Sept. 23, 2024

After three blowout victories in the preseason in which its first-string defense didn’t give up a point and many of the offensive starters were on the bench by the fourth quarter, Hughson had to work a little harder Friday against Ripon.

And though the unbeaten Huskies (4-0) never were seriously threatened in their Trans-Valley League opener, it took them until the final period to pull away for a 28-7 victory.

“Ripon had a good plan. They ran the ball and ate clock. In the first half, we only had like three offensive possessions,” said Hughson Coach Shaun King. “The first three quarters were close. That’s TVL football.”

Even as Ripon controlled the ball early on, Hughson’s defense set the tone, especially on the line of scrimmage thanks to ends Max Mankins and Carlos Guizar, tackle Colton Taylor and outside linebacker Valente Soria. Mankins and Taylor each had a sack Friday, Guizar had two of the Huskies’ seven tackles for losses and Soria consistently denied Ripon’s backs room to run on the outside.

“They’re doing a heck of a job,” King praised.

The only points in the first half came of a 13-yard pass from Robert McDaniel to Mankins late in the first quarter. It was the first time the two Division I recruits – McDaniel is committed to Arizona; Mankins to the Air Force Academy – have hooked up for a score this season.

“We were moving the ball. We just needed to punch it in,” said King of the first half.

Hughson extended its lead to 14-0 on the first possession of the second half when Colt Foss capped a 65-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run.

The Indians (1-3, 0-1) managed their only touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but Hughson quickly responded with a 32-pass from McDaniels to Malakai Sumter. It came on what’s known as an “RPO” – run-pass option.

“Robert has the option to hand it off or pass,” King explained. “He read the linebacker coming up, stopped and threw to Malakai.”

Sumter had three catches for 71 yards and Mankins four grabs for 49 yards. Both benefitted from single coverage most of the game because Ripon chose to put defenders on Bryce McDaniel, who had caught six TD passes from his brother in the first three games.

“Robert was just going through his progressions and finding the open guy,” King said. “Any night it could be someone new. They were doubling Bryce. That left room for Max and Malakai.”

Hughson’s final score came on an 8-yard run by Eli Wilbanks (19 carries, 119 yards) with a minute left.

Next up for the Huskies is Ripon Christian (2-2, 0-1) which lost 31-21 to Hilmar on Friday. It will be the first meeting between the schools since the 2022 NorCal championship game, when Hughson rallied from a 28-10 deficit to win 31-28 on its way to a state championship.

“They’re a good program. They won a Section championship last year (in Division VII),” said King, who said it’s always fun to play on RC’s field. “They have the best grass in the TVL, for sure. It came from the Seattle Seahawks a couple of years ago.”

The TVL has long been regarded as the state’s top small-school league and an early glance at the standings shows why. Hughson, Sonora and Orestimba all are 4-0. Hilmar has lost just once. Escalon is a two-time defending Section Division V champion, and Ripon and Ripon Christian can beat anyone in a given week. The eighth TVL team, Modesto Christian, announced last week it is forfeiting the rest of its games because it doesn’t have enough players.