_0.jpg)
Lemoore's football season comes to an end in disappointing loss to Kingsburg 21-13
The Tigers, who appeared in control in the first half, held the lead at the half on the strength of an exceptional performance from running back Darnell Foster, who led his team to the halftime lead on the strength of a second quarter 74-yard punt return for a touchdown. Moments later the talented Foster scored on a 98-yard touchdown run for a 13-0 lead.
Viking back Jimmy Kesting scored on a 67-yard TD run in the third to cut the Kingsburg deficit to 13-7, but a 17-yard pass from quarterback Brandon Steele to Andrew Peterson and a Steele one-yard run put the Vikings up 21-13.
Lemoore, 7-5, had other opportunities and late in the final period, Richard Doctor apparently scored which could have tied the game, but the TD was called back on a penalty.
Lemoore also suffered from what many in the audience thought may have been blown calls by the referees, as the Tigers appeared to recover two fumbles, but instead had them go Kingsburg’s way. The Vikings scored a touchdown following one of the fumble recoveries.
For Lemoore, Foster finished with 95 yards rushing on just five carries while Doctor had 41 yards on 16 touches. Groathouse passed for 75 yards on a seven of 14 night. Allen Perryman had four receptions for 52 yards.
The Vikings came into the Friday night Division II game with a vaunted passing attack and Kingsburg’s Brandon Steele didn’t disappoint, completing 14 of 29 for 140 yards, Andrew Peterson the top beneficiary of Steele’s passing with 56 yards.
Previous Playoff Action
One might surmise that Lemoore might have been down a bit when it hosted Bakersfield’s West High in the first round of the Division II playoffs Friday night. After all the Tigers are coming off a surprising 19-14 loss last week to their cross-county rivals Hanford. However, buoyed by a strong defensive effort and a late touchdown from quarterback Cort Groathouse, the Tigers beat the Vikings 17-10 to advance to a second-round matchup with the Central Sequoia League champs Kingsburg.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, they’ll have to hop on a bus and travel down Highway 43 for the matchup. Game time is 7 p.m. Friday night at Kingsburg High School.
“Defensively we played a heck of a football game,” said Tiger Coach Shannon Pulliam. “Our kids had them backed up against the wall and we stopped them three or four times on fourth down tries. They really did a great job.”
The Tiger defense held the Vikings to about 100 yards of total offense and held them to less than 35 yards in the first half, meanwhile racking up nearly 200 yards of offense.
“Offensively we moved the ball real well, we just had trouble getting it into the end zone …we had a couple of miscues here and there.”
Lemoore’s vaunted tailback, Richard Doctor, who has 32 touchdowns on the year, was held scoreless for the first time this year and rushed for about 130 yards. Quarterback Groathouse, provided the final cushion Lemoore needed to hold off the Vikings when with just 2:10 left in the game, he raced around the right end for 42 yards and a touchdown as his Tigers took a 17-10 lead, and almost certainly a victory.
The Vikings didn’t fold up and die. Hauling in the kickoff, West’s Josh Boyd raced 80 yards for a surprising touchdown to cut the Tiger lead to 17-10, knocking just 13 seconds off the clock and giving his team a last-ditch effort to arise from the dead.
Pulliam was shocked at the kickoff return. “I thought I can’t believe that just happened,” he said. “We did have a little bit of trouble with their kicking game.”
It was not to be, West’s onside kick went right into the arms of a Tiger and Lemoore held on to the ball for the win, and a trip to the second round of the Division II playoffs.
The Tigers will face a formidable foe in yet another Viking team, Kingsburg, which went undefeated in CSL play and was 9-1 overall. They had only one common opponent during the regular season as both the Tigers and Vikings beat Golden West High School.
Coach Dave Steele’s Vikings have a potent offense that relies heavily on the passing arm of Brandon Steele who during the season passed for 1,855 yards according to MaxxPreps website. His favorite received was Austen Hammerstrom, who totaled 498 yards.
“Next week against Kingsburg, a good football team, they do a little bit of run and pass so we’re going to have to play a total game. We’re just going to have to work hard and just keep doing it,” said Pulliam.
Lemoore improved to 7-4 overall while West fell to 5-6.
