Fresno-area high school football: League titles decided, records fall and rivalries renewed
Youth was only one of the challenges facing the Sunnyside High football team in the final week of the regular season.
The Wildcats, who have five freshmen on varsity, were missing players heading into the North Yosemite League showdown against The Bee’s 13th-ranked and unbeaten Reedley on Thursday evening.
But one of those freshmen, quarterback Tanner Wilson, passed for 452 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 victory at Sunnyside Stadium, clinching an outright North Yosemite League title for the 8-1 Wildcats.
“This was a great team win,” said Sunnyside co-head coach Thomas Wilson, who is Tanner’s dad. “We had seven starters out. Offensive line coach Tyler Wood did a fantastic job getting a line that had one original starter in it. The defense was missing four players and everyone stepped up. We preach next man up and today they lived it. This was huge for the kids, the staff and the entire school.”
Tanner Wilson set the school record for passing touchdowns, total touchdowns, total yards and passing yards in a single season.
The Wildcats’ lone loss was 46-34 at small-school power Strathmore in Week 5.
Other Week 10 highlights:
Clovis’ Risley goes crazy
Tristan Risley led the way for Clovis. Literally.
The senior running back rushed 29 times for 440 yards and six touchdowns in the Cougars’ 60-43 victory over Clovis West in the Range Rider Trophy rivalry game between Clovis Unified’s first two schools.
The yardage, touchdowns and points (36) in a single game are school records, Central Section historian Bob Barnett said.
Entering Friday’s game, Risley was at 1,332 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
Tulare Union 56, Tulare Western 35
Victor Espinoza threw four touchdown passes — three to Pedro Alvarez— and K.J. Daniels rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns, as the Tribe retained possession of the Victory Bell with a win over the Mustangs, before a crowd of 5,300 in the 57th meeting.
Espinoza completed 13 of 14 passes for 273 yards. Alvarez caught six passes for 105 yards.
Tulare Western’s Carmine Ficher completed 23 of 39 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns.
Hanford 42, Lemoore 0
The Milk Can Game was one-sided in a matchup of Top 25 teams.
Kourdey Glass led off with a 20-yard rushing touchdown and the No. 11 Bullpups kept rolling over the 12th-ranked Tigers.
Hanford keeps the Milk Can for the sixth consecutive season and also get a share of the West Yosemite League title with Lemoore.
Cayden Muir passed for three touchdowns and ran for two to lead the way for Hanford.
Buchanan 28, Clovis East 10
The top-ranked Bears finished a second-straight unbeaten Tri-River Athletic Conference season.
Quarterback Colton O’Toole had a rushing touchdown to give Buchanan an opening 7-0 lead.
The Bears will be the top seed in the eight-team Division I Central Section playoffs.
Other rivalry games
Battle of the “O”: Orosi 38, Orange Cove 20
Battle of the 43: Corcoran 45, Sierra Pacific 7
Cowhide Game: Mt. Whitney 13, Redwood 7
Fire Hydrant Trophy: Kingsburg 41, Selma 0
Granite Bowl: Porterville 14, Monache 12
Mountain Bowl: Yosemite 36, Sierra 14
Stadium Road Showdown: Madera 36, Madera South 20
Teams going undefeated
Five teams went undefeated in the regular season.
Dos Palos (10-0), Fresno Christian (9-0), Mission Oak (9-0), San Joaquin Memorial (8-0) and Strathmore (10-0) were the only teams to avoid a loss .
In league, here are the teams that went undefeated:
Tri-River Athletic Conference: Buchanan 5-0
County-Metro Athletic Conference: San Joaquin Memorial 4-0
North Yosemite League: Sunnyside 5-0
Central Sequoia League: Kingsburg 5-0
East Yosemite League: Mission Oak 4-0
East Sequoia League: Strathmore 5-0
West Sequoia League: Fowler 6-0
North Sequoia League: Washington Union 2-0 (two games were canceled)
West Sierra League: Dos Palos 5-0
Central Sierra League: Fresno Christian 5-0
Game balls
Michael Bell passed for four touchdowns in San Joaquin Memorial’s 35-0 win over Sanger.
