Stallions cross country ranked third in state
Madera Tribune File Photo The Madera South Stallions boys cross country team won the Earlybird Invitational in September, 2012, to start the season. The Stallions are ranked No. 3 in the state in the latest state rankings.
2012
After dominating the Division III and Division II ranks the past four years, capturing Valley Championships in each year, the Madera South boys cross country team is hoping to do the same in Division I this year.
With their best finish at the Woodbridge Invitational in school history behind them, the Stallions are ranked No. 3 in the state in Division 1 by prepcaltrack.com, their highest-ever ranking.
“It really goes back to the idea that the kids believe in the program,” head coach Rich Parris said. “They believe that hard work will get them somewhere. That’s the goal throughout our program. This helps them achieve something successful. They are going to do something that will be tough and they know they can handle that. They have bought into the program and within each other. It’s the idea that they all stand behind each other.”
The Stallions are the highest Central Section team to be ranked in the state this season. They are behind Vista Murrietta and Arcadia, who beat them at Woodbridge.
“We’ve always been of the mindset that the harder you work, the more success you will have,” Parris said. “We’ve worked a lot over the summer and spent a lot of time into being the best.”
2015
Comeback Coyotes strike again
FRESNO — For the second year in a row, the Madera football team found itself trailing to a Fresno Unified school at McLane Stadium.
Just like they did in a comeback win over Bullard-Fresno at the same site last season, the Coyotes got the late go-ahead field goal from Evan Rios before defensive lineman Roy Mitchell sacked Hoover quarterback Jose Medina on the final play of the game to clinch the 30-27 road win.
Madera took an early 10-0 lead Thursday night before the Patriots scored 27 unanswered points in the second quarter to briefly stun the favored Coyotes, ranked 15 overall and No. 2 in Div. III.
From that point, Madera clawed back and put itself in position to win the game on Rios’ 26-yard kick with 19 seconds left.
It was Madera’s first game back since having its previous one against Reedley cancelled because of the bad air quality.
“Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy but 3-0 is better than 2-1,” Madera head coach Bonner Cunnings said of the game’s outcome. “We obviously showed that we have some comeback in us, but going ahead 10-0 and all of a sudden we just shut it down, it doesn’t work like that.”
On Madera’s second possession of the game, senior quarterback Adrian Guillen threw a 30-yard touchdown pass down the right side to 6-foot-3 standout receiver Kris Bueno.
2018
Coyotes dig deep for overtime win
SELMA — Trailing 14 points heading into halftime, the Madera Coyotes outscored the Selma Bears 21-7 to force overtime, where they prevailed in the second period for a 57-55 non-conference victory.
The last time the Coyotes squared off with Selma occurred in 1942. The score that day saw the Bears walk away with a 2-0 victory. Fast forward to 2018 and the two schools scored more than 100 points.
Explosive would be an understatement. When the Coyotes offense is clicking — from linemen down to the receivers, they are lethal. Quarterback Colt Nelson showed that time and time again. The quarterback passed for 325 yards and seven touchdowns against the Bears. Jevon Denis and J.J. Espinoza shouldered the receiving load with a combined 16 catches for 210 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, Madera held the Bears to a single second-half touchdown, along with an interception. However, the Madera defense’s biggest play of the night happened on the last play of overtime when Eric Rey broke through the Selma offensive line to tackle the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage before he could score a two-point conversion to tie the game in the second overtime.
Coyotes get win before league starts
After a loss earlier in the week to Yosemite-Oakhurst, the Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team bounced back with a three-set sweep over the Liberty Hawks in Joe Flores Gym.
Although the Coyotes recorded the sweep Thursday, there was still work to do before heading into the County/Metro Athletic Conference season against Madera South.
The Coyotes received a tough challenge by the Hawks, winning the three sets 25-20, 26-24, 25-18. The Hawks did what they needed to do to stay in the game. Liberty kept the ball in play and waited for Madera to make the mistakes.
Madera made enough mistakes to keep Liberty in the match. The Hawks, two divisions lower than the Coyotes, lost the match by just 14 points over the three sets.
Madera’s Isabella Saucedo was the go-to hitter for setters Sofia Perez and Jade Davie. She recorded 20 kills, four more than the entire Liberty team.
Madera also recorded 15 aces against the Hawks. Karina Rodriguez recorded six, Perez had four and Trinity Davie had three. It was enough to counteract Liberty’s nine aces.
Liberty gets back to its winning ways
TEMPLETON — The perfect recipe for heading into its by week was a win against Templeton for the Liberty Hawks football team.
The Hawks did just that after a Week 4 loss to Kennedy-Delano. The Hawks scored 53 first half points and cruised to a 67-27 victory over the Templeton Eagles.
“They handled the loss really well,” head coach Mike Nolte said. “They came focused this week and realized the importance of the game after a loss.”
The Hawks received a career game from running back/linebacker Wyatt Roth. He rushed for 266 yards (just three yards short of the record his brother set last year) and a school record five touchdowns. He set another school record for most touchdowns in a game when he returned the first of his two interceptions for a touchdown.
“Wyatt had a good game,” Nolte said. “There were a lot of good things for him today.”
Roth scored on touchdown runs of 24, 68, 3, 34 and 52 yards. He had 12 carries and averaged 22 yards per rush. The Hawks gained 576 yards of total offense, including 461 yards on the ground. Seven different Hawks carried the football and five different players caught passes from Bradley Miller, including Eric Halverson, who caught a 54-yard touchdown.
“It’s exciting to see those reserves have success,” Nolte said. “Those kids come to practice and work as hard as everyone else. Any time we can get those kids in and they can have success is great. I’m proud of them.”
The Hawks scored on eight of their nine drives. The other drive ended on downs late in the fourth quarter.
