Teams getting ready for the postseason
It’s the last three weeks of the regular season and while some teams are putting the finishing touches on getting their teams ready for the CIF Central Section Division playoffs, two Orange Belt teams have yet to qualify for the playoffs.
Granite Hills and Lindsay High School are still in the playoff hunt, with the Div. VI Grizzlies (2-5, 2-1 ESL) needing just one more win to qualify for the playoffs and the Cardinals (3-3, 1-2 ESL) needing two.
Div. IV Porterville (6-1, 1-1 EYL) and Monache (5-2, 1-1 EYL) both qualified for playoffs prior to the start of the East Yosemite League season, and are ranked No. 2 and 3 in Div. IV by Maxpreps. Div. VI Strathmore (6-1, 2-1 ESL) also qualified for playoffs before East Sequoia League play and are ranked No. 2 in Div. VI.
Not yet in win-or-done situations, the Grizzlies and Cardinals need wins as soon as possible, and hope to get them when they host Div. VI Sierra Pacific and Farmersville, respectively, Friday. Strathmore also play Friday, but on the road against Div. V Corcoran. Both Monache and Porterville have Thursday games, with the Marauders hosting Div. IV Delano and the Panthers on the road against Div. II Tulare Union — the No. 5 team in the Valley.
Delano (3-4, 0-2 EYL) vs. Monache (5-2, 1-1 EYL) @ Jacob Rankin Stadium, 7 p.m.
Monache had an allaround team victory in last week’s 35-7 comeback win over Div. IV Mission Oak (1-6, 0-2 EYL) after scoring all 35 points in the second half. Senior quarterback Antonio Andrade went
11-of-22 for 132 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Senior Adrian Alemndarez had one of his biggest games of the season and was on the receiving end of both touchdowns while junior Trayvon Bradford and senior Moses Caraveo had rushing touchdowns. Senior Aidan Galvan also made school history with a 99-yard interception returned for a touchdown.
There’s no doubt that the No. 2 Marauders will carry the momentum from last week’s win into this week when they take on the Tigers of Delano who are on a three-game losing streak. The Tigers are coming off back-toback 56-0 and 52-0 losses to Tulare Western (70, 2-0 EYL) and Tulare Union (7-0, 2-0 EYL), respectively.
When Delano’s won games, it’s come off the backs of their rushers with Erik Manjarrez, Sergio Gonzalez and Sergio Garcia all having had 100-yard games in at least one of those games while quarterback Fernie Ferrel threw for 86-orless yards on eight-orless attempts. So it’ll be on the Marauders defensive line to stop the Tigers’ run game and keep Delano off the field.
The passing games picked up for Monache over the last three games while their run game has slowed down in the last two. Andrade has thrown for 90 or more yards in the last three games and has not had an interception in four. For the run game, Galvan teeters on the edge of eclipsing 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career. He has totaled 996 yards and 16 touchdowns with 132 carries.
Porterville (6-1, 1-1 EYL) @ Tulare Union (70, 2-0 EYL), 7 p.m.
Back-to-back games against the top two teams in Div. II — not to mention playing on a short week — is sure to test Porterville once again. The Panthers suffered their first loss (5026) of the season to No. 2 Tulare Western (7-0, 2-0 EYL), one of the best rushing teams in the Valley, and now face the complete opposite in No. 1 Tulare Union, one of the Valley’s best passing teams.
Tribe quarterback Nathan Lamb is the No. 2 passer in the Valley, with 2,218 yards and 29 touchdowns on 134-of-180 completions with just four interceptions. His main targets this season have been Darius Baker with 741 yards and 12 touchdowns on 39 receptions, while Wille James is second with 562 yards and seven touchdowns on 33 receptions.
But making things even more of an uphill battle for the Panthers is that the Tribe has outscored teams 202-0 in their last four games and have shut out five teams this season.
Porterville quarterback, sophomore Hector Nava Jr., will have his work cut out for him against the Tribe after going 25-of-41 with two interceptions for 295 yards and two touchdowns against the Mustangs. With senior running back Demario Ennis back for the Panthers, freshman Isaiah Ellis continuously contributing, and senior receivers Jesse Hernandez and Aaron Cruz helping to move the chains, Porterville has a well-balanced offense that remains a threat to any defense.
After their loss to Tulare Western, PHS head coach Michael Machado said games against the Mustangs and Tribe can be used to prepare the team for a long playoff run. Porterville is considered to be a team prime for a Valley final showdown, and while they are 3-1 against Div. II teams, the Panthers still have kinks they’d like to get worked out before playoffs and Thursday’s game will show them where they stand amongst the best of the best.
Strathmore (6-1, 2-1 ESL) @ Corcoran (5-3, 2-2 ESL), 7:15 p.m.
