Manteca trailed at halftime for a second straight week but mounted another late flurry, this time sprinting away from Ripon for a 47-28 victory Friday at Guss Schmiedt Field.
In this duel of reigning Sac-Joaquin Section champs, the Indians (0-2) gave the host team all it could handle for three quarters before succumbing to the Buffaloes’ punishing running game.
Manteca muscled its way to 24 unanswered points in the fourth, as junior running backs Lyon Colon and Khalid Robinson again finished with 100-plus yards apiece. With multiple two-way players quarantined because of COVID-19, Ripon relied on Aaron Wood and its surprising aerial attack to keep pace.
Last week, the Buffs (2-0) trailed Kimball 16-8 at halftime, went on a 30-6 run and held to escape with a 44-48 win. On Friday, they shot out to a 15-0 lead but found themselves down 16-15 at the intermission. Stunted by five first-half turnovers in its season opener, Manteca took better care of the ball against Ripon but had two second-quarter drives stall out in the red zone.
“It’s growing pains,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “This is a young team and they’ve got to learn. Games like this are not good for my blood pressure but they’re great for building this team’s character.
“In the second half they showed how much character and heart they have. What’s scary about this team is that we’re young and inexperienced, but when we flip the switch we can take off in a hurry.”
Colon led Manteca with 175 yards on 22 carries, scoring three touchdowns and twice more on conversions. He also had an interception during the fourth-quarter onslaught.
Robinson rushed 112 yards and two touchdowns on nine attempts, adding five receptions for 83 yards. He also had three conversion runs. He put it out of reach on back-to-back carries, 60- and 25-yard touchdown scampers in the fourth quarter.
Wide receiver Blake Nichelson contributed a 6-yard score on a fly sweep to with 65 yards on two catches.
“With the guys we have up front, we have the playmakers who can make a 5-yard play into a 50-yard gain real quick,” Varnum said.
Limited to just two throws last week, Krys Charles was able to put his dual-threat ability on display with 148 yards on 7-of-14 passing along with 40 yards rushing on eight rushes.
“He threw some great balls,” Varnum said of his senior signal caller. “Tonight, we wanted to show all the stuff that we can do. We’re just scratching the surface with what this team can do.”
Like Manteca, Ripon has lost much of its stars from the 2019 season to graduation but is showing promise with the current group that has few holdovers from the SJS Division V and state Division IV-AA championship team.
After a discouraging 39-6 season-opening loss to East Union, the undermanned Indians showed their mettle after absorbing the initial blow from Division III Section titlist Manteca.
“Our kids stepped up, they answered the challenge,” Ripon coach Chris Musseman said. “I don’t know if we win, but this is a different score if I had the two or three kids in quarantine.
“I think we would have had a shot, but I couldn’t be happier with these kids. The one thing we asked is that they don’t quit and fight to the end. They did all of that against a great team.”
It was Wood who gave the Indians a fighting chance, giving Manteca’s defense fits with his legs before putting his arm and big-play targets to use. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 238 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
“We looked at their roster and saw their dudes and said that we have to throw to be able to run,” Musseman said. “Aaron was outstanding. He has never been a pocket quarterback, but we put that on him this week and he responded unbelievably.”
Malik Taylor also stepped up in a big way. The senior basketball standout is playing football for the first time, and he scored touchdowns on all three of his receptions totaling 135 yards. Wood hit him for an 80-yard score with no time left in the third quarter to give the Indians their last lead at 28-23.
“He’s a special athlete,” Musseman said. “I would give anything to have had him the last three years. This is the second real football game in his life. What he is doing is amazing.”
The Wood-Taylor connection first struck at the end of the first half as time expired. With no timeouts left, the Indians came up short on two running plays before the scrambling Wood was able to find Taylor in the end zone from 2 yards out.
“We had two plays designed and they didn’t work out,” Wood said. “I just called for the first play that came to my mind and we rushed up to the line and ran it. Thankfully, it worked.”
Despite the loss, the Indians proved it can hang with one of the VOL’s traditional heavyweights.
“We grew a lot as a team,” Wood said. “We had people tire out, but everyone just stepped up and played their best. This just shows that we’re never going to give up and we’re here to play.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Ripon 8 8 12 0 — 28
Manteca 15 0 8 24 — 47
First quarter
M — Blake Nichelson 6 run (Khalid Robinson run), 8:57.
M — Lyon Colon 7 run (Alejandro Tornero kick), 6:20.
R — Mason Knight 18 pass from Aaron Wood (Justin Park run), 1:23.
Second quarter
R — Malik Taylor 2 pass from Aaron Wood (Nolan Young pass from Wood), 0:00.
Third quarter
R — Taylor 53 pass from Wood (run failed), 10:57.
M — Colon 1 run (Colon run), 0:04.
R — Taylor 80 pass from Wood (pass failed), 0:00
Fourth quarter
M — Colon 1 run (Robinson run), 11:34.
M — Robinson 60 run (Robinson run), 7:37.
M — Robinson 23 run (Colon run), 5:03.
