Armed and dangerous: Quarterback Olsen lifts Oakdale past Sonora

Trent Merzon gathered his Oakdale football team close, close enough to hear a church whisper.

Then he turned up the noise, instructing his defending Sac-Joaquin Section Divison IV champions to ...

“Turn it loose!” the 15th-year coach belted, his words echoing throughout the school’s gymnasium, the site of the Mustangs’ pregame walk-through.

Oakdale kept the volume up, throttling its traditional rival in its season opener Friday evening.

Third-year quarterback Adam Olsen was nearly perfect in front of a standing-room-only crowd, throwing for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns as Oakdale ran roughshod over Sonora, 40-15.

In the 99th meeting between these former Valley Oak League foes, Oakdale left no doubt. The Mustangs scored the first 34 points and racked up 631 yards of total offense, striking a near balance between the run and the pass.

Fullback Brad Aquino test-drove Oakdale’s fabled trap and loved the ride: He had a game-high 165 yards and one touchdown. Austin Burke also found the end zone, racing away from the ’Cats for a 73-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half.

Oakdale has now won 10 consecutive meetings in the rivalry and leads the series 63-31-5.

“Because it’s a rivalry, we want to win it more than the other games,” Olsen said moments after a bear hug from Spencer Thomas, his mentor and predecessor. “We want to win every game badly, but because it is Sonora, I think it brings out the best in us.”

The Mustangs’ performance confirmed what many around the Stanislaus District feared: Even without 1,000-yard running backs Brock Whiting and Frankie Trent, Oakdale would be an offensive juggernaut. The Mustangs returned four pieces on the offensive line, dynamic running back Darus Nelson and the maestro – Olsen, a cagey 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior entertaining interest from small colleges.

“We’re farther along, but we’re doing different things,” Merzon said. “We have different personnel, and we try to blend our wing to what our kids can do individually each year.”

Olsen was 13 of 15 for 310 yards – numbers that staggered even Merzon. As his numbers might suggest, Olsen took huge chunks out of the field with each throw.

“I’ve been telling everyone all along that Adam should be getting more attention. I think he’s pretty darn good. He didn’t surprise me – I told you what was coming,” Merzon said. “He did a great job, and I think those two incompletions were drops. I don’t think he threw a legit incompletion.”

Tight end Greg Hickman had seven receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He beat Sonora’s Wyatt Faughnan to the pylon for his first score, stretching the ball across the goal line with a desperate leap to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter.

Hickman absorbed a crushing blow from Faughnan but admitted he was worried more about the defenders he couldn’t see.

“Honestly,” he said, “I was just trying not to get caught.”

Olsen also had a 37-yard flip to Vincent Albertoni, who found himself wide open after Sonora bit on the play-action.

Logan Hall plunged the dagger into the Wildcats with a 73-yard reception with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter. He took a quick pass and slipped into the seam, sprinting away from the defense to make it 40-8.

Sonora coach Bryan Craig tipped his cap to Olsen and the evolving Oakdale offense. On Friday, the Mustangs showcased Olsen’s underrated arm.

“It’s their third-year quarterback. He’s somebody that Trent wants to throw the ball a little bit and get him prepared for the Division III playoffs,” Craig said. “Maybe get him ready for games down the road.”

Sonora’s offense was a mixed bag.

Quarterback Sam Page was the Wildcats’ most effective weapon. He rushed for 115 yards and threw for 66 more, including a 34-yard toss to Faughnan.

Brett McCutchen rumbled 33 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but it hardly diminished the sting.

The Bee’s top-ranked small-school team had success moving the ball against Oakdale in the first half but struggled to finish drives. Of Sonora’s five first-half possessions, three stalled inside the Oakdale 40-yard line.

“We got it to the 10, 24 and 37 and just didn’t convert those drives into points,” Craig said. “There’s always a letdown when you get down there and turn the ball over on downs. We moved the ball, but you have to finish against a good team like Oakdale.”

Last season, Sonora answered a season-opening loss to Oakdale with 11 straight victories, a Mother Lode League championship and section final appearance.

Craig isn’t deterred.

“They have that same ability. They can bounce back,” he said. “We just have to fix a few things.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 1:04 AM with the headline "Armed and dangerous: Quarterback Olsen lifts Oakdale past Sonora."