Stone Ridge Christian hands Mariposa County their first loss in defensive battle
Stone Ridge Christian ended Mariposa County’s perfect season Friday night with a 14-11 win that kept the Knights alive in the Southern League playoff race and denied the Grizzlies a chance to clinch the league title.
Senior running back Daijon O’Neil scored both touchdowns, and the Knights’ defense forced multiple stops to cap one of the program’s grittiest performances of the season.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” head coach Anthony De Jager said. “Mariposa’s a good team. They play hard, they’re well-coached, and we respect them a lot. We knew all week it was going to be close, and our guys just played hard for four quarters.”
Mariposa (7-1, 3-1 Southern League) entered unbeaten and needed a win to lock up the league championship and the No. 2 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 7 playoffs. Instead, Stone Ridge Christian (7-1, 4-1) leaned on its offensive line and a defense that refused to bend.
Defense sets the tone
Both teams traded stops through the first quarter before Mariposa broke through with a short field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
The Knights answered midway through the second with a 73-yard drive capped by O’Neil’s five-yard rushing touchdown and PAT for a 7-3 halftime advantage.
Mariposa’s junior running back Rusty Bull was a workhorse, rushing 15 times for 162 yards and a touchdown while also grabbing an interception on defense. Sophomore quarterback Austin Battles completed 2 of 5 passes for 10 yards and added 25 rushing before leaving with a hand injury late in the third quarter.
Senior Laten Butler filled in with 43 rushing yards, 31 receiving yards and a two-point conversion, while junior Lyell Marcis also had an interception.
Knights grind it out
Junior quarterback Marcus Gray completed 10 of 18 passes for 171 yards and added 13 rushing yards but was intercepted three times. Despite the miscues, the Knights controlled possession behind O’Neil (10 carries, 82 yards, two TDs) and T.J. Mathews (12 carries, 39 yards, one interception on defense).
“It got ugly,” O’Neil said. “It was an ugly win, but I’m glad we won — they’re not undefeated no more. Had to do it on the ground and just muscle your way out.”
De Jager praised his team’s physicality and leadership from his juniors.
“T.J. cowboy’d up tonight,” De Jager said. “He’s quiet, soft-spoken, but he speaks with his shoulder pads. That last first down to put the game away, we knew we were in good hands giving him the ball.”
Mathews said preparation and composure made the difference.
“We just got to protect the team,” Mathews said. “Pursuit is the number one thing we got to do. Our coaches and scout team gave us perfect looks all week, and that set me up for the interception. When it got close at the end, we just went back to our fundamentals and it worked out perfect.”
O’Neil delivers, even hurt
O’Neil, who took a helmet to the shin and briefly exited in the fourth quarter, returned to finish on defense.
“Yeah, I got a little banged up,” he said. “I just had to power through on defense — fourth quarter, they wanted to come down and score. We just had to lock up.”
He added that the win carried extra meaning on Senior Night.
“I couldn’t let it be my last home game,” O’Neil said. “We just had to do what we had to do and game-plan a lot. Going into playoffs, we’ve got to win out.”
Junior tight end Ethan Beene contributed three catches for 76 yards, a sack and a batted pass on third down.
“He works his butt off,” De Jager said. “When he gets on the field, he flips a switch and he’s an animal.”
Mariposa fights to the finish
After Battles went down, Butler and senior Hayden Hill (1-for-3, 22 yards) split quarterback reps in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 14-3, the Grizzlies rallied behind Bull, who ripped off runs of 22, 34 and 11 yards — the last for a touchdown. Butler’s two-point conversion cut the lead to 14-11 with just over three minutes left, but the Knights recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
“Good opponent, man. Well-coached team,” said Mariposa head coach Chase Pometta. “It was who’s going to make the big play, who’s going to get the big stop. Execution is paramount in a game like this. It ended up a great battle — I hope we get to play again in the playoffs.”
Pometta said his team will regroup quickly.
“Every week we reset at 0-0 — let’s go 1-0 next week,” he said. “If you want to win a championship, you’ve got to learn these lessons and apply them. My boys are there for the task.”
Next up
Stone Ridge Christian visits Gustine next week with a chance to share the Southern League crown.
Mariposa travels to Waterford for their penultimate game of the regular season.
“When your effort’s good, usually the scoreboard comes out the right way,” De Jager said. “These guys love each other, and that’s the difference in close games.”
