Keep the wins coming
Granite Hills hosts Orosi tonight, 7 p.m.
For the first time in a long time, Monache High School football is en route to starting the season on a three-game winning streak rather than a three-game losing streak with the Marauders continuing to look better and better.
Coming into week three of the season, Monache isn’t the only team looking to improve a win streak with Strathmore picking up the program’s 17th-straight win last week on the road. But while other teams like Lindsay and Porterville also hold onto their early undefeated marks, Granite Hills is still searching for that first win.
Hopefully the Grizzlies can pick up their first victory tonight when they host the Cardinals of Orosi at 7 p.m. On Friday, Porterville exercises their bye for the season while Lindsay and Monache both host games and Strathmore gets back on the road for a game against Parlier.
Orosi (1-0) at Granite Hills (0-2), 7:15 p.m.
The last time Orosi and Granite Hills faced off, the fifth-seeded Cardinals upset the fourthseed Grizzlies 21-14 in the opening round of the CIF Central Section Division VI playoffs at Rankin Stadium. And while Granite Hills may have beat Orosi 14-7 earlier in the 2017 season, that playoff loss is surely still on the Grizzlies mind.
Coming off back-toback losses of 29-or-
more points Granite Hills (0-2) needs a win and one against Orosi (1-0), who started off their season with a 52-45 victory over Coalinga, would be a great way to start. But that can only happen if the Grizzlies can find a way to stop the Cardinals run game led by Jerry Huerta.
Huerta rushed for 2,169 yards and 30 touchdowns last season and was a big factor in the Grizzlies losing that playoff game. This season, Huerta seems to have picked up where he left off after rushing for 285 yards and four touchdowns against Coalinga. In their 47-14 loss to Div. IV Porterville (2-0) last week, Granite Hills was able to hold the Panthers to a total of 118 rushing yards. Although minus one attempt, Porterville didn’t start running the ball until the second half.
Against Porterville, Granite Hills did manage to pick things up on the ground and improved from just 33 rushing yards in their 35-6 loss at Orange Cove (2-0) to 145 rushing yards with senior fullback Jason Alvarez and junior running back Roman Valles shouldering most of the load. But with Orosi’s defense giving up 332 yards and five touchdowns on the ground to Coalinga, the Grizzlies just might break through for a big night.
Kingsburg (1-1) vs. Monache (2-0) at Rankin Stadium, 7 p.m.
Aidan Galvan and the Div. IV Monache (2-0) offensive line are doing some mesmerizing things right now and if that can carry on Friday against Div. III Kingsburg (1-1) it should spell nothing but good things for the Marauders this season.
In just two games, Galvan has rushed for 408 yards and all eight of Monache’s rushing touchdowns this season. Ranked second in the Central Section by Maxpreps.com amongst rushers with submitted stats, Galvan — who rushed for just 714 yards and six touchdowns last season — is on track for not just a 1,000 yard season but possibly even 2,000 or more yards.
Top rusher, Bo Jackson, is back again for a wellbalanced Vikings’ offense, and alongside Jadon Spomer, the two scored three touchdowns apiece in Kingsburg’s 48-14 victory over Div. IV Washington Union (0-2). Jett Jackson, is likely to be the Kingsburg’s starting quarterback after completing 10-of-13 passes for 233 yards with no interceptions, according to the Kingsburg Recorder.
Monache’s Antonio Andrade went 13-of-18 last week for 79 yards and no interception in the team’s 25-28 win at Cesar Chavez (0-2). But with team’s more than likely looking to stop Galvan, Friday might be a chance for the Marauders to get things going in their passing game. The last time these two teams met, Kingsburg beat Monache 42-28 but all of the Marauders’ touchdowns came from the air.
Strathmore (1-0) at Parlier (0-2), 7 p.m.
The win streak improved to 17 for Strathmore (1-0) as the Spartans rolled over Boron (1-1) behind senior running back Alonso Acevedo who rushed for 159 yards and four touchdowns. Strathmore also picked up touchdowns from running backs senior Fabian Alcantar and freshman Jaylen Oates.
Both Alcantar and Oates picked off Bobacts’ quarterback Robert Salas last week so they should be able to cause problems for Parlier, as the Panthers like to throw the ball more than run it. Strathmore gave up just 71 yards and a touchdown to Salas on 7-of-21 completions. But the Spartans also were able to get to Salas with senior Pedro Barboza and junior Angel Colunga getting sacks.
Strathmore is not particularly known for their passing game but they might have a good chance at trying some things out with first-time junior quarterback Cristian Rodriguez in the pocket. The Panthers gave up over 400 yards and six touchdowns to Woodlake (2-0) in a 5214 loss. Rodriguez threw for just 14 yards on 1-of5 completions but he has the targets in junior wide receivers Lee Navarro and Andre Bravo.
Morro Bay (0-2) at Lindsay (1-0), 7:15 p.m.
Lindsay (1-0) took their first of two byes last week and now face a Div. III Morro Bay team that is winless in their first appearance in the Central Section. The Pirates joined the Central Section along with over a dozen other coastal school’s but so far their first two weeks haven’t gone well and the team is coming off a 50-7 loss to the Central Coast Section’s Gonzales (1-0).
Morro Bay couldn’t stop the run or the pass and gave up a total of 514 yards and six touchdowns to Gonzales. Those type of numbers work in the Div. V Cardinals favor, with the team finding the most success in their run game two weeks ago in their 34-14 win over Div. VI California City (0-2). Top running back, LHS junior Daniel Trujillo, rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
Junior quarterback Ethan Natera also did well and connected on eight of his 15 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
Against the Ravens, Lindsay juniors Israel Trujillo and George Hernandez each recorded a sack while junior Mario Diaz and senior Angel Perez were each able to get an interception. Perez also caught one of Natera’s touchdowns on a 42yard reception.
Although Morro Bay has yet to post stats this season, the Cardinals’ depth on both offense and defense hopefully means the team will be fresher, especially coming off the bye week. But this will also be the first time in at least three yeas the Cardinals play a team higher than Div. IV and the unknowns about the coastal school are numerous.
All stats and rankings provided by Maxpreps. com unless otherwise noted.