Tigers take big lead, fail to hang on and drop WYL opener to Redwood; West Thursday

The loss dropped the Tigers to 3-2 on the year and probably out of the Valley rankings. Lemoore put itself in a bit of a bind in the WYL as it fell to 0-1 and now must likely will be forced to win the remainder of its games to win the league championship again.

The Tigers travel to Hanford West in another Thursday night contest. The game begins at 7 p.m. in Hanford High's Neighbor Bowl. The Huskies, on Friday night, defeated Hanford 29-22 for its second victory in a row over the Bullpups.

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While the Lemoore High School varsity football team has been garnering accolades for its explosive offense, its defense has quietly been holding its own, limiting four opponents so far to just 42 points, a 10.5 points per clip average.

The Tigers even held explosive Clovis High School to just 14 points in its only loss of the season. Lemoore began the season with a 47-blowout of Monache High School and allowed just a touchdown in a 38-7 victory over Hoover High a week ago. On a special Thursday game against ranked Sanger High School, Lemoore’s defense allowed three touchdowns in a 42-21 victory that improved its record to 3-1 on the year and send a clear signal to its West Yosemite League challengers that the road to the league title will undoubtedly go through Lemoore.

Sure, Richard Doctor continues his record-setting pace on the offensive side of the line averaging well over 200 yards a game, but the three victories and Lemoore’s WYL front runner status were cemented by the Tigers’ vaunted defense.

Doctor delivered once again on Thursday night against Sanger, rushing for 266 yards on 34 carries. He also scored four touchdowns, one of them on a 63-yard run in the second half. His first touchdown of the night gave the Tigers the early 7-0 lead. Moments later Rashaun Davis followed up with the first of his two touchdowns on the night, a 4-yard burst into the end zone. Davis also scored on a short run in the second period as Lemoore went into the half leading the Apaches 21-14.

Cort Groathouse had another solid outing, connecting on seven of 10 passes for 63 yards, his favorite receiver, Trenton Mcghuey who hauled in three passes for 42 yards.

The Apaches came out strong in the third period, with Brandon Gonzales scoring on a 40-yard burst, but that was it for Sanger as the Tiger defensive unit kicked in and Doctor put the finishing touches on the win by scoring the Tigers’ final three touchdowns to ensure his team’s third victory in four starts.

Lemoore faces what appears to be a tough test against Redwood High on Friday night in Lemoore in the Tigers WYL opener. The Rangers come into Friday’s game with a 3-1 mark as well and defeated Hoover High last Thursday 34-7, the same team Lemoore beat a couple of weeks ago 38-7. And of course the Rangers are coached by former Tiger coach Shaun Ball who led the Tigers for several seasons before returning to his hometown to coach at his alma mater.

Lemoore’s defense will certainly be put to the test when the Rangers Adam Vance enters Tiger Stadium. Vance passed for 251 yards against the Patriots on an 11 of 14 passing night. Wide receiver Rickie Garcia caught four passes for 122 yards.