High School Football

Statement win? Central’s big first half propels lopsided win over Liberty-Bakersfield

It appears the Central High football team is ready for what could be a wild Tri-River Athletic Conference

And The Bee’s fourth ranked Grizzlies made a statement, just like Buchanan did last week.

Central scored early and often in a 41-14 victory over No. 11 Liberty in a high school football game on Friday night at Koligan Stadium.

Liberty-Bakersfield’s loss to Buchanan last week shook up The Fresno Bee high school football rankings.

It’s possible the rankings will change some at the top following the Grizzlies’ win.

Before the season started, there was an unknown quarterback after David Marquez graduated.

Leave it up to Grizzlies coach Kyle Biggs for finding a quarterback he can trust and lead his team to a win.

Enter Jelani Dippel who proved that he can lead.

Dippel completed 12 of 16 for 267 yards and four touchdowns. His longest completion went for 75 yards on Daylon Scott’s touchdown.

EJ Morgan led the receivers with two touchdowns.

Central shutout Liberty 28-0 at the first half.

The Bee listed Dippel as one of the quarterbacks who’ve been impressive in the nonleague schedule.

Now comes the true test in two weeks when the TRAC season begins.

And it’s a rematch of the Central Section Division I championship against Clovis North at Koligian Stadium.

All of the TRAC teams are ranked in the Top 10 by The Bee.

This story was originally published September 21, 2024 at 8:07 AM.

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Anthony Galaviz
The Fresno Bee
Anthony Galaviz writes about sports for The Fresno Bee. He covers the Las Vegas Raiders, high schools, boxing, MMA and junior colleges. He’s been with The Bee since 1997 and attended Fresno City College before graduating from Fresno State with a major in journalism and a minor in criminology. Support my work with a digital subscription
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