Page 15 - Mid Valley Times 12-23-21 e-Edition

Thursday, December 23, 2021 | A15 | Mid Valley TiMes
Bulldogs cap 10-3 season with New Mexico Bowl win
Mosby, Cropper
contribute to 31-24
victory over UTEP
MVT Staff Report
It was a crazy 2021 season for the Fresno State football team; one that featured emo- tional triumphs, two deflating losses, the lightning fast exit of a head coach and return of another popular favorite, and comings and goings in the vol- atile transfer portal.
But if there was one steady trait for this year's Bulldog squad, it was success on the field — a bunch of victories. The team collected 10 wins, the third time in fives sea- sons, Fresno State registered double-figure wins.
The most recent victory
PREPS
Continued from page A9
Sanger opens play in the Oakland tournament against Fremont of Oak- land at 3:30 p.m. Mon- day, Dec. 27. The tour- nament runs through Thursday, Dec. 30, and future opponents will be determined.
GIRLS BASKETBALL Lady Emps continue tourney through Dec. 23
Host Dinuba High (5-3) played its junior varsity squad in its own Holiday Classic Tourna- ment on Dec. 20, after a late scratch of teams in the tournament. The La- dy Emps hosted Hanford West on Dec. 21 (results were unavailable at press time), and then played Central on Dec. 22.
The final round of games is Thursday, Dec. 23, with the finals sched- uled for 8 p.m.
Pirates, Apaches collect victories
Reedley (4-8) won its lone game last week, defeating Madera 51- 34 at RHS on Dec. 14, while Sanger (8-4) had non-league wins over Redwood (47-38 on Dec. 14) and Kingsburg (40- 28 on Dec. 16). Both the Pirates and Apaches had non-league games against Selma; Reedley visiting the Bears on Dec. 22 while Sanger hosted on Dec 21.
BOYS SOCCER Pirates take second in Platinum Division
Reedley and Sanger both posted winning re- cords at the 2021 Cen- tral Valley Showcase in Clovis last week. The Pirates (7-3-1) advanced
Jesus Lara
Dinuba High
FOOTBALL AND
basketball
Dinuba High's Jesus Lara
(56, right) recently was voted
Central Sequoia League
Lineman of the Year for 2021,
anchoring the team's line at
left tackle as the Emperors
(8-5) reached the Central
Section Division III semifinals.
The senior also has
contributed to the basketball team's 11-1 start, scoring a team- high 21 points in a 65-51 victory over Kerman on Dec. 16.
success in Jeff Tedford, who guided Fresno State to the 2018 Mountain West title before resigning for health reasons after the 2019 season.
Tedford will have a fa- miliar big name back in quarterback Jake Hae- ner, who did an about-face from his announced plans to transfer and actually started and played in the bowl win. Haener finished
28of41for286yardsanda touchdown, and for the season passed for 4,096 yards and 33 touchdowns along with nine interceptions.
Sanger High product Ar- ron Mosby had just one solo tackle in the game, but it was a big one as he stripped and sacked the UTEP quarterback in the end zone in the fourth
quarter, forcing a fumble that resulted in a safety to build the Bulldogs' lead to 31-24. For the season, the 6-4, 246-pound senior defensive end finished with 40 tackles (15.5 for loss), six sacks, six forced fumbles and two recoveries including one for a touchdown against Connecticut.
Jalen Cropper, a Parlier na- tive and member of Sanger's 2016 section championship squad before graduating from Buchanan High, had nine re- ceptions for 72 yards and no touchdowns against UTEP. For the season, the junior had 85 catches for 899 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a school-record four against UNLV in October. Cropper al- so rushed for 76 net yards and two touchdowns.
came on Dec. 18 in the New Mexico Bowl, where the Bulldogs (10-3) took control in the second half to post a 31-24 decision over University of Texas- El Paso. Led by senior run- ning back Jordan Mims, who rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns while adding 71 receiving yards and another score on five catches, the Bulldogs gave interim coach Lee Marks a victorious sendoff.
