The Sonora High Wildcats and the Hughson Huskies have eyed each cautiously since the conditioning preseason drills of August.
They thought their Oct. 11 collision might hold major consequences, and now they know. Both are 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Trans-Valley League, and the winner of Friday night’s showdown at Husky Memorial Stadium, barring unforeseen circumstances, will win the TVL title.
The game will feature contrasting styles. Sonora prefers a rugged ground game while Hughson will answer with its talented quarterback Robert McDaniel, whose thrown for 1,326 yards and 19 touchdowns.
The Wildcats no doubt will try to dominate possession time and keep the ball away from McDaniel, running back Eli Wilbanks (623 yards, seven TDs) and dangerous receivers Bryce McDaniel (10 touchdowns), Malakai Sumter and Max Mankins.
The effectiveness of Sonora’s secondary – corners Steven Morfoot and Tanner Navarro and safeties Cash Byington and sophomore Colton Gibson – will be critical against Hughson’s receivers.
“I think we match up well,” said Hughson coach Shaun King, whose team has claimed Sac-Joaquin Section titles the last two years. “No one has stopped them (Sonora) offensively. It (the triple option) is something we haven’t seen, but we’re excited for the challenge.”
The Huskies have stared at the cliff’s edge but survived the last two weeks. They trailed Ripon Christian in the fourth quarter but rallied and pulled the game out on a brotherly McDaniel-to-McDaniel touchdown pass with 6 seconds left.
Last week against a determined if injury-weakened Escalon team, the Huskies pulled out the 24-21 win on a 42-yard fourth-down pass from McDaniel to Sumter with 2:42 to go.
“They’ve been winning these types of games for three years,” Sonora first-year head coach Kirk Clifton said. "I don’t know if they have a weakness. If we get in a type of game where we have to score 40 points, we will lose.”
Sonora joined the TVL this season after losing exactly one game in the Mother Lode League over the previous decade. It figured to be a menacing addition to the already stacked TVL. The Wildcats have been even better than expected.
Their powerful triple-option attack, engineered by junior quarterback Eli Ingalls, has laid waste to their first six opponents. The Wildcats have averaged 42.5 points a game, but it’s been their work after halftime that figured prominently in wins over Oakdale, Escalon and, last week, 45-28 over Hilmar.
Sonora trailed Escalon 14-7 at the break, then quickly caught and overtook the Cougars. The Wildcat defense limited the Cougars to a single first down and 27 net yards after halftime.
Byington, a game-breaker, has rushed for seven touchdowns, caught three TD passes and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. Fullback Tommy Sutton, the lone running back behind Ingalls, has punished defenders for 558 straight-ahead yards and five touchdowns.
Clifton, the longtime offensive coordinator before he succeeded Bryan Craig, spoke to the program’s satisfaction with its league change.
“You can see it with our better attendance. The kids, the coaches and the fans like good football,” he said. “I am concerned about our ability to stay up for this many games.”
