High school football Week 1: Hanford, Buchanan dominate; coaching debuts; game balls
There was no stopping the Hanford High football team on Friday night.
Not even the heat, though Bullpups quarterback Cayden Muir had a concern the season-opener against Bullard was going to be canceled because of it.
That didn’t happen and The Bee’s eighth-ranked Hanford jumped out early to defeat the sixth-ranked Knights 41-22 at Ratcliffe Stadium as Week 1 kicked off for many prep teams in the Central Section.
“It was definitely on our minds,” said Muir, who completed 23 of 33 for 371 yards and three touchdowns. “We needed to come out here and prove to ourselves that we can win our first game and we can get into it and we’re going to start our season off well.”
In the season-opener last season at San Joaquin Memorial, the Bullpups trailed 7-6 at the half before the game was canceled because of poor air quality.
Friday’s matchup, The Bee’s Game of the Week, played without any pause.
Muir completed a 10-yard pass to Kourdey Glass who took it in for an 80-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Hanford led 21-14 at halftime before extending the lead to 29-14 in the third quarter when Muir ran for a 1-yard touchdown.
Bullpups coach Cannon Sanchez credited his offensive line for giving time for Muir to find his receivers and a defensive effort by Brak Hill, who recorded two sacks.
“Obviously, having a returning offensive line, we have four senior offensive linemen that do a great job pushing the tempo,” he said.
“We were able to run the ball really well tonight. We had a cast of sophomores who did a phenomenal job in the passing and running game. Brak Hill made some sacks tonight and big tackles for loss that changed the momentum for us tonight.”
Hill had 12 tackles, D’Artagnion Martin had 12 tackles and a sack and Erik Lamb had eight tackles and a half sack.
Also standing out for the Bullpups was Glass who had three receptions for 125 yards and the touchdown.
No. 2 Buchanan 56, No. 7 Bakersfield 3
In Ross Wood’s first game as the Bears’ head coach, he saw his team jump all over the Drillers for a 35-0 halftime lead. Jayden Mandal had three touchdown passes in the first half while Gus Remmlinger had a strip fumble on a kickoff and scored from 4 yards. The Fresno State-bound QB finished with 276 passing yards and four TDs.
“Just excited with how our boys played together,” Wood said. “The tempo, execution and energy were high all night and when that’s, right good things happen. We have some work to do, but it was a great step in the right direction.”
No. 3 San Joaquin Memorial 34, No. 15 Clovis North 0
The Panthers were too much for the Broncos, led by QB Carson Dean who threw three touchdown passes. His targets on those touchdowns were to Tommy Nix, Ramon Ruiz and Joe Dalena. Memorial’s defense was also strong with interceptions by Jordan Black and Jayden Enriquez.
“We thought we played pretty good,” Memorial coach Anthony Goston said. “We stopped the run all night. We played well for the first game. (Clovis North) has good size and is well-coached.”
Clovis West, Clovis East roll
No. 5 Clovis West 42, Ridgeview 0: It was all Golden Eagles from the start. Aiden Fortenberry had a short touchdown run and Marshel Sanders had a long punt return for a touchdown at Lamonica Stadium.
No. 14 Clovis East 48, Dinuba 21: The Timberwolves scored a convincing win over the Emperors on the road in Brandon Nagle’s first game as Clovis East coach. Ty Miller had TD throws to Fresno Moua, Aidan Wilson and two to Harold Duvall, who also had an interception return for a touchdown. Timberwolves running back Lemaj Travis finished with two touchdowns.
Game balls
Lorenzo Alexander, Justin Garza: Scored the school’s first touchdown on the opening kickoff that went for 88 yards. He finished with two touchdowns.
Max Bakker, Central Valley Christian: Threw for three touchdowns as the Cavaliers rolled past Ripon Christian 42-14.
Carmine Ficher, Tulare Western: Threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 31-13 victory over El Diamante.
Kenny Furbush, Mt. Whitney: Recovered a fumble and returned an interception 49 yards for a TD to lead the Pioneers past Tulare Union 29-16.
Trace Jackson, Kingsburg: Finished with 20 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings’ 35-0 victory over Paso Robles.