Marks will return to his position as running backs coach, but will be joining Kalen DeBoer at the Univer- sity of Washington. DeBoer, who resigned as Bulldogs head coach on Nov. 29 to ac- cept the job with the Hus- kies, also has hired four other Fresno State coaches onto his
Arron Mosby
Jalen Cropper
UW staff. They are defensive coordinator William Inge and Chuck Morrell, who will share duties as DC for the Huskies, Marks, defensive ends coach/ special teams coordinator Er- ic Schmidt and strength and conditioning coach Ron McK- eefery.
The Bulldogs are bring- ing back the head coach from their recent championship
Reedley High's junior varsity boys soccer team captured the championship of the Washington Union tourna- ment on Dec. 18, winning the final match in overtime by a decisive 5-1 tally in penalty kicks. The Pirates' Alex Valen- zuela was named as tourney Most Valuable Player.
Vero Lopez / Photo Contributed
Pirates star Gates signs
LOI to play water polo at
Cal Baptist University
Angelica Perez, Reedley High soccer / Photo Contributed
Reedley High varsity boys soccer players posed for a team photo after defeating Bu- chanan by a 1-0 score in the semifinal round of the Central Valley Showcase on Dec. 18 in Clovis. the Pirates (7-3-1) dropped a 2-1 decision to Clovis North in the finals.
MVT Staff Report
Morgan Gates, a four- year standout for Reed- ley High's girls water polo program, signed a national letter of intent last week to play at Cali- fornia Baptist Univer- sity in Riverside.
Gates signature during a Dec. 15 event at RHS made her the school's first athlete to sign with a Division I school since Ivan Espi- ratu went to Sacramento State for football in 2014.
Gates, the daughter
of RHS football coach Tony Gates, holds school records for ca- reer (413) and single season goals (165 in 2021), and also has 146 career assists. She is a four-time all-North Yosemite League se- lection, and was voted league MVP this fall as she helped lead the Pirates to the league championship.
In addition, Gates has been named as a USA Water Polo aca- demic All-American for the past two years.
of the Week
Morgan Gates - Reedley High Girls Water Polo
Senior Morgan Gates last week signed a national letter of intent to play water polo for California Baptist University of Riverside, becoming the first Pirates athlete since 2014 to sign with a Division I school. Gates was North Yosemite League MVP in 2021 with a school record 165 goals and 62 assists, and holds the RHS career scoring record 413 goals.
Photo courtesy of Danny Jimenez
REEDLEY 555 I STREET
559-638-2300
www.xceleratefitness.com
all the way to the plati- num title with wins over Turlock (3-0 on Dec. 16), Centennial (2-1 on Dec. 17) and Buchanan (1-0 the morning of Dec. 18).
Reedley's title hopes were dashed in a 2-1 loss to Clovis North, as the Broncos rallied for both its goals in the sec- ond half. After a Dec. 22 match at Sanger, the Pi- rates close the 2021 por- tion of the schedule with a Tuesday, Dec. 28, home match at 5 p.m. against Clovis High.
The Apaches (7-1-1)
entered the tournament off the high off a riveting overtime victory over Clovis East on Dec. 10, in a battle fo the state's two top-ranked teams. After opening with a tough 3-2 victory over Mission Oak of Tulare on Dec. 17, Sanger suffered its first loss on Dec. 18 when San- ta Ana Valley prevailed in a wild 3-2 battle as all goals were scored in the opening half.
Sanger bounced back
on Dec. 18, rolling to a 3-0 victory over Dinuba High. The Emperors (3-6-2) dropped a tight 2-1 decision to Liberty- Bakersfield on Dec. 17, before bouncing back with two goals in each half for a 4-2 victory over Atascadero High on Dec. 18.
Sanger next plays at Central in a 5 p.m. con- test while Dinuba hosts Immanuel at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
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