BVarsity football scoreboard: Liberty, Centennial, Shafter, Wasco, Arvin advance to semifinals

Nov. 11—It wasn't always pretty, but Arvin is heading to the Central Section Division VI semifinals after a hard-fought 56-35 victory over No. 9 Orange Cove on Thursday in Arvin.

A pair of Xaviers led the way for the Bears (7-4), who advanced to play No. 4 Strathmore on Friday at home. Xavier Reynoso rushed for a team-high 144 yards and a score, and Xavier Gonzalez added 117 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.

Leading 28-7 in the closing minutes of the first half, the Titans (6-6) had two big special teams plays and capitalized on an Arvin turnover to trim the lead to 28-21 at the half.

"We will have to clean up those mistakes if we want to move on," Bears coach Robert Riley said. "But I'm proud of how the Bears kept fighting and believing and the O-line really stepped up, and we were able to run the ball late to seal the victory."

Steven Martinez scored on both of his carries to finish with 42 yards rushing, Freddy Pulido ran for 36 yards and a score and Abran Gonzales added 39 yards on six carries.

Sophomore quarterback Andrw Rosales was 8 of 13 passing for 101 yards and a scoring pass, all to Jack Kasinger.

Here's a look at some of the other Central Section quarterfinal games:

Division I

No. 3 Liberty 33, No. 6 Clovis 30: Senior quarterback Cole O'Brien returned to the lineup and threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns on 13 of 24 passing, and also rushed for 63 yards to lead the Patriots (9-2). O'Brien had missed the last two games with a left shoulder injury, suffered in a victory over Centennial on Oct. 12. O'Brien had scoring passes to Davari Degraffenreid, Jace Nixon and a 38-yarder to Daviyon Day Jr., who also had two interceptions. Degraffenreid finished with four catches for 114 yards and Tre Fulton had five catches for 101 yards. Mehki Delouth and Wade Brogdon each had rushing touchdowns for Liberty, which will host Fresno-Central in next week's semifinals.

Division II

No. 3 Centennial 42, No. 11 Madera 7: Roland Meyers returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and had a pick-6 to lead the Golden Hawks (7-5) past the Coyotes (8-4). The Centennial defense, led by Connor Warkentin and Jayden Hernandez, held Madera scoreless until the final 10 seconds. Jaxton Santiago and Carson Eldridge combined for 175 yards for the Golden Hawks, who will travel to play at No. 2 Lemoore in next week's semifinals.

Division III

No. 5 Kerman 34, No. 4 Kennedy 28: Jace Demacabalin rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries, but the Thunderbirds (9-3) gave up a long go-ahead touchdown run in the final minute to the Lions (7-5). Jamison Membreve rushed for 43 yards on eight carries, Estevan Orozco had 34 yards on the ground and Damian Flores had a rushing touchdown for RFK, which was looking to defend its D-III title. Defensively, David Garcia and Espn Cantu each had interceptions.

Division IV

No. 1 Shafter 45, No. 9 Golden Valley 7: Chris Espinoza rushed for 103 yards and four touchdowns to power the undefeated Generals (11-0) into the section semifinals for the second straight year. Cash Gutierrez rushed for 103 yards and a score, and JJ Vasquez added 40 yards on the ground. Gutierrez also had three catches for 39 yards for Shafter, which will host Madera-Torres in next week's semifinals. Sophomore quarterback Ezekiel Osborne was 12 of 22 passing for 189 yards and a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mariyon Sloan. Jesus Figueroa had three receptions for 60 yards, Hector Cruz had two for 39 and Alex Aguirre added two catches for 30 yards. Defensively, Shafter held the Bulldogs (9-3) to just one play over 15 yards, and that came on Golden Valley's first possession of the game, capped by a 55-yard scoring run by Nate Abbott that tied the score at 7-7. "I am proud of the effort and no quit my team showed all night," said Bulldogs coach James Cain of his team that had won eight straight games. "The end result didn't go our way, but it doesn't take away from the great year our boys had."

Division V

No. 1 Bishop Union 55, No. 9 North 43: Both teams scored early and often. The top-seeded Broncos (10-1) led 34-28 — at the end of the first quarter. The No. 9 Stars (5-7), who rallied from a 34-7 halftime deficit last week to beat Corcoran, rallied from a 21-point deficit at the end of the third quarter on Thursday, scoring 15 straight points to trim Bishop's lead to 49-43 with under 5 minutes to play. Wyatt Haner threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Mika Lencioni. The two connected on a 78-yard scoring play and Lencioni finished with 166 yards receiving on four catches. Haner also threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Gary Oates. Senior running back Dillon Kyle rushed for 177 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries and senior Carson Bennett added 106 yards on the ground on eight carries.

No. 2 Wasco 28, No. 10 Reedley 21: Sophomore Hammie Lopez rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries and his senior cousin Ram Lopez had 105 yards on the ground and scored a defensive touchdown to lead the Tigers (6-5) past the Pirates (4-8). Wasco will host No. 3 Madera-Liberty in the semifinals next week.

Division VI

No. 3 Mendota 42, No. 6 Taft 28: Blaine Neudorf was 11 of 22 passing for 154 yards, including a 67-yard scoring pass to Isaiah Lopez, but the Wildcats (5-7) were also intercepted five times in a loss to the Aztecs (6-6). Joe Weber had two rushing touchdowns in the second half, including one for 18 yards, and Nathaniel Stroud returned a fumble seven yards for a score. He also had three tackles for a loss. Brenden Gratt had five tackles for a loss and batted down a pass.

No. 7 Fowler 43, No. 2 Boron 36: Andrew Garlica opened the scoring with a 74-yard touchdown and also added a 64-yard scoring run, finishing with 206 yards and 14 carries for the Bobcats (8-3) in a loss to the Redcats (6-6). Isaiah Morgan rushed for 108 yards and a score on 20 carries, and Israel Flores had two TDs and finished with 40 yards on the ground. Boron blocked a punt with 37 seconds left in the game and had the ball on the Fowler 38, looking for the tying score, but the Bobcats threw an interception to end the threat.