Page 17 - Mid Valley Times 11-21-19 E-edition

Thursday, November 21, 2019
Cardinals move on to semi nals
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Dinuba High running back Angel Lopez attempts to turn a corner during Friday night's quarterfinals' game.
Dinuba falls in
quarterfinals to
Tulare Western
Orosi scores late touchdown to stay alive in Div. 6 playoffs
By George M. Villagrana
Mid Valley Times
Senior wide receiver Justin Marroquin’s only catch of the game proved to be the game-winner as the Cardinals won a thrilling 48-45 Division VI quarterfinals playoff game over Mission Prep on Friday night.
Marroquin warded off defensive back Kai Thom- as to haul in a 55-yard pass from Cardinal quarter- back Evan Lara with under 15 seconds remaining. De- fensive back Aidan Rodri- guez sealed the game with his second fourth quarter interception ,touching off a celebration for the Car- dinal faithful.
Orosi (10-3) is on a six-game winning streak heading into tomorrow night’s game against No. 2 California City.
On a night where big plays were made by mul- tiple players from both teams on offense and de- fense, the Royals had a 38- 28 lead in the fourth quar- ter. Orosi’s comeback was jump-started by fullback Freddi Arciga, who ended a 10 play, 52 yard drive with a TD plunge from a yard out to pull OHS with- in three points, 38-35, with 7:11 left in the game.
Mission Prep quarter- back Mark Rodriguez was then picked off by A. Ro-
George M. Villagrana / Mid Valley Times
Orosi High quarterback Evan Lara scrambles for a big gain as a host of Mission Prep defenders close in during the Cardinals' 48-45 Division 6 quarterfinals victory.
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
A .500 season may be considered a good season for any first-time coach. If you can win half your games it provides for a solid foundation for sea- sons to come. Mix in a second round appearance in the CIF Central Sec- tion’s Division II playoffs, which includes a huge upset over a No. 4 seeded team, and you have this year’s Dinuba Emperors under the direction of first-year coach Carlos Barajas.
The team suffered a lopsided 47-10 loss to one of the highest-octane of- fenses in the division, if
not the section, the Tulare Western Mustangs.
Friday’s game marked the second time in the past three seasons that Dinuba found themselves in a playoff game at Bob Mathias Stadium in Tu- lare. In 2017, the Emper- ors opened eyes around the Valley as they took on the Tribe of Tulare Union, going toe-to-toe with a team overflowing with Di- vision I talent. That talent included UCLA’s Kazmier Allen, quarterback Na- than Lamb and wide re- ceiver Emoryie Edwards, both of whom are on the Fresno State Bulldogs’
See EMPERORS on page B12
driguez.
The Royals had
stopped Orosi on its first two plays and the Cardi- nals were facing a 3rd and 11 at their own 46. OHS then pulled off a well- executed half back pass from Dominic Martinez to Lara for a 27 yard play to Mission Prep’s 29. Lara, who completed 8 of 15 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns, gained 24 yards on a scramble to put the ball at the 3. Two plays later, Martinez would score his second TD of the game as Orosi went ahead 42-38 with 2:01 in the game.
Mission Prep coun- tered with a 2-yard run by fullback Dalton Strouss punctuating a 6 play, 60 yard scoring drive that
took less than 1:10 before Orosi’s late-game heroics. The Royals had gained momentum in the third quarter as they went ahead 31-28 on a 27 yard field goal by Jack Susank. Mission Prep then added a late TD by Dalton Strouss at the end of the third quarter for a 10-point lead. Orosi started the game off well as they marched 56 yards on 11 plays as Martinez rushed for a 6-yard TD for a quick 7-0 lead. That would be the only points scored setting the stage up for a back
and forth second quarter. After a 3-yard TD run by M. Rodriguez, the Car- dinals would take a 14-7 lead when Lara threw a screen pass to Marti- nez who weaved through
the Royals defense for a 50-yard TD with 8:32. Mis- sion Prep’s special teams knotted the game at 14 all when returner, Assani Berkeley, took the kick- off virtually untouched 82 yards.
Orosi answered with a short TD from Arciga on the heels of a 59-yard from Martinez to move back up, 21-14. Mission Prep countered with a TD score from Strouss to tie the game at 21 with 3:55. The Cardinals went up up 28-21 when Lara connect- ed on a 39-yard pass play to A. Rodriguez but the Royals came right back ona4-yardTDrunbyM. Rodriguez with 23 seconds in the half.
See OROSI page B11
Lady Apaches are Valley champs
Immanuel out after
losing to Caruthers
in second round
Photo contributed
On a late Nov. 12 evening, after the Sanger Apache girls' tennis team finished a five-hour championship match that went into overtime, the team was happy to pose with the Central Section Division II title plaque.
Sanger High wins Division II championship after fourth consecutive league title
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Caruthers High’s powerful ground game played a big role in end- ing the Immanuel High Eagles’ football postsea- son run.
The West Sequoia League champion Blue Raiders (11-1) controlled the clock while using direct snap plays from shotgun formation and big efforts from running back Bobby Staley (142 yards, four touchdowns) and quarterback Trenten Babb (one TD) to roll to a 43-7 victory in a Cen- tral Section Division 5 quarterfinal matchup in Caruthers on Nov. 15. It ended a successful 9-3 season for the Eagles un- der first-year head coach Drew Halstead.
After both defenses controlled the game ear- ly, Caruthers mounted a drive at the end of the first quarter that took it deep into Eagles territo- ry. On the second play of the second quarter, Babb sliced through a hole on a keeper and scored from
8 yards out. A two-point run by Staley made it 8-0 with 11 minutes, 25 sec- onds left in the half.
Immanuel’s offense suffered a blow on the ensuing drive when rush- er Matt Tiger, the team’s leading rusher, took a shot to the ribs and was briefly sidelined. Ca- ruthers got the ball back and drove to the Eagles’ 34 before turning it over on downs. Tiger re- turned to the lineup, but was bottled up on a pair of runs by an attacking Blue Raiders defense that forced another punt.
Starting at its own 34, Caruthers rode the hard running of Staley and Babb to the end zone late in the half. Staley bulled up the middle for 18 yards to the 3, and took it through the middle again to score with 35 seconds left in the half. The extra point kick made it 15-0.
Immanuel fielded a short squib kick, and Tiger broke free to the Caruthers 37. On fourth down, quarterback Hec-
SeeIMMANUELonpage B2
MVT Staff Report
After capturing their fourth consecutive CMAC title, going 10-0 in league play, the Sanger Apache girls’ tennis team won the Central Section Division II Championship on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The victory, however, didn’t come easy for the Lady Apaches. After most of their victories this year came in convincing fashion,
Sanger had to dig deep to pull of the championship victory.
The team, who entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, faced off against the No. 2 seed St. Jo- seph at Sanger High School last week. Though the matches began at 2:30 p.m., the championship wasn’t settled until five hours later after the teams were forced to go into overtime matches.
Winning their matches in sin-
gles for the Lady Apaches were Lilian Yang (6-0, 6-1), Lisset Vaca (6-0, 7-6) and Helena Overgaard (6- 0, 6-1). The doubles teams of Jenni- fer Villalobos and Allison Hartsell and Diana Flores and Samantha Diaz also won their matches as Sanger went on to beat St. Joseph 5-4.
The team went 23-4 this season. They also won a Division title in 2012.