Week 3 Prep Blitz: Liberty, Fowler clash in small-schools dandy

One of the Central Section’s top small-schools football rivalries renews Friday night when Liberty-Madera Ranchos travels to Fowler for the teams’ 13th meeting since the Hawks launched their varsity program against the Redcats in 2004.

Fowler won that first game 28-0 and owns a 7-5 edge in the series.

But Liberty has won the past three seasons en route to capturing section titles each year – Division IV in 2014 preceded by D-V championships.

The schools have twice met in the postseason, with the Hawks winning 38-25 in the D-V semifinals in 2009 and the Redcats returning the favor with a 21-17 victory in the D-V final in 2011.

“Liberty-Fowler for years has been a huge game for both sides,” Liberty coach Mike Nolte said. “We’ve won some and they’ve won some, and some have been very big games. It’s definitely developed into a pretty good rivalry.”

While the schools no longer compete in the same division (Liberty is D-IV, Fowler D-V), there will be a playoff atmosphere at the game, scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“This is one of those games that will get us ready for playoff football,” Redcats coach Kyle Biggs said. “We can gauge how well we are against these guys.”

The Hawks (2-0) enter riding a state-leading 21-game winning streak. They have been led by senior running backs Chad Wallace and Jackson Watts, who have combined for 414 yards and five touchdowns.

“We improved from Week 1 to Week 2, and that’s encouraging,” Nolte said. “The hope is to continue improving.”

Both teams are coming off a week of inactivity caused by the heat and poor air quality. Liberty had its game last week against Madera South rescheduled for Oct. 2, while Fowler’s game at Sierra was canceled and not rescheduled.

The week off was both a blessing and a curse for the Redcats.

It gave them extra time to heal minor injuries to a trio of key defenders: defensive back Raymond Ramirez, defensive back/linebacker Tomas Ash and linebacker Gabe Gomez, but also slowed the development of sophomore offensive linemen Noah Chavez, Alex Jimenez and Robert Subia.

“We got a little healthier,” Biggs said. “But our young guys could have used those 60 game reps.”

Record watch

Tulare senior running back Romello Harris became the section’s career carries leader during the a 49-41 victory against Redwood last week.

Harris carried 38 times, pushing his career total to 870, according to historian Bob Barnett. The old mark was 840. Harris also had 390 yards rushing, coming within 12 yards of tying the school’s single-game record he set last season.

Harris’ 6,315 career rushing yards is fourth-best all-time, Barnett said.

Games of the week (all Friday)

No. 12 Clovis North (0-2) vs. No. 6 Edison (1-2) at Sunnyside: The Broncos get their first taste of local competition after out-of-section losses to Franklin-Elk Grove (30-24) and Folsom (42-25). The Tigers are looking to bounce back from an 18-6 loss to Merced of the Sac-Joaquin Section.

No. 2 Liberty-Bakersfield (0-2) at Buchanan (2-1): The Bears will have to contend with a likely angry pack of Patriots, who dropped their first two games and then had last week’s game against Central canceled despite an offer to pay the Grizzlies’ transportation costs and split the gate to move the matchup to Bakersfield.

No. 15 Sanger (3-0) at No. 11 Lemoore (1-2): These teams appear headed in opposite directions, with the Apaches winning three straight, including a 32-15 defeat of Clovis East last week, while the Tigers have dropped two in a row to Tri-River Athletic Conference heavyweights Clovis (41-24) and Buchanan (24-0).

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Week 3 Prep Blitz: Liberty, Fowler clash in small-schools dandy."