The top two football teams in the Central Section each used a big second half to pull away for victories Friday night.
Lance Orender passed for four touchdowns - three to Jacob East - as No. 1 Buchanan defeated No. 8 Clovis West 38-14 in a Tri-River Athletic Conference game.
No. 2 Bullard got three rushing touchdowns from Jordan Jones and pulled out a 52-42 victory at Reedley in a County/Metro Athletic Conference game that came down to the final minute.
Both Buchanan (7-0) and Bullard (7-0) have been fighting in recent weeks for the the top spot in The Bee's rankings that's been held by the Bears since the beginning of the season. Both teams were up by just three points at halftime.
Buchanan, which led 14-0 before Clovis West rallied on two Kendal Brock touchdowns, dodged a bullet when a 99-yard touchdown on a kickoff return by Brock was nullified by a penalty.
In the second half, the Bears' Josh Banks forced a fumble by Brock near midfield and Kenny Castle recovered, setting up Orender's third touchdown pass of the night (and second to East) on the ensuing drive.
The turnover came one play after Clovis West's Tanner Lareau intercepted an Orender pass.
In the fourth quarter, East took a short screen from Orender for a 74-yard touchdown to lock up Buchanan's victory.
Brock had rushing touchdowns of 39 and 52 yards for Clovis West (2-5).
Reedley (5-2) was down 21-7 but rallied to tie it at 28 on Marco Antonio Alvarez's 28-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the second quarter. But Bullard got a 34-yard field goal from Sean Kuehter as the first half expired to put it ahead for good.
After Jones rushed for his second and third touchdowns in the second half, it looked like Bullard had it in hand. But Richie Casteel scored from 1 yard (his third rushing touchdown of the game) to make it 45-35.
The Pirates tried an onside kick, but the ball was tipped to David Rische, who ran it back 50 yards for a score with 1:41 left. Rische earlier had a 58-yard touchdown catch from Kerr Taubler.
Reedley wasn't done, though, as Casteel hit David Cardoza on a 15-yard touchdown pass pass with 1:09 to go. Bullard recovered the onside kick and ran the clock out.
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