Page 13 - Mid Valley Times 9-26-19 E-edition

Apaches still hurting after bye week
By Dick Sheppard
Mid Valley Times
The Apaches had a bye last Friday after a se- ries of injuries - twisted ankles, a broken leg and a concussion - in very physical games at Clovis East and Lemoore.
The banged up Apach- es will finally be at home this Friday for a final non- league game against Paso Robles before opening the league season on Oct. 4 at Madera.
“We’re still dealing with a number of injuries. Some guys won’t be play- ing this week. We’ll know more about playing status the closer we get to game time,” said Apache Coach Jorge Pena.
Looking forward to this Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game in Tom Flores Stadi- um Pena said, “We’ll still match up pretty evenly across the board with Pa-
Sanger head coach Jorge Pena
so Robles. Similar sized kids. They are a well coached team and have played a tough pre-season schedule. The Bearcat quarterback is the leader and really stands out on film; he’s a serious threat along with their wide re- ceivers. On offense, they run multiple sets and will be a challenge to contain. Their defense is fast and stingy. We’ll need to play a clean offensive game to keep the chains mov- ing and score points. Expect them to come in with some momentum after their 4th quarter comeback win last week against Pioneer Valley.”
The Apaches edged the Bearcats 27-24 in Paso Robles last year.
About the 2019 County Metro Athletic Confer- ence (CMAC) season, “The CMAC looks to be tough again with Bullard and San Joaquin Memo- rial the pre-season favor- ites to finish at the top,” said Pena.
As usual, going back to the coaching days of Chuck Shidan, the Apach- es use pre-season games to prepare for tough Divi- sion 2 league play in the CMAC.
“Our pre-league games
See APACHES on page B2
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Reedley College
Tigers roll Contra Costa, now face
3-0 Foothill College
By Will Goldbeck
Special to the Times
Two high scoring community college foot- ball teams will meet this Saturday night in Los Al- tos Hills as the 3-0 Reed- ley College Tigers go on the road to face the 3-0 Foothill College Owls. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Tigers are now averaging a state best 50.3 points per game af- ter rolling to a 66-7 vic- tory over the 0-3 Contra Costa College Comets on Saturday afternoon at Reedley High’s Sal Gon- zalez Field.
The 66 points was the third highest single team total in the 33 games played in California last weekend. Only El Cami- no (70) and Sierra (69) scored more.
Foothill is averaging 31.7 points per game, fol- lowing three wins over future Tiger opponents. The last two wins, over Hartnell and San Jose, have come by identical scores of 34-7. The Owls are led by quarterback Cam Rottier, who passed for 379 yards and four touchdowns in the win over San Jose.
Reedley now has 13 wins in its last 14 games. After the first two weeks of the season, Reedley and Foothill are one and two in the North- ern California American
Division rankings. Against Contra Costa,
the Tigers, ranked 16th in the state by the JC Ath- letic Bureau, jumped out to a 38-0 halftime lead and were never threat- ened. The Tigers opened the scoring on the games fourth offensive play as freshman Tevin Ford- ham (Tampa, FA) inter- cepted a Jaylen Tregle pass and went 32 yards untouched for the game’s first touchdown.
Then sophomore run- ning back Jamon Cham- bers (Tacoma, WA) took over. In the first half alone, Chambers had nine carries for 158 yards with touchdown runs of 24, 48, and 40 yards. Chambers even blocked a punt with help from Jesus Garcia with a little over four minutes left in first half to set up a 20-yard field goal by Jorge Rosales (Arvin).
Quarterback Bubba Hickson (Suwanee, GA) also scored on a short touchdown run and threw a 24-yard scoring pass to Andy Pierre-An- toine (North Miami FA) early in the third quar- ter. Later in the same pe- riod, Hickson went to Tur Woods (Inglewood) for a 4-yard scoring pass.
SeeTIGERSonpage B12
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Emperor's senior running back Angel Lopez comes close to the phylon in the first overtime period against Edison on Sept. 20. The run set up a goal line effort that ended with the Tigers stopping Dinuba running back Devon Menoza inside the 1-yard-line on fourth-and-goal. The Edison Tigers then went on to win the game in double overtime, 35-27.
