Roundup: Modesto wins fourth straight heading into CCAL play; Oakdale rolls

The Modesto High football team couldn’t have asked for much more out of its preseason.

The Panthers won their fourth straight game on Friday night, defeating Stagg 26-16, to enter conference play with big momentum.

Modesto will open the Central California Athletic League season on Friday at Gregori.

“It’s been a good preseason, but the hard work is ahead,” Modesto coach Bret Wagner said. “We’re back to an 0-0 mentality. It’s time to move forward.”

The Panthers (4-1), who picked off seven Stagg passes, led the Delta Kings 26-9 early in the fourth quarter before pulling some of their starters.

Stagg (3-2) had won its last three games and hadn’t scored fewer than 32 points before its game Friday.

“We stepped it up defensively,” Wagner said. “It’s a young defense. They’re coming into their own.”

Modesto’s Zaire Eugene had two touchdowns and two interceptions.

WAC

Los Banos 42, Davis 32: Dasani Tate connected with Landon Ramos on a short touchdown pass with less than three minutes left as the Tigers improved to 3-2 overall, 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Spartans (1-4, 0-2) started the game with a 73-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Edgar Ramirez. Davis quickly added another touchdown on a 13-yard pass from quarterback Xavier Rodriguez to Greg Smith to give the Spartans a 12-0 lead. Rodriguez threw four touchdowns in the game, including two to Smith.

The Spartans host Pacheco next week at Downey.

Tate took over last week at quarterback after starter Colby Copp broke his ankle during the Tigers’ bye week. Tate completed 16 of 28 passes for 226 yards and three scores. He connected twice on touchdown throws to Ramos.

Ceres 44, Beyer 21: The Bulldogs (1-4, 1-1) outscored the winless Patriots 23-0 in the third quarter to cruise to the WAC victory.

Mountain House 35, Johansen 13: The Vikings (1-4, 0-2) were down just 13-7 against a team some said could win the WAC title. However, the unbeaten Mustangs (5-0, 2-0) scored 22 fourth-quarter points to pull away.

Pacheco 49, Lathrop 12: Marcus Ordunez threw two touchdowns and scored twice on the ground to propel the visiting Panthers (4-1, 2-0 WAC) to a victory. Julian Moran added two touchdown runs for Pacheco, which is off to its best start since opening 4-1 in 2013.

VOL

Oakdale 47, Weston Ranch 10: The Mustangs (5-1, 2-0 Valley Oak League), The Bee’s fifth-ranked large-school team, scored all of their points in the first half and have won four straight heading into their big conference game next week at Manteca (2-3, 0-1), which was off this week.

East Union 39, Kimball 27: The Lancers (2-3) outscored Kimball 12-0 in the third quarter and ended its three-game losing streak ahead of its game next week against Central Catholic (5-1). Kimball got to within 33-27 with eight minutes left, but couldn’t get closer. EU quarterback Eric Morales completed 12 of 21 passes for 188 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 45 yards. Lorenzo Contreras had five catches for 101 yards and three TDs.

CCC

Merced 55, El Capitan 0: While the offense put up another stellar performance, the Merced defense put on a show. Outside linebacker Ke’suan Eddings tipped a pass to himself and returned it to the end zone for a pick-six that gave the Bears a 34-0 lead in the first half.

Host Merced improved to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Central California Conference heading into their bye week before a big showdown with Buhach Colony on Oct. 5.

“I’m proud of our guys because we played almost everyone and everyone played really hard,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt.

Patterson 28, Golden Valley 7: The visiting Cougars struggled in their CCC opener on the road. The Tigers (3-3, 1-1 CCC) jumped out to a 28-0 lead. Jaren Phillips accounted for GV’s lone score on a 4-yard touchdown run with 1:23 left in the game.

Patterson’s Jordan Imada ran for 73 yards on a fake punt in the second quarter to open the scoring for Patterson. He later scored on a 2-yard run and finished with 110 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Patterson Quarterback Logan McCleery completed 21 of 31 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns.

SL

Orestimba 45, Le Grand 20: The Warriors opened up a 31-7 lead early in the third quarter and cruised to a victory over the host Bulldogs. Orestimba improved to 4-1 overall, 2-0 in the Southern League ahead of its big showdown next Friday against Ripon Christian, The Bee’s No. 1-ranked small-school team. Tony Garcia rushed for 234 yards and had scoring runs of 43 and 30 yards and quarterback Jacob Bettencourt had four touchdown passes — three to Tyler Vargas.

Ripon Christian 35, Denair 7: In a battle of unbeatens, the No. 1 small-school Knights went on the road and remained perfect (5-0, 2-0) in the victory over the fourth-ranked Coyotes (4-1, 1-1). RC has allowed just 34 points this season. Denair entered the game averaging 46 points a contest.

Gustine 17, Mariposa 13: The visiting Reds rallied for 10 points in the fourth quarter to come from behind for the win. Gustine improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the SL.

Waterford 33, Delhi 0: The host Hawks (0-5, 0-2 SL) were shut out for the second straight week and have only scored 14 points in five games.

CCAA

Big Valley Christian 42, Turlock Christian 0: The third-ranked small-school Lions (4-1) led 35-0 at halftime and cruised to victory over the Eagles. Big Valley hosts Stone Ridge Christian next Friday.

NON-LEAGUE

Edison 38, Enochs 0: The visiting Eagles (2-3) concluded their preseason with a defeat and play their CCAL opener next week against unbeaten Pitman (5-0) at Johansen High.

Calaveras 21, Stellar Prep 6: Calaveras shut out the Oakland school 14-0 in the second half for the victory in San Andreas. Johnny Lozano and John Arbuckle had short touchdown runs in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to lead Calaveras (3-2). Logan Weatherby had 52 yards on seven carries for Calaveras, which opens Mother Lode League play next week against Amador.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 11:35 PM.