A young but aggressive Tiger football team will take the field Friday night in Tiger Stadium looking for wins

By Ed Martin, Editor
Lemoore's varsity football team and Coach Rich Tuman are looking forward to a successful season, which begins Friday night. The Tigers played just two games last spring, including the finale against Hanford.
Lemoore's varsity football team and Coach Rich Tuman are looking forward to a successful season, which begins Friday night. The Tigers played just two games last spring, including the finale against Hanford.
Gary Feinstein/Feinsteinfotos

Is it that time already? While Lemoore High School students get themselves acclimated to masks in the classroom, the local high school’s athletic teams are preparing for battle on the field and courts, and they’re hoping the coronavirus doesn’t get in their way this season.

So far, Lemoore hasn’t placed restrictions on fan attendance, and the players appear to have escaped the burden of COVID-19. However, three players were sidelined and will miss this week’s opener, not due to COVID-19, but contact tracing.

Lemoore High School’s first football game – the home opener against Washington Union,  is scheduled for this Friday (Aug. 20) in Tiger Stadium. Gametime is 7:30 p.m.

For the Tigers, 2020-2021 was certainly an unusual year as COVID-19 decimated high school sports and hindered coach Rich Tuman’s coaching debut. Lemoore High School played just two spring games – losing them both. The pandemic seemed even worse because the Tigers suffered a 48-7 loss to cross-county rival Hanford.

However, the coaches and players took last year’s two games in stride. “Just to play the two games was a win,” said Tuman, who is looking forward to a 10-game season and hopefully the Valley playoffs. Last year we started (the season) in June, and it didn’t end until April. We just hope COVID doesn’t get in the way.”

Things appear to be looking up, though, for local high school sports fans. Lemoore’s varsity football team, and a returning Tuman, have a full slate of games that, of course, ends in Hanford on Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Tuman is also high on his players, including quarterback Ty Chambers, a junior for the Tigers. “I Can see him going on into the future,” said Tuman. He’s also high on nose guard and offensive tackle Isaiah Morales. “He’s just one of those guys that’s always in condition. He’s got a high motor.”

Tuman is also pleased with his sophomore players. “We have six sophomores on the team that will probably start, and if not starting, they’ll be role players. We’re only going to start three of four seniors. It’s a young team, sure, but we’ll be competitive.”

The second-year head coach said Lemoore plans to open the season with a solid defense, referred to as a highly aggressive 3-4 defense. “We had a scrimmage last week against Tulare Western, and we looked good on both sides of the ball. Our defense looked really good. They came out and were aggressive. The first team gave up just two first downs.”

In other openers, Lemoore’s varsity girls’ volleyball team and its head coach, Valerie Burkett, opened the season on Tuesday (8/17)  with a 6:30 p.m. game at Sunnyside High School. Then they will stay on the road Tuesday, Aug. 24, with a match at Tulare Union. The LHS ladies enjoy their first home contest on Aug. 26 when they host Edison High at 6:30 p.m. in the school’s event center.

Visit Max Prep for Lemoore High School schedules and more:

https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/lemoore-tigers-(lemoore,ca)/home.htm

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