High School football rankings: Oakdale solidifies No. 1 spot with VOL win
No Stanislaus District matchup was bigger than Central Catholic at Oakdale in Week 9. It was The Bee’s No. 1 hosting No. 2, bitter rivals, Division I talent all over the field, league positioning on the line. Any storyline that could be tied to a high school football game was there. The Mustangs ran away with the game, in every sense.
They fed Chase Lopez, Richard Flores and Wes Burford all night and the trio combined for 502 yards on the ground. Flores ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns and Burford had 290 yards and five rushing scores, leading to a 60-46 win, cementing Oakdale as the area’s top team.
Burford, an Air Force commit working on a career year, became the section’s all time leading rusher in the game. He entered the contest needing just 29 yards to pass Rio Linda grad and current New York Giants rookie Cam Skattebo atop the SJS rushing yards leaderboard. His 290-yard performance gives the senior 6,453 career yards. He has rushed for 100 or more yards in all but two games in his varsity career, both as a sophomore. He also has 84 rushing touchdowns.
Oakdale and Central Catholic stand pat along with the rest of the top five. Lower in the rankings, Ripon Christian jumps Escalon after a big 38-8 Trans-Valley League head-to-head win.
More big league games are on the horizon in Week 10. Downey and Turlock face off in a local top five matchup that will likely determine the Central California Athletic League champion. Hilmar visits Hughson in a TVL matchup between two top five teams in their respective divisions and top seven in the Stanislaus District. Hughson, the No. 6 team locally, is also the fourth-ranked team in Division IV, according to MaxPreps. Hilmar, The Bee’s No. 7, is the No. 2 team in D-V.
Modesto Bee Top 10 Rankings
1. Oakdale (7-1, 4-0 VOL)
Last Rank: 1
Last Week: 60-46 win vs Central Catholic
This Week: 10/24 at Sierra
2. Central Catholic (3-5, 2-2 VOL)
Last Rank: 2
Last Week: 60-46 at Oakdale
This Week: 10/24 vs Mountain House
3. Downey (5-3, 3-0 CCAL)
Last Rank: 3
Last Week: 56-14 win vs Modesto
This Week: 10/24 vs No. 4 Turlock
4. Turlock (4-4, 3-0 CCAL)
Last Rank: 4
Last Week: 28-14 win vs Pitman
This Week: 10/24 at No. 3 Downey
5. Hughson (7-2, 3-2 TVL)
Last Rank: 5
Last Week: 38-13 win vs Orestimba
This Week: 10/24 vs No. 6 Hilmar
6. Hilmar (5-3, 2-2 TVL)
Last Rank: 6
Last Week: BYE
This Week: 10/24 at No. 5 Hughson
7. Patterson (3-6, 2-3 VOL)
Last Rank: 7
Last Week: 56-6 win vs Sierra
This Week: 10/24 at Manteca
8. Ripon Christian (7-1, 3-1 TVL)
Last Rank: 9
Last Week: 38-8 win vs Escalon
This Week: 10/24 vs Orestimba
9. Escalon (3-5, 1-3 TVL)
Last Rank: 8
Last Week: 38-8 loss at Ripon Christian
This Week: 10/24 vs Ripon
10. Ripon (5-3, 1-3 TVL)
Last Rank: 10
Last Week: 46-20 loss at Sonora
This Week: 10/24 at Escalon
Bubble Teams: Pitman (4-4), Davis (5-3), Johansen (5-3), Waterford, (5-3), Beyer (3-5)
