Spartans face ‘big test’ against Yellowjackets
Strathmore football travels to Hilmar for state play-in game
“Anybody. Anywhere. Anytime.”
That’s the motto the Strathmore High School football team has adopted from famed, former Fresno State football coach Pat Hill and it’s never rung truer than now.
On Sunday the Spartans learned that not only have they moved to the CIF’S North Region Division 6-AA, but that they would have to play a “play-in” game Friday to advance to the CIF Norcal Regional Championship — the first of the two CIF State Championship Bowl games.
The undefeated, backto-back Valley champion Spartans (13-0, 5-0 East Sequoia League) will travel north to Hilmar and face the Yellowjackets of Hilmar High School (8-5, 2-3 Trans Valley League) in the CIF North Regional Div. 6-AA play-in game at 7:30 p.m.
Top-seeded Strathmore is in back in the state title chase after downing second-seeded Rosamond (11-2, 3-0 High Desert League) in a 42-32 victory for their second straight Central Section Div. VI championship. Last year, the Spartans went 14-0 before losing 29-28 to St. Patrick-st. Vincent in the 6-A state championship game at Strathmore.
En route to defending their Valley title, the Spartans also beat fifth-seeded Orosi (8-4, 3-0 East Sierra League) 28-20 in the semifinals and eighth-seeded Orange Cove (3-8, 2-1 East Sierra League) in a 24-6 quarterfinal rout.
Continuing to pound away at opponent’s defensive lines for Strathmore is the Div. VI’S No. 2 running back, Joseph Garcia. On the ground, Garcia has totaled 2,117 yards and 30 touchdowns this season. In the postseason he’s racked up 550 yards and seven touchdowns, scoring at least two touchdowns and averaging 183.3 yards a game.
But like teams learn every week, Garcia isn’t the only threat on the Spartans’ run-heavy offense. Over the past couple of games running back Alonso Acevedo has come up clutch for the team. Closing in on a 1,000-yard season, Acevedo scored touchdowns against Orange Cove and Orosi to bring his overall rushing totals to 960 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
“I think [Hilmar is] very similar to what we’re trying to build with our team and our team has achieved in probably the last five weeks,” SHS head coach Jeromy Blackwell said. “We’re a very tight-knit group and they play with one another and for one another and it kind of looks like — they’re program is very similar to ours... the goals of their program seem to be very similar so it’s going to be a big test.”
Seeded-sixth in the Sacjoaquin Section Div. VI playoffs, Hilmar upset fourth-seeded Modesto Christian (7-6, 4-1 TVL) in a 42-13 rout for the Yellowjackets’ first Div. VI title and the school’s seventh overall section title. Hilmar entered the playoffs with a 5-5 record and nearly blanked thirdseeded Summerville (8-3, 4-2 Mother Lode League) 47-3 in the first round then beat second-seeded Escalon (7-5, 4-1 TVL) 4138.
“They play with great fundamentals and techniques,” Blackwell said. “Earlier I was talking to our kids [telling them Hilmar] plays together. Just from the film, it looks like they trust each other and these running backs hit their hole and they believe that the hole is going to be there.”
On the season the Yellowjackets average 145.2 receiving and 208.2 rushing yards a game, but in the postseason Hilmar has leaned heavily on the run game. Averaging 337 rushing yards a game and scoring no less than three touchdowns a playoff game on the ground, it’s where they’ve been most successful.
Junior running back Isaac Sharp leads the Hilmar charge, charting 483 yards in the post season alone with 100-yard games against Summerville and Modesto Christian. Sharp also returns kickoffs for the team and returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Escalon.
“To me they look pretty good on film, but we just need to play disciplined football,” defensive line coach Ricardo Lopez said. “Make sure every gap is covered. Our [defensive] line is big, we have probably the biggest D-line in Div. VI, Div. V maybe even. They’re big boys, just need to have them stay in their gaps.”
The sentiment from the Spartans seniors seems to all be the same with seniors Garcia, guard Robert Alvarez and nose guard/right tackle Shaylan Singh using the belief that Friday will not be their last game to help motivate them.
“I don’t want this to be my last game, I want to keep going,” Singh said. “[But] we can’t just think about the next game, we have to think about the game this week because it has to be the biggest game of this week.”