Central Section football playoffs: Upsets in semifinals, title decided and game balls
It’s back to the Central Section Division I championship game for the Central High football team — the Grizzlies’ fifth straight appearance in the final.
Dayton Tafoya had a touchdown run and a TD pass, leading the third-seeded Grizzlies to a 37-20 victory over No. 2 and previously unbeaten San Joaquin Memorial in a D-I semifinal Friday.
“Really proud of him,” Central coach Kyle Biggs said. “He controlled the offense and commanded it and got us in the right plays and got us in the right protections and made the right reads and made good throws and made good decisions. He’s the reason why we’re moving on.”
Central will host No. 4 Liberty-Bakersfield in the title game next Friday. The Patriots went into Veterans Memorial Stadium and pulled out a 28-21 victory over top seed Buchanan.
Central and Liberty is a rematch of the 2018 section championship, won by the Grizzlies 58-34.
The Grizzlies lost to Bakersfield in the 2016 final then won three consecutive section championships before the 2020 season was postponed to the spring and no playoffs were held because of the coronavirus pandemic.
To get back to the section title game, Central knew it first had to survive a tough matchup against the Panthers.
The Grizzlies, however, left no doubt from the start, marching down the field on a scoring drive that was capped by a 10-yard run by Tafoya with 9:40 left in the first quarter.
Central built its lead to 16-0 at halftime.
“We had to set the tempo,” Tafoya said. “We really got to go out there and punch them in their mouth because they hadn’t been behind all season. I’m glad we punched them in the mouth.”
The Grizzlies’ defense had two sacks and an interception. Special teams got in on the act when Imari Conley returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown after Memorial’s Brandon Ramirez opened the second half with a rushing touchdown.
Biggs liked how his team came out after the Panthers scored a touchdown.
“Just a resiliency in them,” Biggs said. “They gave up some big plays, but we responded. That’s what we talk about: We’re going to get punched in the mouth and we got to get up and go punch back and that’s what we did. The score went back and forth. They made a big play and we made a big play. I really like the way we responded to adversity.”
Division II: Bullard, Bakersfield advance
Roland Russo rolled early and often.
That was good news for top-seeded Bullard.
Russo threw seven touchdown passes in a 49-21 victory over No. 4 Kingsburg at McLane Stadium.
The Knights advance to the section D-II championship against No. 2 Bakersfield.
Russo had three touchdown passes in the first half as the Knights took a 21-7 lead, capped by a 96-yard drive. Jayden Davis had the TD catch.
“That drive was special we had at the end of the first half,” Bullard coach Don Arax said. “We knew Kingsburg was going to be a tough team and they proved to be and so we wanted to exploit our athletic advantage on them. We threw the ball very successfully. Quite a performance (by Russo).”
The Knights also had six interceptions and two goal-line stands.
After the game, Arax told his team about Bakersfield. He said he has lost “to them twice in my final game during my career.”
“I told the kids, great tradition of success at Bakersfield,” he said. “They’ve got it rolling. They had a head coaching change and they’ve got it rolling and they’re playing Driller football.”
Bakersfield defeated No. 6 Frontier 21-14.
Division III: CVC-Bakersfield Christian rematch
Top-seed Central Valley Christian was too much for No. 5 Washington Union.
Josh Sousa ran for two scores in the Cavaliers’ 24-0 victory over the Panthers.
CVC will next host No. 7 Bakersfield Christian. The Eagles defeated No. 3 Dinuba 42-27.
The Cavaliers broke the game against Washington Union open in the second quarter.
Sousa had a 1-yard run and CVC added a late field goal for a 17-0 lead at halftime. Sousa added his second touchdown in the third quarter on a 32-yard run.
Josh Noeske and Cooper Noland each had an interception for the Cavaliers.
CVC and Bakersfield Christian will meet in a rematch of the 2019 section championship won by the Eagles.
The Cavaliers are back in the section championship for a fourth straight year.
It’s also a rematch of this year’s season-opener won by CVC 30-24.
Division IV: Mendota advances, Roosevelt falls
Seventh-seeded Roosevelt was tied with No. 6 Independence 7-7 at the half.
But the Rough Riders could never got going in the second half.
The Falcons scored 21 unanswered points to pull away to a 42-14 win and set up the championship game against Mendota.
Roosevelt, which had advanced to the semifinals after defeating Tehachapi 41-20, was led by Ulysses Diaz’s 133 yards on the ground.
Mendota, the 13th seed, went back to the Bakersfield area — after a 42-21 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Foothill — and defeated No. 8 Highland 34-28.
