It’s been an age-long question: Is there any such thing as ring rust?
Despite winning 28-6 on Friday night against El Dorado (Placerville) in the quarterfinal round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 playoffs, the undefeated Hughson football team believes that the answer is “yes” after having to rebound from a sluggish start in their first action in 21 days.
Under the lights of Husky Memorial Stadium, the top-seeded Huskies (10-0), who are coming off consecutive Division 6 blue banners and were favored to win Friday’s contest by 40 points by CalPreps.com, had some trouble with the No. 8 Cougars (6-5). Arizona-bound quarterback Robert McDaniel was off, missing on three of his first five pass attempts. He was also sacked twice during their first two possessions. Other players were jittery, and were called for three penalties within their first 10 plays from scrimmage.
Friday’s game was Hughson’s first since Oct. 25, when they defeated Hilmar 41-24 in what was scheduled to be the penultimate game of the regular season. The week after, their final contest against Modesto Christian was forfeited. They received an extra week of rest with a first-round bye.
“Definitely, I was worried about it,” Hughson head coach Shaun King said of the inactivity. “We had some cobwebs, for sure.”
It’s no surprise that the Huskies are a pass-heavy offense, with McDaniel tossing the ball to talents like Malakai Sumter, Lawson Aviles, Max Mankins and his younger brother, Bryce McDaniel. But with the star gunslinger’s accuracy slightly off after the long layoff, they immediately turned to junior Eli Wilbanks and the ground game.
Willbanks, who craves contact, broke multiple tackles and rumbled into the end zone from 31 yards out to open the scoring nearly four minutes into the game. It was his first of two rushing scores on the night, the other being a 1-yard rush late in the third quarter. He finished with 140 yards on 13 carries.
“Whether I feel like I need to or not, I strive to set the tone for my team,” he said. “I want to get a home run out of each play. I want to get a big run to get the energy up.
“I guess it comes from just sitting at home, Christmas time, watching football highlights of Marshawn Lynch and other guys who are big powerhouse running backs. I guess I idolize them and I try to mirror them on the field.”
“They came in with a good game plan, and we just struggled,” McDaniel said. “Then, our run game really carried us. And that's kind of what’s been our motto this year. Our run game either is up, or our pass game’s up. It’s really fun to watch when both of them are up.”
With the run game established, the Huskies turned back to the aerial attack, hoping to build momentum for the second half and a possible semifinal game. As time expired in the first quarter, McDaniel dropped back and hung a ball deep in the middle of the field. With an El Dorado cornerback poised to intercept the ball, Sumter soared high above the defender and snatched it out of the sky before turning up field for a 56-yard touchdown to make it a 14-0 ballgame. The score came minutes after the senior recorded an interception.
“All I saw was a defender in the corner of my eye, and I saw Rob just chuck it up. So I was like, ‘Alright, I see ball, I gotta go get ball.’ And I'm just glad I came down with it and scored,” Sumter said of his immaculate catch. It was especially sweet for the 6-foot-3, 168-pound wideout, who saw limited playing time in their last game against Hilmar after suffering a shoulder injury in the early minutes of the contest.
The ensuing possession, El Dorado drove 60 yards for a score, a 4-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jason Wilson to Jack Tillman. But with newfound confidence after Sumter’s stellar score, McDaniel found Aviles, a junior, for a 21-yard touchdown strike to make it 21-6 right before halftime. Wilbanks’ 1-yard score came on their first possession of the second half, and that was it for the scoring.
Helping keep the Cougars at bay was junior Valente Soria, who recorded 3.5 sacks on the night.
“I knew we started out shaky, we had some penalties, but we just had to make up for it a little bit,” Soria said. “I knew my team was going to figure it out and execute eventually. It feels great that I can help my team out, and I just hope we can still keep moving.”
In next week’s semifinal game, the Huskies will host Union Mine, the fourth-seeded squad in the D-5 bracket. The 9-2 Diamondbacks advanced Friday by outlasting No. 5 Casa Roble, 55-41.
“You know, we gotta play much better next weekend at Union Mine. That's a very good ball club over there,” King added.
Like El Dorado, Union Mine hails from the Sierra Valley Conference. Two weeks ago, they also defeated the Cougars in similarly dominant fashion, 48-7.
