VOL football preview: Four 2022 playoff teams enter a new season, Oakdale under new coaching
In 2022, 14 Stanislaus District teams qualified for the playoffs. Five local teams won league championships, three won section titles and a pair played in the last football games of the season, taking home state championships. Now, every team’s record is the same, 0-0. Each team hopes to sit atop its league after 10 games, practice on Thanksgiving leading into a section championship game and eventually be crowned a state champion.
Over two weeks, The Bee is previewing each league heading into the new season. Coverage includes notes and information on each Stanislaus District team, coach quotes and a look at team practices.
Central Catholic captured its third outright Valley Oak League title in four seasons after going a perfect 5-0 in 2022. The Raiders put up points with the best of them, scoring more than 50 points in their final three league games and their playoff opener highlighted by what was arguably the game of the year in the Stanislaus District: beating Manteca in a 56-49 shootout. Speaking of the Buffaloes, they had the most successful season of any VOL team, winning a Division II section title and playing in the Division 1-A NorCal Bowl Game. They lost Blake Nichelson to Florida State but bring back his running mate Bryson Davis.
Oakdale is under new leadership after local legend Trent Merzon’s retirement at the end of 2022. The Mustangs are looking to advance yet again to the postseason, where they have been regulars for more than 15 years. Kimball, last season’s third-place league finisher, also made the postseason, winning its first-round game in the Division IV bracket.
2022 VOL Standings
Team (Overall record, League record)
Central Catholic (8-5, 5-0)
Manteca (11-2, 4-1)
Kimball (7-5, 3-2)
Oakdale (6-5, 2-3)
East Union (4-7, 1-4)
Sierra (1-9, 0-5)
Experienced Central Catholic defending league title eyes deep D-I playoff run
Central Catholic begins its Valley Oak League title defense with the most depth it’s had in years. After averaging 30-35 players for the past few seasons, the Raiders start 2023 with 41 players on their roster.
“Having an extra six to eight players helps everywhere — in practice, with depth,” head coach Roger Canepa said.
They have returners at key positions but also have added a handful of transfers, most notably four-star lineman and Fresno State commit Mana Itete. While some, including Itete, will have to abide by the section’s five-week transfer sit-out rule, they will be back for the start of league play.
Canepa knows that if the Raiders want to have any success in the VOL and eventually the postseason, they will have to keep their opponents out of the end zone. Last season, they allowed an average of 31 points a game and gave up 62 points to Folsom in the Division I section semifinals.
“We’ve got to play better defense this year,” he said. “We scored points and we played some good football teams. We just (have to) cut down on giving up big plays on defense and make sure we take advantage every chance we get to score.”
The Raiders have returners all over the field. Troy Leota, an all-VOL lineman last season, returns as one of the more experienced members on the offensive line. Quarterback TP Wentworth and receivers/defensive backs Trace Hernandez and Brooklyn Cheek are primed for big seasons and have formed a connection in the passing game.
“It’s always good to have returners,” Canepa said. “We’ve got guys that have played a ton of games so they’re used to the system and they’ve been in big games, that always helps. They’re good leaders too, so they’re bringing up all the juniors. Our quarterbacks have been in tough spots, so that should help.”
Last season, the Raiders expanded their offense to add more passing. With Wentworth entering his third season as starting quarterback and the addition of Tim Garcia to work with the offense, it seems they could air it out even more. Canepa, however, kept the offensive plans close to the vest.
“We do what teams give us,” he said. “If teams take away the run, you’ve got to throw a little more. If they take away the pass, you’ve got to run it. It’s a give and take. We don’t want to go in saying we’re going to throw it 50 times a game. It comes down to what they do.”
Last season was the Raiders’ first in the Division I playoffs due to the section’s continued success rule. Their first run in the SJS’s highest division ended in the semifinals. This year, they are hoping to use that experience to take them to the championship. Yet another tough preseason schedule that has them on the road against St. Mary’s and Bishop Manogue, and hosting Serra will only prepare them further.
VOL Notes
Oakdale looking to continue playoff success under new leadership
The message for Oakdale entering 2023 will be the same as last season, but the messenger will be different.
After Trent Merzon retired with more than 200 career wins to spend more time with his family, the Mustangs promoted former defensive coordinator Garrett Martin to be the new head man. In his place, Martin promoted his younger brother, Justin, from JV defensive coordinator to varsity defensive coordinator.
“It’s been a change in responsibilities,” Garrett Martin said of the promotion to head coach, “but it’s been good so far. We haven’t played anybody yet, that’s always the real test. Following in coach Merzon’s footsteps is a big challenge.”
Martin started out coaching linebackers for three seasons before heading up the defense for the past six. For the first time in his coaching career, he will call the other side of the ball. He won’t completely get rid of his defensive mindset, however. In fact, he will use it to his advantage. Knowing how opposing defenses might react in situations will allow him to call the right play to beat the coverage.
“I have a pretty good understanding of the offense because I’ve defended it in practice for nine years,” he said. “I’m going to really leverage my knowledge of defense as I call the offense.
“We’re going to stick as close as we can to the offense that we ran. It’ll be a little different without Coach Merzon but we’re going to do our best to keep with the tradition that we have playing the same defense and same base offense.”
Tommy Chance sat out the first five weeks last season after transferring to Oakdale but will start the season as the team’s quarterback this year. The Mustangs will run their traditional three-back offense spearheaded by last season’s third-leading rusher, Gabe McDonald. Wes Burford and Chase Lopez have also impressed in early practices.
One returner who will have a different role this season will be 2022 leading rusher Cameron Guthrie. The senior rushed for a team-high 983 yards and finished with six touchdowns but will switch to defense, playing in the secondary.
“He’s going to get some carries, but we wanted to get strong leadership on defense.” Martin said.
When you think of Oakdale, you can’t help but think playoffs, and Martin’s goal is to continue the successful legacy Merzon left.
“The biggest shoes to fill are how he was as a leader. He could inspire kids to play at a level that you know is tough to get to,” Martin said. “He was able to extract the best out of kids and he was so consistent. An average of 10-plus wins for 23 years can’t all be the kids and it can’t all be the coaches. It’s the combination of the two and he’s always able to strike that balance.
“We want to win games. It’s always our goal to make it to playoffs and win a league championship if we can. That’s always what we’re working towards and every week, we make sure we’re focusing on that opponent.”
League’s other two playoff teams replacing key members
Manteca is a back-to-back defending section champion but a couple of key pieces from those teams are now gone. Quarterback Hudson Wyatt passed for over 1,200 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, his second with the Buffaloes, and always seemed to play his best in the section title game. He threw three touchdown passes in the 2021 and 2022 title games, wins over Oakdale and Granite Bay, respectively.
Running back/linebacker Blake Nichelson is at Florida State now but terrorized the section for his entire varsity career. He put up video game numbers in his two full seasons, rushing for 2,231 yards and 36 touchdowns and catching seven touchdown passes as a junior, and rushing for 1,719 yards and 27 touchdowns with 703 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior.
A big reason why Nichelson could take a break from getting the ball out of the backfield was Bryson Davis, who is back this year and is primed for a big senior season.
Davis rushed for 1,202 yards and 16 touchdowns and much like Nichelson, could break one open at any time. Davis was also a first-team all-league linebacker.
On defense, last season’s leading tackler, Isaiah White, was just a sophomore.
Kimball, for the second season in a row, will replace a productive senior quarterback as Jaden Mckey, an all-league first-team honoree in 2022, graduated.
The Jaguars return their second-leading receiver, Darius Doyle, who earned all league honors last season and a slew of promising defensive players in 2023.
