Block party: Oakdale cruises past Menlo-Atherton 61-7

For one quarter of Oakdale High’s football game against Menlo-Atherton, it appeared fans would be treated to a competitive intersectional matchup.

As it turned out, the game was anything but close, and the Mustangs improved to 3-0 with a 61-7 victory over the Bears on Saturday night at The Corral.

But it took a muffed snap on the first play of the second quarter to make that evident.

Trailing 13-7 late in the first quarter, Menlo-Atherton faced third-and-1 just across midfield when a shotgun snap sailed over the head of quarterback Stavro Papadakis, who alertly covered the loose ball to avoid excess damage.

Nice try, but more trouble came on the next snap – the first of the second stanza – when the Bears attempted to punt from their 40.

Senior linebacker Robby Bagley raced through an alley in Menlo-Atherton’s line and blocked the punt, allowing Hunter Lacrosse to scoop up the ball inside the 10 and dance into the end zone for an easy touchdown.

“Without Robby Bagley, it couldn’t have been done,” said Lacrosse, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound junior. “I never imagined I’d score tonight, but I’m thankful.”

So instead of picking up a first down that seemed like a layup and driving the final 45 yards for the go-ahead score, the Bears trailed 21-7.

And the stampede began.

Brad Aquino’s second touchdown of the game made it 27-7. Mustangs quarterback Adam Olsen then found Logan Hall for a 10-yard strike that made it 33-7. About two minutes later, the tandem hooked up again, this time from 6 yards out to make it 40-7 seconds before the end of the first half.

At this point, all the Stanislaus District coaches scouting in the stands decided to call it a night and headed for the exit, which means they missed the encore by Bagley and Lacrosse.

The Bears went three-and-out on the opening possession of the third quarter and set up to punt from their 36. But Bagley again made a beeline to the punter, and Lacrosse was there once more to scoop up the loose ball, this time from the 23, and waltzed into the end zone.

“All week long, we studied a lot of film,” said the 6-foot, 193-pound Bagley. “We made a decision to go all in and try for a block. We saw how wide their line splits were – there was a wide-open alley – and we designed it this week. It was perfect.”

Mustangs coach Trent Merzon said he and defensive coordinator Tim Meyer saw the clues on film.

“We both saw it and decided to go get one,” said Merzon. “We decided to put some energy into it this week,” Merzon said. “We talked about it, but we didn’t talk about getting two.”

Lacrosse’s second score made it 47-7, triggering a running clock for the remainder of the game.

Junior running back Wes Leijten scored on a 25-yard scamper with 7:10 to play in the third quarter, and junior Vincent Albertoni cashed in from the 12 early in the fourth for the final tally of the contest.

Oakdale got off to a quick start, marching 60 yards on 10 plays and capping the drive on Darus Nelson’s 1-yard touchdown run.

The Bears’ Jordan Mims tied the score with a 43-yard burst up the middle. Oakdale came back and took the lead for good on Aquino’s first touchdown.

The Mustangs have a bye this week and then open Valley Oak League play on Sept. 25 against defending co-champion Sierra.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 11:51 PM with the headline "Block party: Oakdale cruises past Menlo-Atherton 61-7."