Panthers, Marauders begin playoff run Div. IV’S No. 3 Monache host No. 6 North tonight
Last season only two of the four Orange Belt high school teams made it past the first round of their respective CIF Central Section divisional playoffs. This year, all four have advanced.
Whether it was done on wins — Div. VI’S topseeded Strathmore and Div. V’s 13th-seeded Lindsay won last Friday — or by seeding high enough to earn a bye — like Div. IV’S top-seeded Porterville and thirdseeded Monache — everyone moved on.
The last time the Orange Belt had nearly this many teams advance to the second round of the playoffs was in 2013, when then-div. III second-seeded Porterville and fourth-seeded Div. V Lindsay made it to the Valley semifinals and second-seeded Strathmore lost in their Div. VI Valley finals.
With so many teams still playing and going further than previous years, this postseason is shaping up to have a special finish for several teams regardless of outcomes.
DIVISION IV No. 6 North (7-4, 4-1 SYL) vs. No. 3 Monache (6-4, 2-3 EYL) @ Jacob Rankin Stadium, 7 p.m. Thursday
It’s been quite the season for third-seeded Monache (6-4, 2-3 East Yosemite League) under two-year head coach Chris Frankland. The team has a .500-or-better season record for the first time in six years, they are into the playoff quarterfinals again and junior running back
Aidan Galvan rushed for his first 1,000-yard season.
The Marauders have done everything right to get themselves here with a competitive schedule that didn’t shy away from upper division schools and a 5-1 record against Div. IV teams. And as the season has progressed, Monache keeps improving.
Offensively, Galvan boasts 1,365 yards and 20 touchdowns on 201 carries this season, while junior Trayvon Bradford and senior Adrian Santonocito have provided viable options in the backfield. Senior quarterback Antonio Andrade had his struggles, but is 118 for 224 with 1,384 yards and eight touchdowns to a mostly
junior corps of receivers. He’s also had eight interceptions.
It’s been almost two weeks since Monache’s last game, a 51-40 loss to rival Porterville (8-2, 3-2 EYL), and the Marauders have to be itching to play after earning a firstround bye for the playoffs. They’ll begin with the sixth-seeded Stars of North (7-4, 4-1 Southeast Yosemite League) out of Bakersfield.
North is coming off a 24-7 win over 11th-seeded Mission Oak (2-9, 1-4 EYL), a team Monache beat 35-7 in league. One of the Stars’ biggest threats is top rusher Chris Romero, who rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries against the Hawks. He leads the team with 1,377 yards and eight touchdowns on 195 carries. North also uses two quarterbacks at times but Shannon Ferguson
has played every game with 801 yards and five touchdowns on 41 of 68 completions and four interceptions.
No. 8 Wasco (8-3, 4-2 SSL) vs. No. 1 Porterville (8-2, 3-2 EYL) @ Jacob Rankin Stadium, 7 p.m.
It’s hard not to look on in awe at what Porterville (8-2, 3-2 EYL) has accomplished this season under secondyear head coach Michael Machado. Not only did they make the playoffs for the first time in four years, but they did so by qualifying before the East Yosemite League even started, went 3-2 against Div. II teams and 4-0 against Div. IV teams to earn their first No. 1 seed since 2010, when the then Div. III Panthers were the runnerups in the Valley championship.
Sophomore quarterback Hector Nava Jr. is a large part of the Panthers’ unrelenting character. Getting the start from the beginning, Nava Jr. has recorded 2,504 yards and 23 touchdowns on 153 of 270 completions with 12 interceptions. He also leads the team on the ground with 463 yards and four touchdowns on 80 carries, while senior Demario Ennis returned from injury to post 381 yards and six touchdowns on 70 carries through seven games.