Jacob Silva had four touchdowns, one on a 75-yard pass.
“We played tough football,” Mendota coach Beto Mejia said. “Overcame some turnovers, but found a way to win. The kids are a reflection of Mendota. We are resilient people.”
Division V: Another Liberty road win
Dominic Castaneda was a big spark for No. 8 Liberty-Madera Ranchos.
That is nothing new for the Hawks.
He finished with three touchdown runs, leading the Hawks to a 20-6 victory over No. 4 Boron.
Liberty will face No. 3 Righetti for the section championship. The Warriors defeated No. 15 Ridgeview 27-6.
Liberty has carved out a niche as road warriors. After a quarterfinal win at No. 1 Immanuel, the Hawks bused 218 miles to Boron on the route to Las Vegas. Next up is a 188-mile trip to Santa Maria.
But on semifinal night, it was the Castaneda show.
He scored his first touchdown in the first quarter when he took a handoff from Mitchell Whaley for a 46-yard touchdown.
Castaneda scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter for a 13-6 lead.
His third touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard run.
Entering the game, Castaneda had 15 touchdowns.
8-man: Fresno Christian wins title
Fresno Christian is back on top as champions of the 8-man division.
The top-seeded Eagles rolled to a 54-6 victory over No. 3 Mojave to win their first section championship since the 2017 season.
Mojave was the defending champion.
“The kids came together and had good chemistry and they bought into what we were doing schematically,” Fresno Christian coach Michael Fuller said. “I just kept telling them we’ll get you in the right spot on the field, you just got to make plays. That is how we approached the whole season.”
This season, the Eagles outscored opponents 648-60 en route to a 12-0 record.
The Eagles’ defense didn’t allow any rushing yards to Mojave. Fresno Christian limited Mojave to 58 yards passing.
“It is what they’ve been good at all year long is flying to the ball, attacking, having good pursuit and attack angles, running downhill and playing aggressive,” Fuller said.
“I started joking saying they were a pack of predators. The game tonight the watch word was the attack of wolves and they played like that.”
Game balls
Dominic Castaneda ran for three scores in Liberty-Madera Ranchos’ 20-6 victory over Boron.
Fresno Christian coach Michael Fuller said all of his players played well and noted Bradley Cheney, who had an interception in the championship and played quarterback and threw for three touchdowns and had one rushing TD. Casey LaCroix, Owen McCann, Logan Stotts and Matthew Kent also had a big part in the game, Fuller said.
Roland Russo passed for seven touchdowns in Bullard’s 49-21 win over Kingsburg.
Jacob Silva had 45 carries for 368 yards and four touchdowns, and also had a passing touchdown for 75 yards in Mendota’s win.
Josh Sousa scored on two runs in Central Valley Christian’s 24-0 win over Washington Union.
Dayton Tafoya had a touchdown run and scored the Grizzlies’ opening touchdown in a 37-20 win over San Joaquin Memorial.
Player of the Week winner
Roosevelt’s Mario Cosma is the winner of The Bee’s Player of the Week for the Central Section quarterfinals.
Cosma received 7,149 votes (80%) and finished ahead of Dayton Tafoya of Central who had 1,444 votes (16%).
Thirteen high school football players in the Fresno area were nominated for The Bee’s Player of the Week poll from the Central Section quarterfinals.
The poll ended at noon Saturday.
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), Roland Russo of Bullard (Week 8), Gaines-Smith (Week 9), Jr. Cervantes of Woodlake (Week 10) and Russo (opening week of playoffs).
Central Section playoff scores
Division I
No. 4 Liberty-Bakersfield 28, No. 1 Buchanan 21
No. 3 Central 37, No. 2 San Joaquin Memorial 20
Division II
No. 1 Bullard 49, No. 4 Kingsburg 21
No. 2 Bakersfield 21, No. 6 Frontier 14
Division III
No. 1 Central Valley Christian 24, No. 5 Washington Union 0
No. 7 Bakersfield Christian 42, No. 3 Dinuba 27
Division IV
No. 13 Mendota 34, No. 8 Highland 28
No. 6 Independence 42, No. 7 Roosevelt 14
Division V
No. 8 Liberty-Madera Ranchos 20, No. 4 Boron 6
No. 3 Righetti 27, No. 15 Ridgeview 6
Division VI
No. 1 Taft 49, No. 4 Woodlake 13
No. 2 Morro Bay 29, No. 3 Pioneer Valley 26
8-man
Championship
No. 1 Fresno Christian 54, No. 3 Mojave 6
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 12:14 PM.
