Hilmar cruises past Mariposa in playoff opener

The Hilmar High School football team justified its top seeding as it dominated Mariposa early on the way to a 51-22 win in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoffs on Friday night.

The Yellowjackets racked up 450 yards of total offense, and quarterback Daniel Texeira completed 7 of 10 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Texeira also added a 10-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter that extended the lead to 41-7.

“We did everything we needed to do. We were pretty dominant,” said Yellowjackets coach Frank Marques, whose team won its fifth consecutive game to improve to 8-3. “I thought our defense played well. I thought we did a good job of containing their receiver (Zack Smith) in the first half.”

Smith did finish with three touchdown catches from quarterback Jake Mayberry. Smith scored on catches of two, 34 and 10 yards. Two of the scores came after Hilmar pulled its starters in the second half.

The Yellowjackets jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter after an eight-yard touchdown run by Josh Jennings and a six-yard run by Noah Bautista.

After Smith pulled the Grizzlies (5-5) within 13-7 with a two-yard touchdown catch, Hilmar outscored Mariposa 21-0 in the second quarter to lead 34-7 going into intermission.

Texeira threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Klay Farris and a 71-yard score to Nick Olivera. Cody Rentfro added a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

The Yellowjackets will host No. 4 Ripon Christian in the semifinals Friday. The Knights defeated Golden Sierra 42-7 on Friday.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Hilmar cruises past Mariposa in playoff opener."