Last week in Strathmore’s 53-7 romp of Div. VI Sierra Pacific (3-4, 1-2 ESL), Spartans starting quarterback junior Cristian Rodriguez exited the game early due to several hits that resulted in a possible concussion. Rodriguez needs to undergo concussion protocol, which will keep him out for this game and possibly longer.
But even without Rodriguez, Strathmore’s offense remained overpowering by racking up 343 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, spread out between several Spartan running backs. Senior Alonso Acevedo continued to be a dominating presence and led the team with 152 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries. Backup quarterback, senior Trace Pugh, came in and scored his first rushing touchdown, and even threw a touchdown to junior wide receiver Lee Navarro.
Against Corcoran, Strathmore once again goes up a team that likes to throw and run the ball. However, in last Friday’s 42-6 loss to Div. V Woodlake (7-1, 4-0 ESL), Corcoran’s run game was shut down and held to -32 yards on 23 carries.
Forced to rely on their passing game, the Panthers did pick up 121 yards on eight receptions, with top receiver Cesar Acosta accounting for 88 yards on three receptions. Acosta has 515 yards and five touchdowns on 24 receptions this season, while Julian Escalante leads the team on the ground with 680 yards and nine touchdowns, but didn’t play against Woodlake.
Five sacks, three interceptions and one fumble recovery aided a strong defensive effort from the Spartans that will more than likely show out once again against the Panthers.
Sierra Pacific (3-4, 1-2 ESL) @ Granite Hills (25, 2-1 ESL), 7:15 p.m.
Granite Hills needs one more win to qualify for the Div. VI playoffs, and with two of their last three games against the top teams in the ESL, Friday’s match up against Sierra Pacific looks like a must-win for the Grizzlies. Coming off a 24-6 victory over Farmersville (0-8, 0-4 ESL), the Grizzlies need to build off that performance and keep momentum going against the Golden Bears.
Against Farmersville, Granite Hills had their best run game of the year, with the team rushing for a season-best 321 yards behind senior Jason Alvarez (127 yards, two touchdowns) and junior Roman Valles (123 yards). However, junior quarterback David Ramirez had his worst performance of the season and completed just 2-of-11 passes for 38 yards while also throwing two interceptions.
Sierra Pacific was blown out 53-7 by Strathmore (6-1, 2-1 ESL) in a road loss last week. Despite throwing three interceptions, SPHS quarterback Chad Leslie went 13-of-19 for a 181 yards and one touchdown to the Golden Bears’ top receiver, 6-foot-5 Jayson Littlejohn. Littlejohn and Gavin Gamble are the team’s top receivers with 967 yards and four touchdowns between them, while Adam Antuna leads the team on the ground with 538 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Golden Bears tend to keep things pretty balanced between their run and passing game, but Leslie is one of the better passers in the ESL, with 1,151 yards and eight touchdowns on 58of-94 completions with seven interceptions. The sophomore rarely runs the ball and has a quick release, which has caused him problems this season. In the secondary he’ll face Granite Hills’ Max Jimenez, who is tied for an Eslhigh four interceptions — three of which he had against Farmersville.
Lindsay (3-3, 1-2 ESL) @ Farmersville (0-8, 0-4 ESL), 7:15 p.m.
A small 8-point lead was blown in the fourth quarter by Lindsay in a Sept. 28 game against Corcoran (5-3, 2-2 ESL), sending the Cardinals into their last of two bye weeks with a 42-35 loss. It was a loss that had to hurt, as Lindsay is still two games shy of qualifying for the Div. V playoffs.
The Cardinals should pick up one of those wins this week when they play the Aztecs of Farmersville (0-8, 0-4 ESL) on the road Friday. Lindsay has both the passing and run game to overpower Farmersville, and with junior running back Daniel Trujillo back, the Cardinals are only more capable on the ground. ESL teams have averaged 297 yards and tallied 18 touchdowns on the ground against the Aztecs.
Despite missing three games, Trujillo is still the team’s top rusher with 289 yards and seven touchdowns on the season, while averaging 96.3 yards a game. In his absence, the Cardinals have showed some depth in their backfield with sophomore Nick Dunning and junior Jiovanny Madrigal, while Israel Trujillo was the team’s top rusher in Lindsay’s loss to Corcoran with 219 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.
If Lindsay plays their cards right, Friday’s game could be something like a tune-up game to get ready for next week’s must-win against Sierra Pacific (3-4,1-2 ESL). But on the other hand, Farmersville only lost 24-6 to Granite Hills (2-5, 2-1 ESL) — the least amount of points the Aztecs have allowed a team all season — last week and put up a season-high 22 points against Sierra Pacific in a Sept. 27 game.
All stats and rankings provided by Maxpreps. com