Andrew Camarillo had four touchdown runs and totaled 103 yards in Orosi’s 38-20 win over Orange Cove.
Victor Espinoza threw four touchdown passes, leading Tulare Union past Tulare Western.
Ernesto Castaneda Gamino scored on a 25-yard run in overtime, giving McLane a 26-20 win over Hoover.
Jr. Cervantes finished with four touchdown passes in Woodlake’s 46-6 win over Granite Hills.
Alexander Garza had a 35-yard rushing touchdown, lifting Mt. Whitney past Redwood 13-7.
Michael Iriye had 229 all-purpose yards had two rushing touchdowns to lead Mission Oak past Delano 52-0.
Jesiah Lindsay had 24 carries for 202 yards and three touchdowns in Central’s 35-14 win over Clovis North.
Cayden Muir had three touchdown passes and ran for two scores in Hanford’s 42-0 victory over Lemoore.
Tristan Risley powered Clovis past Clovis West 60-43 with 440 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Tanner Wilson of Sunnyside passed for 452 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 victory over Reedley.
Little Big Game canceled
Fresno and Roosevelt didn’t play because of a COVID issue.
Roosevelt elected not to find a replacement and instead look ahead to the playoffs.
This year’s game would’ve marked the 92nd meeting since the first game was played in 1930. From 1930 through 2019, the game was annual and the rivalry resumed this spring with Roosevelt winning 39-15.
Fresno leads in the series 46-43-2, Barnett said.
Bullard and Edison also canceled
The CMAC game between Bullard and Edison also was canceled because of health and safety protocols.
The game was slated to be played at Ratcliffe Stadium.
The Knights tried to find a replacement game but couldn’t.
Player of the Week winner
Ah-Marion Gaines-Smith of Central is The Bee’s Player of the Week for Week 9.
Gaines-Smith tallied 17,361 votes (34%) to finish ahead of Herman Zamora of Bullard who picked up 14,267 votes (28%).
Ashton Chalabian of Kerman came in third with 7,888 votes (15%).
Past winners: Tanner Wilson of Sunnyside (Week 0), Beau Green of Madera (Week 1), Andrew Camarillo of Orosi (Week 2), Ah’marion Gaines-Smith of Central (Week 3), Caleb Hall of Edison (Week 4), Cayden Muir of Hanford (Week 5 and Week 6), Ashton Chalabian of Kerman (Week 7) and Roland Russo of Bullard (Week 8).
Top 25 fared
1. Buchanan (9-1) defeated Clovis East 28-10
2. Liberty-Bakersfield (7-2) defeated Bakersfield 37-23
3. San Joaquin Memorial (8-0) defeated Sanger 35-0
4. Central (7-1) defeated Clovis North 35-14
5. Garces (6-3) defeated Stockdale 44-3
6. Frontier (4-2) lost to Centennial 27-14
7. Clovis (7-3) defeated Clovis West 60-43
8. Bullard (5-4) vs. Edison, canceled
9. Kingsburg (8-2) defeated Selma 41-0
10. Mission Prep (9-0) defeated San Luis Obispo 35-7
11. Hanford (7-1) defeated Lemoore 42-0
12. Lemoore (7-2) lost to Hanford 42-0
13. Reedley (8-1) lost to Sunnyside 42-35
14. Mission Oak (9-0) defeated Delano 52-0
15. Centennial (6-3) defeated Frontier 27-14
16. Paso Robles (6-3) lost to Arroyo Grande 62-35
17. Bakersfield Christian (7-2) defeated Golden Valley-Bakersfield 34-13
18. Dinuba (6-4) defeated Hanford West 49-12
19. Tulare Western (6-4) lost to Tulare Union 56-35
20. Redwood (4-5) lost to Mt. Whitney 13-7
21. Central Valley Christian (6-4) lost to Exeter 20-14
22. Sanger (5-5) lost to San Joaquin Memorial 35-0
23. Clovis North (5-5) lost to Central 35-14
24. Arroyo Grande (7-3) defeated Paso Robles 62-35
25. Bakersfield (3-5) lost to Liberty-Bakersfield 37-23
This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 12:31 PM.