Dinuba falls short in double overtime loss to Edison
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
You don’t judge a team by its record.
Emperor’s new head coach Car- los Barajas knew that going into Friday night’s matchup against Di- vision 1 Edison High. And he also had no reason to believe they were the same team Dinuba defeated at home last year, 30-7. He found out why on Sept. 20 as the Tigers beat Dinuba High in a physical double- overtime thriller, 35-27, at Ratcliff Stadium in Fresno.
“They are much improved from last year,” said Coach Barajas. “Their record doesn’t show it, but I’m really happy with the way our kids battled.”
The Edison Tigers entered the non-conference game at 0-4, while the Dinuba Emperors came in at
2-2. Both teams’ losses were to respectable teams, but the Tigers losses were to some of the top teams in the entire section, namely Central and Clovis North, both 5-0. Their other two losses were to Clo- vis West and Buchanan.
On Friday, the Emperors got a taste of the level they hope to be at, Division 1 football. What they found was a physical game against a larg- er, and sometimes faster, opponent.
But Dinuba, being the fighters they are, went toe-to-toe with the Tigers, responding to an opening scoring drive by Edison with one of their own. Moving the ball past midfield, Emperor’s senior quar- terback Josh Magaña was able to connect with junior wide receiver Josiah Reyes for a 35-touchdown pass. A missed point after attempt left Dinuba down by 7-6 to end the first quarter.
Stopping Edison High’s Myles Lee, the Tiger’s lead back, how- ever, proved to be a challenge for the Emperors. After a series of big runs by the sophomore running back, he was rewarded for his ef- forts as he was fed the ball in Di- nuba’s red zone, taking it in for an 8-yard touchdown run and a subse- quent 14-6 lead.
A stalled Emperor’s drive and punt led to Edison quickly jumping out to a two-score lead after Tiger’s Mazjhon Malone cut one back and found open space to the left for a 62-yard punt return and Edison's third score of the game.
Dinuba didn’t fold.
With the assistance of two 15-yard penalties on the Tigers, the Emperors soon found themselves deep in Edison territory on their
See EMPERORS on page B12
Eagles can't make up first half deficit
Immanuel's late rally falls short against CVC
MVT Staff Report
The Central Valley Christian Cavaliers did all their scoring in the first half, and relied on ball control and defense to preserve the lead in a 27-14 victory over the Im- manuel High Eagles on Sept. 20 in Visalia.
Matt Tiger and Hector Davila rushed for touch- downs for Immanuel (3- 2), which held CVC score- less after trailing 27-7 at halftime.
The Cavaliers jumped on the Eagles early, scor- ing on a 54-yard run on the first play from scrim- mage. But Immanuel scrapped back on the en- suing possession, getting a first down and then a 54-yard scoring dash by senior running back Tiger. The PAT tied the score at 7.
Central Valley Chris- tian then took the lead for good, taking the kickoff and driving 68 yards. The series was capped by a
Kirk Kawagoe / Special to Mid Valley Times
Immanuel High’s Matt Tiger broke free on a 54-yard touchdown run during the first quarter of the Eagles’ 27-14 loss to Central Valley Christian on Sept. 20 in Visalia.
5-yard scoring run, mak- ing it 13-7 after a missed extra point kick.
Immanuel stopped one CVC scoring threat with an interception, but a long drive ended on downs at the CVC 25. A few plays later, the Cavaliers’ Jaalen Rening broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run, with a two-point run mak- ing it 21-7.
The Eagles were forced to point, and Re-
ning made two big runs with the second cover- ing 15 yards to the end zone. The Cavaliers were turned away on a two- point try.
Immanuel was kept out of the end zone much of the second half, but prevented the hosts from building on their lead thanks to big defensive plays by Winston Williams and Michael Kawagoe. The offense finally got on
track in the fourth quar- ter with a 77-yard drive.
A long pass from Car- los Morales to Trace Pires set up the Eagles at the CVC 15, and quarterback Davila capped the drive with a 4-yard TD run with little more than three min- utes remaining. Ryan Fri- esen recovered a fumble for Immanuel in the final minute, but the Cavaliers’ defense made a sack as the clock ran out.