Prep football roundup: Patterson, Hughson advance to section championships, 2 teams out in semis
Along with Escalon, two additional Stanislaus District teams earned wins in Friday night’s Sac-Joaquin Section football semifinals.
Hughson traveled to Sutter High School, upsetting the top seed in Division VI as a No. 4 seed. The Huskies advance to their second straight section title game after picking up their 11th win of the season. They are looking to repeat after taking the D-VI title by one point last season over Summerville.
Patterson also had to earn a win on the road. The Tigers advance to the Division IV championship game as the third seed after upsetting No. 2 Vista del Lago in Folsom. Patterson is young, deep and talented and will play in the title game after falling in the Division III semis the past two seasons.
In addition to Central Catholic, a pair of teams also lost Friday night as Oakdale in Division III and Hilmar in D-V saw their seasons end.
Here is a breakdown of some of the Friday night action and the championship game schedule.
No. 1 Grant 42, No. 4 Oakdale 7
Oakdale started strong in its D-III semifinal, forcing an interception and capitalizing with a touchdown and extra point to take an early 7-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, they would not score again and Grant would go on to score 42 straight points. Grant took a 21-7 lead into halftime, which Devin Green extended with a rushing touchdown early in the third quarter. Green, a UNLV commit, finished with three rushing touchdowns and 157 yards on 12 carries. Washington State commit Wayshawn Parker rushed for 72 yards on seven carries. Oakdale finishes the season 8-4 with two appearances to the section semifinals in the past three seasons.
No. 3 Patterson 28, No. 2 Vista del Lago 19
Patterson benefited from yet another well-balanced offensive attack. Sophomore quarterback Max Medina completed 11 passes for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Running backs Jeremiah Lugo and Coby Joseph each rushed for a score Lugo finished the game with 195 yards on 25 carries and Joseph added 105 yards on 18 carries. Donjhae Hardin caught both touchdown passes and had 73 receiving yards. Frank Callum and Royale Tago tied for a team high in tackles with six apiece, and Tony Lomeli and Ty Todd had a tackle for loss and one sack each.
Patterson had to dig itself out of an early hole as it trailed 13-7 after the first quarter. The tigers allowed just six points in the rest of the game and added seven points in each of the second, third and fourth quarters to take the lead, which they never surrendered after leading 14-13 at the half. The Tigers will play old Trans Valley League rival Escalon Friday night at St. Mary’s in Stockton for the Division IV section title.
No. 2 Casa Roble 34, No. 3 Hilmar 14
Hilmar was unable to reach its second section title game in three years after falling to the Division V second seed Casa Roble on the road. The Yellowjackets scored touchdowns in the second and fourth quarters, but the Rams countered with seven points in the first and 14 and 13 points in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. Caden Bailey rushed for 105 yards and both of Hilmar’s touchdowns on 15 carries in the final game of his junior season. His running mate, senior Logan Cardoso, carried the ball 12 times for 64 yards.
No. 4 Hughson 21, No. 1 Sutter 14
Hughson won a semifinal contest on the road for the second straight season. It traveled to Sutter to face the top seed in Division VI and pulled out a narrow win. Robert McDaniel’s only touchdown pass of the game came on a connection with Malakai Sumter in the second quarter to give the Huskies an early lead. Hughson shut out Sutter in the first half of this battle of the Huskies and took a 14-0 lead on a run from Larkin Meyer. Sutter scored for the first time in the third quarter but Alexander Villarreal put Hughson ahead by 14 again with a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown. Sutter scored with about a minute to go, cutting it to a seven-point game, but Hughson finished out the game to advance to its second straight section championship game.
McDaniel threw for 116 yards on 13-of-21 passing with a touchdown. Villarreal rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, and Meyer added a rushing score. Team tackles leader David Burns collected six tackles and one tackle for loss. Hughson plays third-seed Bradshaw Christian for a blue banner Saturday afternoon at Sacramento City College.
2023 Sac-Joaquin Section Football Championship Schedule
Friday, Nov. 24
No. 1 Twelve Bridges vs No. 2 Casa Roble, 11 a.m. at Sacramento City College
No. 1 Grant vs No. 2 Woodcreek, 3 p.m. at Sacramento City College
No. 1 Folsom vs No. 3 Oak Ridge, 7 p.m. at Sacramento City College
No. 1 Escalon vs No. 3 Patterson, 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s High School (Stockton)
Saturday, Nov. 25
No. 1A Ripon Christian vs No. 1B Woodland Christian, 11 a.m. at Sacramento City College
No. 3 Bradshaw Christian vs No. 4 Hughson, 3 p.m. at Sacramento City College
No. 1 St. Mary’s vs No. 2 Rocklin, 7 p.m. at Sacramento City College