Porterville’s only losses this season were to Div. II’S top-seeded Tulare Union (10-0, 5-0
EYL) and second-seeded Tulare Western (9-1, 4-1 EYL). And for the first time in three years, Porterville ended the regular season with a victory (51-40) over rival Monache (6-4, 2-3 EYL),
Because of their success, the Panthers were rewarded with a firstround bye for playoffs. Their first playoff game in years is against the eighth-seeded Tigers of Wasco (8-3, 4-2 South Sequoia League), who beat ninth-seeded East Bakersfield (5-6) 33-13 to advance. The two’s only common opponent this season was Delano (37, 0-5 EYL). Porterville beat Delano 42-13 and Wasco beat them 26-21.
The Tigers have taken to running the ball down their opponents’ throats, with sophomore running back Christian Alvarez racking up 1,510 yards and 16 touchdowns on 157 carries. Joel Rocha and Elias Salinas have also combined for 1,557 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground.
DIVISION VI No. 5 California City (7-3, 4-0 HDL) @ No. 1 Strathmore (10-1, 5-1 ESL), 7 p.m.
After thumping eighthseeded Boron (3-8) 54-6 in the opening, quarterfinal round of the Div. VI playoffs, top-seeded Strathmore (10-1, 5-1 ESL) is well on its way to a third-straight Valley championship under head coach Jeromy Blackwell.
A slow start wasn’t
enough to keep the defending state champions from advancing to this semifinal round against fifth-seeded California City (7-3, 4-0 High Desert League). The two haven’t met yet this year, but against common opponents the Spartans are 4-0 and the Ravens are 2-1. City’s loss was a 3414 defeat by Div. V Lindsay (6-4, 3-3 ESL), a team Strathmore beat 35-7.
The Ravens’ Perrion Grays is a dual-threat quarterback who likes to run. He led the team with 105 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries in City’s 46-6 quarterfinal victory over fourthseeded Mcfarland (5-6). He also leads the team with a total of 544 yards and 12 touchdowns on 115 carries for the season. In the pocket, Grays has 1,535 yards and 14 touchdowns on 56 of 141 completions with 14 interceptions.
Well-known for their run game, Strathmore made use of their passing game against Boron, and senior quarterback Trace Pugh threw for 100 yards and three touchdowns — to three different receivers — on seven of 12 completions. Star running back, senior Alonso Acevedo, did his job with 123 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, and two other Spartan rushers scored against the Bobcats. Acevedo leads the team with 1,350 yards and 27 touchdowns on 141 carries this season.
DIVISION V No. 13 Lindsay (6-4, 3-3 ESL) @ No. 5 Woodlake (10-1, 6-0 ESL), 7 p.m.
In the preseason, Lindsay head coach Matt Mendonca said the team was past the rebuilding stage, and while the Div. V Cardinals had their struggles with three losses of 28 points or more, the team qualified for playoffs for the fourthstraight
year under Mendonca, and for the first time in five years won a playoff game.
Nothing has come easy for 13th-seeded Lindsay, and their resilience once again showed in last Friday’s 37-34 win over fourth-seeded Libertymadera (9-2). Sophomore kicker Emiliano Corona scored the monumental game-winning 29-yard field goal in the final eight seconds of the game.
The road only gets harder, with the Cardinals taking on the East Sequoia League champion, fifth-seeded Tigers of Woodlake (10-1, 6-0 ESL). Things didn’t go well in the two’s last meeting, with Woodlake handing Lindsay a 49-7 loss — the Cardinals’ worst loss of the season.
Against Woodlake, Lindsay was down three players including top running back, junior Daniel Trujillo. But even with Trujillo back, the team only managed to rush for 50 yards on the ground against Liberty, a problem since they only picked up a total of 4 yards against Woodlake in their first meeting. However, junior quarterback Ethan Natera did have one of his best games against Liberty with 225 yards and two touchdowns on 24 of 33 completions with one interception. He also had two rushing touchdowns.
They say beating a team twice is hard, but Woodlake is coming off a 46-7 rout of 12th-seeded Corcoran (5-6, 2-4 ESL), who the Tigers beat 42-6 earlier in the season. Woodlake ran all over Lindsay the first time, with Victor Rojas rushing for 169 yards and five touchdowns while Josh Benavidez also had 100 yards and a touchdown.
All stats provided by Maxpreps.com.