Page 15 - Mid Valley Times 10-31-19 E-edition

Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Sanger High's Kosi Agina had one of his biggest nights on Friday against the Edison Tigers. In a must-win game to keep the Apache's league title hopes alive, the senior running back scored four touchdowns, three of them in the second half to help rally Sanger past Edison, 38-28.
Apaches rally in second half to beat Edison, keep title hopes alive
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The Reedley High Pi- rates have the opportu- nity this week to earn a distinction they haven’t held in 47 years — out- right league football champion.
If the Pirates (6-3 overall) can defeat the defending champion Sunnyside High Wild- cats (5-4) on Halloween night in Fresno, they’ll win the North Yosemite League championship. Both teams enter the 7 p.m. contest at Sun- nyside Stadium with 4-0 records. It would be Reedley’s first outright league title since 1972, when they captured the West Yosemite League crown (the Pirates did share the NYL title in 2002).
“The reality is, Sun- nyside is a Division II school and they are a big Division II school with a big student body,” said RHS coach Tony Gates of the Wildcats. “Having said that, our kids are hungry and prepared. We’ve played Sanger, Dinuba and Washing- ton Union. So we’re not afraid or unaccustomed to playing these larger schools.”
Reedley enters the game on a four-game win streak; the latest victory coming in a 42-
28 decision over the Hoover High Patriots on Oct. 25. A Senior Night crowd at Sal Gonzalez Field watched the Pi- rates rack up 379 yards of offense — 354 of it on the ground — using a three-player rotation (Michael Rios, Danny Cortez and Max Alva- rez) at quarterback in place of the injured Gan- non Gabaldon.
Rios took the bulk of the snaps, carrying 25 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns while completing three of five passes for 25 yards. Cortez played some QB as well and punctured the Patriots’ defense for 172 yards on 15 carries including TD runs of 12, 1, 25 and 17 yards. He now has 733 rush yards and 12 touchdowns on the season.
“We had a pack- age for all three guys,” Gates said. “We were pretty limited on what we could call, but we were confident on what we did call and the kids executed it well.”
Reedley stormed to a 21-0 lead, with Rios run- ning the read option well and Cortez making big runs in the red zone. The defense also responded with three stops and a Ryan Warkentin inter- ception and return to
SeePIRATESonpage B2
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
After trailing Edison High 28-10 at halftime of the Apaches’ Oct. 25 key league matchup, Sanger rallied a second half comeback to defeat the Tigers 38-28 and keep their league title hopes alive.
“Regardless of their record, they’re Edison,” said Sanger Apache’s head coach Jorge Pena. “You’ve got to bring your A-game whenever you play them.”
Coming up big for the Apaches was running back Kosi Agina. The Sanger High senior rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns at Tom Flores Stadium on Friday night. He
also had a catch in the fourth quar- ter that he turned into a 39-yard touchdown reception.
But it was a slow start for the Apaches.
After punting on their opening possession of the game, the Apach- es quickly gave up a score after the Tigers pulled off a trick play on their offensive snap. Turning a double-reverse into a pass up the Edison sideline, the Tiger’s moved the ball to the Sanger 11-yard line as a result of the play. Three plays later, Edison High’s three-star re- cruit Velltray Jefferson ran the ball in from 9 yards out.
Sanger quickly retaliated on Agina’s first touchdown run, an
8-yard scamper up the Apache sideline. But it would be the only touchdown scored in the first half for the Apaches.
Meanwhile, the Tigers seemed to almost score at will, scoring on all three of their possessions in the second quarter. Jefferson, the 6’4” 195 lb. wide receiver who has ver- bally committed to USC, scored two more times before the half, on 17-yard and 49-yard touchdown re- ceptions.
Sanger’s lone score in the sec- ond quarter was a 34-yard field goal by kicker Isaiah Romero.
Jefferson looked to keep Edi-
See APACHES on page B11
Cardinals roll past Parlier, prepare for 'Battle of the O'
Emperors back in win column
MVT Staff Report
Behind senior full- back Freddi Arciga’s ca- reer night performance, the Orosi High football team rolled to another huge win as the Cardinals rolled to a 53-19 win over Parlier in a East Sequoia League game.
Orosi (6-3 overall and 3-2 in ESL play) will close out the regular season with the annual Battle of the O rivalry game at home against Orange Cove tomorrow night.
Arciga rushed for 106 yards on 14 carries and five touchdowns and was part of a Cardinal defense that held the Panthers to 221 yards of total offense.
Parlier fell behind 21- 0 after the first quarter as the Cardinals scored on a 2-yard run by run- ning back Dominic Mar- tinez. Parlier had mount- ed a late drive only to be stopped on a 4th and 3 at the Cardinals’ 46 yard line.
Orosi extended its lead to 27-0 on Arciga’s third TD of the game in the 2nd quarter. The
Panthers answered with a 41-yard TD pass from quarterback Joshua Ro- driguez to Ivan Sanchez.
Aidan Rodriguez, who had three catches for 130 yards, caught his only TD on a 51-yard recep- tion from Evan Lara that made the score 34-6 be- fore the half.
Parlier opened the second half with posses- sion of the ball and put up another TD on a pass from J. Rodriguez to Sanchez as the Panthers trailed 33-13. Arciga then scored consecutive TD’s that made the score 46-
13. The Panthers reached the end zone with 3:22 in the quarter on a 28-yard pass play from J. Rodri- guez to Jonathan Zapien. A 37-yard scamper from Martinez closed out the scoring in the game.
John Meraz had eight solo tackles and assisted on three others to lead the Orosi defense. Tony Meraz had six solo tack- les and Andrew Arechiga had four. Nathan Lopez recovered two fumbles for the Cardinals.
MVT Staff Report
A four-game losing streak came to a stop as the Dinuba High football team routed host Exeter 51-28 in a Central Se- quoia League game Fri- day night.
The Emperors picked up their first CSL win in the process and are 3-6 overall heading into tomorrow night’s game against Hanford West. Exeter dips to 4-5 and 1-3 in league.
Quarterback Joshua Magaña had a huge game as the senior completed 17 of 24 passes for 243 yards and three touch- downs while rushing 13 times for 127 yards and two more scores as the Emperors broke a 14 all game with a 23 point sec- ond quarter.
Magaña opened the 2nd quarter with a TD run and moments later added another score for a 28-14 lead. Exeter scored to pull within seven be- fore Magaña connected on a 55-yard TD to Justin Gonzalez and the PAT by
Jorge Lozoya / Photo contributed
Dinuba High's Gabriel Moreno led all receivers during the Emperors' 51-28 league victory over Exeter. Moreno finished with seven catches for 143 and a pair of touchdowns.
Cesar Lopez pushed the score to 35-14.
Brian Campbell, who finished the game with 15 carries for 88 yards, extended the lead to 44-21 onashortTDruninthe third quarter. The other
score in the quarter was a blocked punt by Cristobal Ramos, who recovered it in the end zone.
The defense came up with a big play on Ex- eter’s opening possession of the game as the Em-
perors forced a turnover. Magaña then connected on a 16-yard TD to Gabri- el Moreno for a quick 7-0 lead. Exeter tied the game at 7-all on an 80-yard pass
See EMPERORS on page B12
With win over Hoover, Pirates have grand opportunity