For first-year East Union coach Booie Daniels and the rest of the Lancers, their upcoming clash with intra-city adversary Sierra is “personal.”
In some ways, it’s personal for Sierra coach Jeff Abrew, as well.
It’s the Valley Oak League opener for two squads looking to build on their strong starts to the season. East Union, at 4-0, is the first Manteca-area team to reach the four-win milestone — that’s the minimum required to qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
Kickoff is scheduled scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Sierra’s Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
“Approaching this season, we knew the importance of winning preseason, not only to get those four wins, but establishing who we are going into VOL,” Daniels said. “I believe we were tested against good teams that put us in situations that helped us become who we are and the type of team we want to be.”
After holding off Kimball and Ripon, the Lancers picked up their pivotal fourth win last week when they surged past dangerous Enochs in the second half for a 50-20 blowout.
At this point last season, East Union was 3-1 and in a good position to make the playoffs. The Lancers did not win again, and Sierra was among the teams blocking their path to a third straight postseason appearance.
Sierra won that Week 9 contest 34-31, and on East Union’s homecoming. It was quite the homecoming celebration for Abrew, a 1996 East Union grad, as the Timberwolves clinched their playoff berth that night.
Sierra holds a 20-8 all-time lead, but they evenly split the last six contests after the T’wolves won 13 straight.
Incidentally, Daniels, who graduated from Sierra in 2007, will be facing off against his alma mater for the first time at the varsity level. He headed East Union’s 9-1 freshman squad 2022, then joined Abrew’s staff last season at Sierra as its JV coach.
“I know this game is very personal for my seniors,” Daniels said. “It has been a long year, because they’ve had to sit on that. Not only did they lose in that brand-new stadium, Sierra was the reason why they were knocked out of the playoffs.
“It’s also very personal for me, since I went to Sierra. We have an opportunity this week not only to solidify a big win for us, but to (deny) them their fourth win. We don’t want to be the reason they make it to the playoffs.”
Sierra isn’t far off at 3-1 and is on a three-game winning streak after dropping a zero-week heartbreaker to Lathrop, 28-24. The Timberwolves escaped Sheldon in a defensive battle last week, 24-14.
“We’re happy to have three wins right now, but we have a lot to improve on in order for us to compete in the Valley Oak League,” Abrew said. “Week in and week out, we’re facing phenomenal football teams, so we gotta have better practices and fire on all cylinders. It starts this week with a tough match-up.”
East Union and Sierra are near mirror images of each other. Both run spread offenses featuring dynamic quarterbacks, talented receivers and punishing running backs who have emerged in recent weeks.
In fact, Abrew knows one of EU’s receivers very well — second-year junior J.P. Abrew is his nephew and one of the standouts in the Lancers’ landslide win against Enochs. Receiver Jackson Fay, running back Cesar Salinas, quarterback Anthony Morales and Abrew make up East Union’s program-record 4x100 relay team.
Receiver/safety Blake Mount and running back/linebacker Brayden Camara bring size and physicality on both sides of scrimmage.
“They have guys everywhere,” Coach Abrew said. “We gotta make sure we’re sound defensively.”
Sierra counters with a senior-heavy attack spearheaded by All-VOL first-team QB Zak Willson and 6-foot-3, 215-pound receiver Tali Vaipuna. Taylor Rowe, Santana Stevenson and Trevor Sutton are also heavily featured in the T’wolves balanced passing attack. Brock Felt, a defensive standout at linebacker, has been their top running back the past two weeks.
“Very similar offenses,” Daniels said. “At any point in time, they can hit the home run. They have a lot of returners that are impact players. One thing that could be a little different is the playcalling with Coach Tom (Perea) stepping in (as Sierra’s offensive coordinator).”
With win No. 4 in reach, the Timberwolves are extra focused this week.
“We’ve been playing every week with a sense of urgency, and this week is no different,” Abrew said. “The kids are on high alert. We’ve gotta come out and compete our tails off if we want to be successful on Friday night.”
