Central Section football playoffs: Central East starts off slow in win, plus other recaps
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Central East staged a second-half surge as Jelani Dippel threw seven TDs.
- Clovis East collapsed under a 35-point unanswered run after halftime adjustments.
- Multiple upsets and tight finishes advanced higher seeds and playoff drama.
For about half, Clovis East had Central East figured out in the opening of the Central Section Division I-AA playoffs.
Then, halftime adjustments by the Bengals led to an onslaught in the second half.
Jelani Dippel passed for four touchdowns in the second half to lead the top-seeded Central East to a 56-21 victory over Clovis East at Deran Koligian Stadium.
“We keep playing with fire,” Central East coach Kyle Biggs said. “We’ve got to stop that. Pretty soon, we’re going to get burned, and it’s going to be the end of our season.”
The Bengals finished off the Timberwolves by scoring 35 unanswered points.
Quite the response the defending section champions had.
The capper came when Xavior Jones had an interception at the Bengals’ 24-yard line.
Dippel had a big night, finishing with seven touchdowns.
Dippel shared some harsh reality given by Biggs in a halftime speech.
“He told us if we didn’t come out and fight, we would have to turn our pads in,” he said.
“We came out and fought. That’s what happens when we play good.”
No. 2 Clovis 27, No. 7 Frontier 25: The second-seeded Cougars escaped with the victory, but not before the Titans made a furious comeback after trailing 27-12.
Frontier got a touchdown with five minutes remaining. The Titans attempted a two-point conversion, but failed.
Clovis had chances to run the ball out, but Cougars’ quarterback Deagan Rose threw an interception with 2:20 remaining.
Frontier couldn’t capitalize, though. The Titans went for it on fourth down, but an incomplete pass gave Clovis the win.
No. 3 Clovis West 28, No. 6 St. Joseph 7: JJ Howard had two rushing touchdowns to lead the Golden Eagles to a win over the Knights.
The other touchdown came when Major Lee scored on a 4-yard run to give Clovis West the lead in the second quarter.
Division I-A
No. 4 Sanger 28, No. 5 Bullard 21: It was an exciting game at Tom Flores Stadium. Both teams traded touchdowns, but not before the Apaches’ Kendale McGrew scored on a 1-yard run with 11 minutes remaining.
Division IV
No. 5 Roosevelt 20, No. 12 Exeter 0: CJ Barker passed for two touchdowns and Ehis Idoni ran for a 72-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Rough Riders’ victory.
“This is a good physical team at Exeter,” Roosevelt coach Ricky McCoy said. “I’m very happy that we were able to play in round 1. Playoff football is totally different.”
Division V
No. 6 Chowchilla 36, No. 11 Strathmore 33: Tristan Beardsley scored on a 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to lead the Tribe to a win over the Spartans.
On three occasions, Chowchilla was down by 14 points. The Tribe had two late interceptions.
No. 10 Reedley 35, No. 7 Sanger West 32 (Thursday): Will Bacon scored on a late touchdown to give the Pirates the win.
The Hornets got the ball back but turned it over on downs.
Division VI
No. 8 Mendota 21, No. 9 Lindsay 14: Julian Silva completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Adam Ochoa to give the Aztecs the win.
Prediction results
The Fresno Bee went a remarkable 35-8 in the opening round of the high school playoffs.
The Bee went 8-0 in Division III, correctly picking all matchups.
The trouble came in Division V and Division V, where The Bee went 7-5 combined, respectively.
Now, The Bee is 103-40.
This story was originally published November 8, 2025 at 12:46 AM.
