Prep football roundup: Hanford, Tulare, Chavez among opening night winners
Ryan Johnson would make a tough teacher.
The Hanford High junior quarterback gave his offense a B+ for its performance in a 62-33 shellacking of Kingsburg as the defending Central Section Division III champion Bullpups helped kick off the high school football season Thursday at Neighbor Bowl.
Consider:
▪ Hanford tallied 500 yards of offense, 123 more than its per game average from 2014, when it went 12-1 capped by a 35-14 victory over Madera for the school’s first section football title.
▪ The Bullpups scored 22 more points than they averaged last season, and one more than their best single-game output.
▪ Johnson (142) and Joseph McDaniel (161) each surpassed 100 yards rushing, while Johnson passes for another 122.
▪ And Hanford put up the video game-like numbers with the explosive Juwuane Hughes only touching the ball eight times (five catches for 76 yards and three rushes for 3 yards) on offense, though he did also have two long kickoff returns and an interception.
“Overall, we did about a B+,” said Johnson, who passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. “We did pretty good, but we’ve haven’t reached our full potential. Hopefully next week we’ll get up to 100 percent.”
It wasn’t clean, but at the same time, we put up points and played really good defense at times.
Bullpups coach Josh Young
Hanford’s defense, despite yielding 33 points, also had its moments, highlighted by consecutive goal-line stands in the third quarter.
“It wasn’t clean, but at the same time, we put up points and played really good defense at times,” Bullpups coach Josh Young said. “You can see the potential is there.”
Tulare 41, El Diamante 14
Senior running back Romello Harris began his drive to threaten the Central Section record for career rushing yards, plowing for 333 in the opening win over the Miners.
Harris entered this season No. 13 on the career list, 2,661 yards shy of the all-time mark compiled from 2013-11 by Mendota’s Edgar Segura. Dominique Dorsey holds the school record of 7,761 yards, the second-best total in section history.
El Diamante had no answers, as Harris found the end zone seven times – five times for touchdowns to give him 70 for his career and twice for 2-point conversions.
Chavez 34, Roosevelt 0
Javier Fernandez returned the opening kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown and Deon Perkins threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns as the Titans pitched an opening-night shutout.
It was coach Casey Quinn’s first game back in the Fresno area since a couple of local stints, including 2013 at Roosevelt.
Quinn’s Titans have beaten Roosevelt three times since last season, including 24-13 in the 2014 opener and 13-7 in a Central Section Division IV quarterfinal.
The Rough Riders just couldn’t get in sync after surrendering the first-play TD.
Chavez mounted a 28-0 lead by halftime and held the Rough Riders to 40 total yards for the game.
Lemoore 56, Monache 7
Allen Perryman, Jerald Campbell and Jordan Perryman all returned an interception for a touchdown as the Tigers got off to another strong start a year after winning their first 11 games while reaching the D-II semifinals as the division’s top seed.
Allen Perryman, an All-Bee selection last season after leading the section with nine interceptions, also caught two touchdown passes as Lemoore rolled to a 42-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
Brenton Vargas rushed for a touchdown, while Campbell and Reggie Davis hauled in scoring passes for the Tigers.
Nick Giannandrea: 559-441-6103, @NickG_FB. Bee staff contributed to this roundup.
NICK’S TAKEAWAYS AT HANFORD
- 1: Don’t kick the ball to Hanford’s Juwuane Hughes. The senior speedster with offers from nine colleges returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to set up the Bullpups first score, then got tripped up at the 1-yard line after an electric 90-yard return later in the first quarter.
- 2: Hanford’s offensive line held up well. With new starters at left tackle (Jose Ayala), right tackle (Kaden Fagundes-Dunn) and right guard (Hunter Parks) joining returners at center (Derrek Meek) and left guard (Lorenzo Saiz), the Bullpups tore through Kingsburg for 378 yards rushing.
- 3: Kingsburg’s Emmett Brooks appears to be in for another big season. The senior receiver opened the season with seven catches for 172 yards and three touchdowns after going for 1,253 yards and 15 touchdowns last year.
This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Prep football roundup: Hanford, Tulare, Chavez among opening night winners."