WSL Athletics Week 10 Review/Week 11 Preview: Dos Palos survives upset threat, Coalinga and Mendota earn blowout victories which all sets up for an amazing finish during Championship Week
Kevin Arias-Romero, WSL Athletics Editor-in-Chief, WSL Contributor, The Pagmeter

Coalinga headed on the road one last time in regular season play as they took the just under hour drive North on I-5 then Highway 33 before hitting Manning Avenue and getting James Road on their way into Tranquillity for their first to last game of the season and well it was a wonderful night for one team and a not so wonderful night for the other as Coalinga made Tony Barajas Stadium their home away from home as they cruised to a 55-0 win. Coalinga QB Noah Tasi went 13/18 for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns, their leading rusher was someone else other than their Senior Running Back Julius Borjas who did contribute with a season high 4 rushing touchdowns but in terms of yards that belonged to Junior Running Back Tyson Alvarado who on only 4 carries matching that of his Senior teammate rushed for 117 yards while also adding a touchdown in as well. And leading the receiving group was none other than Senior Wide Receiver Dylan Teixeira who hauled in 6 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown with Junior Wide Receiver JD Reed also bringing in a touchdown catch to go along with his 3 catches for 20 yards. Coalinga will be back home this week for not only Senior Night but also for The WSL Championship Game against Dos Palos who they lost to last season in heartbreaking fashion 22-21 while Tranquillity will travel down I-5 South for about an hour to take on the Buccaneers of Avenal in which whoever team wins will qualify for postseason football. Can Coalinga finish their regular season revenge tour and become WSL Champions? Or Will Dos Palos spoil it once against while also doing it for the 3rd time this season on a home team’s senior night?

Mendota was looking forward to a new week and new opponent after which their previous two have been tough to be around with blowout losses to both Dos Palos and Coalinga while in the process being outscored 75-20 in those losses. Well this week was a new team in front of them and it was The Avenal Buccaneers in which when these two teams met last year in Mendota it ended early late in the 3rd quarter due to a big fight breaking out and some Avenal fans also got mixed into it which caused the game to be called at that time. It would later be determined after combing through game footage provided by both schools that Avenal was the guilty party and gave them a forfeit loss thus awarding Mendota with the forfeit win since at the time of the stoppage Mendota was also ahead 14-7. Thankfully after making the 1 hour drive south on Highway 33/Derrick Avenue before getting off of the I-5 it did not come to blows and this year’s game was played in its entirety with Mendota getting a big dominant win to snap their 2-game losing streak by the score of 40-6. Mendota QB Ryan Preciado went 5/9 for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading in the ground game was in terms of yards was Senior Running back David Gonzalez who rushed for 54 yards on 5 carries while scoring a touchdown with Sophomore Anthony Trinidad also adding a rushing touchdown and Junior Running Back Hawk Garcia contributing with 2 touchdowns and in the air it was the Junior/Senior receiving duo of Erlin Gomez with 3 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown and Julian Silva with 1 catch for 81 yards and a touchdown. Avenal will have their Senior Night next week hosting the Tigers of Tranquillity and Mendota will get its chance to avenge their loss last season to archrival Firebaugh in this year’s installment of The Battle of Highway 33 with both teams looking to improve their playoff positioning as Mendota is projected to potentially end up in Division 6 as is Firebaugh as well for postseason football.

Dos Palos took the brief 20 minute drive southeast on Brannon Ave before then heading South on Highway 33 before getting into Firebaugh for this intriguing matchup against The Eagles of Firebaugh and it was a very competitive game throughout as both sides battled offensively and defensively with the ball exchanging sides countless times and it all came down to one last possession with Firebaugh trying to at least force overtime after being down by as much as two scores but Dos Palos’ defense came up with the game winning sack and Dos Palos avoided the upset and got out of Dodge with a 27-20 victory and will now travel to Coalinga for The WSL Championship with both teams being undefeated in league play and Coalinga also undefeated on the season which with a win would give them their 3rd WSL Title. Firebaugh will make the 10-minute trip south to Mendota for the annual Battle of 33 Rivalry which just like the Coalinga-Dos Palos game will also have playoff implications as both teams are jockeying for prime positioning probably in Division 6 depending on how many qualified teams fill out the Division 5 bracket. Will Dos Palos put themselves in a top 4 seeding in Division 5 and defend their WSL crown for a 2nd straight year? Can Coalinga complete their revenge tour and win the WSL Crown in front of the Horned Toad faithful at Chuck Garten Memorial Bowl? Will Firebaugh fly into Aztecs Stadium and steal another win from The Aztecs and retain The Highway 33 Plaque and Spirit Stick? Or Will Mendota indeed use homefield advantage and clip the Eagles of Firebaugh to take back The Highway 33 Plaque and Spirit Stick? It’s going to be a fun one this weekend

WSL Athletics postgame interview with Dos Palos Head Football Coach Rob Calvert after Firebaugh Game 10/25

KR: Close game throughout which has happened before. What was the game plan to contain their offense?
RC: First off hats off to Firebaugh and their staff they came up with a good game plan and we knew coming in it would be a battle and they like to run with their QB who’s a dual threat and our goal was to contain him and not let him kill us on the field although he did hurt us a few times but he didn’t kill us and we did what we had to do getting a big stop on their final drive to finish it off and that’s the way it goes.

KR: with it being such a close game at the half, what was the message to the team to get them ready for the 2nd half?
RC: We felt good at the half in terms of our offense we were doing what we wanted to and we jumped to a two score lead and battled through adversity with Firebaugh sticking around and battling with us not letting our guys get caught up in it and we did what we needed to do to come out on top in the end.

KR: Next week your heading to Coalinga for the WSL Championship Game which aside from league implications also have big playoff implications since we can now talk about it with your team projected to be put in the Division 5 bracket and Coalinga projected to be put into the Division 4 bracket with that being said how will it affect your game plan prep for Coalinga?
RC: Playoff seeding and all that stuff is out of hands with our goal being to go down to Coalinga knowing they have a great football team and we in Dos Palos also have a great football team and we give them a lot of respect and they’ve got a lot of talent down there and you know our focus is nothing but going down there and trying to find a way to get a win.

KR: Do you think after the playoff format has been once again adjusted that it’s gotten better? Worse? Or is fine the way it is?
RC: You know what it’s definitely gotten better in terms of only being elevated a division or bumped down a division especially with what happened to us a few years ago when we were in Division 5 and gotten bumped up to play in Division 3 for playoffs. So, the format right now has fixed the gap fairly but I don’t think it’s been bad and we’ve tested ourselves early in the season by playing Kerman, Shafter, and Chowchilla which all have had good football this year. And right now, we’re just trying to hit our stride and get into prime peak position and get after these guys while making a good run along the way and the format is the way it is and doesn’t really matter to me to be honest with you, everybody’s playing by the same rules so we’ll just go out there and get after it.

WSL Games 11/1/2024
WSL Championship Game/WSL Athletics Game of the Week: Coalinga Horned Toads (9-0, 4-0 WSL) vs. Dos Palos Broncos (6-3, 4-0 WSL)
Battle of Highway 33: Mendota Aztecs (6-3, 2-2 WSL) vs. Firebaugh Eagles (4-5, 2-2 WSL)
Avenal Buccaneers (2-7, 0-4 WSL) vs. Tranquillity Tigers (2-7, 0-4 WSL), Winner can qualify for postseason.

Playoff Brackets come out Saturday afternoon, Good Luck to all teams this weekend and as always GO FRESNO STATE! BEAT HAWAII AND BECOME BOWL ELIGIBLE ON THE ROAD TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST TITLE GAME!