High school football Week 2: Memorial wins big game; Buchanan gets OT victory; game balls
Feeling a bit sore is OK for Brandon Ramirez. Especially if it means coming out with a victory in a revenge game.
Ramirez broke up a pass from Dayton Tafoya to Daylon Scott at the San Joaquin Memorials 5-yard line, sealing The Bee’s third-ranked Panthers’ 23-21 victory over No. 4 Central in the high school football Game of the Week at Koligian Stadium on Friday.
Ramirez’s heroics came on fourth down of the Grizzlies’ final possession at the end of a grueling night of two-play as a running back and defensive back.
“My body hurts,” Ramirez said. “ I’m going to recover this weekend and get back at it next week. High emotions and an exciting victory for us.”
Memorial lost to Central 37-20 in the Central Section Division I playoffs last season.
Panthers coach Anthony Goston said his team “learned a lot from last year.”
“We wanted to do some things differently,” he said. “Our kids executed, most importantly they played hard. You got to play hard against a good team.”
The Memorial defense made it tough on Tafoya. “He’s dangerous,” Panthers quarterback Carson Dean said. “You have to watch out for him, but our defense really came in and closed it out at the end. They shut him down. They didn’t let him do anything.”
The Panthers got a safety in the third quarter for a 16-14 lead, the result of Memorial punter Alex Asparuhov pinning the Grizzlies deep.
Memorial made it 23-14 when Dean hit Jayden Enriquez for a 30-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Buchanan-Clovis 41, Escalon 40 (OT)
The Bee’s No. 2 Bears stayed unbeaten with a comeback against the small-school powerhouse at Escalon.
In a back and forth affair throughout, Escalon thought it took its final lead of the game when it capped an 80-yard drive with a touchdown with 1:05 left in regulation. Buchanan marched 70 yards in 1:03, kicking a field goal to force overtime.
The Cougars scored first on the extra frame, but failed on a two-point conversion. The Bears answered with a touchdown of their own and kicked a winning field goal. Escalon’s Ryker Peters finished with 30 carries, 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Big wins for Clovis West, Clovis High
No. 5 Clovis West 48, Turlock 0:The Golden Eagles have started the season outscoring opponents 90-0. Golden Eagles wide receiver Jordan Pierro finished with two touchdowns, one on an interception return.
No. 10 Clovis 14, Sanger 7: Deagan Rose helped the Cougars get in the win column after he threw two touchdown passes to Dominic Decanio and Jacob Saldate at Sanger. The Apaches drove to Clovis’ 30-yard line late in the game but turned it over on downs.
Matchups of ranked teams
No. 12 Kingsburg 49, No. 21 Sunnyside 9: Vikings senior running back Trace Jackson carried 16 times for 111 yards and three touchdowns. Kingsburg quarterback Ethan Winslow finished with two touchdown passes. The Vikings defense was suffocating, limiting Wildcats QB Tanner Wilson to 76 yards and three interceptions. Last season, Wilson passed for 3,260 yards with 31 touchdowns, the most ever by a freshman in Central Section history, section historian Bob Barnett said.
No. 20 Lemoore 56, No. 24 Washington Union 35: The teams provided an expected offensive assault after comibing for 139 points last week. Tigers quarterback Ty Chambers finished with four touchdown passes. But that’s not all. He scored on a 1-yard run and had a 26-yard touchdown reception from Demel Turner. Preston Scott returned a kickoff for a touchdown that went 85 yards.
No. 7 Bullard 53, No. 18 Tulare Western 7: The Knights rebounded with a lopsided win behind three sophomores. Blake Mathieu had three touchdown receptions and three rushing touchdowns from Dominic Gonzalez. Knights quarterback Josh Madrigal had four touchdown passes.
No. 16 Clovis North 17, No. 19 Redwood 16: Andrew Chavez had a 2-yard run and an interception to set up the go-ahead, 29-yard field goal by Jamie Moran. Domenic Mercurio had an interception to clinch the Broncos’ win after trailing 16-7 in the third quarter.
Reedley 26, Roosevelt 16
Dwayne Wright’s first game as a head coach didn’t go according to plan.
But the former Fresno State and NFL player saw positives in the loss after the Rough Riders had a 16-6 lead Thursday.
“Football is a game of momentum,” he said. “We’re going to come back. Reedley is a good team, but I think we were a better team. I just think we had some MA’s (missed assignments) between us and mistakes we didn’t capitalize on. We’re going to fix that.”
The Pirates finished with 363 total yards.
Zach Lampa had 10 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown and Logan Moreno had 12 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown.
Pirates coach Tony Gates credited the Rough Riders for a tough game.
“I had a lot of fear of Roosevelt because it’s their first game and had a lot of preparation for us,” he said. “I knew they would be ready for us, and they were. It showed. We had some adversity. We were down at halftime and the boys didn’t panic, which is a huge sign for me. We went back to basics and pounded the ball a little bit and guys stepped up on defense.”
