Week 8: Teams look to continue league success
Porterville at Tulare Western Thursday
League play kicked off last week with four out of five local high school football teams winning their league openers.
Thur: Porterville @ Tulare Union High School 7p.m. Fri: Mission Oak vs. Monache @ Granite Hills High School 7 p.m. Fri: Granite Hills @ Lindsay High School 7:15 p.m. Fri: Strathmore vs. Sierra Pacific @ Hanford High School 7:15 p.m.
League play kicked off last week with four out of five local high school football teams winning their league openers.
Strathmore and Granite Hills won their East Sequoia League openers by large margins to remain undefeated and on top of the CIF Central Section Division VI rankings, while Lindsay shutout Sierra Pacific by double digits to end a three-game losing streak.
In the East Yosemite League, Porterville put together a game-winning touchdown drive to hold off Mission Oak at home but Monache suffered an ugly 69-10 loss on the road to Tulare Union, the Valley’s No. 3 team.
Both the Marauders and Cardinals host homecoming nights on Friday for week eight, while the Panthers travel to Tulare Western for another Thursday night game. Portertville (3-2, 1-0 EYL) at Tulare Western (6-0, 1-0 EYL), 7 p.m. Thursday
On top of rushing for 150 yards on 19 carries for his first 100-yard game of the season, Mark Inman scored the team’s game-winning touchdown to lift Porterville past Mission Oak last Friday in the Panthers’ 24-20 EYL home-opener.
Even if Inman’s able to pick up significant yardage, Porterville will need to reduce their number of offensive turnovers if they want to stay in the game against the Valley’s No. 5 and Div. III’S No. 1 team, Tulare Western, on Thursday. Against Mission Oak, the Panthers had three interceptions and one fumble.
Defensively and offensively the Div. IV Panthers have struggled against upper-division schools, losing 56-0 to Div. II Dinuba (5-1) and 48-0 to Div. I Buchanan (5-1), but winning 8-7 against Div. II Hanford (1-6). Scoring against the Mustangs doesn’t come easy or often. Tulare Western has outscored opponents 242-
49 and are coming off a 48-0 rout of Delano (2-3, 0-1 EYL) last week.
The Mustangs are hard to stop whether it’s on the ground or in the air. Quarterback Elijah Burrell has completed 63-of-103 passes for 1,146 yards and 12 touchdowns. Seven of those touchdowns have been to Keshon Butler who has 23 receptions for 659 yards and is averaging 131.8 yards a game. On the ground, it’ll be a tough task stopping running back David Alcantar who has 689 yards and 13 touchdowns on 87 carries. Mission Oak (0-6, 0-1 EYL) at Monache 1-4, 0-1 EYL), 7 p.m.
A struggling Mission Oak team returns to Jacob Rankin Stadium after losing 24-20 in the final quarter to Porterville last Friday. The Hawks face a Marauders team looking for a win after losing 69-10 to Div. II’S No.1 team, Tulare Union (6-0, 1-0).
For a team that has scored at least two touchdowns in all of their previous games, Monache’s 10 points against the Tribe was the least amount of points scored all season.
Getting the ball into the hands of senior receivers Montrece Fields (271 yards, five TDS), Daniel Baca (401 yards, two TDS) and Marlon Johnson (257 yards, two TDS) will be key to taking down the Hawks. Junior quarterback Antonio Andrade is doing well in the pocket for Monache with 73 of his 134 passes completed for 964 yards and seven touchdowns.
Mission Oak has had trouble stopping the pass as well as the run which may be beneficial to MHS running back Aidan Galvan. The sophomore has 275 yards and two touchdowns on 61 carries this season. Granite Hills (6-0, 1-0 ESL) at Lindsay (2-4, 1-0 ESL), 7:15 p.m.
Things are finally clicking for Lindsay after the Cardinals shutout Sierra Pacific 28-0 and allowed the Golden Bears just 29 yards on the ground. However Lindsay will have a tough time on homecoming night trying to stop GHHS running back Jasper Berumen who had 209 yards on and two touchdowns on 23 carries in Granite Hills’ 35-0 romp of Corcoran (0-6, 0-1 ESL). As the No. 2 back in Div. VI and the ESL with 957 yards, Berumen is poised to break the 1,000-yard threshold against the Cardinals.
Against Sierra Pacific, LHS running back Ethan Duran finished with 198 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries for his third straight 100yard game while wide receiver Chris Orozco had 128 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions and completed two passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Although Div. V Lindsay will be Granite Hills’ first upper-division opponent, the Grizzlies are riding a defensive high after giving up just 61 all-purpose yards to Corcoran and recovering four fumbles in their 35-0 homecoming victory over the Panthers.
While Granite Hills has rolled over teams all season, outscoring their opponents 204-19, nearly all of that has happened on their home turf . The Grizzlies’ closest game of the season was their lone road game at Orosi (5-2) where Granite Hills won 14-7 after trailing 7-0 at the half. Strathmore (6-0, 1-0 ESL) at Sierra Pacific (1-5, 0-1 ESL), 7:15 p.m.
Solidifying his place as the No.1 running back in Div. VI and the ESL, senior Joseph Garcia eclipsed the 1,000yard rushing milestone with 158 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries in Strathmore’s 63-14 win over Woodlake last week. With six straight games of 115 or more rushing yards, it doesn’t seem like Garcia can be stopped.
While they’re nearly untouchable with Garcia on the field, Strathmore has a truckload of talent the opposition must contend with. Junior running back Alonso Acevedo has had two 100-yard games and scored in all but one of the Spartans’ games. And while the Spartans are a force in the run game, their passing game has come together with senior tight end Andres Lara and junior wide receiver Amando Rodriguez closing in on 200 yards with two touchdowns on the season. Lara and Rodriguez are the top targets for senior quarterback Nick Salas who has completed 27-of-43 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns.
Although the Spartans have yet to shutout a team, they’re outscoring opponents 319-83 and have scored 55 points or more in their last three games. They remain largely untested and a one-win Sierra Pacific team hardly poses a test for Strathmore.
The Golden Bears have one bright spot in quarterback Will Springer who leads the league in passing yards with 1,039 yards on 92of-194 completions and seven touchdowns. But Springer’s main targets Jayson Littlejohn, Deshaun Littlejohn, Gavin Gamble were limited to a total of 100 yards on 11 receptions.