Juarez and Manteca run through Central Catholic in key Valley Oak League game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Juarez rushed for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns in Manteca’s 49-7 road win.
- Manteca dominated all phases, holding Central Catholic to just 200 total yards.
- The Buffaloes improved to 5-0 and extended their win streak over the Raiders.
One drive motivated Nikko Juarez all week.
They were the only snaps the running back played against Central Catholic last season as a sophomore before injuring his AC joint in his shoulder.
Though he rushed for over 1,500 yards and 21 touchdowns on the 2024 team that advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinals, against the Raiders, he tallied just eight carries for 47 yards.
Now a junior, he entered the season with a three-star rating and Division I scholarship offers from Sacramento State, Washington State and Cal Berkeley and he entered Friday night’s contest against the Raiders at David Patton Field with a chip on his now fully healthy shoulder.
“Oh, I was ready,” he said. “That drove me. I didn’t like that. I wanted to come and show my team and prove to Central Catholic that I could play.”
Juarez carried the ball 19 times for 286 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Buffaloes (5-0, 1-0 VOL) to a dominant 49-7 win, keeping them perfect and moving their win streak against the Raiders (2-4, 1-1) to two games. He had rushing touchdowns of 86, 45 and 14 yards.
The Buffaloes feel like they broke the curse with last season’s win.
The 2024 victory was the first time Manteca beat Central Catholic since the Raiders entered the VOL. The Raiders were 9-0 before that matchup. Now, with the “football gods” out of the way, they could just play.
“We broke the curse last year and we knew that wasn’t a fluke,” Manteca head coach Mark Varnum said. “We felt the tide has turned and these guys got it done. All three phases, every part of the game tonight, we dominated, and I’m so proud of these guys and this coaching staff.”
It was Manteca’s first win at Central Catholic in over a decade.
In addition to Juarez’s three first-half scores, fullback Maava Tialavea scored on the ground from two and 30 yards out, respectively, quarterback Owen Gully completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Micah Cardoza, and Jayden Harris returned one of his two interceptions on the night for a 35-yard pick six. After Central Catholic evened the score at 7-7 early in the first quarter, Manteca went on a 42-0 run, dominating the line of scrimmage on offense and defense, refusing to be tackled on offense, and creating havoc and confusion with its defensive physicality and schemes.
The win was a total team effort, but Juarez cemented himself as a threat and, according to Varnum, one of the best running backs in the section.
“He’s only a junior,” Varnum said. “I feel like he’s been on varsity forever but he’s among the best backs in the section and all of NorCal. He’s a little younger, so he doesn’t get the pub sometimes, but he’s every bit deserving, man.”
Central Catholic struggled after first drive
Central Catholic scored a touchdown on its first drive of the game, a 10-play, 70-yard trek down the field in just over three minutes. Sacramento State commit Carter Meeks rushed for 26 yards on four carries, and quarterback Kayden McHenry, a Sacramento State baseball commit, connected with Fresno State commit Chase Perino for a 12-yard gain.
A pass interference flag in the end zone on the Buffaloes took the ball from the Manteca 35 to the 20-yard line, and a call for roughing the passer put the ball on the eight.
One play later, Isaiah Faagata scored on an eight-yard run up the middle for the Raiders’ only touchdown of the night.
Other than that score and a Perino interception on the ensuing Manteca drive, Raiders’ coach Roger Canepa said he could not find much his team did well.
“They outplayed us and outcoached us,” he said. “That’s my fault, I’m the head coach. But we’ll be back.”
Central Catholic finished with 200 scrimmage yards, fewer receiving and rushing yards than Juarez had on the ground, just five second-half first downs and two interceptions and one lost fumble.
“We’ve got to get better,” Canepa said. “For me, it’s unacceptable for our program to play that bad.”
After answering Manteca’s first score of the game and evening the score at 7-7, Perino gave the Raiders more momentum, intercepting a Gully pass and returning it nearly 12 yards to the 40-yard line. The Raiders crossed midfield in three plays, but not long after that turned the ball over on downs after a failed fourth-down conversion.
Central Catholic’s next drive lasted three plays. A second-down flag caused by a lineman touching the ball while attempting to catch a downfield pass resulted in a loss of down and a five-yard penalty. Instead of counting the play, resulting in a third down, officials said the loss of down meant Central Catholic did not even get to attempt a third-down play, moving straight to fourth down. They turned the ball over on downs at the Manteca 31-yard line.
After that, the Raiders’ offense slowed and the defense could not get stops while the Manteca offense thrived, continuing its run of 42 straight points.
Did that make a difference? “I mean, hey, it don’t make a difference when you lose 49-7,” Canepa said. “But I don’t know how they messed up that down.”
VOL play continues
Central Catholic’s much-needed bye is next week.
The first few weeks, Canepa felt like the Raiders got better each week despite their 2-3 record entering Friday’s game. Friday, not so much.
“You’ve got to give (Manteca) credit, they beat us, but we made so many mistakes too,” he said. “So we didn’t get better this week.”
The Raiders get the chance to regroup, get fully healthy and prepare for the rest of a tough Valley Oak League schedule that will include a revitalized East Union team that is 6-0 overall and 2-0 in league play with playmakers across the field on Oct. 10 and a matchup against longtime rival Oakdale Oct. 17.
Canepa said the team will need to rally and come back stronger.
And what does that look like?
“We’ve got to block better, we’ve got to tackle better. We didn’t execute,” he said.
Manteca continues an undefeated season that includes wins over some of the top programs in Northern California. The Buffaloes host Sierra and travel to Mountain House in their next two VOL matchups.
