Every week brings answers. It also creates a whole new set of questions.
That’s the fun of a high school football season. There are reactions, overreactions, and takeaways as San Joaquin County teams continue to show what they might become.
And then there are the numbers that make you look twice.
Some belong in a video game, the kind you might put up with Madden or EA Sports College Football set to easy mode. Others may not seem quite as unreal but still find a way to fill nearly every corner of the stat sheet.
Here are The Record’s biggest takeaways, reactions, and top individual performances from Week 4.
Key Takeaways
Wait, is St. Mary’s still the team to beat in the TCAL?
Sure, the Rams’ 1-4 record came against one of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s toughest non-league
slates. But four straight losses are four straight losses, and St. Mary’s latest was a 21-7 defeat to a Marin Catholic team Edison nearly beat two weeks earlier. Now MaxPreps has Tracy No. 1 in the county, Lincoln No. 3, St. Mary’s No. 4 and Edison No. 6. Maybe the biggest question entering TCAL play is one that seemed unthinkable before the season — are the Rams still the favorite?
So, who’s actually the VOL favorite?
Manteca’s offense has all the names. A 4,000-yard rusher, Division I prospects at both receiver spots and a sophomore quarterback who hasn’t looked like a sophomore. But the defense just made quite the argument of its own, turning Patterson’s “hype” into five sacks and three interceptions while holding the Tigers to 98 passing yards in a 47-7 VOL-opening win. Central Catholic, fresh off a 56-0 league-opening win and already owning a 27-14 victory over St. Mary’s, is ranked ahead of Manteca. The Buffaloes, though, have won the last two VOL titles. This race might be fun. Scratch that. It will be. They meet on Oct. 9.
Escalon just crashed the TVL title race
Remember when Escalon started 0-2 and that “year away” prediction suddenly didn’t look so promising? Forget that. The Cougars have ripped off three straight wins, with the latest a 38-7 dismantling of previously unbeaten Ripon Christian behind 354 rushing yards and a defense that allowed just 36 first-half yards. Undefeated Hilmar remains the team everyone is chasing, while defending champion and back-to-back state champion Sonora isn’t going anywhere. Ripon Christian and Hughson, which tied for third last year, are in the mix, too. But after finishing fourth a year ago, Escalon suddenly looks like it belongs right in the middle of the TVL title race.
Eight-man football might have changed everything for Millennium
Two wins. Two wins. Zero wins. That was Millennium’s progression over the past three seasons. Now, in its first year of eight-man football, the Falcons are 3-1 after a 48-22 win over Kairos Public and sit just inside MaxPreps’ top 20 among 102 eight-man teams in California.
Could Lathrop’s reign already be over?
Back-to-back 7-0 WAC seasons brought Lathrop the first two league titles in program history. Then came a 24-7 loss to last year’s runner-up, Johansen, dropping the Spartans to 1-3. One league game in, is Lathrop already in trouble?
Video Game Numbers
Ares Araujo, Millennium — Who cares if it’s eight-man? Millennium is winning. Araujo threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns on 5-of-9 passing and piled up 144 yards and two more scores on 13 carries in a 48-22 win over Kairos Public, pushing the Falcons to 3-1 after winning just four games over the previous three seasons.
Mason Zeer, Tokay — So much for slowing down Zeer. One week after his first varsity game with fewer than 100 all-purpose yards, the junior ripped off 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just 14 carries, including a 99-yarder, then chipped in six tackles and a sack as Tokay rolled past McNair 42-14.
Isaac Ruvalcaba, Linden — At this rate, Ruvalcaba might run out of career highs to break. The senior needed only six carries to pile up a career-best 149 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-7 win over Riverbank, giving him four straight 100-yard games after entering the season without one.
Ryder Harmison, Merrill West — Last year, Harmison needed an entire season to rush for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Four games into this one, the senior is already at 878 yards and 13 scores after piling up 182 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries in a 43-6 win over Weston Ranch.
Fallon Barquet, Lincoln — First overtime solved nothing. Then Barquet took matters into his own hands. Last year’s TCAL Defensive Player of the Year delivered his fourth sack of the night on fourth down to end Downey’s second-overtime possession, setting the stage for Lincoln’s winning score in a 42-36 victory.
Stat Sheet Stuffers
Good luck to whoever comes after Nikko Juarez. Manteca’s all-time leading rusher, who recently surpassed 4,000 career yards, added 142 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries in a 47-7 win over Patterson.
Apparently, E’Aiden McCullough was saving them up. After four varsity games without a touchdown, he scored rushing, receiving, and on a kick return while totaling 151 all-purpose yards in Chavez’s 43-23 win over Bear Creek.
A year after a 38-8 loss to Ripon Christian, Jake Ferreira helped flip the score. The junior posted a career-high 133 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, plus a 21-yard touchdown catch in a 38-7 win.
The final score didn’t stop Albie Menchaca from producing. The senior rushed for a career-high 154 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in East Union’s 47-28 loss to Placer, giving him back-to-back 100-yard games.
Make that seven career 300-yard games and 10 with at least four touchdowns for Elijah Walker. The junior threw for 304 yards and four scores in Chavez’s 43-21 win over Bear Creek, moving within 131 yards of 6,000 career passing yards and one touchdown of 80.
This article originally appeared on The Record: San Joaquin County football Week 4 takeaways and top performances
