HILMAR - Throw the records out the window this week.
That is because the Orestimba High School football team will be taking on Hilmar High School’s squad in their Westside rivalry and Trans-Valley League game at McSweeney Field. The game, which is also the Yellowjackets’ homecoming, is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.
Orestimba enters the game at 0-2 in the TVL and 4-2 overall. Hilmar is 3-0 in the TVL and 7-0.
“They are well disciplined,” said Orestimba head coach Austin Martins of Hilmar. “They are a team that keeps playing football. They’ve shown they have gone down early and came out on top… they are able to finish. We’re excited to play a team like that.”
Hilmar head coach Mark Santos, who is in his first year running the program, added, “We are expecting a large crowd and great game.”
Orestimba is looking to bounce back from Friday’s game against Ripon Christian High’s squad, which posted a 17-6 win at Warrior Stadium. Hilmar defeated Sonora by a 35-29 score on Friday.
“I’ve always said if you want to beat the champs, you have to beat the champs,” said Martins of Hilmar, knocking off Sonora that won the 2025 TVL title en route to posting a 15-0 record. “I thought it was a great victory for them.”
Martins pointed out that Santos and his coaching staff are running similar offense, defense and special team schemes similar to what former Yellowjackets head coach Frank Marques ran during his tenure from 2003 to 2025. Marques, who won many TVL, Sac-Joaquin Section and California Interscholastic Federation NorCal and State Football championships, retired as teacher and coach at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Santos and his Yellowjackets are not going to look past an Orestimba team that is looking to beat them for the first time since 1996. The Warriors beat Hilmar in a non-league game at that time.
“This is one of the best Orestimba teams that I have seen in years,” Santos said. “Their offense does a great job running the ball behind their big offensive line. Their defense shows multiple fronts and coverages and does a great job of flying to the ball.”
What helps build up this game is that Martins is a 2016 Orestimba graduate while Santos earned his diploma at Hilmar in 2005.
The Westside rivalry has been mostly active since 2006. That is when Orestimba and Hilmar were members of the Western Athletic Conference during the Sac-Joaquin Section’s 2006-10 league realignment cycle.
The two schools were placed in the TVL for the 2010-14 cycle. Hilmar won all eight games during that eight-season time span. Orestimba rejoined the Southern Athletic League from 2014 to 2024 and returned to the TVL in 2024. The Yellowjackets were part of the TVL from 1980 until 2006 when it joined the WAC.
Prior to that game, Orestimba and Hilmar played each other in mostly non-league games and when they were members of the SAL for many years.
Stats
Orestimba quarterback Jorden Jacobo has completed 49 of 93 passes for 621 yards and 8 touchdowns this season.
Warrior running backs Michael Maier and Hunter Silva have rushed for 424 and 311 yards respectively. They have scored a combined 9 touchdowns.
In the air, Orestimba’s Sean Nunes has 14 receptions for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns. Wide receiver Gary Moore has 15 receptions for 164 yards.
On defense, Maier, an outside linebacker, has 45 tackles. Another outside linebacker in Tommy Green follows with 33 and Nunes, a defensive back, at 25.
At Hilmar, quarterback Cohen Felber has thrown 39 of 72 passes for 573 yards and 4 touchdowns. Two other players each have thrown for more than 100 yards.
Felber and running back Hunter Greunke have rushed for 834 and 461 yards respectively, and a combined 15 touchdowns. Running back Adam Bronco follows with 331 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Hilmar linebacker Lucas Belo leads the team in tackles with 67, and defensive lineman Dominick Clayton has 33 tackles.
Contact Mike Bush at mikebushmedia@gmail.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.
