Top-ranked Mustangs maintain dominance of Lancers in VOL opener.

The strength. The speed. The streak.

With all three working in its favor, the Oakdale High football team overwhelmed up-and-coming East Union in their Valley Oak League opener at Dino Cunial Field.

The top-ranked Mustangs scored six rushing touchdowns and finished a 42-6 victory under a running clock, yet another blowout in a one-sided series. Oakdale has won 23 consecutive games against the Lancers, ranked No. 7 in The Bee’s latest large-school poll, and owns a 39-9 advantage in the head-to-head.

Like many before it, this game was never close.

Cameron Cherry scored three touchdowns, Josh Jacobson found the end zone twice, and Bronson Harmon triggered a 21-point second quarter with a 6-yard scoring run.

Oakdale (3-1, 1-0) tallied the first 42 points.

Jacobson scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead. Cherry, one of the Stanislaus District’s top rushers, capped the scoring with touchdown runs of 1, 2 and 5 yards.

Cherry carried 15 times for 83 yards. Jacobson had 72 yards on 11 totes, while Harmon raced 46 yards on just four carries. Marc Dickson was 3 of 6 for 58 yards on a short night for the starters. Oakdale began pulling its first-stringers early in the third quarter.

Nathan Richardson connected on all six of his extra-point kicks.

East Union (3-1, 0-1) had just 145 yards of total offense. The Lancers had won their first three games and climbed into the large-school ranking with a multi-faceted ground game. East Union entered the night averaging 442 rushing yards, but it had yet to face a defense of Oakdale’s caliber.

It was a much different story on Friday evening.

The Mustangs held the Lancers to less than 3 yards per rush as a defensive line anchored by Levi Ichord and Fresno State-bound Matt Kjeldgaard impressed.

East Union carried the ball 30 times for a season-low 74 yards. Quarterback Joseph Espinosa (seven carries, 37 yards) supplied the lone highlight with a 9-yard touchdown with 5:45 left in the game.

The Lancers travel to Kimball (0-4, 0-1), while Oakdale visits Weston Ranch (1-3, 0-1).

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Top-ranked Mustangs maintain dominance of Lancers in VOL opener.."