High school football championships: Scores, updates from around the Central Section

THE LATEST: Hear from the winners

The Mendota High Aztecs are Central Section football champions after a 38-8 victory over Hanford for the Division VI title.

The Aztecs led from start to finish to give the program its first title since 2016, according to section historian Bob Barnett.

In other games involving Fresno County schools, San Joaquin Memorial fell to Liberty-Bakersfield 29-13 in D-I; Sunnyside lost to Kennedy 40-20 in D-III; and Caruthers fell to Shafter 41-35 in D-IV.

In Visalia, Lemoore ran past Central Valley Christian 62-46 in Division II for Lemoore’s first section title since 2005.

Fresno Christian’s 30-27 overtime victory over Sierra in the 8-man division last week decided the first Central Section high school football championship.

Barnett provided the last championships for each team.

Here is the recap of each championship game live blog:

Division I: Liberty-Bakersfield 29, San Joaquin Memorial 13, Final

Memorial got the ball first and went three and out.

The Panthers punt it away and Kresean Kizzy ran it back for a touchdown. The extra point was missed with 9:49 left in the first quarter.

Memorial answered when Brandon Ramirez scored on a 62-yard touchdown run.

The Patriots got the lead back on a field goal in the first quarter. Liberty got a field goal to take the lead, but Ramirez added another touchdown run — a 20-yarder.

The game is in the second quarter.

Liberty went for it on 4th down and were stopped. Memorial takes over possession in own territory. Brady Stovall made the stop.

Liberty, however, caused Ramirez to fumble and recovered the ball with 4 minutes left in the first half.

The Patriots capitalized on Cole O’Brien’s touchdown run. on a rollout with 1:35 remaining.

The game is at the half. .

The third quarter has kicked off.

The Patriots increased their lead on a field goal then added an 80-yard touchdown pass — O’Brien to Kizzy.

The game is going to the fourth quarter.

The Patriots won the game for back-to-back section titles.

The Panthers have won nine section titles.

Memorial won titles in 1953, 1972, 1974 in the Sequoia Division; 1991 and 1994 in the Sequoia Large Division; 2003 in the Sequoia Small Division; 2017 and 2018 in Division III and 2019 in Division II.

The Patriots are looking for their fourth section title, winning in 2001 in the Sequoia Small and in 2015 and 2021 in Division I.

How they got here:

No. 4 Memorial: defeated No. 5 Central 28-21 and No. 1 Clovis West 30-20

No 2 Liberty: defeated No. 6 St. Joseph 49-13 and No. 2 Buchanan 28-20

Division II: Lemoore 62, Central Valley Christian 46, Final

Blake Gambini gave the Cavaliers the lead on a four-yard run with 8:24 left in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers kept it going when Bryson Donelson made a reception and went in for a 65-yard touchdown with 5:50 left in the first quarter.

Lemoore answered on a kickoff return for a 72-yard touchdown by Kobe Green.

But Donelson took the handoff and ran it in for a 63-yard touchdown run.

The game is now in the second quarter.

Lemoore moved the ball down to CVC’s territory, but Ty Chambers was intercepted by Bryce Crook.

With 5 minutes remaining, the Cavaliers were in Tigers’ territory, but turnover on downs gave the ball back to Lemoore. The Tigers take over at own 25 yard line.

Green added his second touchdown, this time a 77-yard reception from Ty Chambers with 4:32 remaining in the first half.

The Cavaliers made another mistake when Donelson pass was intercepted by Isaiah Morales. Lemoore then tied the game on Andrew Moench’s 1 yard-run, followed by an extra point made by Jayden Evangelo with 1:45 remaining in the first half.

The game is at the half.

Lemoore’s offense is rolling in the third quarter. Chambers to Demel Turner for the Tigers’ first lead. The first play of the second half went for 70 yards.

Lemoore has scored 21 unanswered points.

But that came to an end when Donelson scored on a 40-yard run to tie the game in the third quarter.

Lemoore drove down the field and got to the Cavaliers’ 5-yard line. On 4th and 5, Chambers pass was intercepted by Caleb Callison in the end zone.

Green scored his third touchdown when he caught a 12 yard pass from Chambers with 5:44 left in the third quarter.

CVC came back and got a touchdown, none other than Donelson who scored a 5-yard run with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter. The extra point was blocked by Gustavo Rea-Huizar.

Lemoore, just like they’ve done all season, added more points. Chambers to Preston Scott for 60 yards.

CVC and Lemoore are giving fans a show because the Cavaliers came back and scored a touchdown when Bakker hit Brandt Munger for 68 yards with 1:17 left in the third quarter.

Once again, Lemoore came back and scored a touchdown. Chambers to Turner for 43 yards.

CVC didn’t score on its next possession, punting away early in the fourth quarter.

Another big play by the Tigers led to a 17-yard pass by Chambers to Green.

Gambini scored on a run for CVC.

Anthony Garcia got in on the act for Lemoore when he punched it in by getting help from his teammates for a 6-yard run.

The Cavaliers are playing without tight end/defensive end Jaeden Moore because of an illness.

