OAKDALE – Playing receiver in Oakdale High’s Wing-T offense is a little bit like being a lifeguard at the Olympic swimming venue – you’re a bit of a forgotten commodity.
But Mustangs receiver Hunter Falconi went full “Baywatch” Friday night, diving into the action with eight receptions for 148 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-15 Valley Oak League victory over rival Manteca at The Corral.
Oakdale quarterback Marc Dickson completed 10 of 21 passes for 190 yards, targeting Falconi at least a dozen times in the contest.
“That’s the most this whole season,” said Falconi, referring to the number of time the Mustangs threw the ball. “I was told we were going to throw 13 to 14 times, so it was a little more than that.”
It’s probably something Dickson and Falconi could get used to. “Oh, yeah,” said Falconi. “It’s amazing.”
The loss for Manteca kills any realistic hope it had at winning the VOL crown. With losses now to both Oakdale and Central Catholic, the Buffaloes are now two back with four to play.
“I take blame for that, honestly,” said Manteca quarterback Gino Campiotti, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 238 yards and one TD, but was victimized by several drops. “At practice, we’ve been slacking off a little more than we should and, all in all, I threw some bad balls here.”
Here … at The Corral is not where you want to make mistakes. The Mustangs are now 84-7 in games played on their home turf, the most distinct home-field advantage in the Stanislaus District. Three times Manteca turned the ball over and three times Oakdale made the Buffaloes pay with touchdowns.
Trailing 8-0 after Campiotti hit Jacob DeJesus on a 21-yard strike in the first and then ran in the two-point conversion, Manteca crossed midfield on its next possession and driving toward their second touchdown. But Campiotti was intercepted by Bronson Harmon, giving the Mustangs the ball at their own 35. Ten plays later, Josh Jacobson cashed in from the 1.
Harmon ran in for the two-pointer and the game was tied with 10:30 to play in the first half.
Eight minutes later, Campiotti hit Jorge Cedano over the middle but he was drilled from behind by Matt Kjeldgaard. Cedano coughed up the ball and Oakdale’s C.J. Toledo pounced on the football.
Nine plays after that, Dickson and Falconi hooked up for a 22-yard TD strike to complete a 70-yard march and give the Mustangs a 15-8 lead at halftime.
“We were in our comfort zone,” said Oakdale coach Trent Merzon. “I thought coming in we wanted to throw it 12 or 14 (times). They’ve got great athletes with the big bodies up front … I thought we had some matchups we liked.”
The Buffs coughed up the ball on their first possession of the second half – Junior Rodin applied another crushing hit from behind to knock the ball loose – and Oakdale again made them pay when Dickson capped a 4-minute, 36-second drive – covering 57 yards in 11 plays – with a 1-yard sneak into the end zone.
“That’s what Oakdale-Manteca football games are supposed to be,” said Merzon. “They’re violent, physical football games.”
Dickson and Falconi connected on a 47-yard strike with 9:01 to play in the game that pushed the Mustangs’ lead to 29-8. After Kyle Rachels caught a 5-yard TD pass from Campiotti to make it 29-15, Oakdale running back Cameron Cherry rumbled in from 39 yards for the final tally.
Cherry finished with 161 yards rushing on 23 carries, while backfield mate Josh Jacobson totaled 104 yards on 21 attempts. The Mustangs (5-1, 3-0 VOL) play host to Sierra on Oct. 13 while the Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2) entertain Kimball.