Prep football roundup: Johansen nearly knocks off Lathrop in Thursday matchup
Big days on the ground for the Stanislaus District’s top two teams, Oakdale and Central Catholic, secured big Valley Oak League wins. They match up next week for a big league matchup to determine which team has a fast track to the No. 2 spot behind Manteca.
A win for Ripon Christian over Ripon in the Trans-Valley League helped the Knights secure their second straight big league win and marked the first time in over 20 years Ripon Christian beat Ripon in back-to-back years. In other TVL matchups, Hilmar was dominant against Orestimba and Sonora kept up its undefeated season with a big win over Hughson.
In the Western Athletic Conference, a heartbreaking Thursday matchup for Johansen ended in a one-score loss. The Vikings made it inside the five-yard line with seconds left, but ran out of time to run a play.
Ceres held off a 15-point fourth quarter run by Pacheco to claim a win. Despite cutting a Livingston lead to one point, Central Valley could not sting together scoring drives in the final frame, falling by two scores.
Also, Turlock and Enochs each came away with big Central California Athletic League wins over Gregori and Modesto high schools, respectively.
Lathrop 28, Johansen 21: The Vikings fell behind 21 points but stormed back to tie the game at 21-21 by the end of the third quarter. Anthony Torres found Jeydan Saing for a score in the second quarter, Saing ran it in for a score in the third quarter and Torres and Gabriel Ibanez connected for the game-tying score. Pablo Pena scored from one yard out in the game-winning touchdown with five minutes left in the game.
Johansen got a late fourth down stop with 52 seconds left to give itself one final shot. The Vikings got to the four yard line but ran out of time to run a potential game-winning play.
Central Catholic 61, East Union 29: Sacramento State commit Carter Meeks had three rushing touchdowns and Zymir Nelson and Jonathan Fuentes each added a pair of scores on the ground to lead Central Catholic to a dominant win. The Raiders’ defense was impressive in the first half, holding East Union’s explosive offense scoreless.
Livingston 34, Central Valley 20: Central Valley trailed at halftime and pulled within one point after a five yard touchdown run by Erick Mendoza, 21-20. Livingston scored 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points to earn the key league win.
Hilmar 41, Orestimba 0: Hilmar bounced back from two straight TVL losses with a big win over Orestimba. The Yellowjackets put up their second-highest scoring game this season and shut out their second opponent this season.
Oakdale 56, Patterson 14: Four Mustangs recorded a rushing touchdown as Oakdale racked up 532 rush yards in its sixth straight win. Wes Burford rushed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, Richard Flores added 191 yards and three scores on the ground. Chase Lopez and Anthony Navarro each rushed for a touchdown.
Ceres 21, Pacheco 15: Ceres held off a furious Pacheco comeback that saw the Panthers score all of their points in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs earn the WAC win thanks in part to a passing touchdown from Parker Borges and a rushing touchdown by Adrian Carrillo.
Turlock 43, Gregori 0: Turlock was dominant over Gregori in its second CCAL win this season. The Bulldogs take on Pitman next week in the Harvest Bowl then travels to Downey the next week for what is likely the league title game.
Sonora 43, Hughson 12: Sonora remained perfect overall and in TVL play, scoring over 40 points for the fifth time this season against the Huskies. Hughson scored on a pair of passing plays in the second and fourth quarters. A 20-point fourth quarter helped Sonora put the game away.
Big Valley Christian 34, Riverbank 0: The Lions advanced to 3-1 in league play after a shutout win over Riverbank Friday night. The Lions are 3-4 overall and are the No. 11 team in their Sac-Joaquin Section division.
Ripon Christian 35, Ripon 21: Ripon Christian took a 21-14 halftime lead thanks to three passing touchdowns to Daniel Lambdin, Amos Cady and Aaron Van Hofwegen. The Knights sealed their second big TVL win this season with one touchdown in the third and fourth quarters each.
Enochs 50, Modesto 26: The Eagles snapped their five-game losing streak, claiming their second win overall and first victory of CCAL play under new head coach Joshua Bradshaw. In both of Enochs’ wins, it has scored at least 50 points.
