For these Stanislaus District teams, defense has given them opportunity of a lifetime
You don’t win playoff games without near perfect defense.
When the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Football Championship finals kick off on Friday and Saturday, 14 teams will play for the chance to raise a blue banner.
Four Stanislaus District teams enter championship weekend with storied histories and each has seen extra defensive production to put them in position to play in the game of a lifetime.
Escalon and Central Catholic’s defenses sometimes take a back seat to their talented offenses.
Cougars’ sophomore quarterback Donovan Rozevink leads the Trans-Valley League with 1,400 passing yards and 20 touchdowns.
They average 34 points a game and, in their 12 contests, have had three 50-point games and a 41 point performance.
The Raiders’ running tandem of Aiden Taylor and Julian Lopez is among the best in the entire section with 2,570 yards and 42 touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Tyler Wentworth does his job managing games and has passed for just over 1,300 yards.
What led both teams to undefeated outright league titles and No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions is their effort on defense.
Central Catholic’s dominance in stopping their opponents carried them through the Valley Oak League unbeaten. They allowed 90 points in league games, including, holding Kimball’s high-powered offense that averaged about 42 points to just 16 and keeping a fully healthy Manteca team to 33 points, under its season average of 41.
Whenever Escalon needed a burst during a game, the effort on defense was their calling card.
In the first matchup with TVL rival Ripon, the Cougar’s defense announced its presence early.
Defensive lineman Tate Christensen recovered a fumble that bounced off of quarterback Adam Barrera’s facemask, returning it 67 yards for a touchdown and putting his team ahead 14-0 early in the game. The Cougars went on to win 21-7.
Beam said that play “got the crowd involved and settled our nerves a little bit.”
Ryker Peters has taken his game to another level. The senior fullback and linebacker has 16 tackles this postseason, pacing a dominant defense that was always good, but took its play up a notch this postseason.
“I feel like our defense is the best defense in the (TVL),” Beam said after Escalon’s 34-10 playoff win over Ripon. “They’ve kind of gone under the radar, which is strange, because they’ve been our backbone all year long.”
You want to be playing your best football in November or you’ll be sitting at home.
The Raiders wouldn’t still be in contention for a section title if it wasn’t for their defense.
In their quarterfinal matchup with Lodi, the Flames were marching the length of the field trailing by four points with the ball in Raider territory, with 14 seconds left.
Lopez subbed in at noseguard and rushed through the offensive line to sack Lodi’s quarterback as time expired to seal the victory.
Head coach Trent Merzon believes Oakdale plays its best football in November, but in the middle of their season, the Mustangs lost two straight league games, meaning they had to win the rest of their games to make the postseason.
Merzon decided to go back to the drawing board and do something to make sure his team was successful to end the season.
“We made some moves,” Merzon said after Oakdale’s semifinal win. “We moved some dudes around. After the Central Catholic loss. We moved some secondary guys back up front and got faster.”
The Mustangs have allowed seven points in five games, dating back to Oct. 8, including four straight shutouts and holding Patterson High’s talented host of playmakers to just seven points in the section semifinal.
“Our kids fly around,” Merzon said. “They’re physical. They’re not real big, but they do run around. We’re playing good defense right now.”
Frank Marques and Hilmar rely heavily on defense by committee.
Marques credits his team for playing “swarming” football and buying into a new defensive concept.
“Our goal is always to try to have 11 guys on the football,” Marques said. “No matter where the ball is at, we want everybody to pursue to the football.
“We’ll be successful when the play’s over with, and we have 11 guys around the football.”
Hilmar’s senior linebackers Blake Westmoreland and Broc Perry lead the Yellowjackets’ “swarming” defense that allowed less than 10 points a game in TVL play.
Marques believes his defense is playing well at all three levels as of late, which has led to a lot of the team’s success.
“Our DBs have been playing really well, our linebackers are super tenacious and our defensive line is pretty strong,” Marques said. “We’re blessed to have all three levels of our defense playing well right now.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
