Buffaloes run away from improved Kimball

Manteca overcome 5 first-half turnovers

Manteca running back Khalid Robinson bolts ahead of linemen David Vega (51), Josh Saylor (71) and tight end Omar Villanueva on a 28-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter Friday at Kimball. - photo by SEAN KAHLER

Bulletin sports 2020-21 — Manteca running back Khalid Robinson bolts ahead of linemen David Vega (51), Josh Saylor (71) and tight end Omar Villanueva on a 28-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter Friday at Kimball. - photo by SEAN KAHLER

TRACY — Manteca got its early-season wake-up call out of the way in the Valley Oak League opener at Kimball.

The Buffaloes overcame five turnovers in the first half — three of them in the red zone — and a prolific passing attack led by Nicholas Coronado to escape with a 44-38 victory Friday. The junior quarterback completed 29 of 46 passes for for 335 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions, and the upset-minded Jaguars were ahead 16-8 at halftime.

Manteca throttled them 84-20 in their 2019 meeting. Only one starter returns for the reigning Sac-

Joaquin Section Division III champion, and head coach Mark Varnum said his young team “had to grow up in a hurry” at Don Nicholson Stadium.

“I give all the credit to Kimball and coach (Mike) Kuhnlenz,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “He has taken this program so far. They came out ready to play. We made a lot of mistakes but then again they forced a lot of mistakes.

“Luckily, in the second half we got back to doing what we do and we protected the football, which was job No. 1. We got away with one and we gotta get better. We'll never see another half like that from another Manteca Buffalo football team, I assure you that.”

Manteca (1-0) scored on its first three drives of the second half to stake a 32-22 lead and held on from there. The Buffaloes needed only one or two snaps to cash in in each of those possessions, getting chunks of yardage on big plays.

Setting the tone on the second-half kickoff was Khalid Robinson, who returned it 73 yards to set up fullback Alijah Cota's second short-yardage touchdown of the night. Robinson was stopped short of the end zone by Jerome Nance on the 3.

“I came out (of halftime) and had to get something going,” Robinson said. “I almost took it back (for a touchdown) on that kick return, but that sparked us.”

Robinson was also the Buffaloes' leading rusher with 180 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts, adding four conversion runs. Lyon Colon added 12 rushes for 141 yards and second-half TD scampers from 50 and 21 yards out. His second touchdown capped a 5-minute, 32-second drive that gave Manteca some breathing room 44-30 with 3:12 remaining.

Kimball answered with Coronado's 6-yard touchdown toss to Alonzo Jackson with 1:21 left but could not force another turnover on the ensuing kickoff as Trey Moreland recovered the squib attempt.

Jackson finished with 92 yards and a touchdown on 23 rushes while catching seven passes for 71 yards and two scores. The Jaguars outgained Manteca 482-412.

Manteca did most of its damage on the ground, totaling 335 rushing yards. Quarterback Krys Charles threw it just twice, the first of which resulted in an interception by Willie Clifton in the first half and the other a 77-yard touchdown to Blake Nichelson in the third quarter.

Nichelson, one of three sophomores who are two-way starters, again flashed his game-breaking ability on his second touch later in the period, but his 34-yard touchdown jaunt on a fly sweep was negated by penalty.

“That's who we are,” Varnum said of Manteca's proficiency in the run game. “We put it on the back of our big boys. Our skill guys were having trouble with the football tonight and we said, 'Alright, big boys, take us home.' We just kept it real simple and real ugly, and deep down to our core that's who we are. The big boys took care of business tonight.”

Defensively, Manteca forced three turnovers with safety Domenic Favaloro (interception, fumble recovery), Moreland (interception, forced fumble) coming up with the takeaways. Jose Rios, Josh Saylor and David Vega each had sack.

“Our coach (defensive coordinator Rick), James, he puts us in the right spots during practice and then we just gotta execute it,” Favaloro said. “We still need to fix our secondary. That's all we can do is keep getting better.”

Coach Varnum believes the scare has gotten his team's attention.

“A lot of times to learn a lesson you have to lose a game,” he said. “Luckily tonight, we learned a lesson and still go the 'W.' We're going to take that and improve moving forward, but again, I give all the credit in the world to Mike Kuhnlenz and Kimball.

“They did a phenomenal job tonight. They deserved to win the game tonight, luckily it didn't turn out that way and we got it done in the end.”