodmansee and Noah Sacuskie signed with Division I UC Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, respectively, on the Downey campus Wednesday, Feb. 5, at noon.
Woodmansee will attend UC Davis as a preferred walk-on with the chance to earn a scholarship. Sacuskie heads to Cal Poly on a partial scholarship and will initially have 80% paid for, with the chance to earn a full scholarship.
The two are not the only Knights seniors heading to the Big Sky, as receiver Joseph Ramirez signed with Northern Arizona University on the first day of the football early signing period in early December. Woodmansee and Ramirez entered the program as freshmen and improved and blossomed into two of the Stanislaus District’s best pass catchers in Downey’s pass-first offense. The two of them also run track and were part of Downey’s school record-setting 4x100 team last season. They will run track again this spring. Sacuskie joined them junior year and the three helped Downey to multiple 10-win seasons.
“We’ve been friends and we started at the same point and worked our way up,” Woodmansee said. “It’s really cool to see and we’re all going to be in the same conference.”
Sacuskie is looking forward to keeping up with his friends at different schools: “It’s really cool. The guys we’ve been grinding with, playing on the same team and practicing with will now be on the opposite side. It’ll be weird facing off against them, but it’ll be cool because maybe after the game we can all say what’s up and hang out.”
Sacuskie spent his first two high school years in Colorado where his dad, Scott, was on the coaching staff at the University of Colorado. He moved back to Modesto his junior season and played for the Knights with his dad as his defensive line coach.
In both of his seasons at defensive line, he was an All-CCAL performer, earning honorable mention his junior season and league Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. He finished his senior season with 95 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, three blocked punts, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
“They’re on the up right now,” Sacuskie said of Cal Poly’s football program, “and I want to be a part of that.”
He said his initial plan is to major in fire science.
“It’s an honor,” he said of playing football in college. “But it’s definitely gonna be a lot harder than anything I’ve done at the high school level. You’ve got to be excited a little bit, but then you have to focus on the hard work you’re about to have to step into.”
Woodmansee was the CCAL Outstanding Back/Receiver as a junior and the Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. His junior season, he led the Knights in receiving yards and touchdowns. As a senior, he put together another outstanding campaign offensively, playing in all 12 games and tallying 45 catches for 804 yards and 11 touchdowns.
As a preferred walk-on, Woodmansee knows he is going to have to earn everything.
“It’s going to be a grind to get that scholarship money, but I’m totally willing to do that,” he said. “Since freshman year, I’ve been a grinder. Their offensive scheme is similar to Downey’s … so I’m excited for that. I’m excited to show them what I can do.”
Woodmansee saw his role increase in each of his three varsity seasons. He worked his way up from the third option to a top receiver in the area. At Davis, he plans to major in mechanical engineering.
“I’ve always loved Downey as a school and definitely as a football program,” he said. “The coaches run a very tight, organized schedule and I think that’s going to transition perfectly, a place where you have to be on time and be ready at all times.”
Football players earn All-State honors
As Cal-HiSports rolls out its postseason football awards, a number of the Stanislaus District’s gridiron stars earned All-State honors. Bee Player of the Year and three-time section and 2022 state champion Robert McDaniel highlights the list of honorees as the Small-Schools Player of the Year and first-team All State quarterback. Bee Offensive Player of the Year Wes Burford made the All-State medium schools and juniors teams.
Here is the full list of local football players who earned All-State honors:
All-State Small Schools
QB: Robert McDaniel, senior, Hughson (first-team offense)
OL: Tipeti Paini, junior, Ripon (second-team offense)
DL: Ryan Lewis, senior, Escalon (second-team defense)
WR/DB: Malakai Sumter, senior, Hughson (second-team multipurpose)
All-State Medium Schools
RB: Wes Burford, junior, Oakdale (second-team offense)
QB: Max Medina, junior, Patterson (third-team multipurpose)
Small Schools State Player of the Year
Robert McDaniel, senior, Hughson
All-State Juniors
RB/LB: Wes Burford, junior, Oakdale (second-team multipurpose)
Patterson dual-sport star makes commitment
One of the top multi-sport athletes in Northern California announced his verbal commitment to play Division I baseball. Patterson’s Max Medina is not only an All-VOL and All-District quarterback, he’s also a coveted recruit on the diamond. Medina announced his verbal commitment to the University of Oregon on Jan. 31. The junior picked the Ducks after receiving offers from a number of schools, including Cal Berkeley, Air Force and Cal Poly.
Last season in 25 games for the Tigers, Medina collected 23 hits with six doubles, two triples and a home run, drove in eight runs and scored 24 runs with a .311 batting average and stole 12 bases. On the mound, he went 8-1 with two complete games and two shutouts in 11 appearances. He posted an impressive 0.83 ERA. He was named a first-team All-District utility player one of just three sophomores to receive first-team honors.
On the gridiron, Medina led Patterson to appearances in the Division IV section title game as a sophomore and junior.
Team Wrestling Duals Results
The 2024-25 wrestling postseason kicked off Saturday, Feb. 1 with the team duals at Lincoln High in Stockton. Like they have many years in the past, boys teams from Divisions I-VI gathered to see how they stack up against some of the best in the section. This year, though, they were joined by a group of girls teams split into two divisions. In total, 12 Stanislaus District boys and girls teams competed with the hopes of bringing home a blue banner. Here are results:
▪ In Division I, Pitman took both the boys and girls crowns. On the boys side, the Pride beat West of Tracy 64-16 in the first round, beat Folsom in the second round, 39-31 and beat Vacaville 38-27. The girls team dominated all three rounds, beating Pleasant Grove 77-0, Del Oro 54-24 and Golden Valley 43-30
▪ Oakdale was eliminated in the first round of the Division I bracket by Elk Grove, 34-29
▪ In boys Division II, Turlock beat Grace Davis 37-35 in the first round but fell to Ponderosa in the second round
▪ In boys Division IV, Central Catholic went back-to-back, earning a bye in the first round, beating Placer 57-18 in the second round and overcoming El Dorado 44-33 in the championship
▪ In Boys Division V, Escalon took home the blue banner while Ripon made it to the second round
▪ In boys Division VI, Big Valley Christian and Waterford met in the championship. The Lions earned the blue banner in a competitive 39-30 win
▪ In girls Division II, Central Catholic advanced to the championship but fell to Livingston
▪ The wrestling postseason continues through the rest of the month. Boys divisionals and girls north and south regional finals are Feb. 14 and 15. Feb. 21-22 the top teams from those events meet at the Stockton Arena for Masters. The state wrestling tournament at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield is Feb. 27-28 and March 1.
