Games to watch: Top Stanislaus District high school football matchups for Week 5
Week 5 brings that unusual part of the football schedule where the teams in larger leagues like the Trans Valley League and Valley Oak League kick off the first week of league play while other teams continue to face non-league opponents.
This week features great matchups across the board from Central Catholic traveling to Bellarmine in San Jose, to matchups between high-powered offenses in the TVL and one of the best VOL matchups of the season.
Here are the Week 5 games to watch:
Central Catholic (3-0) at Bellarmine College Prep (2-0) at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.
Central Catholic is unbeaten three games into its typically tough non-league schedule, and faces another rigorous test. After beating St. Mary’s-Stockton, ranked 31st in the State at the time, and San Ramon Valley, the fourth-ranked team in the Bay Area News Group’s poll, the Raiders travel to San Jose to play Bellarmine.
The Raiders are ranked 15th in MaxPreps’ latest Northern California poll and the Bells 16th.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Wentworth is leading the team after senior Dominic Perino suffered a knee injury in the Holy Bowl. Running back Aiden Taylor has paced the ground game with 279 yards and five touchdowns in the past two games.
The Raiders will have another tough challenge against a Bellarmine team coming off of a 41-6 win over San Leandro.
Clovis West (Fresno) (3-1) at Turlock (0-4) at Turlock High School, 7 p.m.
Turlock has played a difficult non-league schedule and its record shows it. The Bulldogs might be the best winless team in Northern California.
After falling to Manteca in another high-scoring game, the Bulldogs host Clovis West in their final tuneup before Central California Athletic League play starts Oct. 1 against Pitman following a bye next week.
The No. 12 team in the Central Section has a high-powered offense that features two quarterbacks, sophomore Tyler Patrick and junior Ryan Markarian, who share time and have combined for 823 yards and eight touchdowns – all to sophomore targets Jordan Pierro, Marshel Sanders and Landon Wright.
East Union (3-1) at Oakdale (3-0) at Oakdale High School, 7 p.m.
It’s the VOL opener for both teams. Last spring, Oakdale went 3-1, including a 35-27 win over the Lancers, and East Union went 2-2.
East Union quarterback Luke Weaver, who has earned praise from Oakdale coach Trent Merzon, is second in the section and Top 10 in the state with 1,190 passing yards leads an explosive Lancer offense that is averaging 42 points per game.
The Mustangs haven’t allowed more that 14 points a game, and are averaging 47.
East Union beat Ripon in Week 1 and blew out Atwater, 54-7, in Week 4.
Escalon (3-1) at Hughson (4-0) at Hughson High School, 7 p.m.
Both teams have scored 131 points, tops in the TVL. Meanwhile, the Hughson defense has allowed 26 total points to Escalon’s 99.
Hughson is taking an undefeated record into conference play for the first time since 2015, the same year they made it to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
Though Hughson’s offense has rolled for the majority of the season, last week against Summerville the Huskies were held to a season-low eight points.
Escalon is led by quarterback Donovan Rozevink and his 625 passing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Escalon was playing good enough to earn the 18th spot in last week’s MaxPreps Top 25 but fell out after a 54-14 loss to powerful Kimball.
Buhach Colony (0-3) at Downey (2-1) at Downey High School, Thursday 6 p.m.
Downey is the latest team whose schedule has been impacted by a cancellation.. The Knights went from playing Chavez-Stockton on Friday to Buhach Colony on Thursday.
Downey comes into the first of its two final non-league games after a Week 4 where the Knights scored six offensive touchdowns and one after a blocked punt. The Knights also forced four turnovers and had three sacks in a 55-8 win over Beyer.
Buhach Colony has struggled to find a groove this season. The Thunder are a run-heavy team led by running backs Jaxson Percoats who has 177 yards and three touchdowns, and Payton Johnson, who has produced 206 yards and one touchdown.
The Knights will face the challenge of stopping the Thunder ground attack before their final non-league game against Lincoln in Week 6.
Ripon Christian (2-1) at Riverbank (0-2) at Riverbank High School, 7 p.m.
Ripon Christian was originally scheduled to play Denair, but that matchup was canceled. After fielding offers from many other teams, they agreed to play Riverbank.
Ripon Christian hasn’t had a necessarily challenging non league schedule. Its two wins came against teams with losing records that have a combined one win. The one loss came to 3-0 Sacramento High.
This game serves as Riverbank’s final tuneup before it starts Southern League play next week against Orestimba (2-1). The Bruins are coming off a 48-2 loss to Argonaut.
Patterson (2-2) at El Capitan (0-4) at Merced College, 7 p.m.
After dropping its first two games of the season, Patterson has blown out Pitman and Modesto and goes into Central California Conference play with some momentum.
The Tigers have scored 136 points, 119 in their two wins, good for most in the league. On defense, they have allowed the most points in the league at 102.
Patterson’s Jacob Guevarra leads the Stanislaus District with 648 passing yards and 11 TDs and tossed a season-high five touchdown passes and 194 yards in the win over Pitman.
Last week’s 64-15 win over Modesto featured seven touchdowns, five on the ground. Running back Sean Hansen rumbled for 115 yards and one score, Aristote Balumbu and Lolo Mataele added one apiece and Guevarra ran for two.
El Capitan enters the game looking to get things rolling on offense after failing to score more than 10 points in three of its four losses.
Davis (3-0) at Mountain House (0-3) at Mountain House High School, 7 p.m.
Davis has put together three dominant performances this season, all without allowing more than 20 points, including a Week 1 shutout of Weston Ranch. The Spartans have scored 122 points and allowed just 27.
The top team in the Western Athletic Conference enters league play well-rested after a bye.
The Spartants know Mountain House won’t be a team to overlook despite its 0-3 record. They have players who have transferred in from Bay Area schools and their last two defeats have been by two points each.
The Spartans must shut down dual-threat sophomore quarterback Amare Brooks, who has passed for 558 yards and five touchdowns and run for 181 yards and one touchdown, and top targets Dexter Francis III (307 yards, four TDs) and Roy Gardner (300 yards, two TDs).
Bear Creek (Stockton) (0-4) at Enochs (3-0) at Gregori High School, 7 p.m.
First-year head coach Tracey Traub and the Eagles are in the midst of their second 3-0 start in three seasons. They have been dominant on both sides of the ball, scoring 125 points and only allowing 43.
Despite being down 14 players due to COVID last Friday, according to Traub, the Eagles snapped Central Valley’s eight game win streak in Week 4.
The defense will get a tuneup against a Bear Creek team that has had trouble finding the end zone in its four games.
Bear Creek has scored a total of 18 points, having been shut out twice.
Livingston (3-1) at Hilmar (4-0) at Hilmar High School, 7 p.m.
Hilmar has a pass-heavy offense led by Camron Moak, who is in the Stanislaus District’s Top 5 in passing yards (608) and touchdowns (9).
Hilmar and Livingston are two of the top scoring teams in the TVL with 118 and 130 points, respectively. While the offenses are high-powered, both teams have the weapons on defense to back up their scoring. Hilmar has allowed just 53 points and Livingston has given up 33.
For Hilmar to be successful, Moak and his favorite target Derek Taylor, who have combined for 327 yards and seven touchdowns, will have to be on the same page in what could be an offensive battle.
This story was originally published September 16, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
