Nikko Juarez scampered for 233 yards and four touchdowns, and the pass rush produced 10 sacks for Manteca in its marquee matchup Friday with Bay Area powerhouse Marin Catholic at Sierra’s Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
What would normally be a recipe for success was not enough for the Buffaloes, as untimely miscues coupled with a gutty effort from MC quarterback Caedon Afsharipour led to a devastating 29-28 loss.
“Bottom line, the offense had a chance to finish; we didn’t. And the defense had a chance to finish; we didn’t,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “Told the boys this game was going to come down to a handful of mistakes, and we made a few more than they did.”
Credit the Wildcats (1-2) for coming back from a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter to steal their much-needed first win of the season. They were coming off tough losses to Sac-Joaquin Section heavyweights Inderkum and St. Mary’s, and things were again looking bleak at various points Friday for the reigning Division III-A state champions.
Marin Catholic trailed 22-7 at halftime and 28-15 with 9:17 left in the game. Luke Chigos’ blocked point-after touchdown following Manteca’s final touchdown — a 1-yarder for Juarez — proved to be the difference.
Afsharipour, harassed all game by Manteca’s talented defensive front, came through in crunch time, hitting San Jose State commit Braiden Bachich-Dixon (four receptions, 88 yards) for an 11-yard touchdown and then Chase Merrick (four receptions, 76 yards) from 30 yards out for the go-ahead score with 1:56 remaining.
The 6-foot-3 junior signal caller completed 15 of 21 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Jarred Geissberger (four rushes, 19 yards) scored the Wildcats’ other two touchdowns.
“I can’t say enough about him, man,” MC coach Mazi Moayed said of Afsharipour. “He played like a warrior. A few times it looked like he wasn’t going to get off the ground; he kept fighting.
“I asked him a couple times, ‘Are you OK?’ and he didn’t flinch. He said, ‘Hey, I’m good. I just need to catch my breath.’ He just kept fighting and made the plays when they counted. That’s the most important thing.”
Manteca (2-1) had plenty of time left to retake the lead but wound up committing the only turnover of the game. Owen Gulley was pressured and hit as he overthrew an open Quinn Martinez on a deep pass up the middle and was picked off on the next play by Marin County safety Josh Riley.
The Wildcats tried to kneel it out but left 4 seconds on the clock. Gully’s deep shot from the Manteca 34-yard line was intended for Martinez but batted down by Gabe Baker.
“We got away with one today,” Moayed said. “Manteca is incredible, it just came down to a few key moments. Their running back runs his heart out. We got a few breaks in the game, then we were able to sort of stick with it. The guys just kept fighting.
“It’s been the story of our season, so far — we’re battered, bruised and beat up. It’s sort of an emotional victory for us today. From the first half to the second half of that game tells the story of our season, so far. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys, but we got away with one tonight. It’s a tough loss for them, but a fun with for us.”
Marin Catholic came up with big plays on third- and fourth-and-longs on all of its scoring drives.
Manteca’s ferocious defense gave up a first-half touchdown for the first time this season but was burned by blown coverages and penalties in the worst moments.
In the second quarter, Manteca, leading 15-0, was a play away from getting the ball back when MC faced third-and-11 from the its own 34. That was when Afsharipour spotted the 6-4, 223-pound Bachich-Dixon alone for a 53-yard gain. Martinez raced him down to prevent a touchdown, but the Wildcats hit paydirt anyway on Geissberger’s short-yardage plunge with 4:02 to go in the half.
Marin Catholic got a boost from Geissberger on the second-half kickoff, which he returned 77 yards to the Manteca 19.
The Buffaloes nearly came away unscathed after back-to-back sacks from Ruben Moreno and a deflected pass from Josh Mellion at the line of scrimmage, forcing a fourth-and-19 from the 28. The Wildcats could only muster 9 yards on the next play— a short pass from Afsharipour to Bachich-Dixon — but was gifted an extra set of downs thanks to a roughing-the-passer penalty.
Geissberger struck again, this time from 11 yards out. Afsharipour then hit Jordan Rogers on the conversion to close MC in, 22-15.
On the Wildcats’ scoring drives in the fourth quarter, Afsharipour targeted Kelly Storms for a 14-yard completion on fourth-and-10, and later Merrick for a 26-yarder on third-and-12.
“During the week, we were working hard to get ready for this game,” Mellion said. “We knew they have some big guys up front, and our main focus was to get pressure (on the quarterback). It was working until the fourth quarter with about five minutes in the game. We started collapsing. After they got the big gain, our D-line got tired and it was all bad after that.”
Mellion finished with two batted balls at the line of scrimmage and a sack. Moreno spearheaded the sack attack with three. Kyrin Barajas, Mathieu Evans, Xyloh Kuresa, Maava Tialavea and Ratu Tomasi were also able to bring down Afsharipour.
Offensively, Juarez did most of the damage for Manteca with his 27 carries. He also had one reception for 5 yards. Martinez finished with four catches for 54 yards. Preston Smith (3 of 4, 10 yards) split snaps behind center with Gully (3 of 6, 51 yards).
Manteca opened the game with an impressive 8-minute, 28-second drive capped by a 3-yard run from Juarez. The sophomore running back found the end zone again midway through the second quarter with a 52-yard dash.
“That was Manteca football,” Varnum said. “That was the plan. Maybe we should have got a little bit more. We had opportunities, we just didn’t finish.
“That’s a great football team, and I still believe we’re a damn good football team,” he added. “We have to learn and grow from this. Like I told them, be sad tonight, wake up tomorrow and be hungry.”
The Buffaloes conclude their pre-league schedule next week at Lincoln of Stockton.
