Tiger gridders fall to 2-3 in West Yosemite League title hunt as Bullpups come to town

The Tigers' slim hopes of capturing yet another league championship were crushed Friday night in Visalia when El Diamante kept its slim title hopes alive by defeating the Tigers 21-11.

West Yosemite League Standings

The Tigers fell to 2-3 in the WYL and are 2-7 overall. The Miners improved to 3-2 in the league and will face Golden West (4-1) Friday night and has a shot at tying for the league crown by beating the Trailblazers and hoping Redwood (4-1, 8-1) loses to Mt. Whitney (2-3, 3-6).

Lemoore's Damien Charleston keys in on an El Diamante player Friday night in Visalia.

Photo by Bill Burris, Lemooresports.com

Should the Bullpups (3-2, 5-4) defeat Lemoore, they could very well share a slice of the crown, depending on how the others do.

The Tigers were hanging tough against the Miners Friday night in Groppetti Automotive Visalia Community Stadium, trailing just 7-3 at the half, the only Tiger points a Josh Roa 41-yard field goal in the first quarter, which came at the end of a 13-play, 75-yard drive on Lemoore’s opening possession.

El Diamante took the lead for good later in the first half on quarterback Parker Boswell’s 30-yard TD pass to Mason Garispe. Boswell had two touchdowns including a fourth quarter 51-yard effort to Derek Hernandez.

Lemoore’s defense played well, forcing a pair of turnovers in the second half. One of those turnovers turned into a one-yard touchdown by Tiger quarterback Jimmie Jeff, and two-point conversion, to cut the El Diamante lead to 14-11.