Highlights from Central Section football Week 8
Jaryd Weakley threw two touchdown passes and Nate Palomino had two touchdown runs as top-ranked Clovis High cruised past Buchanan 35-0 Friday night in a Tri-River Athletic Conference football game.
Roderick Arms scored on a blocked punt return for Clovis (8-0, 3-0), which led 21-0 at halftime.
Yoon Connor, the Cougars’ starting tailback, left early with an ankle injury after gaining 25 yards.
Tyler Fry and Nolan Sorensen combined on 223 passing yards for Buchanan (2-6, 0-3) but were sacked 10 times. Sorensen also threw four interceptions.
Clovis West 24, Clovis East 14
The No. 15 Golden Eagles won their second straight after an 0-6 start, knocking off the Timberwolves (1-7) in a battle of programs that faced each other just three seasons ago for the section championship.
Chris Brown rushed for 155 yards, including a 90-yard touchdown, as the No. 17 Panthers rebounded well from their first loss.
Christian Ramirez had 54 rushing yards for the Coyotes, who dropped their fourth straight following a 4-0 start.
Ranferi Pineda scored three touchdowns and the No. 19 Stallions won the battle for first place in the North Yosemite League.
Madera South (7-1) improved to 3-0 in league, while Hoover (2-6) dropped to 2-1.
Pineda scored on two 1-yard runs and returned an interception 58 yards for another score. Donald Caballero capped the scoring with a 55-yard kickoff return after Hoover’s Nick Peterson threw his second touchdown pass.
Washington 41, Liberty-Madera 0
Chris Cain passed for 333 yards and five touchdowns to lead the No. 9 Panthers past the visiting Hawks in a North Sequoia League game in Easton.
The entire second half was played with a running clock, contributing to Liberty being held to 35 offensive plays. The Hawks punted eight times.
K.C. Migliore had 10 tackles and five assists for Washington.
Panthers receiver Deontay Greenberry, coming off a recruiting visit last weekend to Notre Dame, caught six passes for 159 yards and three scores. He has 21 touchdowns this season.
Dashown Fletcher, who was the Washington quarterback for the first two games of the season before Cain gained his eligibility, caught two TD passes.
Jeremy Whigham ran for 145 yards and scored three touchdowns, including the clincher in the fourth quarter, as the host Roughriders won their first NYL game of the season.
Whigham’s 5-yard run capped scoring for Roosevelt (3-5, 1-3). He also caught touchdown passes of 62 and 58 yards from Angel Rico, who completed 5 of 7 passes for 138 yards and had two 1-yard touchdown runs.
Ulices Castillo kept McLane (2-6, 1-2) in the game with 124 yards rushing on 16 carries. He scored on runs of 3, 19 and 2 yards.
The No. 19 Vikings stayed in second place in the CSL with one game left, in two weeks at rival Selma.
Brandon Steele threw for 108 yards, including a 14-yard scoring pass to Zach Bethel, and Jake Rouch rushed for 53 yards and three touchdowns.
Dolan Del Fiero rushed 25 times for 162 yards as the host Chieftains earned their first NSL win.
Cameron White added 50 rushing yards for Sierra, including the clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Basilio Gutierrez had 103 rushing yards for Kerman and J.J. Acosta scored the Lions’ only touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Jay Beene.
Dinuba 52, Firebaugh-Lynwood 0
David Rico completed 20 of 27 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns as the host No. 18 Emperors (8-0) won the nonleague game.
Omar Duarte added 71 rushing yards and two scores for Dinuba, which led 35-0 at halftime.
The Emperors, who lead the Central Sequoia League standings by a half-game, return to CSL action next week against Immanuel.
The Panthers (2-5, 1-2) made their 12-point first quarter stand up on the road against the Cardinals (2-6, 1-1) in the East Sequoia League.
Lindsay’s Mark Macias led all rushers with 22 carries for 128 yards.
Christian Escalante threw for three touchdowns as the host Broncos won their second straight and first in the West Sierra League.
Escalante hooked up with Jerry Warren for touchdowns of 51 and 49 yards and threw a 39-yarder to Seth Allen. Warren finished with three catches for 117 yards.
Jovan Baker also returned an interception 73 yards for a score.
The Drillers established potential leverage on Clovis for the Central Section Division I playoff top seed.
Bakersfield (8-0, 3-0) is ranked second in the Central Section by The Bee and No. 22 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. Clovis (8-0, 3-0) is No. 1 and No. 17 in those rankings, but the Cougars needed a late miracle to edge Centennial 28-22 in overtime six weeks ago.
There are two weeks remaining in the regular season before the six-division seeds are determined Nov. 12 in Porterville.
Granite Hills 22, Porterville 21
Brandon Avalos rushed for 92 yards and the go-ahead 2-point conversion as Granite Hills High edged No. 14 Porterville 22-21 on Friday night in the East Yosemite League.
Dante Cunningham’s 20-yard touchdown pass from Nisar Abdulla with 53 seconds left in the third quarter brought the Grizzlies (4-5, 3-4) within a point before Avalos’ conversion run gave them the lead for good.
Porterville (6-2, 4-2) led 21-14 at halftime on the strength of a 21-point second quarter highlighted by Joseph Duran’s 80-yard punt return.
The host Bullpups clinched at least a share of their first West Yosemite League football championship since 1999 by knocking the Pioneers out of first place.
Hanford (7-2, 5-0) leads Mt. Whitney and Lemoore each by a 11/2 games. The Bullpups have a bye next week before finishing the regular season against rival Lemoore, which plays defending league champion El Diamante next week.
Mt. Whitney (5-3, 3-1) still has games left against Golden West and Cowhide Game rival Redwood.
The host Tigers celebrated their Centennial Homecoming with a come-from-behind win over the Hawks.
The special day included a downtown parade and the unveiling of the Delano High Victory Bell.
Delano (6-2, 5-1) moved alone into second place in the EYL, a game behind unbeaten Tulare.
Daniel Leal threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Mustangs to an EYL home win.
Tulare Western shut out the Titans over the final three quarters.
Leal completed 14 of 19 passes and found Jordan Maquinalez on TD throws of 34 and 40 yards. Maquinalez finished with five catches for 123 yards.
Jake Morales broke a 14-yard scoring run in the second overtime to lift the host Bears in the Central Sequoia League.
Selma blocked a field-goal attempt in the first extra period and watched another Monarchs try miss in the second.
Exeter’s Joey Kunkel rushed 44 times for 143 yards and four touchdowns.
The Bears tied it in regulation on Kane Cooper’s 4-yard run and 2-point conversion pass from Morales.
Brian Alvarado put on a show in Reedley, rushing for 210 yards and six touchdowns in the CSL blowout.
THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Demetrius Warren’s TD runs covered 44, 66 and 57 yards as No. 4 Bullard beat Sanger 28-13 in the CMAC.
Sierra Pacific, Hanford’s third high school, earned its first varsity victory as Trey Wharton scored on runs of 1 and 33 yards in a 31-6 victory over fellow first-year team Minarets.
Tim Rodriguez’s four TDs – receptions of 59, 25 and 48 yards, and an 80-yard kickoff return – powered Reedley past Fresno 42-7 in the NYL.
Anthony Reyes blocked a 33-yard field goal try by Anthony Hernandez as time ran out to give the Tigers the nonleague road victory. Lemoore (6-2) tied the score on a 1-yard run by Caleb Baldwin and led after the extra point.
Coaches: Got a score to report? Call (559) 441-6379 or email sports@fresnobee.com.
The Fresno Bee
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