One year and two weeks ago, as the fourth seed, the Hughson High football team traveled to the frigid edge of Mount Vernon to knock off top-seated Sutter 21-14 in the semifinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 playoffs, on their way to raising a blue banner for the second straight year.
On Saturday, the two programs whose mascots are both Huskies, will clash again in the section playoffs, this time in the Division 5 title game, at a neutral site, in perfect weather, but with the roles reversed.
This year, the Huskies from Hughson are the top seed in the playoff bracket. They’ve gone unbeaten in 12 games and are on the verge of a three-peat. The Huskies of Sutter aren’t too far off, though, as they will pull into Hughes Stadium as the second seed with an 11-1 record and hungry to exact their revenge.
Sutter, who went undefeated in the Golden Empire League, has been dominant, outscoring opponents 526-117. Eight times they have scored more than 40 points. In half of those games, they broke the half-century mark. Twice they have scored more than 60. Their lone loss came Nov. 13, 28-21 to Sacramento’s Bradshaw Christian, who Hughson fans may know from last year’s section title game. The Huskies won in a 40-39 thriller.
The scoring statistics, led by a relentless rushing attack, are a scary sight for any opposing defense. A total of 12 players have combined for a whopping 3,976 yards and 53 touchdowns on the ground. Leading the charge has been a three-headed monster of seniors Marcus Meras and Dominic Souza and junior dual-threat quarterback Braden Scritchfield. Meras leads the team with 1,068 yards on 85 carries, while Souza has received the second-most handoffs with 53 for 812 yards. Scritchfield has tucked the ball 71 times for 596 yards.
Nevertheless, Sutter squeaked by No. 3 Lathrop 21-19 in the semifinals. But a close game doesn’t define how good or bad any team is.
To combat Sutter’s running threat is a Hughson defense that kept another run-heavy offense, Union Mine, at bay last week. Union Mine almost exclusively runs, and it was evident in Friday’s 22-8 loss to the Huskies as they were held to just 155 yards from scrimmage. 150 of those were on the ground by way of 31 carries scattered across six different ball carriers. Their quarterback, Ethan Herr, completed just one of four pass attempts.
Causing havoc for opposing offenses has been senior Max Mankins, junior Valente Soria, Carlos Guizar, Brady Caldwell and Colton Taylor amongst others.
Regardless, the real concern that Hughson head coach Shaun King had from last year’s matchup was the opposing defense. "That's probably the best defensive team we saw this year," King told the Turlock Journal after the contest. Hughson also struggled for explosiveness in that game in wet, cold conditions, just as they did last week against the Diamondbacks. In that game, they had to rely on the hard-running of juniors Eli Wilbanks and Isaac Garcia.
Luckily for the players and the fans expecting to make the road trip and sit in the bleachers of Hughes Stadium, the forecast for Saturday’s 11 a.m. kickoffs calls for sunshine, with no rain or wind in 50-degree temperatures. Playing on a modern, turf field, the elements can combine to help open up the playbooks of both teams.
Readers and fans know the story of the Hughson offense at this point. The high-powered offense has averaged 32.8 points per game. Arizona-bound senior quarterback Robert McDaniel has filled the stat sheets this season with 2,556 yards and 31 touchdowns on 154 completions. Catching those balls have been a combination of seniors Mankins, Malakai Sumter and Jamesson Davis and juniors Lawson Aviles and Bryce McDaniel.
The fact of the matter, though, is that things just haven’t gone as smoothly in the passing game through their first two playoff games. In the opener against El Dorado, McDaniel and his team had to shake off cobwebs from a three-week layoff before they were able to move the ball efficiently, and it wasn’t until midway through the third quarter that they were able to build a two-score cushion. Against Union Mine, he had to overcome an early interception and a fumble before he found his groove on screen passes and let Wilbanks and Garcia carry the rock.
In that game, the two running backs combined for 150 yards on 33 rushes. Additionally, they were without starting fullback Colt Foss, a physical runner who was inactive as he recovered from a lower leg injury suffered the week prior. The Huskies proved they are more than a one-dimensional passing team.
McDaniel vowed to be better for the title game, telling the Journal last week, “We’ll clean it up and be ready.”
Big time players make big time plays in big time moments, and Hughson has certainly had no shortage of either in 2024 and the previous two seasons. They’ll have to continue the theme to secure their long-desired dynasty.
CalPreps.com, the website that the selection committee uses to help determine playoff seeding and offers popular weekly game predictions, favors Hughson by 12 points and gives the reigning Trans-Valley League and section champions a 77% chance of victory.
