High school football: Clovis East rolls; wild game in Madera and first win for a school

Clovis East coach Brandon Nagle said his team had first game jitters.

Scoring many points would say otherwise in The Fresno Bee’s fourth-ranked Timberwolves’ 63-34 victory over Foothill-Henderson, Nev. in a season opening high school football game for both teams at Lamonica Stadium on Friday night.

“We missed a lot of touchdowns,” Nagle said.

Clovis East quarterback Tyus Miller still made things happen when he finished the game tossing five touchdowns — two each by Aidan Wilson and Tommy Nix. Harold Duvall also saw the end zone on a long touchdown reception..

The Timberwolves defense got after it, too, when Josh De La Cruz had an interception return for a touchdown.

“It sets the tone that we need to get better,” Nagle said. “We have a long way to go. I thought the execution was as good as it could be for a first game. We’re trying to get better and clean up the mistakes we made.”

Clovis East put Foothill on the schedule because they couldn’t find a game against a California school.

Nagle said they were offered to play an away game, but declined because they wanted to open at home.

Foothill called.

“We got lucky and they did a one-year contract to come to us,” Nagle said. “We’re really thankful that they did. They were the only team that offered us a home game. I was really happy that they wanted to play with us. They’re a good team.”

First win for Sanger West

Sanger West picked up its first win in school history after defeating first-year school Del Oro-Bakersfield 61-0.

Hornets coach Rob Thompson said his team was rightfully fired up when the clock hit zero.

After all, the Hornets finished their first season at 0-10.

“Very long season,” Thompson said. “It’s a big deal to get that weight off our shoulders.”

He said it’s a reminder to the players when they see the scores from last season in the weight room.

Wild game in Madera

Michael Pedro returned a 98-yard kickoff return and Zach Prince scored the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

But more special teams got it done for the Coyotes despite giving up a late touchdown.

An extra-point conversion would tie the game and likely send the game to overtime.

JJ Lopez said no to that when he deflected an extra point try when the ball sailed to the right-upright that bounced off, giving Coyotes a 28-27 victory.

The Coyotes trailed by 13 points before rallying.

“It was a crazy game,” Madera coach Kenneth Paolinelli said.

Prince had six carries for 42 yards. Daniel Mendez finished with nine rushes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Game balls

▪ Conner Bohlken, Sanger: He finished the game against Dinuba with four touchdowns.’

▪ Andrew Camarillo, Orosi: Three touchdowns helped the Cardinals stave off Madera South.

▪ Jackson Cinfel, Clovis North: He rushed for three scores in the Broncos’ victory over San Joaquin Memorial.

▪ Jordan Crisp, Tulare Union: He threw for four touchdowns to lead the Tribe past Mt. Whitney.

▪ Danny Gonzalez, Mission Oak: Passed for three touchdowns, all in the first half, in the Hawks’ win over Monache.

▪ Joshua Harris, Tulare Western: His fumble recovery set up a go-ahead TD in the Mustangs’ 14-6 victory over El Diamante.

▪ JJ Lopez, Madera: He got his hand on the ball on an extra-point try that forced the ball to hit the right-upright in a win.

▪ McKay Madsen, Clovis North: Just like Cinfel, he had three rushing scores.

▪ Tyus Miller, Clovis East: Passed for five touchdowns in a win over Foothill-Henderson, Nev.

▪ Deagan Rose, Clovis: He passed for four touchdowns to lead the Cougars past Garces.

▪ Brandon Smith, Central: He ran 10 times for 82 yards and two touchdowns in the Grizzlies’ win over Edison-Stockton.

▪ Max Warkentin, Kingsburg: He finished with four touchdown passes in a win over Paso Robles.

Bee’s predictions

The Fresno Bee went 5-0 in its predictions in Week 0.

The Bee picked Clovis North, Sanger, Garza, Lemoore and Kerman to win.

They did just that.

Garza defeated Immanuel 32-12; Lemoore rolled past Selma 48-0 and Kerrman won 35-13.

He said it

▪ Coach David Wilson on his team’s performance in a victory over Paso Robles: “I thought the guys played well. Had a few mistakes on special teams, but other than that it was a great team win. Lots of guys were touching the football and our defense was swarming. Denis Gagnon and Kalen Pederson led the rushing attack, while Warkentin distributed the ball very well to Boyd, Holden Hirschkorn and Dalyn Breckinridge. Offensive line protected really well. It’s a great start.”

Top 25 fared

1. Liberty-Bakersfield (1-0) defeated Highland-Palmdale 34-7

2. Clovis West (0-1) lost to St. Mary’s Stockton 38-28

3. Clovis North (1-0) defeated San Joaquin Memorial 62-8

4. Clovis East (1-0) defeated Foothill-Henderson, Nev. 63-34

5. Centennial (1-0) defeated Redwood 35-13

6. San Joaquin Memorial (0-1) lost to Clovis North 62-8

7. Central (1-0) defeated Edison-Stockton 48-13

8. Buchanan (1-0) defeated St. Paul X-St. Matthias 38-18

9. St. Joseph (0-1) lost to Palos Verdes 37-13

10. Garces (0-1) lost to Clovis 41-27

11. Lemoore (1-0) defeated Selma 48-0

12. Kingsburg (1-0) defeated Paso Robles 59-21

13. Sanger (1-0) defeated Dinuba 41-7

14. Frontier (1-0) defeated North 45-14

15. Clovis (1-0) defeated Garces 41-27

16. Edison (0-1) lost to Kennedy 64-24

17. Hanford (1-0) defeated Bullard 71-7

18. Central Valley Christian (1-0) defeated Ripon Christian 63-41

19. Bakersfield Christian (1-0) defeated Mission Prep 13-8

20. Redwood (0-1) lost to Centennial 35-13

21. Sunnyside (1-0) defeated Golden Valley-Bakersfield 38-20

22. Bakersfield (1-0) defeated Righetti 14-13

23. Washington Union (1-0) defeated Fresno 29-0

24. Kennedy (1-0) defeated Edison 64-24

25. Porterville (1-0) defeated McLane 26-9