Bee’s prep football predictions: Who has the advantage between Clovis North and SJM?
There were plenty of lessons learned when Clovis North High faced San Joaquin Memorial last season.
The then-young Broncos lost to the Panthers, 34-0. A tough go for Clovis North in that game against a strong Panthers defense and an offense that was led The Bee’s Player of the Year Brandon Ramirez.
Ramirez is now at Fresno State, leaving the Panthers with a big hole at the running back position.
“We went in with some expectations last year,” Clovis North coach Mike Jacot said. “We quickly found out we were in an uphill battle. Memorial took it to us. It gave us a little bit of a wake-up call.”
Clovis North and Memorial will kickoff the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The game will be on CW 59.
Clovis North always has high expectations. Just ask Clovis North offensive coordinator Vince Branstetter, who will be guided by quarterback Mario Cosma and wide receiver/defensive back Vince Cordoba.
Branstetter said he’s reminding the players not to listen to what others are saying about Clovis North.
“A lot of expectations just from within,” he said. “We expect us to do really well and carry it out and go from there.”
Panthers coach Anthony Goston will turn to transfer quarterback Jaylen Patterson, who comes from Vista Del Lago in Moreno Valley.
He’s excited to see what Patterson does on the field and is encouraged by what he is seeing in practice from other players.
“Obviously it’s a reversal of two years,” Goston said. “Last year, I think Clovis North was young and trying to find their way, and we were an old and veteran team.
“And now, they’re older and we’re younger. We got nine sophomores up and we’re a very young football team. Obviously the years are different, the teams are different, but it’s going to be a challenge.”
The Panthers reached the Central Section Division I championship, but lost to Liberty-Bakersfield.
Memorial will be led by senior running back/defensive back Jordan Colbert. The Panthers added transfer wide receiver CJ Jones from Sunnyside.
Goston is hoping for one thing from his Panthers:
“Physicality,” he said. “Running around with your hair on fire, being physical, paying attention to detail.”
Prediction
This is a good matchup for Fresno-area fans to see that could be exciting from start to finish.
While the Panthers cannot be overlooked because of their youth, Clovis North is looking for revenge after being shutout last season.
Cosma, Cordoba and McKay Madsen and the rest of the seniors remember that.
First games of the season are always difficult to gauge because anything can happen.
Prediction: Clovis North 37, San Joaquin Memorial 27
Rest of predictions
The Bee will pick five games to watch for and predict throughout the season.
The other four predictions is as follows:
Sanger 34, Dinuba 27
Lemoore 40, Selma 17
Kerman 34, Chowchilla 24
Garza 30, Immanuel 23
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
