SHS runs over Orosi
Garcia gains nearly 300 yards
The Strathmore High School Spartans’ offense remained red hot under the Friday night lights in a 35-13 football victory over an Orosi team that had only allowed an average of 12 points to their last three opponents.
The Strathmore High School Spartans’ offense remained red hot under the Friday night lights in a 3513 football victory over an Orosi team that had only allowed an average of 12 points to their last three opponents.
The Spartans needed just 9 seconds to put the first touchdown on the board — a 64-yard touchdown from quarterback Nick Salas to tight end Andres Lara. That big opening play set the tone for the rest of the half.
Senior running back Joseph Garcia had a monster game on the ground for Strathmore. Garcia picked up a total of 286 yards and four Spartans’ touchdowns on only 12 rushing attempts. One attempt resulted in a 93-yard touchdown to start the second quarter and on another, he went 88 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, which was the final score for Strathmore in the game.
There is also much to be said about the Strathmore defense. The Spartans faced an evasive Cardinal quarterback in the 6-foot-2, 180 pound, Gary Huerta.
Huerta’s athleticism posed a major threat for the Spartans at times, as he avoided sacks, kept plays alive, and occasionally drove the ball down the field.
For the most part, however, the Spartans’ defense managed to keep the quarterback bottled up, bringing him down in the backfield a total of four times.
Altough Strathmore gave
up some yardage, the Spartans’ defense came away with some big plays of their own. The Cardinals reached the red zone three times before they eventually scored both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Spartans forced turnovers on each of the previous red zone drives with their impressive goal line stands.
“We haven’t had any turnovers all year, so that was nice,” defensive coordinator, Scott Bowser said. “[Orosi] was able to drive the ball down the field, but we stopped them when we needed to.”
After the win against Orosi, the Strathmore Spartans are now riding a three-game winning streak. They head to Orange Cove on Friday to square off against the 1-3 Titans.
CROSS COUNTRY
MHS runs well at Woodbridge
The 37th annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic was held on Friday and Saturday in Norco. It is the nation’s largest cross country meet, hosting over 14,300 competitors representing more than 300 schools from 12 states.
Monache’s varsity girls competed in the Division 2 race. Junior Marilou Ruiz led the team to a fourth place finish with a time of 17 minutes and 57 seconds on the threemile course. Ruiz’s time earned her the distinction of being the second-fasted Marauders girl of all time in the three-mile, second only to the three-time Valley Champion Jordyn (Jojo) Zorn. Seniors Imelda Suarez (11th place, 18:22) and Alyssa Quinones (32nd, 19:26) were joined by two outstanding freshmen, Chanel Bradley (34th, 19:10) and Aislin Taylor (35th, 19:13) to complete a very strong scoring five. Monache’s sixth runner, team captain Mikayli Moore (74th, 20:18) managed to run three, 6:45 miles while recovering from a calf strain.
All six girls earned new personal records. At the conclusion of the meet, all division races were merged and overall results were calculated. Marilou Ruiz finished 151st overall, out of approximately 7,000 girls. As a team, the Marauders finished 53rd overall.
The Marauder boys competed in the meet’s second most difficult division, the Rated race, without one of their top runners. Senior Jaden Uphoff was selected to run as an individual in the premier race of the evening, the Sweepstakes division. Uphoff finished 30th in the Sweepstakes race with a new personal best of 14:53, the second fastest 3-mile ever recorded by a Marauders.
In the Rated race, Junior Ivan Mendez made a huge statement, leading wire-towire and winning it in a time of 14:20 for a new Monache High School record. Mendez is currently ranked 12th in the nation in the threemile. Sophomore Isaiah Sotelo (89th, 15:43), seniors Aaron Aparicio (107th, 15:54) and Joel Garcia (130th, 16:11), and freshman Isaiah Mendez (153rd, 16:35) combined for a 20th place division finish. Once again, all five scorers ran personal records.
In the overall rankings, Ivan Mendez finished fifth and Uphoff finished 35th, out of more than 14,000 athletes. As a team, the Marauder boys finished 40th.
Monache will race this Friday at Mooney Grove Park in Visalia at the Douglas P. Rudolf Cross Country Invitational. The Marauder boys and girls are currently ranked first in Division II.
GIRLS TENNIS
PHS duo second in Visalia Invitational
Porterville High School doubles team of Claire Nuno and Jenny Smithey upheld their No. 2 seeding at the Visalia Tennis Invitational, placing second out of 40 teams.
They lost in the finals to a pair from Sanger, 6-1, 6-4.
PHS went 1-2 in team competition, defeating Golden West 5-1, and losing 6-0 to Woodlake and 4-2 to Reedley.