Loading ...Football: On The Sidelines - Week One
5 September 2007
By Fred Clark
KJEO Channel 32 Sports
Wow. Last season the TRAC took off like a rocket. This year, 3-5 so far.
TRAC
Clovis West (1-0) Beat Liberty 9-0. Eagles stalled on O, but D dominated. El Diamante is next with hopes of making a statement. Probably not. Eagles have no soft touches on schedule.
Clovis East (1-1) Lost to Alta, Utah. Loss all but ends any state title
hopes. An alarming trend? T-Wolves are 1-0 w/o Murphy, 0-1 with him*. Stay tuned. Next up is already banged up Sanger. Should win a hard fought game.
Central (1-0) Defeated Golden Valley. Grizzlies defeated quality oppt. on the road with a dominating ground game. Next up is Hoover. Under similiar conditions two years ago, Hoover won in an upset. Not this time.
Madera (0-2) Lost to Las Vegas 27-14. Coyotes need to circle the wagons. Merced is tough and this is always a close game. The schedule eases a bit after this one, but Madera needs a win to re-establish confidence.
Buchanan (0-1) Lost to Serra-San Mateo 41-7. The loss was no surprise, the margin was. With little ball control threat the Bear defense could be on the field for long periods of time, not good. A win at Redwood this week is essential for Buchanan.
Clovis (0-1) Lost to Bellarmine-SJ 48-13. Horrible. This is another situation where things could get real bad. Bullard, this weeks oppt. is drooling to avenge last years 75-0 beatdown. Not being blown out will be a “moral victory.”
CMAC
Edison (2-0) Tigers shut out North for the second year in a row and should have little trouble at Modesto this season, unless they get caught looking ahead. If Edison stays focused with weekly improvement, they could run the table.
Bullard (1-0) Knights rolled SJM 42-7 to avenge last years defeat. It should be two in a row this week against Clovis. Bullard showed a strong ground game, good speed, and solid D to compensate for lack of size.
Sanger (1-0) Beat Sunnyside 32-29. Apaches looked dead in the water before rallying for 17 4th qtr points. Sanger is hobbling early, but they still have enough firepower to make any oppt work. Clo. East has too much, but Apaches will represent.
Hoover (1-0) Beat McLane 21-0. Patriots have speed and talent, but are shockingly lacking in depth. 8 players line up both ways. Against a pounding, physical team like Central (this week), that is not a good thing.
Reedley (1-0) Defeated Selma. Close game but a win none the less. This weeks game at Washington should be a high scoring affair. Pirates ground control game is a plus, but lack of size on D is a concern.
NYL
Sunnyside (0-1) Lost to Sanger. Wildcats had Sanger by the throat, but couldn’t choke them out. To make the next move, Sunnyside must learn to win games as this. This weeks game with Hanford West should help the Cats regain confidence.
Memorial (0-1) Lost to Bullard. Panthers were in the game for a half, then the numbers game (25 in uniform) wore them down. They have a good opportunity for a win this week, hosting Dos Palos, who was routed at home by Kingsburg.
McLane (0-1) Lost to Hoover 21-0. Which was 30 points better than last seasons route. The Highlanders are more talented than before and should prevail at home vs. Selma this week. A loss here could spell a very long season.
Fresno (0-1) Another bad opening loss to Kerman. The next several weeks look very bleak for the Warriors. Last season started the same, and Warriors played hard most of the year, the next few games should be telling.
Roosevelt (1-1) Defeated Cesar Chavez on late field goal 24-21. For the Roughriders this was huge. Learning to win, no matter the oppt is vital to a struggling program. A visit to Tranquility gives Roosevelt a good chance for two in a row.
ECT
Liberty lost the chance to take the big step forward, losing at home to Clovis West. In the last 12 months, 3 close losses. Bakersfield defeated powerful Grant-Sacramento and once again show that they will be a major force come playoff time. Yosemite, Fowler, Caruthers, Kingsburg, Tulare Western and Lemoore all posted
impressive victories.
*This was a spoof. It shouldn’t have to be explained, but some knuckleheads tend to take things a bit over the top.
Fred Clark, along with Chris Terrence announce High School Football on Ch. 32 & 43, Cable Ch. 10. Check local listings for times. Fred can also be heard on Fridays from 6-7 on 1340 AM radio.
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