It proved to be a big week for quarterbacks in the CIF Central Section, as four signal callers threw for over 300 yards last week.
Tanner Mendonca of Mt. Whitney continues to put up big numbers for the Pioneers. Despite playing in a low-scoring game (a 13-12 win over Lemoore), Mendonca completed 29-of-47 passes for 348 yards and two scores. Titus Grayson had another huge game, catching 12 passes for 130 yards and a score.
Mendonca leads the section in passing with 2,172 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also has a section-best 170 completions and 275 attempts. Grayson leads the section in receptions with 64 and is second in yardage with 819. His 10 touchdowns rank third.
Joe Pearson of East Bakersfield has emerged as the second-leading passer in the section with 1,905 yards. Despite losing to Garces 67-41, Pearson had season-high totals of 25 completions in 50 attempts for 429 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown for over 400 yards twice this year and has had four touchdowns in a game four times.
Pearson’s effort this week knocked Buchanan’s Lance Orender into third place on the list – despite the fact that Orender threw for 352 yards in a 38-14 win over Clovis West. The Bear quarterback had his second-best outing of the season, topped only by his 514-yard effort against Bakersfield. His four touchdowns against the Golden Eagles was also his second-best performance of the year. Orender has thrown for 1,844 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Devontae Butler, Grant
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Orender’s favorite target, Jake East, continued to build on his section-leading yardage total against Clovis West. Although he had just four receptions, he gained 156 yards and scored two touchdowns. He leads the section with 978 yards receiving on just 37 catches.
Trevor Jones of Tulare Union was the final QB to throw for over 300 yards last week as he had a season-best 336 yards in a 56-21 win over Porterville. Jones is fifth in the section this year with 1,555 yards. He also has 20 touchdowns and no interceptions. Jones’ top target, Marquess Wilson, leads the section with 13 touchdown catches.
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Speaking of Tulare Union, the Redskins get a big test this week in the form of the Delano Tigers. At 6-foot-1, the Tigers provide the Redskins with one of the toughest tests they have faced all year. Delano is fresh off a 64-6 win over Granite Hills; however, it did lose two weeks ago to Porterville, 23-14. After rushing for 205 yards three weeks ago, Andy Martin Del Campo had just 38 yards on only three carries in the win over Granite Hills. However, the Tigers did give the ball to 10 ballcarriers in the game.
Tulare Union, meanwhile, is coming off a 56-21 win over Porterville, the team that defeated Delano. The 21 points allowed were the second-highest total of the season for the Tulare Union defense, which has posted three shutouts on the year. Tulare Union also got 104 yards rushing from Xavier Stephens, marking the fifth time this season the sophomore has gone over the century mark.
Even if Delano should lose to Tulare Union this week, it is still in good shape for a run at a section title. The Tigers are tied for first place in Division III with a 6-1 record. Tehachapi is also 6-1 while Dinuba and South are each 5-2.
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Frontier of Bakersfield is the only other undefeated team in Division II in the Central Section. The Titans have a pair of tough outings back-to-back as they face South this week and Stockdale on Nov. 6. The defense has been solid for Frontier, giving up just seven touchdowns all season while posting two shutouts. The offense has been solid, but not flashy, in posting seven wins. Josh Legoreta averages 120 yards per game behind center with 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
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Sac-Joaquin Section
The Del Campo Cougars sit atop the Capital Athletic League, and quarterback Ryan Dimino is a big reason why. Dimino is second in the section in total offense, but he is the only player in the section to have over 1,000 yards rushing and passing. He has gained 1,476 yards on the ground, the second-best total in the section, and has thrown for 1,239 yards, which ranks 17th.
It’s hard to pick out Dimino’s best game of the season. Is it the 42-6 win over Arroyo where he rushed for 382 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 137 yards and one TD? Or is it the a 35-13 win over Davis when he threw for 229 yards and two scores and rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns? Or rushing for 149 yards and throwing for a season-high 265 in a 27-23 loss to Woodcreek?
The Cougars will try to stay on top of the league standings when they face Rio Americano (2-5) this weekend.
