Page 13 - Mid Valley Times 9-12-19 E-edition

Reedley College Thursday, September 12, 2019 Sanger gets payback victory over Clovis East Tigers beat ranked By Dick Sheppard Mid Valley Times When the Sanger Apaches rolled into La- monica Stadium to play the Clovis East Timber- wolves on Sept. 5 they were still smarting from a tough 14-8 loss to the T- Wolves last season in Tom Flores Stadium. The wanted payback. The T-Wolves had al- ready blown away a cou- ple of opponents this sea- son by a combined score of 84-0. The Apaches came in as underdogs af- ter a win against Reedley and a loss to Hanford. But when the ani- mated scoreboard in La- monica Stadium ticked off the final seconds of the rematch, after an old fashioned Pat Hill style smash-mouth football game, the Apaches had their payback, a come from behind 21-14 victory over the T-Wolves. It wasn’t easy. The Apaches had to come from behind in the second half and, with a couple of starters out with injuries, put the game on the shoulders of their tall, slender quarterback Noel Collazo. He was more than up for the task. It looked like the T- Wolves might be on their way to another blow- out when first quarter Apache errors, a shanked punt and a personal foul, set up the T-Wolves with a short field and Clovis East fullback Blake Bald- win ran in the first of his two touchdowns with 3:05 remaining in the quarter. But the Apaches an- swered 25 seconds later on an option pitch from Collazo to Kosi Agina who ran 65 yards down the sideline and flashed a “V” for victory sign as he entered the end zone un- touched to tie the game 7-7. Blake’s second TD early in the second quar- ter gave the T-Wolves a 14-7 lead at halftime. It was the last touchdown the Timberwolves would score in the game. With running backs Agina and Morgan Privett on the sideline most of the second half with injuries, the Apaches switched to a very successful ball control style that kept the high scoring T-Wolves of- fense off the field and off balance most of the half. Collazo, with 18 carries for 96 yards, was key to keeping the time consum- ing Apache drives going. The Apaches received the second half kick and held the ball almost 7 min- utes before Isaiah Becer- ril punched it in for the Apaches on a 3-yard run to tie the game at 14-14 with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter. Clovis East only man- aged to pick up one first down on its next posses- sion before having to punt. This time it was a T-Wolves shanked punt that only went 7 yards and DeAnza, end long win streak By Will Goldbeck Special to the Times If you go by the pre- season rankings, Satur- day’s matchup between the Reedley College Tigers and the DeAnza College Dons will be the Tigers’ only matchup of the regular season against a ranked team. The Tigers, ranked 25th in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, out- scored the 23rd ranked DeAnza College Dons 47-28 Saturday after- noon at Reedley High’s Sal Gonzalez Field. DeAnza came in- to the contest with a 10-game winning streak, which was tied with Chaffey College for the longest in the state. The last win was a 42-41 post- season thriller over the Tigers in Reedley last November. This time, Reedley had a 9-0 lead after the opening 77 seconds. A bad snap on attempted punt rolled out of the end zone for a safety 34 seconds into the contest. On the second play after the free kick, sophomore Jamon Chambers (Ta- SeeTIGERSonpage B2 George Armenta / Photo contributed Sanger’s Kosi Agina, maybe with a premonition of what was to come, flashes a “V” for victory sign as he crosses the goal line after a 65-yard run for the Apaches’ first touchdown. Emperor's offense comes alive Chowchilla stops Immanuel in final minutes, gives Eagles first loss gave Sanger good field possession. Then, with Collazo carrying the ball 8 times for 47 yards, the Apaches went on a drive that end- ed with a Pierce Jones touchdown to put Sanger up 21-14 with 6:43 remain- ing in the game. The Timberwolves were not ready to give up. After a couple of five yard penalties and a cou- ple of dropped passes, the Timberwolves man- aged to move the ball to Sanger’s 31 yard line and looked like they were getting ready to tie the score. But Sanger’s tena- cious defense stopped the T-Wolves on a 4th and 12, bringing down the quar- terback four yards short of a first down with only 1:44 left. The Apaches took over and ran out the clock, winning the game and tying the overall se- ries 6-6. Sanger’s