Prep football roundup: Strong play by Stanislaus District teams in quarterfinals
Stanislaus District playoff football teams had good showings Friday night. Hughson and Hilmar out of the Trans-Valley League were victorious and Central Catholic and Downey put up fights against some of the section’s top Division I programs.
Oakdale overcame a season-ending injury to Richard Flores, advancing to the D-III semifinals with a win over Ponderosa.
In Division VI, both local teams’ games were separated by a total of four points but yielded different results. In Division IV, Escalon stayed in the first half of the matchup against No. 2 Roseville as a seven-seed but ran out of steam and saw its season end.
Here is a look at scores and information from around the area:
Division I
No. 1 Folsom 62, No. 8 Downey 34: The Knights took an early 14-6 lead over the four-time defending D-I section champions and led 14-13 after the first quarter thanks to a 29-yard touchdown pass from Julian Masaniai to Chris Cannon and a 16-yard rushing touchdown by Elias Haynes. Downey trailed 27-20 at halftime but was outscored 35-14 in the second half. The CCAL champions, Downey finishes the 2025 campaign 7-4.
No. 2 Oak Ridge 14, No. 7 Central Catholic 13: A controversial pass interference call that Central Catholic head coach Roger Canepa vehemently disagrees with set Oak Ridge up perfectly for a game-winning touchdown. Central Catholic took a 10-7 second quarter lead and extended it to 13-7 in the second half. The phantom call on fourth and four gave Oak Ridge a new set of downs with under a minute left, setting up the game-winning touchdown pass. The Raiders’ season ends at 5-6.
Division III
No. 2 Oakdale 35, No. 7 Ponderosa 20: With Richard Flores out for the rest of the season with a leg injury, the Mustangs still found a way to get a win. Air Force commit Wes Burford rushed for four touchdowns and Caden Adams blocked a punt and returned the recovery for a score. The Mustangs take on Vanden next week in a rematch of last season’s Sac-Joaquin Section D-III title game after the Vikings upset Merced.
Division IV
No. 2 Roseville 49, No. 7 Escalon 30: Escalon finishes the season 5-6 after Friday night’s quarterfinals loss. The Cougars trailed just 21-16 at halftime, but the Tigers scored 21 unanswered points to break open the game . Jake Ferreira returned a kick 98 yards and the Cougars made a two-point conversion for their final points of the season.
Division VI
No. 3 Ripon Christian 28, No. 6 Amador 26: Lushen Sanders scored twice on the ground and Amos Cady and Mason Tameling added a rushing touchdown apiece as the Knights pulled out a two-point win in the CIF-SJS quarterfinals. Amador scored late to make it a two-point game, but Ripon Christian recovered the ensuing onside kick and closed out the game. The Knights travel to No. 2 Liberty Ranch for next week’s semifinals.
No. 2 Liberty Ranch 30, No. 7 Ripon 28: Ripon took a 14-13 second-quarter lead on a pair of long touchdown runs by Matthew Gaines and Andrew Shaw but trailed by three points, 24-21, at the half. After a scoreless third quarter, Liberty Ranch scored and Ripon answered in the final frame. Ripon forced a punt and started a drive with under three minutes left in the game but could not manufacture a winning drive.