Game balls
Rocky Arguijo, Porterville: The junior QB completed 16 of 18 for 211 yards and two touchdowns and ran for one in the Panthers’ 49-0 victory over South.
Beau Brusseau, Buchanan: Sent the game into overtime when he made a 28-yard field goal as time expired against Escalon. He kicked an extra point in OT.
Ashton Chalabian, Kerman: He scored on a 15-yard run to give the Lions a 35-28 victory over Torres.
Ty Chambers, Lemoore: Four touchdown passes, ran for one and caught one against Washington Union.
Andrew Chavez, Clovis North: A touchdown run and an interception helped the Broncos to a win over Redwood.
David Cummings, Clovis West: Finished with double-digit sacks in helping the Golden Eagles defense hold Turlock to no points.
K.J. Daniels, Tulare Union: Ran 22 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tribe past El Diamante 43-29.
Ty Davis, Madera: He completed 14 of 20 for 221 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two scores, leading the Coyotes to a 40-35 come-from-behind victory over Selma.
Kourdey Glass, Hanford: Had 13 carries for 151 yards and three touchdowns in the Bullpups’ 66-21 victory over Buhach Colony-Atwater. He also had two receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Devon Heinrichs, Reedley: Had an interception return for a touchdown, and another interception to seal the win for the Pirates over Roosevelt.
CJ Hernandez, Dinuba: He hit Daniel DeSantiago for a 42-yard touchdown to give the Emperors a 10-6 lead and they went on to a 19-6 victory over Golden West.
Trace Jackson, Kingsburg: He ran for 111 yards and three scores in a win over Sunnyside.
Josh Madrigal, Bullard: He threw four touchdowns, leading the Knights over Tulare Western.
Connor McFall, Kingsburg: He had seven receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
Ty Miller, Clovis East: He threw for five touchdowns and had a TD run to give the Timberwolves a 52-21 victory over Atwater.
Jaeden Moore, Central Valley Christian: He had two touchdown receptions and a sack, leading the Cavaliers past Mt. Whitney 44-0.
Jordan Pierro, Clovis West: He finished with two touchdowns, including an interception for a touchdown.
Jacob Poole, Strathmore: Accounted for four touchdowns in the Spartans’ 46-20 victory over Hanford West.
Brandon Ramirez, San Joaquin Memorial: Ran the ball 22 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Central.
Gus Remmlinger, Buchanan: Scored the go-ahead touchdown in overtime to give the Bears a 41-40 overtime victory over Escalon.
Deagan Rose, Clovis: He threw for two touchdowns in the Cougars’ 14-7 victory over Sanger.
Jordan Stewart, McLane: Had three rushing touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in OT to give the Highlanders a 20-14 victory over Mendota.
Landon Wright, Clovis West: His two receiving touchdowns went for 79 and 49 yards in a rout over Turlock.
Bee’s predictions
The Bee went 3-2 in Week 2, correctly picking Bullard, Clovis and Kingsburg but missing on Central and Washington Union.
For the season, The Bee is 8-2.
Top 25 fared
1. Liberty-Bakersfield (2-0) defeated Ridgeview 35-0
2. Buchanan (2-0) defeated Escalon 41-40 (OT)
3. San Joaquin Memorial (2-0) defeated Central 23-21
4. Central (1-1) lost to San Joaquin Memorial 23-21
5. Clovis West (2-0) defeated Turlock 48-0
6. Hanford (2-0) defeated Buhach Colony-Atwater 66-21
7. Bullard (1-1) defeated Tulare Western 53-7
8. Bakersfield (0-2) lost to Frontier 27-24
9. Central Valley Christian (2-0) defeated Mt. Whitney 44-0
10. Clovis (1-1) defeated Sanger 14-7
11. St. Joseph (2-0) defeated Bakersfield Christian 38-7
12. Kingsburg (2-0) defeated Sunnyside 49-9
13. Clovis East (2-0) defeated Atwater 52-21
14. Bakersfield Christian (1-1) lost to St. Joseph 38-7
15. Garces (1-1) defeated Paraclete-Lancaster 41-7
16. Clovis North (1-1) defeated No. 19 Redwood 17-16
17. Frontier (2-0) defeated Bakersfield 27-24
18. Tulare Western (1-1) lost to Bullard 53-7
19. Redwood (0-2) lost to No. 16 Clovis North 17-16
20. Lemoore (2-0) defeated Washington Union 56-35
21. Sunnyside (1-1) lost to Kingsburg 49-9
22. Reedley (2-0) defeated Roosevelt 26-16
23. Edison (1-0) Bye
24. Washington Union (1-1) lost to Lemoore 56-35
25. Mission Prep (0-1) Bye
This story was originally published August 27, 2022 at 12:56 PM.
