Page 7 - Dunuba Sentinel 8-23-18 E-edition

Sports
“This was one of the wildest games I’ve ever been associated with.”
OHS football Coach Ben White on the Cardinals’ 52-45 win over Coalinga
The Dinuba Sentinel
B1
Thursday, August 23, 2018 DHS Cross Country
DHS Football
A few members of the Dinuba High girls cross country team are pictured during a recent practice at Rose Ann Vuich Park on Monday. The Emperors return all of their top runners from a year ago and will officially start the season at the Dinuba Invitational on Saturday.
DHS girls primed for a big season
Diaz leads a strong
varsity girls team
while the DHS boys
look to reload
By George M. Villagrana
Lichtenwaldt.
“This team is really young,”
Lichtenwaldt said. “There are other teams looking to knock us down.”
Senior Johnny Padilla, who placed third in the Valley last year and was the CSL individual champion, is the leading runner. Padilla enters the season ranked among some of the sections best at No. 7. He will be joined by returners senior Daniel Araujo and Diego Estrada, who won the CSL junior varsity boys race last year.
“Those are it,” Lichtenwaldt said. “We got some young guys coming in and we’ll see what we can put together.”
Lichtenwaldt is banking on one of his returners to step up and guide the team. “We’re looking for one of the guys to be a leader right now,” he said. “If one of them are to step up then we will be
in great shape.”
Dinuba Invitational to draw plenty of teams: Dinuba Invitational will take place on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. whith the varsity girls race at 8:50 a.m. followed by the varsity boys race at 9:15 a.m.
There were 23 teams from the area scheduled to participate, according to Lichtenwaldt.
Teams that will be competing include Redwood, Mt. Whitney, McFarland, Madera and Reedley High.
“There is some good competition and it’s a good start out point to see where we are at compared to some of the other programs in the area,” said Lichtenwaldt.
In the latest Central Section boys team rankings Redwood is ranked No. 8 and led by Bailey Darnell, who is the No. 9 runner in the section. McFarland’s Jose Rodriguez is also ranked coming at No. 14.
The girls team race is shaping up to be quite a battle. There are five teams ranked including No. 1 McFarland. The other squads are No. 10 Madera, No. 11 Redwood, No. 17 Dinuba and No. 18 Lindsay.
Runners to watch in that race includes McFarland’s Hilda Gonzalez who is No. 3 overall and Lindsay’s McKaylie Caesar who is No. 6.
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
The Dinuba High girls cross country team is poised for a great season as the Emperors return all seven of their varsity runners from a year ago.
Dinuba could be the prohibited favorite in the Central Sequoia League, after capturing the league title last year while finishing the year placing fourth in the Central Section Cross Country Championships.
“The girls are looking to improve on that,” said coach Lucas Lichtenwaldt. “One of the coastal teams Morro Bay is in our division and they are very strong.”
Morro Bay, who enters the week as the sections top Division III team, has one of the top runners in the section, according to Lichtenwaldt.
“They have the No. 1 girl (Audry McClish) in the section on their team and if we’re going to knock them down, it’s going to take all seven runners to compete. They are really strong.”
Lichtenwaldt says he has talked to the team regarding goals and meeting expectations as some of the returners are coming off solid off season training.
“The girls know they have to focus on the season for the long haul,” Lichtenwaldt said.
Dinuba enters the meet ranked No. 17 overall and No. 3 in Div. III The Emperors are led by junior Luz Diaz, who was a state qualifier from a year ago. Diaz is joined by Jackie Delgado, Jasmine George, and Ali Ontiveros. Dinuba’s other runners include Elizabeth Mendez, Angie Arreola, and Amanda Soto.
The boys are coming off another stellar year that saw them grab their fifth straight CSL championship. The team did lose quite a few key runners and are looking to reload, noted
George M. Villagrana | The Dinuba Sentinel
DHS Cross Country
Aug. 25 hosting the Dinuba Invitational (DHS), 9 a.m.
Sept. 5 at East Bakers eld Inv. (Ming Lake), 3 p.m.
Sept. 14 at Hanford Inv. (Hickey Park), 3:30 p.m.
Setp. 14-15 at Woodbridge Inv. (Silverlakes Park), TBA
Sep. 18 at Central Sequoia League Cluster Meet in Exeter (Dobson
Field), 4 p.m.
Sept. 21 at Douglas P. Rudolf Inv. in Visalia (Mooney Grove Park), 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 at Sierra Paci c Milky Way 5K, 1 p.m.
