Page 9 - Mid Valley Times 1-7-21 E-edition

Thursday, January 7, 2021
An opportunity to play, draw attention
Players from Reedley participate in 5-team SoCal football league to gain recruiting exposure
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Two Reedley-area football players are get- ting an opportunity to work on their game, stay in condition and improve their chances at getting recruited by colleges.
Michael Kawagoe of Immanuel High School and Ryan Warkentin of Reedley High School are both on the roster of the Kingsburg Var- sity Club Football team, which consists mainly of Kingsburg High play- ers but includes some others. One player set to join the squad is Im- manuel's Hayden Collin.
The team is playing in a five-week develop- mental league put on by Winner Circle Athlet- ics in Southern Califor- nia. Games are played on Sundays in Chino Hills east of Los Ange- les. Kingsburg played its first game on Jan. 3,
dropping a 21-14 deci- sion to the Orange Coun- ty Elite. It's possible the league could play six games, depending on when as prep football season is approved and scheduled by the Cali- fornia Interscholastic Federation.
The league was formed to provide high school seniors with an opportunity to get earli- er exposure for recruit- ing purposes. A field was purchased and freshly- sodded, with plans by Netflix to film a docu- mentary and provide video to Hudl to assist players who need images for recruiting purposes.
Both Kawagoe and Warkentin are slated to be key performers for Immanuel and Reedley High, respectively, in a 2020 season that has been pushed to Febru- ary 2021 in a best-case scenario.
ABOVE: Members of the Kingsburg Varsity Club Football team, which includes Michael Kawagoe from Immanuel High School and Ryan Warkentin from Reedley High, warm up prior to an organized game against Orange County Elite down in Chino Hills on Jan. 3. The Kingsburg team lost by a 21-14 score.
RIGHT: Ryan Warkentin (17) from Reedley High and Michael Kawagoe (56) from Im- manuel High look on during the contest. The five-team league is designed to give high school players a chance to be videoed and recognized for recruiting purposes.
Photos by Kirk Kawagoe / Contributed
Allen plays just a half as Bills
tune up for playoffs with rout
MVT Staff Report
Reedley College product Josh Allen only needed part-time work to elimi- nate the Miami Dolphins from post- season consideration and prepare his team for the upcoming NFL Playoffs.
Allen threw for three touchdowns, completing 18 of 25 passes for 224 yards, in just one half of play as the AFC East champion Bills (13-3) rolled to a 56-26 victory on Jan. 3. In the pro- cess, the Firebaugh native upped his
season yardage total to 4,544 yards, surpassing the previous single sea- son team record of 4,359 yards set by Drew Bledsoe in 2002. His 37 TDs already eclipsed the single season team record set by Hall of Famer Jim Kelly.
Next up for Buffalo is a wild card home game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 10:05 a.m. Pacific time. It's the Bills' first home playoff game since 1996, which was Kelly's final game.
Kendricks scores 8 points in FPU loss
MVT Staff Report
Immanuel High product Nate Kendricks scored eight points, in- cluding his lone 3-point field goal attempt, but it wasn't enough as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds dropped an 85-54 non- conference decision to the Sacramento State Hornets on Jan. 3 in Sac- ramento.
The Sunbirds dropped to 0-3 on the season, all non-confer- ence losses. Their first game of 2021 started with an early FPU lead before Sacramento State seized control with a 15- 4 run.
Fresno Pacific coach C.J. Haydock said the hosts took the game to his squad both defen- sively and on the boards (holding a 44-20 rebound advantage).
"We have some work to do defensively, both scheme-wise and in terms of individual fun-
damentals, to compete at the level we aspire to," said Haydock, former Immanuel High coach and teacher.
The Sunbirds' next game is Jan. 21 against Holy Names, but sched- ule changes because of COVID are possible.
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