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Not too hard to figure out how Monterey Trail of Elk Grove was able to defeat Folsom last week, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season. Monterey Trail limited Folsom’s standout quarterback Dano Graves to his lowest yardage total of the season with just 132 yards. His 13 completions were also a season low, as was his completion percentage (.565), while he had a season-high in interceptions with two.
Graves had not thrown for less than 201 yards in a game this year and had three straight games of over 350 heading into the matchup with Monterey Trail. Folsom had been defeating teams by an average of 28 points per game.
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Wins have been hard to come by for the Downey Knights, but it hasn’t been from a lack of effort from quarterback Jason Lee. Although Downey is just 2-5 on the season, Downey ranks among the state and national passing leaders with 2,800 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Lee is coming off one of his best performances of the season in a 56-32 win over Beyer of Modesto. He completed 33-of-50 passes for 481 yards and six touchdowns, but more importantly, had no interceptions for the first time since the first game of the season. Lee has thrown for over 400 yards four times this year and has not thrown for less than 272 yards. Lee also has a pair of outstanding receivers in Javon Kelly and Corey Keller, each of whom have over 60 catches and 1,000 yards. Kelly has caught 64 passes for 1,113 yards and 15 touchdowns, while Keller has 69 catches for 1,013 yards and six scores.
Downey still has a shot at a .500 season as its three remaining opponents, Enochs, Modesto and Johansen, have a combined record of 8-13.
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The Summerville Bears (6-1) have emerged as the frontrunner in the Mother Lode League after wins over Bret Harte (33-13) and Argonaut (35-21) to start league play. Zach Roberson has been a major force behind the Bears’ strong play with 1,716 yards passing and 23 touchdowns. He has thrown for five touchdowns in each of Summerville’s league wins with 248 yards against Bret Harte and 260 in the Argonaut victory. His best outing actually came in a loss as he threw for 318 yards in a 32-23 defeat to Ripon. Roberson and the Bears will get a big test against perennial Mother Lode League power Calaveras when the two teams meet today. Calaveras is also undefeated in league play at 2-0, but the Redskins are 4-3 overall.
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Devontae Butler of Grant has put together a nice string of 200-yard performances to move to the top of the list of Sac-Joaquin Section rushing leaders. Butler had 246 yards on just 12 carries with five touchdowns in an 85-0 win over Kennedy last week. The win marked the fourth time in a row Grant had scored over 56 points in a game and it also marked the fourth time that Butler had gained over 200 yards.
The senior running back had 312 yards on just 13 carries with five touchdowns in a 62-0 win over Johnson. He then had 221 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-7 win over Rosemont and added 216 yards and four scores in a 63-0 victory against Sacramento.
Butler will likely add to those impressive figures next week as the Pacers take on a 2-5 McClatchy team that has not had the greatest luck against Grant in the past. Since 2004, Grant is 5-0 against the Lions and has outscored McClatchy 370-14, including 89-0 last year.
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Northern Section
A big showdown in the Northern Athletic League takes place in Susanville this week, when Corning (7-1) will take on the host Lassen Grizzlies (5-3) in a battle for first place.
The Cardinals are the surprise team in the NAL this year, rebounding from a winless league season last year to a 7-1 mark this year that includes seven straight wins. The only loss is a 10-7 defeat at the hands of Enterprise of Redding, which is 8-0 overall.
Meanwhile, Lassen has come on strong since starting the season 1-3. The Grizzlies played a tough preseason schedule that included losses to large schools like Chico, Foothill and Paradise, but also featured a 33-28 win over Pleasant Valley.
Now the Grizzlies have rattled off four straight wins, including last week’s 28-23 win over the West Valley Eagles. The Grizzlies are the defending NAL champions and are led by returning league MVP Darren Lee. Besides leading the team in rushing with 970 yards, Lee has also scored a team-best 15 touchdowns. He leads Lassen with 93 total tackles, two interceptions and three blocked field goals.
Corning, meanwhile, has the third-best ground game in the Northern Section with an average of 301 yards per game. Only Wheatland (314) and Central Valley (310) are better. The Cardinals’ three-pronged attack includes Fontaine Richardson (852 yards, 11 touchdowns), Cameron Nye (757, 12) and Tyler McIntyre (374, 4).
