High school football: Big games in Fresno area; Game balls; new school, coaches get wins
Big-time high school football matchups highlighted season-opening Week 0 in the Fresno area.
Top-ranked Buchanan visited Kingsburg, Sanger hosted Clovis. San Joaquin Memorial played Clovis North and Central met Bullard in a rivalry game.
Buchanan vs. Kingsburg: The defending Tri-River Athletic Conference champions and The Bee’s top-ranked Bears rolled to a 20-0 first-half lead en route to a 33-7 win over the 13th-ranked Vikings.
Buchanan quarterback Jayden Mandal found Josiah Ayon for 17-yard touchdown. Mandal also found Travis Sirwet and Mckay Jones for touchdowns. Mandal passed for four touchdowns.
“First game of the season, not the prettiest,” Buchanan coach Matt Giordano said. “These kids are humbled and they are going to correct their mistakes and we just got to keep moving forward.”
Bullard at Central: Dayton Tafoya completed 17 of 32 for 304 yards and five touchdowns against three interceptions to help the No. 3 Grizzlies to a 51-32 win over the No. 10 Knights.
Central held Bullard to 12 points in the second half after trailing 7-0 in the first quarter.
Grizzlies wide receiver Marquise Green had three receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Jalyn Utendaal had 12 receptions for 181 yards and a touchdown for the Knights. Fresno State commit Jayden Davis had a 33-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Roland Russo, who finished with 334 yards and four touchdowns against two interceptions.
Clovis at Sanger: The No. 5 Cougars jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and never looked back behind Utah commit Nate Johnson in a 35-12 win over No. 8 Sanger.
Clovis senior running back Tristan Risley had three rushing touchdowns.
Johnson passed for two scores.
San Joaquin Memorial at Clovis North: Panthers senior wide receiver and Washington commit TJ Hall had two receiving touchdowns that went for 19 and 33 yards, helping the fourth-ranked Panthers to a 20-0 win over the Broncos at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
SJM scored all of its points in the second half.
“When you have one of the best kids in the Valley that can make plays on both sides of the ball, it definitely helps your team,” Panthers coach Anthony Goston said. “We’re fortunate that we had guys like that for years.”
Game balls
There were a couple of noteworthy performances. The game balls go to:
▪ Mission Oak senior quarterback Michael Iriye rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 163 yards and three scores —two to Kenny Jackson — and even kicked three extra points and a 24-yard field goal in the Hawks’ 36-14 win over Madera South.
▪ Reedley running back Ryan Warkentin had 22 carries for 260 yards and four touchdowns in the Pirates’ 49-14 win over Hanford West.
▪ Clovis’ Tristan Risley had 18 carries for 160 yards and three touchdowns against Sanger.
▪ Firebaugh’s Danny Olivera had 15 carries for 288 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-8 win over El Capitan.
Note: If you know of an athlete who had a big game and want them noted here, email agalaviz@fresnobee.com.
New school picks up first varsity win
Madera school Matilda Torres defeated Hoover 29-21 at McLane Stadium for the school’s first varsity win.
The Toros are coached by Joe Marquez.
New coaches get wins
McLane broke the game open for good, scoring 20 points in the third quarter as the Highlanders defeated Parlier 34-0, giving Andrew Pancotti his first win as a head coach.
Avenal coach Josh Wisniowski also picked up his first win after the Buccaneers defeated McFarland 18-0.
Rivalry game
Dos Palos scored 20 unanswered points and hung on for a 20-13 win over Los Banos in the 82nd “The Westside War.”
The Broncos defense stopped the Tigers with one untimed down and Los Banos quarterback David Herrera dropped back and then saw an opening on the right side. He sprinted toward the end zone, but three Broncos defenders converged and stopped him at the 3-yard line.
“The atmosphere tonight, there was no comparison, seeing all these people out enjoying the game,” Dos Palos coach Rob Calvert said. “You could smell the hamburgers from the snack bar, hearing the band play, the kids cheering. This is the way this sport is supposed to be.”
The Bee asked readers last week which game in the Central Section in the Fresno area is the best rivalry game.
Dos Palos and Los Banos were tops with 64.4%.
Air quality forces cancellation
Some games in the South Valley were canceled because of the poor air quality in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Games canceled were Tulare Union and Mt. Whitney at Mineral King Bowl in Visalia and Monache at Golden West and El Diamante at Tulare Western.
Some other games were pushed back at least an hour.
Monache and Golden West plan to reschedule to 7 p.m. Sept. 3.
NorCal fires are still actively burning like the Dixie Fire, which has torched more than 600,000 acres spread over Butte, Plumas, Tehama, and Lassen counties, according to Cal Fire.
An upper-level, low-pressure system moved into the northwest coast, winds from the north pushed down smoke that originated from fires in northern California, the National Weather Service in Hanford told The Bee.
How The Bee’s Top 25 fared
1. Buchanan defeated No. 13 Kingsburg 33-7
2. Liberty-Bakersfield defeated Spanish Springs-Sparks, Nev. 28-3
3. Central defeated No. 12 Bullard 51-32
4. San Joaquin Memorial d. Clovis North 20-0
5. Clovis defeated No. 8 Sanger 35-12
6. Frontier defeated Arroyo Grande 53-12
7. Garces defeated Clovis West 28-7
8. Sanger lost to No. 5 Clovis 35-12
9. Bakersfield lost to Los Alamitos 65-18
10. Bullard lost to No. 3 Central 51-32
11. Tulare Western did not play
12. St. Joseph lost to Charter Oak-Covina 27-13
13. Kingsburg lost to No. 1 Buchanan 33-7
14. Hanford did not play
15. Bakersfield Christian lost to No. 16 Central Valley Christian 30-24
16. Central Valley Christian defeated No. 15 Bakersfield Christian 30-24
17. Paso Robles lost to Lompoc 48-27
18. Tulare Union did not play
19. Nipomo defeated Santa Ynez 21-16
20. Centennial defeated No. 22 Redwood 35-21
21. Reedley defeated Hanford West 49-14
22. Redwood lost to Centennial 35-21
23. Golden West did not play
24. Righetti did not play
25. El Diamante did not play
This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 10:45 AM.
