Best of Week 9: Nail-biter in TRAC; Memorial eyes CMAC title; late heroics for Parlier, Dos Palos
A high school football rankings showdown Friday night in Clovis didn’t disappoint.
Buchanan, No. 3 in The Bee’s Central Section Top 25, and No. 8 Clovis put on a show for the fans at Lamonica Stadium.
It looked like Clovis was going to run away with the Tri-River Athletic Conference game taking a 13-0 early lead.
Not so fast, said Buchanan’s Georgia-bound running back Kendall Milton.
Milton scored three touchdowns and Stephen Shelley had a 37-yard touchdown reception from Ian Kirby with 3:48 remaining as the Bears beat the Cougars 27-20.
Clovis tied the game at 20 on Isaiah Robles’ 22-yard touchdown pass to Grant Lake with about 7 minutes remaining..
Milton scored two of his three touchdowns in the first half.
Buchanan (5-3, 2-1 TRAC) jumped alone into second place in the TRAC. Its only league loss is to top-ranked Central, which routed No. 24 Clovis North 65-7 to stay unbeaten.
Clovis fell into a 1-2 tie with Clovis North, Clovis East and Clovis West. Clovis East got its first TRAC win by beating Clovis West 28-14.
Memorial takes control in CMAC
It was a battle of undefeated teams in the County/Metro Athletic Conference between No. 7 San Joaquin Memorial and Edison. Both came into Friday 2-0 in the CMAC.
But Memorial left little doubt which team is superior, jumping to a 28-7 halftime lead capped by Jalen McMillan’s touchdown reception and coasting to a 49-7 victory.
Memorial (7-1, 3-0) will host Madera on Oct. 25, looking to clinch a tie for the CMAC title. In two weeks, the Panthers visit No. 12 Sanger in the conference finale.
The Apaches (6-2, 2-1) kept pace with a 42-0 victory over Madera South, and No. 4 Bullard (6-2, 2-1) eased past Madera 24-3.
NYL: Sunnyside, Reedley in control
Sunnyside beat Hoover 22-9 and Reedley defeated Fresno 51-7 to send both teams to 3-0 in the North Yosemite League. They play Halloween night at Sunnyside.
NSL showdown looming
Washington Union and Liberty-Madera Ranchos lit up the scoreboard in Easton with Washington Union winning 49-30 to set up a North Sequoia League showdown.
The Panthers (7-1, 2-0 NSL) travel to Oakhurst next week to play Yosemite (8-0, 3-0), which did its part by beating Chowchilla 35-28.
Both programs are getting up off the deck after finishing 1-3 (Washington Union) and 0-4 (Yosemite) in the NSL last year.
Washington Union’s only loss this year is 19-13 to No. 6 Kingsburg. And the Panthers’ resume includes a 42-32 win over Selma.
CSL rivals on collision course
Kingsburg (8-0, 3-0 Central Sequoia League) and Selma (7-1, 3-0) each stayed on course for an all-the-marbles CSL meeting in their Nov. 1 rivalry game, Kingsburg beating Dinuba 25-3 and Selma routing Exeter 58-18. In that game, Zach Zarate scored three touchdowns for Selma.
There’s already plenty on the line in the 87th Kingsburg-Selma game. Kingsburg leads the series 48-36-2.
A 2-point conversion seals it for Parlier
Trailing 28-21, Parlier scored a touchdown as time expired.
An extra point would send the game into overtime.
But Parlier elected to try for two points and successfully converted for a 29-28 victory over Fowler in a West Sequoia League game.
Parlier’s last victory over Fowler came in 2004 when the Panthers won 26-13.
Dos Palos in a thriller, too
Dos Palos got a 65-yard touchdowon pass from Trent Calvert to Tyree Martin and a two-point run by Ryan Ramirez to force overtime, shut out Firebaugh in its extra possession and scored on Calvert’s 7-yard pass to Ramirez for a 34-28 victory.
Dos Palos (7-1, 3-0 West Sierra League) has already beaten its top WSL pursuers, Coalinga and Mendota.
Hanford hands Redwood first loss
No. 10 Hanford took control of the West Yosemite League after a 36-20 victory over No. 5 Redwood at Neighbor Bowl on Thursday.
The Bullpups led 17-0 at halftime and never looked back to improve to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the WYL. The Rangers fell to 7-1 and 2-1.
Hanford quarterback Juaron Watts-Brown had his fingerprints on the win with a passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.
Anthony Galaviz: 559-441-6042, agalaviz_TheBee
This story was originally published October 18, 2019 at 11:37 PM.