Oct. 6 at Clovis Inv. (Woodward Park), TBA
Oct. 13 at SCV Inv. (Castaic Lake), TBA
Oct. 17 hosting CSL Cluster #2 at Ridge Creek, 4 p.m. Oct. 15 at Jim White Inv. (McFarland H.S.), TBA Nov. 6 at CSL Championship (Woodward Park), 2 p.m. Nov. 15 at CIF Valley Championships (Woodward Park) Nov. 24 at CIF State Championships (Woodward Park)
Bold denotes home meet
Junior Luz Diaz has been running cross country the last two seasons for the Dinuba High girls team. Diaz, whose favorite sport is soccer, is the top runner for DHS and captain. She ran a little at Roosevelt Elementary before she fully committed to track and field and cross country.
How did you join track and field and cross country?
Coach Sandoval saw the potential and asked if I would join. He literally dragged me to the meeting and I signed the paper to say that I would join. That’s when I started running. I did not like it at first but then afterwards I liked the competition, the hard work and team bonding.
So far how do you like cross country?
It’s been good to me. There have been ups and downs but I’m happy to be with the girls and the team.
What is the reaction you get when you tell them you run?
People say, “How can you run for fun and who runs for fun?” I ask myself at times why do I run if it’s like torture sometimes.
What do you like to do in your off time?
I’m very busy with school, I have noofftimebutIdoliketobewithmy family and we go out and play soccer.
George M. Villagrana | The Dinuba Sentinel
After a season opening 33-31 loss at Porterville, the Dinuba High football team will look to bounce back against visiting Redwood tomorrow evening.
The game will be the Rangers’ season opener.
The Emperors are coming off a tough setback last Thursday as the host Panthers rallied from a 17 point deficit in the 4th quarter.
‘They outplayed us in the fourth quarter,” said DHS coach Kevin Scharton. “We were unable to execute and we couldn’t stop them. None of us our happy with the loss.”
On the flipside, the Panthers head into their next game against Granite Hill with some momentum.
“Amazing start to the season,” stated PHS coach Michael Machedo. “Our team never quit playing and were able to beat a very good Dinuba team. Dinuba is an established program that has won consistently since coach Scharton took over. I have the utmost respect for him and his program. Anytime you can beat a team coached by him, you have to be extremely excited about your school and program.”
Porterville’s defense and the quarterback play of sophomore Hector Nava came up big in the final quarter, according to Machado.
Nava connected on a 19-yard scoring strike to Hunter Alcantar for the eventual game winning score with less than 20 seconds remaining. Nava had 429 yards while rushing for 58 yards and five TD’s, three in the final quarter but was intercepted twice.
The offenses wasted no time in moving the ball in the first quarter.
Porterville scored the first TD on a 5-yard reception from Nava to running back Jesse Hernandes but Dinuba quickly responded on a 9-yard scoring run by running back Joshua Martinez. The Panthers’ used a fake field goal for
See Emperors, Page B8
OHS Football Huerta’s
big game
lifts Cards
Diego Estrada, who captured the Central Sequoia League junior varsity individual title last year, is one of three returners for the DHS boys cross country team.
Athlete Pro le: Luz Diaz
How is this year’s team?
Last year we were pretty good, and this year we need to close in the gaps but the team is really strong. We’re positive, work hard and we do it for each other. We’re just trying to stay strong.
Favorite class in school?
Agriculture.
Least favorite?
Math.
Future plans?
I have a passion for animals and I want to be a veterinarian. I want to go to Cal Poly or U.C. Davis. I’m going to try my best to get into those schools but I will be applying to other colleges.
Coach Lucas Lichtenwaldt’s comments: She’s a great kid, we lucked out in finding her. She works hard and wants to give everything she’s got to be successful. That makes coaching fun is athletes like that. When they listen to what you say and they work hard as they can, they can go out and accomplish great things. She makes coaching easier and fun.
By George M. Villagrana
By George M. Villagrana
In one of the wildest openers in the Central Section, Orosi High School survived a late rally by Coalinga for a 52-45 victory Friday evening at Avenal High School.
“This was one of the wildest games I’ve ever been associated with,” stated Cardinals coach Ben White. “It was a back and forth battle of offenses because both teams weren’t playing much defense.”
Ahead 52-37 with two minutes remaining in the game, the Horned Toads made one last futile attempt to steal the game. Coalinga scored a touchdown and forced a three-and-out
See Cards, Page B8
Jerry Huerta carved up Coalinga’s defense on Friday, rushing for 285 yards and four touchdown in a season opening win for the Cardinals.
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Emperors
stunned by
Panthers
By George M. Villagrana
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
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