Coyotes fall in season opener

The Madera High School Football team lost 35-20 in their season opener and first-year head coach Yosef Fares will have to wait another week to get his first win.

The Coyotes had to wait three quarters to earn their first touchdown of the season against the Los Banos Tigers on Friday.

Madera entered the fourth quarter down 28-0 before they were able to find some rhythm. All of the Coyote’s points came late in the game after Eric Escobar rushed for two touchdowns.

The Coyotes failed to stop the Los Banos ground attack. The Tigers gained 293 yards with Tigers running back Antonio Lopez leading the way with 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Fares knows that his teams best chance to win is when his team plays physical.

“The true identity of this team is toughness and physicality,” Fares said. “We’re a run-first team, and we don’t want to look like a Div III team on film, we want to look like a Div. I team, we want this team to play football the right way.”

The Coyotes will now have a chance to prove that not only can they run the ball behind Escobar, but they’re able to stop the run.

The Coyotes next play Thursday night at Mission Oak in Tulare.