master statistician Ron Black- wood’s picks for outstand- ing players of the game were: Noel Collazo on of- fense; Isaiah Becerril and John Pena on defense; and special team extra point and kickoff specialist Izaiah Romero. Collazo and the of- fensive line were Black- wood’s pick for the “play of the game” - the win- ning touchdown drive - in the fourth quarter. The 2-1 Apaches’ next game will be at 7:30 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 13, in Lemoore against the 1-2 See APACHES on page B2 By Rick Curiel Mid Valley Times The Emperors are in the win column and Coach Carlos Barajas now has his first victory as Dinuba High’s new head football coach after beating Reedley High, 41-13, at Claude Hebert Stadium on Friday night. “It feels great,” said Coach Barajas of seeing his team win. “The first one is always the tough- est one.” The victory came af- ter a rough start, as the Pirates were the first to strike – capitalizing after recovering a muffed punt on Dinuba’s 29 yard-line. Using trickery, Reedley got in the end zone by turning and end-around into a touchdown pass to Reedley High junior Mi- chael Rios, early in the first quarter. “Reedley is a good team, I like what they were doing,” said Bara- jas. “Coach Gates is go- ing to get things turned around there.” The Pirate’s 7-0 lead, however, was short-lived, as Dinuba was quickly able to retaliate behind the legs of senior running back Devon Mendoza. Di- nuba’s lead running back was out last week against Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times Dinuba High's Devon Mendoza turned in a solid performance in Friday night's home game against Reedley High. The senior running back ran for 120 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns for the Emperors in a 41-13 win over the Pirates. MVT Staff Report The visiting Chow- chilla High Tribe took the lead in the fourth quar- ter, then held on with a late interception to post a 17-14 non-league victory over Immanuel High at County Line Stadium on Sept. 6. It was the Eagles’ first loss of the season after two victories. Sophomore quar- terback Hector Davila passed for 95 yards, in- cluding a 31-yard touch- down connection to Win- ston Williams in the first quarter. Senior Matt Tiger rushed for 113 yards on 14 carries, and his 53-yard scoring dash midway through the sec- ond gave the Eagles a 14- 7 lead. Chowchilla countered with a field goal just be- fore halftime, then took possession late in the third quarter and drove nearly 70 yards for the decisive score. That came on a 5-yard run by Jaylinn Gaines with about five minutes to play. The Tribe intercepted Davila and took posses- sion deep in Immanuel territory, but the Eagles defense held on downs at its own 5 yard line with three minutes remain- ing. Davila broke free on a long run to move into Chowchilla territory with two minutes left. But the Tribe pre- served the victory with an interception at its 37 with a minute left to play. Davila rushed for 77 yards while Andrew Her- rera had four receptions for 64 yards. Defensively, Michael Kawagoe, Ryan Friesen and Jacob Cabre- ra all collected five tack- les while Williams had four tackles and three pass deflections. Immanuel hosts Viewpoint School on Fri- day, Sept. 13, in a sched- uled 6:30 p.m. kickoff at County Line Stadium. The Eagles’ remaining home games are Sept. 27 against Mendota High and Oct. 18 versus Sierra High. Redwood after sustain- ing a concussion in the Emperor’s home opener against Porterville. In his second game this season, Mendoza made up for lost time, running for 120 yards on 18 carries, and two touchdowns. “That was definitely key,” said Barajas about the Emperor’s improved run game. “We definite- ly focused on that this week... He (Mendoza) ran very well.” Mendoza peeled off two big runs to get the Emperor’s offense roll- ing. And with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter, senior quarterback Josh Maga- ña capped off Dinuba’s first scoring drive with a 1-yard keeper. What appeared to be a tight game at the end of the first quarter, both teams tied 7-7, was soon blown open in the second quarter as Dinuba put up 20 unanswered points. What worked in the Em- peror’s first scoring drive worked just as well in their second, as Dinuba pushed forward with a healthy dose of Mendoza. Dinuba’s second score came also by way of a quarterback keeper, this time on a 3-yard run by Magaña. Senior running back Angel Lopez made the See EMPERORS on page B12