After trailing at the half, Redskins fall in behind Reedom to advance.
TULARE -- There are those who say the Tulare High football team's unbeaten record doesn't mean much because its schedule was weak.
This is what coach Darren Bennett, with sarcasm dripping from his voice, told the Redskins after they shut out Reedley in the second half en route to a 38-17 victory Friday in the semifinals of the Division II Central Section playoffs at Bob Mathias Stadium.
"Now, we'll find out how overrated we are. This is a lot of motivation for us."
The second-seeded Redskins move on to the championship to face No. 1 El Diamante.
Tulare goes into that game 13-0 thanks in large part to tailback Jontell Reedom. The junior, running mostly left behind linemen D.J. Bennett and Kasey Archuleta, carried the ball 40 times for 284 yards and five touchdowns.
"We haven't accomplished anything yet," Reedom said. "Not until we win it all."
Reedley, the 11th seed, gave the Redskins all they could handle in a first half, leading 17-12 after Don Minter scored on runs of 30 and 15 yards in the second quarter.
The Pirates, coach Justin Garza said, had prided themselves as a second-half team. That seemed apparent in the playoffs when Reedley bashed No. 6 West by 23 points and rallied past No. 14 Yosemite 29-24.
"This time it was Tulare," Garza said. "We just sputtered out."
Reedley took the second-half kickoff and Minter carried twice for 31 yards to his team's 40. On the next play, Minter bulled ahead for 9 yards, but fumbled and Tulare's Jimmy Rivera recovered.
"Our defense came out and gave us the ball," Darren Bennett said. "That's all we needed."
That seemed to swing momentum heavily toward the Redskins, who scored on their final four possessions.
"A couple of key plays brought us down," said Minter, who carried 24 times for 189 yards and two touchdowns. "We were rolling, too. I thought I was already down on that fumble. It seemed to fire them up."
Reedom scored on runs of 23, 12, 1, 11 and 3 yards. The last three came in the second half when he rushed for 173 yards. Quarterback Bobby Barnes also connected with Marquis Wilson for a 41-yard score that made it 25-17.
At that point, Tulare's defense came up big, holding Reedley on fourth-and-short plays on its next two possessions.
Reedom's 11-yard score gave the Redskins a 31-17 advantage, but there were still nearly 12 minutes remaining.
Reedley, starting a drive from its own 42, drove to Tulare's 33. On fourth-and-4, Minter got the call and the Redskins dragged him down a yard short of the first down.
Tulare took over and went to work to run down the clock. Giving the ball to Reedom, the Redskins chewed up 7:52 and capped the drive with a score to punctuate the victory with 2:18 remaining.
Reedom carried 14 times for 79 yards -- Tulare was penalized twice -- on the drive.
"That kid really put on a show," Garza said. "And he did it on his own. We'd have him stopped and he'd continue to lean forward, kick his legs and pick up more yards. He's something else."
What a spectacular postseason for Fresno State baseball. Though a total team effort, which Bulldog would get your vote for CWS MVP?
The MVP goes to the whole darn team. They wouldn't have won if they all didn't work together.
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