Oakdale’s Wes Burford sets section rushing record in VOL win over Central Catholic

The Sac-Joaquin Section has seen its share of great running backs.

From 1998 to 2019, no one in this section touched Grant of Sacramento Onterrio Smith’s 6,178-yard mark. He was the SJS career leading rusher until Rio Linda’s Cameron Skattebo broke the record his senior year in 2019, finishing his varsity career with 6,192 yards. Since then, no one had finished a career with more rushing yards.

Move over, Mr. Skattebo, the record is now Wes Burford’s.

The Oakdale High senior running back committed to play at Air Force entered Friday night’s rivalry game against Central Catholic with 6,163 yards on the ground, just 29 shy of Skattebo’s record. By halftime, he had his name etched in the Sac-Joaquin Section record books in Mustang red and yellow ink. By the end of the game, he had 290 rush yards, five rushing touchdowns, multiple two-point conversions and a 60-46 win over the Raiders.

“I can’t think of a more deserving kid than Wes,” Oakdale head coach Garrett Martin said. “He’s been a great leader for us and worked hard to take advantage of his talent.”

Burford accomplished the feat in 33 games and according to Mark Tennis of Cal-Hi Sports, Burford also passed more than 10 others names on the all-time state rushing list.

In his first varsity season as a sophomore, he rushed for 1,819 yards and 27 touchdowns on 311 carries. As a junior, he improved, tallying 2,678 yards and 32 rushing touchdowns, both among the best in the section and the state. This year, he could do even better. Through eight games, he has 1,959 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns with the rest of the regular season and playoffs remaining.

There was a lot on the line for both teams. Central Catholic was looking to avoid its second Valley Oak League loss this season, keeping itself in the hunt for at least a co-league title. Oakdale knew a win kept its perfect league record and its hopes for at least a share of the league title intact.

And then there were the bragging rights. Central Catholic won each matchup since 2019, but this year was different.

Burford scored on a 22-yard touchdown to start the second quarter and after converting the two-point conversion, the Mustangs never trailed. They beat the Raiders for the first time in Burford’s high school career and Martin earned his first win over the Raiders as a head coach.

“I could tell this was a (big) game since watching from when I was a kid,” Buford said. “Just watching Central, they’re a very good program and they beat us most years, but to get this win senior year especially after losing the three past years, it’s a big win. As a team, this was a game we were preparing for all summer. It just feels amazing to win.”

Oakdale unselfish in the run game

Oakdale’s Wing-T is the definition of team football. The offense does not work without its foundation, the offensive line, then the quarterback and three running backs work to confuse the defense with a series of fakes and misdirections with the hope of wearing down a defense.

The goal for the Mustangs is to gain four yards every play, but when everything works just right, one play often goes for much more.

Burford is at the head of the snake, often running through the middle, but occasionally quarterback Grant Gardner will fake to him, turn around and hand the ball to Richard Flores who runs around the outside, reading his blocks and looking for holes to break off a long run. His first touch of the game went for 46 yards.

A few plays later, Flores opened the Mustangs’ scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run to extend the team’s lead with a 37-yard rushing score in the second quarter and put The Bee’s No. 1-ranked team ahead 45-32 with a 31-yard touchdown in the third. In addition to his three touchdowns, he rushed for 176 yards on 17 carries and added a pair of conversions.

“I was just running downhill and hard because they’re a physical team,” Flores said. “I just gotta get four yards per carry.”

Springing him free on most plays was last year’s No. 2 running back, Chase Lopez. The senior’s role has changed this year, but he has embraced the blocking.

“I’ve been going from long, key runs to key blocks and I feel like that’s such an essential part of our offense,” Lopez said. “Especially with Richard and Wes and how powerful they run. I feel like whenever I get a block down, no matter the circumstance, it’s gonna be a good run.”

Burford rushed for three touchdowns in the second quarter of 22, four and 50 yards and capped the game with 53- and 12-yard fourth quarter touchdowns. No score was more backbreaking than the 50-yard run at the end of the second quarter.

After the Raiders cut the Mustangs’ lead to 29-26, Oakdale took over possession with 34 seconds left in the half. A few plays later, with 20 seconds left, Burford took the ball 50 yards up the middle, weaving through Central Catholic defenders. He converted one of his three conversions to give the Mustangs a 37-26 lead at the intermission.

Central Catholic’s Canepa “disappointed”

Kayden McHenry led the Raiders down the field on their opening drive and Isaiah Faagata scored on a one-yard run for an early 7-0 lead. Max Medina gave Central Catholic a 14-7 lead after breaking three tackles on a 15-yard run. But by the end of the game, head coach Roger Canepa said he was disappointed with his team’s effort and execution.

They gave up a fake punt conversion on fourth down and allowed multiple long touchdown runs, notably Burford’s 50 yarder with 20 seconds left in the first half.

They cut the lead to six in the second half when a Zymir Nelson fourth-quarter run made it a 45-39 game, but penalties and defensive lapses contributed to 14 unanswered Oakdale points to put the game away.

“We’re not as disciplined as we’ve been,” Canepa said. “I’m disappointed because that was a game we could have won, and we lost. But we’ve had about four of those games and we don’t make plays.

“We prepare, but we don’t execute. So whose fault is that? It’s mine, because I’m in charge.”

Medina rushed for a touchdown and passed for two scores. McHenry completed a 68-yard pass to tight end Collin Benninger for a first-half touchdown. Benninger also caught a TD pass form Medina. Jonathan Fuentes had a rushing and receiving touchdown, but the Raiders could not stop the Mustangs.

“They score points on everybody, so we were hoping to hold them to three or four touchdowns and we hit 35 or 40 (points), which we did,” Canepa said. “But you can’t beat nobody giving up 60.”

Oakdale takes a seven-game win streak into next week’s matchup against Sierra of Manteca before their regular season finale at home against Manteca. Central Catholic finishes out league play against Mountain House and Sierra, searching for a fourth win to qualify for the eight-team postseason bracket.

This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 8:09 AM.

Quinton Hamilton

The Modesto Bee

Quinton Hamilton covers high school sports for The Modesto Bee. He is a Southern California native and received his bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College and a master’s in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Quinton has worked at the Record-Journal in Meriden and helped on projects at Hearst Connecticut.