Prep notebook: Buchanan football assistant takes over at Hanford West

More than 20 years since his only head coaching gig, Mark Stanley has a football program to lead again.

Stanley, an 18-year assistant at Buchanan High, has taken over as coach at Hanford West. He replaces Justin Fowler, who resigned after the Huskies went 14-28 in four seasons during his second stint as the school’s coach.

“It’s like I’m a kid in the candy store getting to do some new things after coaching all these years,” Stanley said. “I feel lime I’ve gotten myself in a really good spot. The kids are working hard and I’m getting real good support.”

Stanley inherits a program that has gone 25-68 over the past nine seasons. The Huskies’ last winning season came in 2005, when they went 8-4 and reached the quarterfinals of the Central Section Division II playoffs.

Hanford West, since demoted to D-IV under the section’s competitive-equity system of divisional playoff alignment, did not participate in the postseason the past two years.

But Stanley is encouraged about his first senior class, which is led by the brother duo of quarterback Jamal Salaam (2,185 yards passing with 17 touchdowns last season) and receiver Jameel Salaam (48 catches, 737 yards, eight TDs).

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised how good the kids are in terms of work attitude and talent level,” Stanley said. “I really think this is a place that can have some success.”

Stanley grew up in Reedley, where he formed what became a lifelong friendship with former Buchanan and current Pirates coach Mike Vogt. They met in the fifth grade at Washington Elementary, graduated together from Reedley in 1977 and went on to be in each other’s weddings.

It was Vogt who brought Stanley back to the central San Joaquin Valley after he launched his coaching career 30 years ago in Phoenix, including a four-year stint as head coach at Shadow Mountain High.

Stanley eventually became Vogt’s defensive coordinator and planned to follow his friend when he took over at their alma mater two years ago, but couldn’t land a teaching position at the school.

Stanley spent the past two seasons coaching at Buchanan under Vogt’s replacement, Mike Jacot.

“I was happy but always had an itch to have my own program,” Stanley said. This is something I’ve wanted to do. It’s something I’d regret if it passed me by, and I don’t want any regrets.”

Riverdale softball team earns Cal-Hi honor

Riverdale has been named Cal-Hi Sport’s Division V Softball Team of the Year.

The Cowboys finished 29-6, sharing the West Sequoia League title with Fowler before going on to become section D-V champs with a 14-4 victory over Sierra Pacific that saw Bee All-Star Mikayla Maggini go 4 for 4 with a home run and five RBIs.

Southern Section Division VII champ Rolling Hills Prep-San Pedro (20-7-1) and Sac-Joaquin Section champ Mariposa County (25-4) were also in the running for the honor.

Riverdale is the only section school to be recognized this season as a team of the year by the state’s leading authority on high school sports.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Prep notebook: Buchanan football assistant takes over at Hanford West."