Monache looks to rebound

Source: The Porterville Recorder, Calif.迷你倉Sept. 06--For the Monache football team, the best defense is an offense.After a 47-0 rout at the hands of Lemoore to open the season, the Marauders hope to return to what has been their successful formula over the years -- a ball control offense that keeps opposing teams offenses off the field when they travel to Hanford to take on the Bullpups.In other action involving Orange Belt teams, Granite Hills will host Shafter at Rankin Stadium, Strathmore will travel to Robert F. Kennedy and Lindsay will travel to Immanuel. Kickoff for all the games is set for 7:30 p.m. today.MONACHE (0-1) AT HANFORD (0-1), 7:30 P.M. TODAYThe Marauders are a little healthier than they were last week when they took on Lemoore, but they're still healing, said Monache coach Chris Likewise. "We're still a few guys down," he said.But Monache should receive a big lift from the return of one of its top defensive players, defensive end Dakota Waggoner, who's been out since sustaining a knee injury in a scrimmage against Redwood on Aug. 23."It should boost our defense a little bit," Likewise said. "We'll get him going and see how effective he's going to be on his knee."But the key will be how well his offense led by quarterback Miguel Mejia and running back Nick Aguilar does in keeping the ball away from Hanford, Likewise said. "We want to shorten the game, control the clock and have a chance to win in the fourth quarter," he said.That won't be easy against a talented Hanford defense. "Their defense is much improved from last year," Likewise said. "They seem to be much more physical up front."But Monache will need to keep the ball out of the hands of Hanford quarterback Jake Young as much as possible. "He's one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the Valley," Likewise said. "He's got a very strong arm. He's a huge threat that we have to contain."In a 36-16 loss to Valley power Central last week, Young was 16-of-28 for 174 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.GRANITE HILLS (0-1) VS. SHAFTER (1-0), 7:30 P.M. TODAY AT RANKIN STADIUMFor Granite to have any chance to be competitive against Shafter, which opened with a 42-14 win over Strathmore, the Grizzlies must continue to play defense the way it did in a 12-6 loss in its opener last week to Kennedy, but must also cut down on its turnovers."We've got a huge challenge on Friday," Granite Hills coach Marc Salazar said. "They're big and they're strong. They've got great numbers. It's a big climb for us. We're going to really step up our game."But Salazar said he believes his team can compete with Shafter if it cuts down on the turnovers and plays defense the way it did against Kennedy."We definitely have to cut down on putting the ball on the ground," Salazar said. "We killed ourselves. If儲存倉we can manage to hold onto the ball and eat up the clock and the defense plays like it did last week, we'll give ourselves a chance."Defensive standouts for Granite last week included Marcus Beltran, who had 11 tackles, and Fernando Tapia, who had eight tackles, including two for loss.STRATHMORE (0-1) AT KENNEDY (1-0), 7:30 P.M. TODAYJavier Moreno and Rico Madrigal, two of Strathmore's four running backs the Spartans count on, will return this week after having to leave last week's game with injuries, Strathmore coach Jeromy Blackwell said. Moreno gained 77 yards on just six carries, but even more importantly, he led the effort on the defensive line that effectively stopped Shafter's rushing attack in the first half.SHS led Shafter 14-7 and the game was tied 14-14 at halftime. Madrigal scored on a 7-yard run and Carlos Lopez completed an 8-yard scoring pass to Tony Cruz for SHS. Blackwell said lineman Matt Redfearn also played well last week.Moreno and Madrigal join Uriel Mejia and Eduardo Castro at running back to lead the Spartan rushing attack.Rolando Arrona led Kennedy last week, scoring both of the Thunderbird touchdowns. "They create some problems," Blackwell said. "They want to throw the football."Even though SHS beat Kennedy 36-14 last year, Blackwell said the Thunderbirds did have success throwing the ball against his team. But as long as his team doesn't turn the ball over and does what it's supposed to do, Blackwell said, "we should win."Strathmore didn't turn the ball over last week, although Shafter did block a punt against the Spartans.LINDSAY (0-0) AT IMMANUEL (0-1), 7:30 P.M. TODAYImmanuel made a splash during the offseason when several players transferred from Clovis West, including running back DayV'aughn Montgomery, who was one of Clovis West's best players. But Immanuel didn't make much of a splash in its season opener. Even though Montgomery played well, it wasn't nearly enough in a 38-6 loss to Woodlake."They've got a real good running back," said Lindsay coach Jesse Lira about Montgomery. Lira also said Immanuel has talent on the defensive line. But Lira also said, "we just have to stay mistake free." If his team does that, Lira said, "we should be successful."Lira said he was pleased with his team's play in last week's scrimmage against Orosi, but also said his team needs to do a better job of holding onto the ball. Lindsay has plenty of weapons, including quarterback Alex Jara, running back Jacob Hernandez and receiver Gaven Mann. And they have a big, physical offensive line to work behind led by the 351-pound human condo, Chris Missalefua.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Porterville Recorder (Porterville, Calif.) Visit The Porterville Recorder (Porterville, Calif.) at .recorderonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉價錢