Page 9 - Sanger Herald 11-15-18 E-edition

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SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2018
Eighth-grade football team adds to Sanger's legacy
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
The next generation of Apaches made it look easy, defeating Tenaya Middle School’s Braves in the championship eighth- grade football game Nov. 3 on Dodson Field.
The score of 42-12 left no room for doubt as to the Warriors’ dominance on their way to a second 10-0 season and Central Valley Athletic League final win in a row.
But it wasn’t easy. Of course, winning is never simple. And Sanger doesn’t have a lock on dominating the region’s gridiron.
Warriors head coach Sam Villagomez said that despite the result, his team this year suffered a lot of injuries and setbacks. The Apaches on the varsity team experienced the same thing in perhaps more brutal fashion, especially to the bottom line.
“There was a lot of pressure on them,”
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Jaden Woo, left, and Devin Salcido plan to make a mark as Apaches next year.
Villagomez said of his reflect something of water. Something makes athletes. “We were Sanger’s commitment to Sanger athletes tough, supposed to repeat.” the sport. Or some could dedicated and willing to
Undefeated seasons argue the magic’s in the accept and do what the
coaches tell and expect of them. The ability to be coached may be one of the more commonly repeated items said by various coaches after games that I’ve come across.
The same goes for Sanger coaches calling their players “good kids,” too.
As is the case every year, this crop of eighth-graders will head to the next challenge. Many will go down Ninth Street to Bethel Avenue and Sanger High. Many will join the roster of the Apaches ninth-grade football team.
This year’s Apache freshmen went 10-0, too, defeating Dinuba 31-15 in the final game. By all indications, next year’s team should prove just as dominant.
And part of that has to do with players like the two Villagomez picked to discuss their season and air their thoughts last week after school. Jaden Woo, a running back, and
Devin Salcido, who played quarterback and is no relation to senior Apache defensive end Aaron Salcido, agreed to answer questions about their season.
Woo isn’t a big guy. But he’s cut from familiar cloth, a lot like Apache senior running back Orlando Douglas, who used his 5-foot-7 stature to dodge, grind and duck under most defensive lines and score a lot of touchdowns this past season.
“I’m fast,” Woo said. That works.
“He’s smart, knows
the plays, has known them since he was little,” Villagomez said. The four of us stood in an office in the East Gym on the Washington Athletic Middle School campus.
Woo offered the “big guy with the glasses,” as I’m known by most Sanger prep athletes, the requisite deference and respect. But
See Football, Page 2B
Cross country runners step up at CMAC
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
At mile one in the girls varsity cross country County Metro Athletic Conference championship Nov. 9, Apache freshman Nia Lamas ran in lockstep with Madera junior Unique Ford.
The pair matched each other stride for stride along the dirt course at Fresno’s Woodward Park, leading the rest of the competition by a substantial margin. But Lamas, who had suffered an injury about a week earlier, didn’t show when Ford returned down the same stretch about a mile later.
She had to drop out.
Diana Garcia, the next Sanger front-runner in the 5,000 meter race, knew what she had to do.
“I just thought I had to finish the race for her,” Garcia, a fellow freshman, said of her injured teammate. “That was the one thing on my mind.”
Garcia accelerated in a fast field that included Madera South, Edison, Bullard and Memorial high schools. She earned a lifetime best time and a ninth place. Next up for the Apaches was sophomore Jennifer Recinos in 12th place. Sienna Bianchi, also a freshman, was 15th.
“Felt good,” Garcia said. “Like I said I had to step it up for her (Lamas). I just have to say thank you to all my coaches and teammates. It’s been a good season.”
Ford said she too missed having Lamas in for the entire race. “I think I slowed down,” she said of Lamas’ departure. “I felt good when she was right next to me.”
Ford said despite the loss of a worthy competitor she pushed herself. She ended up with a time of 18:51.8 minutes, nearly a minute faster than senior Emily Montoya from Madera South in second. And she said she will be running faster for the California Interscholastic Federation Central Section Championship on Nov. 15 in the same location.
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Diana Garcia pushes herself for a lifetime best time after a teammate, who had been in the lead, was forced to scratch. Below, David De Loera leads the Sanger team just ahead of Emmanuel Solis in the boys varsity race.
team, the season brought mixed results. “My goal was to get faster,” he said.
Topete didn’t exactly achieve that milestone, but all the distance training may help his speed in the 400 and 800 meter races this spring in track. However, Topete did help develop a sense of camaraderie amongst his teammates, which was another goal. “We hang out a lot,” he said. “It’s like a family.”
On the boys varsity race, Madera South senior Victor Ochoa ran a blistering 16:17 minutes for first, pulling in just ahead of Edison seniors Bryan Banuelos and Sam Hawley.
David De Loera, a freshman, topped Sanger’s contingent of runners with a 12th place and 17:09.4 minutes. “Seventeen was my PR (personal record),” he said. “(But) I was sick all week and still haven’t recovered.”
De Loera said he vowed to beat 17 at the Valley championship this week.
Emmanuel Solis placed second for the Apaches and 16th overall with 17:18.9. He finished like De Loera in a clump of runners going all out at the finish, passing several at the end. “Just knowing there’s another Madera South kid I had to beat,” Solis said of his motivation to pass those near him. “Then I saw how close he (the next guy) was, and I had to beat him.”
Anthony Gonzalez, a sophomore, said he was pretty tired after the race. He placed 37th. “I was my first varsity race,” he said.
In the junior varsity girls race, freshman Melody Salazar placed third with a lifetime best 22:05.2 minutes. She said she didn’t feel so good. Karisma Rodriguez, a junior who placed fifth, poured water over her head after the race.
Coach Sean Marzolf approached about that time. “Did you break 22?”
“No, 22:05,” she said.
“You’re right there,” he said. “Lifetime.”
She looked like she
See XC, Page 2B
The field this week will certainly be expanded with many schools represented.
The CMAC event wrapped up the regular season for the young Apache team. The top runners continue on in the post season.
Anna Yang, one of just three seniors on the girls team, said she tried to break 22 minutes. She came close at 22:47.1, placing 28th. Fellow senior Toni Payton finished 26th with a 22:37.9. Neither was overly concerned and both considered theirs a good season. On their minds, perhaps a little more actively, was the status of
their college applications. Yang said she plans to major in biology and is interested in University of California Irvine. And Payton was less specific but said she planned to pick a college with a good pre-
med program.
Recinos said she missed
having her twin sister Jessica push her in the race. “Didn’t feel that good,” she said. “It was just that I had a block in my head. I didn’t feel tired, I just couldn’t push myself. I just wish Jess was here. She pushes me. I push her. I didn’t have that.”
For junior Ivan Topete, the old man of the boys