If Manteca is to finally break the Central Catholic curse, the Buffaloes will have to be on their game this Friday when they host the five-time defending Valley Oak League champion for their homecoming game at Lathrop High.

The 3-1 Buffs used their final non-league contest to get right following an exasperating 29-28 loss to Bay Area powerhouse Marin Catholic. They took their frustrations out on Lincoln of Stockton in a 65-6 throttling.

“They played angry and had a bad taste in their mouths,” Manteca coach Mark Varnum said. “They got that bad taste out, but we’re from here on out, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We have to play to our capabilities on both sides of the ball, and if we do that the scoreboard will take care of itself.”

Central Catholic is 9-0 against Manteca since its return to the VOL, and the Raiders have sharpened themselves against top-notch competition going into the 10th installment of this lopsided rivalry.

They kicked off VOL play last week with a 25-14 win at Patterson, shutting out the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV runner-up for three quarters.

Before that, CC topped Bishop Manogue of Reno 41-28, the No. 5-ranked team in Nevada, according to MaxPreps. The Raiders also own a 28-21 win against Pleasant Valley of Chico, ranked No.1 in the Northern Section.

The non-league losses have come against St. Mary’s, No. 3 in the SJS, and Central Catholic of Portland, No. 2 in Oregon.

The rugged schedule allowed Central Catholic to get its mostly untested roster up to speed. Four-year quarterback Tyler Paul Wentworth, a Ripon resident who is now at Clemson on a baseball scholarship, is among the Raiders’ chief graduation losses.

Joey Alcutt heads their physical ground attack. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior has rushed for 600 yards (10.2 per carry) and five touchdowns. He splits touches with two-way standout Wyatt Dragoo and three-star junior prospect Carter Meeks.

They run behind a massive offensive line featuring 6-3, 280-pound left tackle Zion Denning and 6-2, 320-pound right tackle Jesse Edmonson, a transfer from Beyer.

Wentworth has been replaced by 6-4, 220-pound junior Hayden McHenry behind center.

“Looks real familiar,” Varnum said. “They are who they are. They are never short of athletes, and they’re always going to have these long, tall, fast and powerful runners.

“Hopefully, we learned from our mistakes from Week 3. We gotta bring it the same way we did for 15 out of the 16 quarters we’ve played, so far.”

In other Week 5 action:

Valley Oak League

Patterson (0-1, 2-3) at East Union (0-1, 4-1): The Lancers charge into the most challenging part of their schedule following a disappointing 44-32 loss at Sierra.

Patterson is new to the VOL and looks to contend after finishing as runner-up in the SJS Division IV playoffs. However, their prolific offense has been stifled the past two weeks in losses to Vacaville and reigning VOL champion Central Catholic, which held the Tigers scoreless through three quarters on the way to a 25-14 victory.

Receiver Noah Cozart (34 receptions, 458 yards, six TDs), running back Jeremiah Lugo (405 yards, four TDs) and 6-2, 220-pound defensive end Tresor Mulumba are among the top players of their loaded senior class.

Quarterback Max Medina and 6-6, 350-pound lineman Daniel Mataele are third-year juniors in Patterson’s spread attack. Medina has completed 74.4% of his passes for 1,435 yards, 12 TDs and five interceptions.

Sierra (1-0, 4-1) at Mountain House (0-1, 0-5): Mountain House was welcomed into the VOL by traditional power Oakdale last week, absorbing a 55-6 thumping at The Corral.

After graduating 18 seniors from a six-win playoff team, the Mustangs have started this season with a tough schedule that is not getting any easier.

They’re facing a confident Sierra team that knocked off rival East Union in its league opener. Brock Felt rumbled for 328 rushing yards and four TDs, while Trevor Sutton made all three of his field goals and all five point-after kicks to earn the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal Multi-Purpose/Special Teams Player of the Week.

A standout sprinter in the spring, Erin Foster leads Mountain House as its double-threat QB with 518 yards and four TDs passing along with a team-high 232 rushing yards and four TDs.

Western Athletic Conference

Lathrop (1-0, 3-1) at Grace Davis (1-0, 2-2): After fending off battle-tested Pacheco in its WAC opener, Lathrop heads to Downey High looking to notch a third straight win over Grace Davis.

Davis took care of Central Valley last week 14-0, a personal victory for head coach Trevor Mew against his alma mater. The Spartans from Modesto opened their season with a surprising 19-14 win against Hilmar but then lost back-to-back to once-beaten Sierra, 30-7, and Bear River, 37-32. Lathrop has also played Sierra, winning in a comeback 28-24 in Week 0.

Senior running back Ezekiel Suarez is the centerpiece of Davis’ spread offense. He accounts for about half of his team’s yards from scrimmage with 604 at 9.9 per carry and five touchdowns. Sophomore Caleb Zaragoza (33 of 69, 371 yards, four TDs, two INTs) has distributed evenly to three senior receivers.

Non-league

Modesto (2-2) at Ripon (1-3): With the possibility of canceling future games because of low numbers, Modesto Christian has gone to an independent schedule and allowed Trans-Valley League rivals to find new opponents.

Ripon took the opportunity to face Modesto, which had a vacancy after one of its originally scheduled opponents canceled its season. For the Indians, it’s a must-win situation against a stronger and unfamiliar adversary. They went from facing the smallest school in the SJS to one of the largest.

The Panthers are led by a talented junior class that went 8-2 at the JV level last season. Among them is 6-2, 215-pound dual-threat QB Israel Ceniceros. Senior Vanntheesouk Dam (484 yards, eight TDs) is the featured RB in their pistol offense.

Modesto is coming off its bye week, while Ripon fell short against Hughson in its TVL opener with some of its best players still sidelined with injuries.

Trans-Valley League

Hughson (1-0, 4-0) at Ripon Christian (0-1, 2-2): Two years ago, Ripon Christian was on the brink of an historic triumph in the Division V-AA NorCal Bowl Game at Hughson.

Then the Huskies rallied for 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 31-28 en route to a state title.

Two-way linemen Matthew Chapman and Jimmy Heida and linebacker Josh Miller played in that game for Ripon Christian, as did Arizona-committed quarterback Robert McDaniel for Hughson. They’ll reunite Friday in a TVL tussle.

Eli Wilbanks (395 yards, six TDs) is the featured back in Hughson’s balanced attack. McDaniel (59 of 84, 934 yards, 13 TDs) has big targets in 6-3 Malakai Sumter (14 receptions, 295 yards, four TDs), 6-3, 225-pound tight end Max Mankins (8-125-1) and 6-4 Bryce McDaniel (18-269-6), his younger brother.

The Huskies’ defense has yet to give up more than seven points in a game.

Mother Lode League

River Islands (0-1, 1-3) at Calaveras (1-0, 4-1): The new-look Mother Lode League kicked off with three blowouts last Friday, and these two teams were on the opposite end of them.

River Islands led early in its first-ever league game but surrendered 45 unanswered points over the final three quarters of a 52-8 defeat against Big Valley Christian. Meanwhile, Calaveras clobbered Riverbank, 55-7.

The Red Hawks have been dominant in their wins, and their lone loss, 27-6, has come against two-time reigning SJS Division VII champion Ripon Christian.

Cody Ferrante is among their standouts with 605 yards (8.6 per carry) and six touchdowns, according to the Calaveras Enterprise. Caden Spurr (373, six TDs) and Ryan Clifton (seven total TDs) are other weapons in the fly offense.

Linebacker Kodey Paulson, lineman Jorn Bauerson, 6-4, 220-pound end Josh Manzo and defensive back Ferrante are returning All-MLL first-team selections on defense.