Prep football Week 1 roundup: No. 11 Edison upsets No. 3 Bakersfield on road
With the score tied in the fourth quarter at Bakersfield High’s historic Griffith Field, Edison coach Matt Johnson went to a play that the Tigers worked on just once in practice this week.
On third-and-8 from the Bakersfield 46, the Tigers went with a halfback pass from running back Damon Rogers to quarterback Matthew Torres for a 20-yard gain.
Edison scored two plays later on a DeAndre Lockhart 14-yard run as the 11th-ranked Tigers (1-1) upset No. 3 Bakersfield 14-7 Friday night.
“We watched the play on the film from the (Bakersfield loss last week) against Mountain Pointe,” Johnson said. “We saw it and said, ‘It can work.’ I took it from my friends from USC. What’s crazy about it is you can throw a bad pass and it can still work.”
That’s nearly what happened. Torres was wide open but had to back peddle to get the ball before being tackled.
“It’s just one of those plays,” Johnson said.
It’s also one that dropped Bakersfield to 0-2 for the first time in coach Paul Golla’s 11-year tenure.
“It’s a deal where you kind of feel like you got outplayed a little bit, maybe we got outcoached,” Golla said.
After a scoreless first half where the only highlight was an interception by Jakell Tomlin for the Drillers, it was Edison that struck first when Tigers quarterback Matthew Torres found a wide-open Anthony Smith for a 30-yard touchdown.
Bakersfield drove back in the second quarter on a drive highlighted by a 28-yard pass from KeAyr Gragg to Tomlin. Gragg scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper to tie the score 7-7.
Edison had a chance to take the lead with less than 20 seconds before halftime, but a missed field goal kept the game tied after 24 minutes.
Prior to kickoff, Golla presented Johnson with a check for $5,000 in memory of former Edison star Deondre “Day Day” Howard, who was shot and killed Aug. 29. Howard was 21.
No. 5 Clovis West 33, No. 14 Centennial 21
Sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez rushed for 116 yards and passed for 112, and Darian Owens scored two touchdowns, including a 90-yard kickoff return, as the 2-0 Golden Eagles rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit in Kern County.
Clovis East 41, Redwood 24
Sophomore Marcus Washington rushed for 194 yards and four touchdowns, and Trey Semien completed 15 of 19 passes for 147 yards and two scores as the Timberwolves improved to 2-0 with the win in Visalia.
Clovis East hadn’t won more than two games in each of the past four seasons while going 6-37.
Washington, who rushed for 1,800 yards as a Bee All-Star as a freshman, was coming off a 201-yard, three-TD performance in a 56-30 victory over Golden Valley-Merced.
No. 18 Memorial 41, McLane 14
Demarcus Wilson rushed for 219 yards and a TD, and Michael Alvarez completed 16 of 21 passes for 281 yards and three scores for the Panthers.
Receivers Chris Paz (6-111), Austin Yniguez (3-44, 2 TDs) and Gabriel Gavia (2-47, TD) led Memorial.
No. 19 Mission Oak 25, Washington 19 (5OT)
Jeffrey DeMacabalin’s 1-yard run ended the longest game in Bob Mathias Stadium history, as the Hawks (1-1) outlasted the Panthers in five overtimes.
The teams traded touchdowns in the second extra session, but otherwise mostly met frustration after the final gun of regulation. Both missed field goal attempts in the third OT.
Mission Oak’s Jose Polamera had two interceptions to stop Washington drives in overtime. Jamaza Williamson, who finished with 17 total tackles for the Panthers (0-2), blocked a field goal to thwart one Mission Oak attempt at ending the game.
Washington’s winless start includes a 10-7 loss to Memorial on a field goal in the final minutes of a Week 0 game.
Fresno 35, Livingston 14
The Warriors are off to a 2-0 start, as senior Qevon Harvey started things with a 35-yard interception return and junior quaterback Khory Day was an efficient 8 of 11 for 102 yards and two touchdowns in a win at Livingston.
The Wolves, in falling to 0-2, trailed 28-0 before senior Eddie Avila got his team on the board with a 4-yard run in the third quarter.
Madera South 7, Kerman 0
Junior Jonah Johnson ran 9 yards on a quarterback keeper with only 13 seconds to play as the Stallions (1-1) stunned the Lions.
Johnson rushed for 96 yards on 15 carries and was 14-of-19 passing for 139 yards. Junior Nick Chambers ran for 103 yards on just 11 carries for Kerman (1-1).
Selma 47, Yosemite 6
Henry Ramirez Jr. punched in one touchdown and threw for two more as the Bears built a 33-0 halftime lead and routed the Badgers in Oakhurst.
Jordan Dominguez rushed for 114 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns. Ramirez Jr. was 6 for 8 passing with 138 yards with a 49-yard touchdown to Joel Aranda and a 50-yard strike to Moreno, both in the second quarter. Yosemite’s Jesse DeLaCruz scored a late TD and finished with 101 yards rushing on 17 touches.
Dos Palos 19, Caruthers 0
Dillon Weaver returned a fumble 19 yards for a third-quarter touchdown and for the second consecutive week ran for a score as the Broncos (1-1) picked up their first win of the season.
Weaver, a junior linebacker/running back, had five solo tackles and assisted on seven others to lift a Dos Palos defense that surrendered 31 points to Immanuel a week earlier. The Blue Raiders (0-2) lost to Dos Palos for the second straight season, falling a year ago in their opener 20-14.
Chowchilla 73, Le Grand 26
Anthony Stewart ran wild for a second consecutive week, this time adding special-teams explosiveness into the equation, as the Redskins stayed unbeaten by routing the Bulldogs.
Stewart opened the game with a 2-yard run, then helped push the lead to 24-0 by the end of the first quarter with a 75-yard punt return for a score. He capped his night with a 90-yard kickoff return in the third, after a week earlier running for two TDs and two 2-point conversions in a 51-28 win over Madera South.
Le Grand (1-1) passed for nearly 300 yards but did not crack the scoreboard until the second half, when it already trailed 53-0.
Sanger 34, Hoover 6
Isaiah Hilliard pounded in three TD runs from 3, 4 and 1 yards, respectively, to lead the No. 15-ranked Apaches (2-0) to a blowout over the visiting Patriots (0-2).
Michael Castillo added two TD passes to help Sanger build a 20-0 lead at the half. Jacob Williams had the lone score for Hoover on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Grant-Sacramento 55, Central 7
The state’s ninth-ranked Pacers bolted to a 34-0 halftime lead on the road and coasted behind DeShaw Collins, who rushed for 207 yards and three TDs.
Grant will play Bullard next Friday at McLane Stadium in a nonleague duel of 2-0 teams.
Central’s Nick Szpor passed for 134 yards and a score.
Central Valley Christian 29, Bakersfield Christian 14
Kolin Stock rushed for 249 yards and four touchdowns to carry the Division IV No. 2-ranked Cavaliers over the Eagles in the rivalry Milk Bowl game.
Stock’s touchdowns of 2, 47, 3 and 9 yards turned a 7-0 CVC deficit into a 29-7 advantage midway through the third quarter.
Stock helped the Cavaliers rush for 379 yards, including 82 from Connor Paden.
This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Prep football Week 1 roundup: No. 11 Edison upsets No. 3 Bakersfield on road."