Central Section Top 25 (before start of week 5)
1. Edison Tigers (4-0)
2. Bakersfield Drillers (3-1)
3. Ridgeview Wolf Pack (4-0)
4. Liberty Patriots (3-2)
5. Clovis North Broncos (2-3)
6. Lemoore Tigers (5-0)
7. Hanford Bullpups ( 5-0)
8. Memorial Panthers (5-0)
9. Bullard Knights (3-2)
10. Dinuba Emperors (4-1)
11. Central Valley Christian Cavaliers (4-0)
12. Clovis West Golden Eagles (2-2)
13. Central Grizzlies (1-3)
14. Mission Oak Hawks (4-1)
15. Liberty Hawks (5-0)
16. Clovis Cougars (3-2)
17. Madera Coyotes (5-0)
18. El Diamante Miners (3-2)
19. Centennial Golden Hawks (3-2)
20. Bakersfield Christian Eagles (2-3)
21. Redwood Rangers (3-2)
22. Buchanan Bears (0-4)
23. Tulare Union Redskins (2-2)
24. Frontier Titans (3-1)
25. Tulare Western Mustangs (3-1)
Outside looking in: Sanger Apaches
Top 25 Week 5 Scores:
(1)Edison 42, (12)Clovis West 12
(2)Bakersfield 28, (3)Ridgeview 20
(6)Lemoore 49, Hanford West 21
(7)Hanford 42, (18)El Diamante 21
(10)Dinuba 26, (23)Tulare Union 14
(11)Central Valley Christian Cavaliers 56, Fowler 3
(13)Central Grizzlies 28, (24)Frontier Titans 9
(20)Bakersfield Christian 28, Kennedy 7
Golden West 20, (21)Redwood 14
(25)Tulare Western 40, Selma 0
Bye: (4)Liberty-Bakersfield, (5)Clovis North, (8)Memorial, (9)Bullard, (14)Mission Oak, (15)Liberty-Madera, (16)Clovis, (17)Madera, (19)Centennial
Featured Game: Portville Panthers @ (22)Buchanan Bears October 3rd, 2014
It was a perfect weathered night for football at the beautiful Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis California. The 22nd ranked Buchanan Bears played host to the 38th ranked Porterville Panthers. So far, it hasn’t been a good season for either teams. Buchanan, who only won a single game last year was seeking their first win of the season in front of their festive “Bear Nation” homecoming crowd. Porterville went 9-3 last year, and was trying to avoid suffering a demoralizing 4th loss of this season. Both teams were facing a must win situation, so there was a lot riding on this game.
The first quarter featured a lot of defense, and a lot of penalties for both teams. Porterville had a long rushing touchdown called back on a holding penalty. The only score of the first quarter came when Buchanan’s Homecoming King, Zach Ashford, returned a punt for a 47 yard touchdown. Ashford wasn’t going to be denied as he squeezed his way in and out of traffic with speed to get the touchdown(7-0).
The second quarter also featured a lot of penalties. The Panthers got the first score of the second quarter with a long, penalty ridden drive. Once again, the Panthers had a nice rushing touchdown called back on a penalty. But Portville was able to recover and still score a 2 yard touchdown in that same drive when Eric Calantoc ran the ball right up the middle. The failed extra point allowed Buchanan to maintain a one point lead (7-6). On the following drive, Buchanan running back Chuby Dunu had two big runs where he kept on turning his legs and trucking through defenders. He got Buchanan to Portville’s goal line, and finished the drive off when he ran it up the middle for a 1 yard touchdown (14-6). Then right before halftime, Buchanan scored a defensive touchdown when they blocked and recovered Porterville’s punt in the end zone (21-6).
The third quarter contained no score, but to no surprise it contained penalties. There was an interception and a fumble by Panthers quarterback, Andrew Whitten. Whitten struggled as Buchanan’s defense was able to overpower Portville’s offensive line for majority of the game.
Whitten fumbled one more time in the fourth quarter, but this time it was costly as it happened when Porterville was driving the ball down the field and was deep in Buchanan’s territory. If the Panthers would have scored on that drive, Buchanan’s lead could have been cut down to 7. Instead, Buchanan’s increased their lead to 22 when blown coverage in the Porterville backfield led to a 48 yard touchdown. The Bears quarterback #4 tossed a bomb to a wide open #15 for the easy touchdown (28-6).Porterville was unable to answer back as their drives kept getting stalled. Mitch Souza added three more points on the board for Buchanan when he nailed a 29 yard field goal right down the middle (31-6). The final score of this game was 31-6.
Buchanan got their first win of the season, and in front of their homecoming crowd. The Bears should remain in the Top 25 despite their 1-4 record. Their schedule is among the toughest in the central section. Eight of their scheduled ten games are against a top 25 team. They have played most of their games this season close and competitively, and should keep close in the rest of their games this season if the defense plays as well as they have been thus far. Zach Ashford and Chuby Dunu seem to be key players in this offense, and should feel a lot better after this win.
Porterville drops to 1-4, and unfortunately couldn’t get any rhythm going. Penalties, and turnovers really slowed the game down for them, and disturbed their intended fast paced tempo. The Panthers are better than how they look on paper, and can get back on the right track. The play calls were predictable and they didn’t seem to have an answer for Buchanan’s pressure on quarter back Andrew Whitten. Porterville will have to play much more disciplined, focused, and creative in order to avoid their first losing season since 2007.
Other Games:
Mendota 29, Fresno 17
McLane 63, Orange Cove 0
Sanger 34, Reedley 0
Stockdale 22, Sunnyside 21
Week 6 Featured Game: Madera Coyotes @ Bullard Knights
(Scores, stats, and rankings courtesy of maxpreps.com and The Fresno Bee)
- Immanuel makes it look easy; Golden Eagles soar past the Grizzlies - February 14, 2015
- Immanuel and Fresno High unstoppable; Central making a late run. - February 4, 2015
- Central stuns Clovis West, Roosevelt stumbles but not out. - January 27, 2015
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