Jayden Mandal, Buchanan: Threw four touchdown passes — three in the first half — in the Bears’ 56-3 victory over Bakersfield.
Ty Miller, Clovis East: Passed for four touchdowns in the Timberwolves’ win over Dinuba.
Cayden Muir, Hanford: Had three touchdown passes and ran for one, leading the Bullpups past Bullard.
Preston Scott, Lemoore: Scored three times on punt returns that went for 33, 68 and 79 yards in the Tigers’ 78-6 victory over Selma.
Dayton Tafoya, Central: Completed 16 of 27 for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the Grizzlies’ 28-7 victory over Edison-Stockton.
Ya’J Vance, Edison: Completed 17 of 26 for 356 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 20-13 victory over Kennedy.
Kahlil Yahlong, Reedley: Scored on a 94 yard interception return and a 75 yard touchdown run as the Pirates defeated Firebaugh 34-12.
Notable: Garza’s first varsity win, Torres’ first city win
It was a night to remember for Justin Garza High and Matilda Torres High, new schools in the Central and Madera school districts, respectively.
It was especially electric at Madera’s Memorial Stadium where a packed crowd christened a new city rivalry and the Torres Toros upset the Coyotes 28-25.
Garza coach Yosef Fares, fresh off an NFL training camp internship with the Atlanta Falcons, saw his Guardians beat Immanuel 27-14 at Koligian Stadium.
Other coaches winning debuts at their schools included Matt Logue (Sanger), Damon Jenkins (Kerman), Marty Martin (Mission Oak) and Travis Anderson (Golden West).
Tribute for the late Justin Garza
Prior to the Garza-Immanuel kickoff, the Garza family went to the 50-yard line for a coin flip. The family and school were honoring the memory of the former Central coach who died of cancer at the age of 41 in 2017.
Doing the coin flip was Garza’s son, Joaquin, who flipped the coin and caught it.
Immanuel won the toss and kicked off. London Alexander returned it 88 yards for Garza’s first touchdown.
Garza is survived by his wife, Regina, and his daughter, Elena, and Joaquin.
Bee’s predictions for Week 1
The Bee accurately predicted the outcomes of five games in the Fresno area.
We listed Hanford vs. Bullard, Buchanan vs. Bakersfield, Clovis West vs. Ridgeview, San Joaquin Memorial vs. Clovis North and Clovis East vs. Dinuba.
The Bullpups, Bears, Golden Eagles, Panthers and the Timberwolves were victorious in their openers.
Bee’s record: 5-0.
Top 25 fared
1. Liberty-Bakersfield (1-0) defeated Spanish Springs-Sparks, Nev. 58-17
2. Buchanan (1-0) defeated Bakersfield 56-3
3. San Joaquin Memorial (1-0) defeated Clovis North 34-0
4. Central (1-0) defeated Edison-Stockton 28-7
5. Clovis West (1-0) defeated Ridgeview 42-0
6. Bullard (0-1) lost to Hanford 41-22
7. Bakersfield (0-1) lost to Buchanan 56-3
8. Hanford (1-0) defeated Bullard 41-22
9. Clovis (0-1) lost to Long Beach Poly 56-7
10. Central Valley Christian (1-0) defeated Ripon Christian 42-14
11. Garces (0-1) lost to Los Alamitos 41-0
12. St. Joseph (1-0) defeated Palos Verdes 19-16
13. Kingsburg (1-0) defeated Paso Robles 35-0
14. Clovis East (1-0) defeated Dinuba 48-21
15. Clovis North (0-1) lost to San Joaquin Memorial 34-0
16. Bakersfield Christian (1-0) defeated Mission Prep 35-9
17. Redwood (0-1) lost to Centennial 28-21
18. Frontier (1-0) defeated North 34-13
19. Tulare Western (1-0) defeated El Diamante 31-13
20. Mission Prep (0-1) lost to Bakersfield Christian 35-9
21. Lemoore (1-0) defeated Selma 78-6
22. Sunnyside (1-0) defeated Golden Valley-Bakersfield 50-21
23. Reedley (1-0) defeated Firebaugh 34-12
24. Edison (1-0) defeated Kennedy 20-13
25. Washington Union (1-0) defeated Fresno 61-0
This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 12:54 PM.
