Coyotes advance to semifinals

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s Jesse Rodriguez (32) looks for running room behind Issaiah Beas (75) and Kenji Tiscareno (7) during Friday’s playoff victory. Rodriguez rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

---

Like Madera Coyotes football head coach Kenny Paolinelli told his team after a victory over Nipomo in the Div. III quarterfinals, “We’re four quarters away from playing for a ring.”

The second-seeded Coyotes dominated the second half of the Div. III quarterfinals against the 10th-seeded Titans to record a 35-21 victory in Memorial Stadium.

“This is a big win,” Paolinelli said. “It’s a huge win anytime you can get a playoff win. It’s awesome, and it’s a confidence builder. I don’t think we played our best football tonight, but coming off of the bye week, I thought we played well in spurts, offensively, in the first half and then, the defense dominated in the second half.”