Unfazed and undefeated: No. 1 Buchanan rallies from big deficit to knock off No. 2 Memorial

In a matchup of the top two teams in The Fresno Bee’s Central Section high school football rankings, No. 1 Buchanan rallied from an 18-point deficit then held off No. 2 San Joaquin Memorial down the stretch for a 31-24 victory Friday night.

The Bears (5-0) found themselves down 21-3 with 6 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

But then the Bears scored 28 unanswered points.

With 6:44 left in the third quarter, Buchanan scored the go-ahead touchdown with an interception return from Gus Remlinger, who sniffed out a screen pass and placed the Bears ahead 24-21.

Then with 8:33 remaining in the fourth, Buchanan extended its lead to 31-21 on a 65-yard touchdown run from Michael Runnels.

Memorial (3-2) reduced Buchanan’s lead to 31-24 after converting a field goal with 1:44.

And the Panthers followed by recovering the ensuing onside kick to keep their comeback hopes alive.

The Panthers got as close as the Bears’ 35 with less than a minute remaining.

But on Memorial’s final offensive play, the Panthers dealt with a muffed snap and then a heave toward the end zone that wasn’t close to being caught.

And Buchanan sealed the victory.

Among the other big plays from the Buchanan-Memorial showdown was:

Bears quarterback Jayden Mandal finding Colton O’Toole for a 58-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

And Memorial’s Brandon Ramirez scoring on an 85-yard touchdown run that gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the night at 21-3 in the second quarter.

This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 11:10 PM.