West beats East in Allstar football game
In a game that came down to the final seconds, the West beat the East 14-13 in the allsenior 50th Annual Tularekings Counties All-star Football Game at Groppetti Community Stadium in Visalia on Saturday night.
The East got the ball back after the West took the 1413 lead late in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run from Mission Oak High School’s Keon Jefferson. With 2:52 on the clock, Strathmore’s Gilbert Acevedo took the kickoff up the field for about 15 yards and to the East’s 33-yard line.
On second and eight from their own 47, Farmersville quarterback Jeremiah Galavis connected with Porterville running back Robert Jimenez for a 13-yard gain that got the East across midfield. Two plays later Galavis hit Strathmore fullback Edgar Barajas. The wide-open Barajas took the ball down the middle for a 22-yard gain.
With the ball on the twoyard line, the East had two penalties called that cost them the game. The first was an illegal shift, and the second was a holding call that negated a touchdown in the final 10 seconds. It was the first holding call of the whole game.
“It felt good but it sucked since we lost the state championship game by one point,” said Acevedo. “It sucked to lose this game by one point too.”
Acevedo made a game changing play near the end of the third quarter when he picked up a goal-line fumble by Jefferson.
“I told my linemen and my players that the running back couldn’t hold onto the ball so I told them to punch it,” he said. “And they did what I told them and the ball fell onto the ground and I just took off running.”
Acevedo took the ball all the way to the 30-yard line before he was stopped by three West defenders.
“I’ve seen him actually make that play and score, he’s got remarkable speed,” said East head coach Jeromy Blackwell of Strathmore. “Whoever was playing defense for the West side, they made a big time football play because he’s [scored] that in the last three or four times in the last couple of seasons that I’ve coached him.”
Lindsay defensive linemen Pedro Avila made some big plays and was a part of that West forced fumble that Acevedo was able to pick up.
“It was an amazing experience, everything was great,” said Avila. “To finally play one more with my class of 2017 was amazing. And you actually get to see how good you are when you’re playing against other schools.”
Next season, Avila will suit up with Freson State as a walk-on, which he is very excited about.
The East also got great play out of Jimenez who had 55 yards on four carries. His longest was a 39-yard run that resulted in a touchdown that tied
up the game 7-7.
“I just seen the green and hit it,” Jimenez said. He added that it was a fun last game for him and that he will attend Fresno State next year and study kinesiology.
In his third year as head coach of the East, Blackwell said that it was an honor to be a coach and told the East team that he was proud of them after the game.
“It was awesome for our school because all of our football players got to be around football practice all week long and they [saw] football happening at a high level,” Blackwell said. “So our whole goal is to take Strathmore to a new level. Let’s execute at a higher potential, let’s create a bigger bar.”