Best of Week 10: Sanger comeback sets up showdown with Memorial. Bullard also in title mix
The Sanger Apaches found themselves in a rare position Friday night, down big at halftime before their hometown crowd.
But the danger of playing the Apaches at Tom Flores Stadium – no matter the score – is the possibility they conjure up that Sanger mojo.
Like they did again Friday.
Down 18 points at halftime to Edison, Sanger (No. 11 in The Bee’s Central Section Top 25) proceeded to blank the Tigers the second half and scored 28 unanswered points for a 38-28 victory in County/Metro Athletic Conference play.
Sanger (7-2, 3-1) now has a chance to finish as a CMAC co-champ next week, hosting No. 6 San Joaquin Memorial (8-1, 4-0).
The Apaches are 4-1 at Tom Flores Stadium this season, outscoring opponents 174-94 at home. Sanger’s lone home loss came in its home opener during Week 2, falling to still-undefeated Hanford 38-31.
Memorial, which throttled Madera 55-14 on Friday, has beaten Sanger each of the past two seasons.
But Sanger lead the series 6-4 from this decade.
While many eyes will be on Memorial and Sanger next week, No. 4 Bullard also remains in the hunt for the CMAC crown.
The Knights (7-2, 3-1) cruised past Madera South 62-6 on Friday, scoring 55 points before surrendering a score to the Stallions.
If Bullard can beat Edison next week, the Knights would finish in a three-way tie for first place if Sanger also beats Memorial. Bullard handed Sanger its lone loss in CMAC play so far.
Buchanan’s Milton has another big game
Buchanan running back Kendall Milton appears to be healthy and playing in top form heading down the stretch.
Milton, a four-star recruit who committed in July to Georgia, regularly roughed up potential tacklers throughout the night to lead No. 3 Buchanan in a 40-14 win against No. 16 Clovis East in Tri-River Athletic Conference play.
Milton scored four touchdowns on runs from 16, 45, 74 and 30 yards.
Buchanan (6-3, 3-1) closes the regular season against Clovis North at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
No. 25 Clovis North, meanwhile, lost to No. 10 Clovis 42-34, with the Cougars locking up the game with an interception on the final play.
Clovis had pulled ahead 35-34 on a touchdown with 2:11 remaining.
On Thursday, No. 1 Central took care of business and scored 34 unanswered points for a 55-21 victory over No. 17 Clovis West at Lamonica Stadium.
The Grizzlies, who clinched at least a share of the TRAC title, can win the championship outright for a fourth season in a row with a victory over Clovis East next week.
North Yosemite League title on the line
It comes down to one game for Reedley and Sunnyside.
The Pirates (6-3, 4-0) and Wildcats (5-4, 4-0) will play for the North Yosemite League title after both teams were victorious Friday.
Sunnyside held off Roosevelt 21-14, while Reedley rolled past Hoover 42-28.
The NYL showdown will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sunnyside Stadium.
A big one in the Central Sequoia League
Add Selma and Kingsburg as one of the games to watch next week.
That’s because the No. 5 Vikings did their part in rolling past Hanford West 53-0.
And the Bears matched Kingsburg’s dominating performance by defeating Central Valley Christian 35-3.
Kingsburg and Selma will play for the Central Sequoia League title next week at Reedley High.
Selma’s stadium is still under renovation.
Washington Union eyes outright NSL title
No. 22 Washington Union took a half to get rolling at Oakhurst, where the Panthers defeated the previously unbeaten Badgers 35-7 to clinch at least a share of the North Sequoia League title.
All Washington Union (8-1, 3-0) needs to do next is defeat Kerman and become outright champion for the first time since 2015.
Yosemite led 7-6 at halftime after Jaydn Carter hit Steven Baker on an 11-yard touchdown pass for the Badgers, and the Panthers missed their extra-point try after Darius McCray’s 14-yard scoring run.
After honoring its seniors at halftime, the Badgers took the second-half kickoff and marched to the Washington Union 14-yard line fueled by a 25-yard run from Nic Harper.
But a fourth-and-3 pass was over the receiver’s head and it was all Panthers from there, scoring on an 11-yard run by Lawrence Stell to take the lead for good. McCray returned an interception for a touchdown and Tory Horton got two TDs to close it out.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 11:06 PM.