It’s been a while since the Tigers won a section title, capturing the Division III title in 2005.

The Cavaliers won titles in 1999, 2003, 2003-2005, 2018 and 2021.

How they got here:

No. 3 Lemoore: defeated No. 6 Washington Union 64-8 and No. 7 Frontier 56-21

No. 1 CVC: defeated No. 8 Sanger 20-0 and No. 4 Hanford 50-41

Division III: Kennedy 40, Sunnyside 20, Final

Kennedy got on the scoreboard quick in the first quarter

The Thunderbirds scored a touchdown in the second quarter.

Jace Demacabalin scored for the Thunderbirds with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wildcats missed a field goal and Kennedy took over possession on Sunnyside’s 15-yard line.

Kennedy is running away, scoring just before halftime.

The Wildcats scored early in the third quarter on Malachi Barnes’ 5-yard run. Sunnyside went for two and was stopped.

Kennedy answered with a touchdown.

The Thunderbirds are on their way to a section title with seven minutes remaining.

The visiting Wildcats are in Delano playing for their first section title. Kennedy won Division V in 2018.

How they got here:

No. 11 Sunnyside: defeated No. 6 Tulare Union 41-22, No. 3 Tehachapi 33-21 and No. 15 Independence 38-23

No. 4 Kennedy: defeated No. 13 Highland 21-7, No. 5 Kerman 33-7 and No. 1 Mission Prep 27-14

Division IV: Shafter 41, Caruthers 35, Final

Hunter Babb scored on a 30-yard run in the first quarter for the Blue Raiders.

The Generals answered on Ezekiel Osborne’s long pass to Jesus Figeuroa with 1 minute left in the first quarter. Shafter added another touchdown, this time in the second quarter.

But Babb scored again on a 5-yard run.

Caruthers took the lead on Collin Hirschkorn’s 52-yard pass to Asher Cummings for a touchdown with four minutes remaining in the first half.

It’s halftime in Caruthers.

The Blue Raiders opened the third quarter in a big way when Hirschkorn connected with Asher Cummings for a 55-yard touchdown.

Caruthers is getting close to a section title, increasing its lead after Ricardo Manriquez’s 20-yard interception for a touchdown.

The Generals are not going away, scoring 14 unanswered points in the third quarter. Make it 21 unanswered points.

Koa Rhodes scored on a 1-yard run for Kennedy in the third quarter.

The game has moved to the fourth quarter.

Shafter got a field goal to take the lead with 8 minutes remaining.

Caruthers moved the ball down to Shafter’s territory, but couldn’t pick up a first down on fourth down.

The Blue Raiders got the ball back and got the Generals’ 48-yard line, but the ball went back to Shafter after Caruthers couldn’t pick up a first down with three minutes remaining.

Shafter added a field goal with 1 minute remaining.

Caruthers got the ball back and tried to manufacture a drive, but an interception sealed the Generals’ win.

The Blue Raiders won titles in 1974, 1979, 1990, 1995, 2006, 2017 and 2019.

The Generals are looking for their third title, winning titles in 1948 (Sierra Division) and 1955 (Sequoia).

How they got here:

No. 3 Caruthers: defeated No. 14 Madera 49-35, No. 6 Garza 45-13 and No. 7 Coalinga 22-21

No. 8 Shafter: defeated No. 9 Strathmore 42-21, No. 1 Liberty-Madera Ranchos 14-13 and No. 4 Torres 42-41

Division V: Atascadero 27, Pioneer Valley 13, Final

Pioneer Valley scored two touchdowns in the first quarter.

The Greyhounds got on the points before halftime on a touchdown. The extra point is missed.

It’s halftime.

Atascadero tied the game when Kane Cooks scored on a short run. The Greyhounds got their first lead on Cooks’ second touchdown in the game with 10 minutes remaining.

The game is in the fourth quarter. Cooks picked up his third touchdown.

Both schools are playing for their first Central Section title.

How they got here:

No. 2 Atascadero: defeated No. 7 Madera South 39-8 and No. 3 Dos Palos 35-0

No. 8 Pioneer Valley; defeated No. 9 Delano 27-0, No. 1 Bishop Union 9-7 and No. Templeton 16-13

Division VI: Mendota 38, Hanford West 8, Final

It was a scoreless first quarter, but that changed early in the second quarter when Mendota scored.

The Aztecs added another touchdown just before halftime.

When the second half started, Mendota kept the scoring going on another touchdown.

Jesse Rodriguez scored the Aztecs’ fourth touchdown.

The game moves to the fourth quarter.

Ceja added another touchdown for the Aztecs when he scored on a run with four minutes remaining.

The Aztecs dominated from start to finish for their first section titles since 2016.

The Aztecs won titles in 2011 and 2012 in Division VI and Division V in 2016.

How they got here:

No. 1 Hanford West: defeated No. 9 Kern Valley 13-12 and No. 5 Avenal 27-12

No. 3 Mendota: defeated No. 14 Mira Monte 56-6, No. 6 Woodlake 28-21 and No. 10 Riverdale 49-28