Hawks pass first league test
The Madera Tribune File Photo Liberty running back Wyatt Roth jumps through the line to run behind guard Nick Hayes during a 2018 victory over Washington Union. Roth rushed for 208 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
2018
With four first quarter touchdowns, the Liberty Hawks football team easily passed its first big test of the North Sequoia League season.
The Hawks improved to 2-0 in the NSL with a 35-7 victory over the Washington Union-Easton Panthers behind four touchdowns from Wyatt Roth.
The Hawks prepared for their two toughest weeks of the season with a dominating victory over the Panthers. Liberty outgained the Panthers 332-183 and forced two turnovers. The Hawks averaged 7.1 yards per play while Washington Union averaged just 3.7 yards.
The Panthers were forced to punt on five straight possessions and didn’t have a drive total more than 37 yards.
Roth led the Hawks with 202 yards rushing. Rylan Howe rushed for 68 yards and Tyler Miller rushed for 55 yards despite quarterback Bradley Miller not completing a pass on two attempts.
2013
Stallions close, but still far
In its first three County/Metro Athletic Conference matches, the Madera South Stallion girls volleyball team has battled enough to win, but has fallen just short, including a 3-0 loss to San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno.
The Stallions lost a close three-set match to Bullard-Fresno and a five-set match with Edison-Fresno earlier. The Stallions were outscored 75-64 in the three sets and had chances to win late in each set against SJM.
“The effort was better than last week,” head coach Nathan Perez said. “We liked what we saw as a coaching staff. We were pleased. We would like more determination. We found there was one rotation in each set that we couldn’t get out of. That was the literal difference in the score. It was a different rotation every single time. We need someone to step up in those rotations and say give me the ball and take us to success.”
Michelle Martinez led the Stallions with seven kills and is expected to continue to step up her game to be the go-to player the Stallions are looking for.
Outside of Martinez’s seven kills and Dominique Andrews’ five kills, the rest of the Stallions combined for the same 12 kills.
2015
Stallions get two wins
What a difference a week makes for the Madera South girls volleyball team.
Earlier, the team lost two games to open County/Metro Athletic Conference play. Since their loss to Bullard-Fresno, the Stallions lost to a very good Pleasant Valley team in Chico and went 4-1 in their tournament. Madera South also defeated Edison-Fresno and San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno to even its conference record to end the week with a 6-3 record over their previous six days.
“Hats off to my coaching staff for inspiring our play from lackadaisical to emotional. When that transition came, it wasn’t even close in that set,” head coach Nathan Perez said after the win over San Joaquin Memorial. “We lost it at the beginning of the deciding set, but we picked it up and found it to carry though the end.”
With some personnel changes in the first week of the CMAC season, the Stallions needed court time with each other to establish chemistry and the Pleasant Valley Viking Classic was the solution.
Coyotes continue to build in CMAC play
Although her Madera girls volleyball team has yet to win a County/Metro Athletic Conference game, not all is lost for first-year Coyote head coach Meghan Haas.
Despite falling to 0-4 in CMAC play, her young squad is learning on the go and she believes that invaluable time on the court can lead to future success.
“We do some great things,” Haas said. “We just have to get more consistent because they are few and far between right now. There are moments of greatness, but we’re not stringing together those greatness plays. We revert back a little bit and that’s because we’re young and not experienced on the floor. Part of it was exhaustion and frustration. It all comes into play, it’s just like this perfect storm.”
Before being swept at Edison-Fresno, the Coyotes gave visiting Sanger a tough time early in its home league opener.
“I felt this was definitely a match that we could’ve won had we played well in all three games,” Haas said of the team’s 26-24, 25-18, 25-16 loss in Joe Flores Gym. “We played well that first game but kind of fell off the wagon a little bit and weren’t able to push back to fight for points there in the second two sets.
2018
Third quarter ruins Coyote upset threat
The Madera Coyotes football team finds itself right there with the heavyweights in the County/Metro Athletic Conference, but can’t find its way over the top.
The same can be said about a 49-27 loss to the Bullard-Fresno Knights in Sunnyside Stadium.
The Coyotes found themselves trailing 21-14 to the Knights heading into the halftime break.
However, after the break, the Knights scored on a two-yard run, a 75-yard run and an interception return for a touchdown. Bullard also scored on a 63-yard touchdown run for the clinching touchdown.
The Coyotes scored twice in the fourth quarter to close, but the damage had been done. Despite the loss, the Coyotes outgained the Knights 449-360 and ran 50 more plays than the Knights.
Stallions powerless to Apaches assault
The Madera South Stallions football team opened its County/Metro Athletic Conference matchup against the Sanger Apaches with a touchdown but failed to recreate its initial effort throughout the game in a 63-19 loss in Memorial Stadium.
Led by Kosi Agina, Damian Duarte and Orlando Douglas, the Sanger Apaches rushed their way to a conference victory over the Stallions. The trio combined for eight of the Apaches’ nine touchdowns.
The biggest touchdown came from Douglas, who caught a 60-yard touchdown from Jamison Silva in the third quarter, and Duarte, who took a handoff 52 yards for a score just before Douglas. Sanger combined a bit of patience, but also a knack for the big play.
Madera South, on the other hand, had their moments early in the game.
Dallas Hansen took the opening kickoff 60 yards down the field, setting up the first touchdown of the game. The Stallions only needed two plays for quarterback Jaden Cisneros to take a designed run up the middle and into the end zone from 18 yards out. Madera South missed the extra point, but took an early 6-0 lead.
