Ripon gave the top-seeded team all it could handle in the quarterfinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs on Friday.

Undefeated Sutter was shut out for nearly three full quarters but eventually broke through en route to a 14-0 win. The Huskies (11-0) will next play No. 5 Escalon, a 42-28 winner over Trans-Valley League foe Hilmar.

“Real proud of these kids,” Ripon coach Chris Musseman said. “At the start of the season, we knew it was going to be a learning process, and in the last few weeks the kids learned how to play at this level. Last week, they learned how to win.

“What they did tonight to the No. 1-seeded team in our division is remarkable. We threw a pick-six in the end to give them their second touchdown, but we stuffed their offense all night long. I couldn’t be more proud of the way the kids played.”

Sutter took the lead with 5 seconds left in the third quarter when Jagger Beck hit Luke Miller for a 15-yard touchdown. And with 3:33 remaining in the game, Dylan Humes returned an interception 15 yards to double the lead. Josiah Thompson converted both point-after kicks.

Neither offense could truly get untracked in this duel of Wing-T attacks.

Xzavier Clark, who starred in No. 8 Ripon’s wild 35-30 come-from-behind win over No. 9 Rosemont last week, was held to 20 yards rushing on eight carries and 40 yards on three receptions.

Sophomore running back Anden Ries returned from a knee injury that sidelined him for a month, and he was limited to 14 carries and 37 yards. Quarterback Ty Herrin was 7-of-22 passing for 86 yards and two interceptions.

“Their front did a really good job against ours,” Musseman said. “We had a hard time getting started, and when we had chances to make plays, we couldn’t execute or get called for a penalty to get behind the sticks.

“They’re a very good defense, and there was no way to be able to just recover from those kinds of mistakes.”

After struggling for much of the season, the young Indians (5-7) hope they’ve built some good momentum for the next season. Two weeks ago, they ended the Trans-Valley League season with a 21-19 loss to runner-up Hughson, which was a heavy favorite. And Musseman believes his players grew up in their two postseason contests.

Ripon will bring back much of its top players at the skill positions, including receiver/cornerback Jesus Ochoa.

“It’s huge for the juniors this year to get to see a couple playoff games,” Musseman said. “It was great extra work for them and the sophomores we had to bring up because we got so injured. We had three or four sophomores get a lot of playing time, and it’s going to pay dividends down the road.”