HUGHSON — Hughson High delivered an all-around dominating performance on Friday night, advancing to the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 playoffs with a 54-14 thumping of Colfax at Husky Memorial Stadium.
With the victory, the fourth-seeded Huskies (8-3) will make the 135-mile trip on Friday to face top-seeded Sutter (9-2), a 14-7 winner over Liberty Ranch on Thursday.
Though Hughson is the reigning section and state champion, there are those who have questioned the Huskies’ bona fides in 2023, after Trans-Valley League losses to Escalon and Hilmar, and falling to Downey in a non-conference battle.
There should be no doubts after Friday night.
“That was a complete game,” said Hughson head coach Shaun King. “We haven’t had one of those in a while, so I’m very pleased.”
After the Huskies’ defense forced a turnover on downs to open the game, the offense took over Colfax’s 45. Quarterback Robert McDaniel found Malakai Sumter for a 31-yard gain on the opening play, and three plays later Alex Villarreal cashed in from 3 yards out for the game’s first score.
Sumter came up with his second reception — albeit from the opposing team’s quarterback — when he picked off River Roach to give Hughson the ball on their own 38.
Villarreal scored again, this time from the 6, to make it 13-0 after Ernie Mendoza’s missed PAT.
Colfax again turned the ball over on downs and McDaniel made them pay when he found Sumter from 34-yards out to make the score 20-0 with 8:54 remaining in the second quarter.
After the TD, McDaniel stood on the sideline looking replays on in iPad. He had literally not broken a sweat and there didn’t seem to be a hair out place on his head.
It seemed that easy.
“The offensive line helped a lot tonight,” said McDaniel. “It was a total team win. We always knew we had this potential and we just had to put it together. And we finally put it together at the right time. This is the time when you want to put it together.”
After Colfax once again turned the ball over on downs, McDaniel found Larkin Meyer for a 54-yard scoring strike with 4:30 to play in the half.
The Falcons (7-5) failed to convert on fourth down once more, and Cesar Ramos wasted no time making them pay when he raced 59 yards up the visitors’ sideline to make it 34-0 just before the break.
McDaniel completed 10 of 13 passes for 204 yards and two scores in the first half alone. He only threw two passes in the second half, completing both for 47 yards.
Villarreal added another TD in the second half to make it 40-0 before the Falcons finally got on the board when Austin Liden broke free from 35-yards out to make it 40-7.
Hughson countered on the second play of its next possession with David Burns’ 49-yard scoring jaunt to make it 47-7 with 4:04 left in the third.
With Hughson up by 40 to begin fourth quarter, the game shifted to a running clock, but the Huskies managed one more score when Jesus Artea busted free from 23 yards out, making it 54-7 with 8:30 to play.
Colfax managed another score in the game’s final minute when Roach hit Jackson Veirs for a 36-yard TD strike.
All told, Colfax managed less than 200 yards of total offense, rushing the ball 30 times for 93 yards — 61 of that coming in the second half when Hughson inserted many of its backups — and completing 14 of 32 passes for 106 yards, with the bulk of that total coming after halftime.
“I think we really needed this,” said defensive end Max Mankins, who registered a sack in the game. “We hadn’t really beaten any amazing teams this year, and I think that’s why we got the four seed. But we came out here and proved that we can win big games. We’ve lost a couple this year, but we’re very capable of winning big games. That’s all we did last year.”
Hughson rolled up more than 300 yards of total offensive in the first half and finished the night with 513 — 251 through the air and 262 on the ground.
“I think we needed to send a message to the rest of the bracket,” said receiver/cornerback Larkin Meyer. “We’re in these playoffs to make a run. We just have to stay composed and make sure we don’t let up.”
