Milk Can remains in Hanford as Tigers struggle; Dinuba looms Thursday in Section playoffs

Such has been the case for the Tigers these last few weeks of the season. Lemoore will continue its season in the first round of the Central Section playoffs by visiting Dinuba High School on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.

Following a 52-28 drubbing at Golden West on Oct. 6, the Tigers followed their poor performance by turning in an impressive victory, defeating Mt. Whitney 42-35 to improve to 3-1, remaining in contention for a league championship.

West Yosemite League Standings

But alas, last week’s 34-17 loss (a game the Tigers led in the fourth quarter) to El Diamante removed them from the 2017 title chase.

And Friday night’s annual “reunion” with Hanford managed to pour salt into the Tigers’ open wound. The Bullpups surprised the Tigers, beating them 29-21 in a game that wasn’t that close until the final few minutes.

The Bullpups came into Friday night’s game mired in fourth place (above only Hanford West) with a 1-8 record overall and a 1-4 mark in the WYL.

As it is, thanks to Lemoore’s 3-3 WYL record – good enough for a tie for third – it still managed to earn a trip to the Central Section playoffs, which begin Friday. The brackets were scheduled to be announced late Saturday night.

The Bullpups led the Tigers 29-7 late in the final quarter thanks to a touchdown pass to Tyler Mello. Hanford earlier blocked a Tiger punt, falling on the ball in the end zone for a safety to up the lead to 22-7.

The Tigers had their share of disappointments Friday night, including a Brandon Hargrove kickoff return for a touchdown (on the team’s first possession), called back because of a holding penalty. The Bullpups had just scored on the opening drive of the game, a two-yard run with about eight minutes left in the opening frame.

Hargrove finally got his touchdown in the second quarter when he bullied his way into the end zone from about six yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

Things remained stagnant for the Tigers until late in the game when Lemoore’s all-purpose athlete, Jack Foote, scampered into the end zone from about 29 yards out to cut the Hanford lead to 29-14.

A successful onside kick put the Tigers in a good position to score again, and that’s what they did when Hargrove scored his second TD of the night on a 33-yard run with just 55 seconds left in the game.

Hanford recovered the expected onside kick, and without any timeouts, the Bullpups ran out the clock.