Who is the new No. 1 in The Bee’s Central Section football coaches’ rankings?
There is a new No. 1 football team in the Central Section: Central High, which is off to a 2-0 start and has outscored opponents 100-6.
The Grizzlies received six first-place votes in The Bee’s coaches’ poll, while Bakersfield is No. 2 with four-place votes after a 63-28 loss to Orem High-Utah.
Also moving up are Tulare and Sanger, each one spot thanks to each overwhelming oppening opponents. No. 6 Tulare has outscored the competition 108-14; No. 7 Sanger has blanked two teams, each time by a score of 42-0.
Sanger kicks off Week 3 a day early, playing Clovis East at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lamonica Stadium.
Clovis (1-1) fell two spots to No. 8 after a 14-13 loss to Turlock. The Cougars face Bullard at 7:30 p.m. Friday at McLane Stadium.
Bouncing out of the Top 10 are Edison (0-2) and Bakersfield Christian (1-1). Memorial (2-0) and Clovis North (1-1) make their debut in the Top 10.
Games of the week
No. 3 Liberty-Bakersfield (1-0) at No. 1 Central (2-0) – Junior quarterback Trent Tompkins has been sharp for Central, completing 23 of 42 for 444 yards and six touchdowns.
And the Grizzlies’ defense has played a big role, too. Tre Walker and Tyrell Grayson each had an interception return in last week’s win over Sunnyside.
Liberty didn’t play last week because of excessive heat and bad air quality. The Patriots opened the season with a 31-30 victory over Clovis West.
Central and Liberty will get going at 7 p.m. at Koligan Stadium.
No. 5 Clovis West (0-1) vs. Edison (0-2) – Both teams keep the heat on in the early weeks of the schedule.
After starting with Liberty, Clovis West was scheduled to return to Bakersfield for a date with Centennial, but that game was postponed to Sept. 28 because of the poor conditions Friday.
Edison opened against Bakersfield and is coming off a 27-26 loss to Damonte Ranch-Reno. Edison went for a two-point conversion but was stopped with 15 seconds remaining.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the Buchanan High campus.
No. 9 Memorial (2-0) at Hanford West (2-0) – Memorial gets the paper edge in opponents so far, beating Washington 47-14 and Lemoore 53-46. But Hanford West has outscored McLane and Corcoran 106-20.
The teams will play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Neighbor Bowl on the Hanford High campus.
Fresno High to honor heroes
The Fresno High leadership students and football teams will host a “Hometown Heroes Football Game” to honor alumni and other community members who are first-responders or current or past members of the military.
Hometown Heroes will be introduced and recognized for their area and years of service. In addition, Heroes not able to attend will be announced as well as those who have died.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at Ratcliffe Stadium before the Warriors’ game against Tranquillity.
Milestones
Central Section historian Bob Barnett notes several passing records set in Week 2 games.
In a 63-28 victory over Mt. Whitney, Tulare Western players set one section record and two school records.
▪ Junior wide receiver Keshon Butler set a section record with 380 receiving yards, breaking the record of 373 set by Clovis’ Keith Poole in 1991.
▪ Butler tied a school record with four touchdown catches.
▪ Sophomore quarterback Elijah Burrell set a school record with 427 yards on 15-of-19 passing.
In a 53-46 victory over Lemoore, Memorial:
▪ Sophomore receiver Jalen McMillan tied a section record with six touchdown receptions, while setting school records of 12 receptions and 369 yards.
▪ Junior quarterback Alex Trujillo set school records by passing for 488 yards and six touchdowns.
Trujillo and McMillian were named The Bee’s stars of the night. Nominate a top performance by tweeting @FresnoBeeSports with #BeeStar.
Games on TV
Two games will be on television this week.
The Fresno-based non-profit organization Community Media Access Collaborative (CMAC) will air the Mendota-Roosevelt game on Comcast channel 94 and AT&T U-verse channel 99, and streamed online at cmac.tv.
It’s the first of an 11-game CMAC schedule.
KFRE-59.1 will begin its season with Friday’s Clovis-Bullard matchup. KFRE plans to air nine more games, including two playoff games.
Extra point
Roosevelt 3-0? – Roosevelt will look to make it 3-0 against Mendota at Sunnyside Stadium. The best start in school history was 4-0 in 1999, Barnett says.
Anthony Galaviz: 559-441-6042, @agalaviz_TheBee
The Bee’s coaches’ Top 10 poll
The coaches’ poll (first-place votes in parentheses):
Teams | 2017 record | Last week |
1. Central (6) | 2-0 | 2 |
2. Bakersfield (4) | 1-1 | 1 |
3. Liberty-Bakersfield | 1-0 | 3 |
4. Buchanan | 2-0 | 5 |
5. Clovis West | 0-1 | 4 |
6. Tulare | 2-0 | 7 |
7. Sanger | 2-0 | 8 |
8. Clovis | 1-1 | 6 |
9. Memorial | 2-0 | NR |
10. Clovis North | 1-1 | NR |
Week 3
All games at 7 p.m., unless noted
Tuesday
McFarland 32, Tranquillity 14 (Week 2 game rescheduled from Sept. 1 because of poor conditions)
Thursday
Clovis East vs. Sanger (Lamonica Stadium)
Exeter at McLane
Madera at Hanford, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Liberty-Bakersfield at Central
Clovis West vs. Edison (Buchanan)
Buhach Colony vs. Clovis North (Lamonica Stadium)
Mendota vs. Roosevelt (Sunnyside)
Kingsburg at Washington
Immanuel at Chowchilla
El Diamante vs. Monache (Granite Hills)
Porterville at Taft
Escalon at Liberty-Madera Ranchos
Big Valley Christian at Fresno Christian
Cuyama Valley at Kings Christian
Trona at Lucerne Valley
Maricopa at Desert
Vasquez-Acton at Rosamond
Templeton at Kern Valley
Boron at Bishop
Valley Christian at Frazier Mountain
Arroyo Grande at Independence
Farmersville at Woodlake, 7:15 p.m.
Granite Hills at Orosi, 7:15 p.m.
Central Valley Christian at Lindsay, 7:15 p.m.
Tranquillity at Fresno, 7:30 p.m. (Ratcliffe Stadium)
Buchanan at Lemoore, 7:30 p.m.
Redwood at Tulare, 7:30 p.m.
Clovis vs. Bullard, 7:30 p.m. (McLane Stadium)
Mission Oak at Bakersfield Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Reedley at Selma, 7:30 p.m.
Sunnyside at Mt. Whitney, 7:30 p.m.
Madera South at Hoover, 7:30 p.m.
Avenal at Corcoran, 7:30 p.m.
Kerman at Coalinga, 7:30 p.m.
Fowler at Sierra, 7:30 p.m.
Minarets at Mariposa, 7:30 p.m.
Orange Cove at Parlier, 7:30 p.m.
Riverdale at Sierra Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
Atascadero at Stockdale, 7:30 p.m.
Frontier at Ridgeview, 7:30 p.m.
Centennial at Golden Valley, 7:30 p.m.
North at Wasco, 7:30 p.m.
Chavez at West, 7:30 p.m.
South at Arvin, 7:30 p.m.
Highland at Kennedy, 7:30 p.m.
Foothill at Shafter, 7:30 p.m.
Mira Monte at East Bakersfield, 7:30 p.m.
Garces at Tehachapi, 7:30 p.m.
Caruthers at Yosemite canceled, poor air quality
Saturday
Shandon at Alpaugh, 1 p.m.
Laton at Riverdale Christian, 1 p.m.
Memorial at Hanford West, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Who is the new No. 1 in The Bee’s Central Section football coaches’ rankings?."