MENDOTA – A school always wants to make its Homecoming football game a memorable one, and the Mendota Trojans sure did in 2021.

The Trojans had another huge offensive explosion and the defense slammed the door on Sherrard on every one of its offensive possessions, and the result was a convincing 60-0 thrashing of the Tigers on Homecoming night at the MHS field on Oct. 1.

The win ran Mendota’s record to 5-1 overall and put it in position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. One win in any of their final three games will more than likely put the Trojans in the post season.

Mendota ran 56 offensive plays from scrimmage and generated 476 yards, with 454 of those yards coming on the ground. The Trojans had two backs top the century mark in rushing – Uzi Angulo with 147 yards on 16 carries and Anthony Childs with 121 yards in 10 attempts. Quarterback Ted Landgraf added 86 yards rushing. On the other side of the ball, Sherrard ran 40 offensive plays and the Trojan defense gave them just 77 yards.

Things started out on an ominous note for the visitors when after Mendota forced them to punt on the game’s opening drive, the punt only traveled 14 yards, and the Trojans began their initial possession at the Sherrard 47-yard line. Mendota needed just six plays to cover that real estate, and Angulo culminated the short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. A 31-yard scamper by Angulo put the Trojans in the red zone. Emilio Perez kicked the extra point for a quick 7-0 Mendota lead.

After another punt by Sherrard, the Trojans’ next possession resulted in a 28-yard field goal by Perez to make it 10-0 with 1:56 left in the first period.

Just over a minute later, Mendota made it 18-0 when Ryne Strouss intercepted a Tiger pass and ran it back 34 yards for a touchdown. Landgraf connected with John Gonzalez on the two-point conversion.

The Trojans tacked on two more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 32-0 lead to intermission.

Childs had a 35-yard TD run to cap off a seven-play, 68-yard drive, followed by a Perez extra-point kick.

Then after Sherrard went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, the Trojans ran eight plays and covered 74 yards, the final 39 coming from Landgraf, who broke several tackles on his way to the end zone. Perez’s PAT kick split the uprights.

Mendota received the second-half kickoff and it took just three minutes for it to score again and kick in the running clock for a 40-point margin. Childs scored on a 7-yard scamper and Landgraf ran for the two-pointer to make it 40-0.

After another Sherrard punt, Mendota got the ball at its own 48, and it didn’t take long for Childs to score his third TD of the night when he rambled 37 yards to paydirt with just under two minutes left in the third quarter. Perez booted the PAT kick.

Mendota added one more score before the quarter ended when Isaac Smith got the team’s second pick-six of the game, this one a 40-yard return for a touchdown with six seconds to go in the quarter. Perez’s extra-point kick was good.

The final touchdown of the game for Mendota came when Jose Rocha moved from lineman to running back and he went virtually untouched for a 20-yard touchdown run with 4:33 left in the game.