The seventh-seeded Ripon Chiefs dipped into their trickery bag to down No. 2 Amador Jr. Buffaloes 28-20 in opening-round action of the Mountain Valley Football League playoffs.
Kirk Simoni (7 of 9 passing, 160 yards, two touchdowns) passed to A.J. Chapman (three catches, 62 yards, one touchdown) who pitched back to Jackson Fay (118 total yards, two touchdowns) for Fay to complete the 51-yard hook-and-ladder for the eventual winning score.
Chapman highlighted the Ripon defensive effort that produced three turnovers when he returned his forced fumble 74 yards for a touchdown with Tipeti Paini and Julian DeWeerd nabbing the other two fumble recoveries for the Chiefs.
Ripon’s Kenneth Smart made seven tackles followed by Gavin Marlow with five and Xabriel Reyes four.
Ripon Chiefs 40, Hughson Jr. Huskies 0
Defense continues to drive the top-seeded Chiefs who racked up eight sacks to extend their shutout streak to nine games.
Mason Buck and Andrew Shaw posted two sacks each with Gilbert Luiz, Jude Viss, Matthew Duran and Kaiden Romero all getting one sack apiece. Matthew Gaines forced and recovered a fumble.
Kael Rangel was the workhorse for Ripon with 119 yards on eight carries. Gaines (five carries, 33 yards) scored three touchdowns with Ace Dougherty (five carries, 68 yards) and Andrew Shaw posting one touchdown apiece. Gabriel Miller who was 5 for 5 on conversion kicks.
Chiefs 31, Jr. Buffaloes 14
The second-seeded Chiefs ran their record to 9-1 on the season.
DELTA YOUTH
Tracy Rampage 36, Manteca Chargers 0
Logan Pool led Mantyeca with six tackles.
Alijah Hawkins, Hezekiah Griffin, Shane Forman and Xavier Torres all played well on defense.
Junior varsity
Rampage 44, Chargers 0
Darien East paced the Chargers defense and Nicholas Holt led the defense.
Holt made six tackles with Dominic Roa, Isaiah Middleton and Caden Miller all making four tackles apiece. Robi McDonald contributed to the Manteca defense.
Novice
Rampage 26, Chargers 0
Christian Hernandez led the Chargers offense.
Manteca’s Zackery Behrbaum made five tackles and Jamie Buchanan, Isaac Estrada and Junior Evans added four tackles each. Hernandez contributed on defense.
Jr. novice
Rampage 25, Chargers 6
Jeremiah Valdez scored for the Chargers a 30-yard touchdown.
Jayden Shortridge played well on both offense and defense.