Nitty Gritty Time -CIF Semifinals

by Chris Terrence

While you never know who is going to win in the playoffs, one thing you do know, there are going to be some great games. That all happened again this weekend past in the CIF Central Section high school football playoffs.

There were surprises, some close games, and a blowout or two as the 60 participating teams in the five divisions of the central section have now dwindled down to 10 with the survivors arriving at the semifinals.

In Division One, Bullard, still looking like the team to beat to me, got another great game from Alex Huerta (10 for 12, 313 yards and 4 TD’s passing), Paul Jamie (235 yds and 3 TD’s, on just 5 receptions), Kenny Hedrington (103 yds rushing) and another all round game from the big fella, Anthony McCoy (offense and defense). Add to that the outstanding line play by the Knights, and it was a long night for Liberty-Bakersfield as Bullard won 42-21 at McLane Stadium................In another fiercely fought game, Kyle Duffy ran for 204 yards including an 85 yard touchdown run that put the Clovis West Golden Eagles in the lead, but it wasn’t enough as the Coyotes of Madera High came back strong to defeat the Eagles 20-10 at Golden Eagle Field.

Nick Bates continues his strong leadership for the Coyotes (on defense as well as offense) as did Tony Queen (back from injury) and Chris Jackson proved to be too much for the Eagles, who ended their season at 8 and 4, after spending time this year rated number one in the section and also high on the state charts.........Also in Division One, Sanger’s excellent defense this season, which helped them stay undefeated most of the year, could not hold the Bakersfield running attack, in particular Terrel Young, who rushed for 169 yards, and Philip Thomas, who rushed for another 163 yards for the Drillers to quiet the crowd at Tom Flores Stadium in Sanger. The Drillers’ 34 points was the most any team scored on the Sanger defense all year. The Apaches finished the season at 10-2. ............In the other quarterfinal game in division one, Clovis beat Clovis East in a game that had everyone at Lamonica standing and yelling to the very end when the Timberwolves came back from a 23-7 deficit, scoring two touchdowns in the last 4 minutes of the game and needing to convert a two point after TD try, but the Cougar defensive line held and the ball game was over, and so was the season for the Clovis East squad that also spent time at the top of the rankings, locally and state wide during the course of 2005 campaign. The Timberwolves came into the game missing three of their top players, Andrew Pancotti, Tracy Slocum, and Tony Ferguson due to injuries. Clovis also played without some of their stars, including Shane Montejano, but both teams played their hearts out and treated the excellent crowd to a great game. The Players of the Game on our Cocola Broadcasting Stations and Comcast telecast were Brett Behlen (17 of 23 in passing) for Clovis, and R.J. Bell for the Timberwolves, who finished the season at 9 and 2.

In Division II, Tulare beat Hanford 42-27 with great games from their superstars, Emmanuel Lewis (20-34, 376 yds and 5 TD’s passing and running for another TD), and Barry Wilson (4 TD’s and 267 yards on 10 receptions).

Hanford had to play without star running back Avery Horn who had to sit out a one game suspension, the result of getting ejected in the Memorial game in round 2. So Hanford, who came on strong at the end of the season, finishes the year at 6-6 and looks forward to next year......Also Ridgeview beat Hanford West 33-24 and moves on to the semifinals, while West Bakersfield was beating Hoover 41 -26, ending a very successful year for the Patriots at 8 and 4. Monache kept up their winning ways by beating Garces 45 to 30 behind Fred Thompson’s five touchdowns..........In Division III, Lemoore beat Washington 45-7 setting up a huge game with #1 seed El Diamante in Visalia this week. El Diamante took it to Arvin, 35-7 on Friday. The Miners got another defensive gem of a game from the King of the Defense, Caleb King that is, who had three interceptions, running the third one back 39 yards for a TD. El Diamante is a very tough team on both sides of the ball.

Meanwhile Yosemite got by Exeter 30-22 after trailing by 10 at half-time up in Oakhurst. The Badgers can get pretty nasty at this time of year and they will take their 10-1 record into round three at home vs Golden Valley this week. Golden Valley got the chance by beating Dinuba, 35-12. ......In Division IV, Immanuel stayed undefeated with a 27-6 win over Kerman, setting up a date Friday with #4 seed Dos Palos. Seems like Dos Palos has been hanging round the playoffs since the late 1800’s doesn’t it? Isn’t that when the Spark’s era began? The Broncos beat Coalinga 40 to 6 to get the game with Immanuel. Gonna be a good one. Chowchilla is still in the party with their 41 to 14 victory over Taft. Ben Estill ended his record breaking season for Taft, picking up another 213 yards on the ground (over 2,500 on the year), but the Hale/Kallie running combination were too much for the boys from Bakersfield.....And, finally, in Division V, Central Valley Christian beat Coast-Cambria, 28-8 led by former Cocola/Comcast player of the week Fred Leyendekker, and upstart Tranquility, fresh off their upset last week of top seeded Fowler, shutout Caruthers, 14-0, to set up the Division V Valley title game this Friday vs Central Valley Christian in Visalia.

So then, this week’s semifinal games are:

Chris Terrence