Here’s a look at other Week 4 match-ups in the area:
Manteca (2-1) at Lincoln (2-2): The Buffaloes look to bounce back from a tough 29-28 loss to state champion Marin Catholic, which trailed by two scores early in the fourth quarter.
Lincoln has also played a challenging schedule, with losses to unbeaten Downey and Rocklin. Rocklin is the No. 2 ranked team in the SJS and No. 20 in the state, according to MaxPreps.
Three-star running back and Fresno State commit Jordin Thomas leads the Trojans after amassing 2,095 yards and 27 TDs last year. Sophomore QB Julian Perez (943 yards, seven TDs, three picks) orchestrates their pistol offense with seniors Terrence Hampton (356 yards, four TDs) and Morrvan Pierro (229 yards, TD) as his top receivers.
Safety Jaylon Mays has three interceptions, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Pacheco (2-1) at Lathrop (2-1): The race for the Western Athletic Conference crown is on, with two-time champion Los Banos moving on to the Central California Conference.
Lathrop’s biggest challenges may come in the first month of conference play starting with Pacheco, which outlasted in-town rival Los Banos two weeks ago, 17-12. Both the Panthers and Lathrop are coming off byes.
Pacheco’s lone loss was competitive against 3-1 Atwater. The Panthers then edged improved Chavez, 16-14.
Dual-threat QBs Brennan Watkins and Aidan Pikas are joined by RB Jacob Sanchez (207 yards, 5.0 per carry, TD) and 6-3, 230-pound tight end Peyton Mosley (10 receptions, 104 yards, two TDs).
Hughson (3-0) at Ripon (1-2): The bye came at the right time for Ripon, which limps into its demanding Trans-Valley League schedule after losing several key starters to injuries in the 45-38 loss at East Union two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Hughson made light work of its pre-league schedule, blowing past Ceres, Central Valley and Pitman by a combined 122-14 margin.
Arizona-bound QB Robert McDaniel (43 of 62, 702 yards, 11 TDs) led the Huskies to a state title two years ago. He is again flanked by talented weapons such as 6-4 receiver Bryce McDaniel (223 yards, six TDs), his younger brother, 6-3 senior receiver Malakai Sumpter (224 yards, three TDs) and 5-9, 205-pound RB Eli Wilbanks (276 rushing yards, five TDs).
Ripon has lost three straight to Hughson.
Hilmar (2-1) at Ripon Christian (2-1): Welcome back, Ripon Christian.
The Knights make their long-awaited return to the TVL and face a school they’ve previously faced three times in the postseason, going 0-3.
Both teams enter TVL play battle tested.
With its best player sitting out, Hilmar lost in a Week 0 upset to Grace Davis 19-14 and squeaked past winless Los Banos, 21-20.
Do-it-all star Caden Bailey (hamstring) made his season debut last week, helping the Yellowjackets down previously-undefeated Atwater, 24-23. Jacob Sward converted a 29-yard field goal in the waning moments for the win. Bailey rushed for 100 yards and two TDs and caught two passes for 35 yards.
Hilmar also features dual-threat QB Merek Ellerd and 6-4, 215-pound two-way standout John Labno.
Big Valley Christian (2-1) at River Islands (1-2): The Riptide had an up-and-down start to its inaugural campaign, sandwiching a 12-0 win over Modesto Christian with lopsided shutout defeats to large-school opponents Franklin and Chavez.
River Islands gets to finally host a game and will do so in its first-ever league game. Big Valley Christian visits from Modesto for the Mother Lode League opener. The Lions have faced three Southern League opponents, beating Denair and Mariposa and dropping a 35-22 decision to Waterford.
Like the senior-less Riptide, BVC is anchored by youth. Sophomore QB Travis Lema (20 of 34, 301 yards, four TDs, three picks), junior RB Jackson Howell (308 yards, two TDs) and two-way sophomore Titus Beers (200 receiving yards, three TDs; three sacks) are among the Lions’ top players.
