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Tigers 0-2 after 23-15 loss to Memorial High; powerful Buchanan this Friday
The Tigers will have to make adjustments – several – if they hope to put up a challenge at Buchanan High School this Friday. Lemoore hits the road for the first time after dropping its first two games and will take on powerful Buchanan at formidable Veterans Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.
The Bears, who have split with the Tigers the past two years, have opened their season with two early and impressive wins, an Aug. 8, 33-14 shellacking of Hanford, and then a Thursday 28-17 win over Bullard.
To be fair to Lemoore, the Tigers didn’t fill their preseason schedule with a bunch of pushovers. Lemoore opened with powerful Paso Robles last week before hosting longtime valley football stalwart Memorial Friday night. Buchanan regularly enjoys top 10 Central Section status and following Friday’s matchup with Buchanan, the Tigers, on Sept. 23, will travel to Sanger, a team that regularly gives Lemoore fits, and like the Tigers, has been a regular on the playoff circuit in recent years.
But things just didn’t go well for Lemoore Friday night, beginning with the preparation of the field. The painted numbers were barely visible and the lines were difficult to see, not that it had much of an effect on the two teams, but it created issues for those attempting to track yardage and downs, like sports reporters.
Lemoore’s defense played well enough to hold Memorial to just six first-half points, a short touchdown run by Panther quarterback Michael Alvarez. The point after failed, giving Memorial a 6-0 lead.
The Tigers took a 7-6 lead into the half when Tiger quarterback Jacob Taylor found a fleet-footed Jack Foote open for a 22-yard touchdown pass at the 6:13 mark of the second quarter.
While the first half was marked by a lack of heroics – there were 12 punts alone – it wasn’t until the opening minutes of the second half that Memorial perked up. Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Panthers’ Alvarez guided his team into Tiger territory, and despite a penalty that put them back on their own 49-yard line, Dashawn Holliman hauled in a 51-yard TD pass to put the Panthers up 13-7.
Starting quarterback Taylor was forced to exit the game midway through the third period with an injury, forcing Jimmie Jeff to take over quarterback duties. Jeff, who performed admirably in the backfield, also had a pair of interceptions in the game, the first with just 41 seconds left in the first half when he stopped a Panther drive with his pickoff at the Tigers’ one-yard line.
Again with the Panthers driving, and in Lemoore territory, Jeff picked off Alvarez, returning the ball to the Memorial 40. The Tigers were unable to convert and punted again, the 14th of the game.
Despite the travails, Lemoore still had an opportunity going into the final minutes of the game. With just 3:23 left in the fourth quarter, Jeff found Foote from 11 yards out, and then hit Jared Holaday for the two-point conversion, to cut Memorial’s lead to just eight points at 23-13.
Another touchdown and 2-point conversion would have tied the game, but the Tigers failed to get the ball back in the remaining minutes.
