PAGMETER CHAMPIONSHIP/SEMIFINALS FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS

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PAGMETER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK SEMIFINALS/QUARTERFINAL FINAL SCORES

JACE DEMACABALIN-KENNEDY THUNDERBIRDS
Junior Jace Demacabalin rushed for 270 yards and scored 4 TDs in the win over Righetti High 56-32. For the year, Jace has rushed for 1,989 yards and has scored 24 TDs.

ADRIAN TORRES-KERMAN LIONS
Junior QB Adrian Torres went 25-32 passing for 369 yards with 3 TDs passes and the Lions beat Garza 35-34. For the year, AT has now thrown for 2,972 yards and 28 TD passes.

EHIS IDONI-ROOSEVELT ROUGH RIDERS
Super freshman Ehis Idoni rushed for 276 yards, scored 3 TDs and the Riders beat South 33-27. Ehis does not run or look like a freshman. This kid is special. For the year he has rushed for 1,659 yards and has scored 18 TDs.

JADEN PENA-COALINGA HORNED TOADS
Senior Jaden Pena had a big game on both sides of the ball. On D, Jaden made 16 tackles, picked off a pass, On offense, he rushed for 71 yards, scored a TD, caught 8 passes for 110 yards and caught a TD pass. That is a GREAT game!

TONY ALVAREZ-CORCORAN PANTHERS
Senior QB Tony Alvarez went 14-23 passing for 317 yards and 4 TD passes and the Panthers beat Granite Hills 46-29. Tony has been on fire in leading the Panthers at the right time. For the year, Tony has thrown for 2,497 yards and 32 TD passes.

NATHAN GONZALES-MIRA MONTE LIONS
The Lions beat Firebaugh 21-14. Nathan Gonzales rushed for 231 yards and scored 3 TDs. The Offensive line did a great job all night long. Gonzales has now rushed for 2,035 yards and has scored 24 TDs.

MARIYON SLOAN-SHAFTER GENERALS
Mariyon Sloan rushed for 186 yards, scored 2 TDs, and also caught a TD pass in the win over North. Sloan is one of the best players in the state.

ROBERT GARCIA-DELANO TIGERS
Senior Robert Garcia rushed for 218 yards in the win over Strathmore.

COACHING MOVES/CHANGES

WASCO TIGERS
HC Chad Martinez will not be back after coaching for 6 years at Wasco. The Tigers won a D5 Championship, won a South Sequoia league Championship and regional state championship. Coach Martinez did a tremendous job in building the Tigers into a physical football program. Wasco only has two on-campus coaches which is simply ridiculous. How can any school only have two on-campus football coaches and expect to win! The Wasco administration needs to figure out if they want to compete with schools like Shafter and get serious about winning or move down to D6.

STOCKDALE MUSTANGS
Daron Mackey is out as Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator Chad Dials took over for the rest of the year

YOSEMITE BADGERS
Head Coach John Beck will net be back in 2025. John will still be the AD

EL DIAMANTE MINERS
Head Coach Devin Ramos will not be back in 2025

EAST BLADES
Head Coach Bibi Carrasco will not be coming back in 2025

HANFORD WEST HUSKIES
Head Coach Nico Herron in his first year is OUT as Head Coach. The interim Head Coach will be Rashard Hayes.

CHAVEZ TITANS
Head Coach Jesse Ortega is stepping down. Coach did a great job in building a tremendous football program. This year the Titans were hit hard with injuries.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS FINAL SCORES

There is a chance of rain and if it rains, throw the predictions out the window because a wet football changes everything.

JOIN THE PAGMETER TWITTER (X) SPACES POST-GAME SHOW AFTER ALL THE FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT BIG GAMES

CENTRAL SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL SCORE
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CENTRAL GRIZZLIES
CENTRAL SECTION CHAMPIONS

No 3 CENTRAL GRIZZLIES (11-2) CENTRAL SECTION CHAMPIONS vs No 1 CLOVIS EAST T WOLVES (12-1)
The Grizzlies beat Clovis North 27-10. Junior Brandon Smith rushed for 110 yards and scored 2 TDs. Sophomore QB Jelani Dippel rushed for 78 yards, scored a TD, went 18-30 passing for 229 yards and threw a TD to Ej Morgan. The Grizzlies did a great job against the Broncos running attack. Jareal Albert made 9 tackles and Aidan Chavez with 8 tackles.
The T Wolves beat Clovis 47-13. Ty Miller rushed for 62 yards, scored a TD, went 13-16 passing for 240 yards and 4 TDs. Harold Duvall caught 4 passes for 154 yards, 2 TDs and DJ Booker caught a TD pass. Taemell Horton rushed for 154 yards, scored on a rushing TD and caught a TD pass.
GRIZZLIES X FACTOR- The Grizzlies must pound the ball with Brandon Smith, contain Ty Miller in the pocket, don’t give up the big play. And force some turnovers and QB Jelani Dippel needs a big game.
T WOLVES X FACTOR- The offense is averaging 45 points per game and if they get off to a great start, game over. The defense will need a good night for the T Wolves to go 13-0.
PAGMETER X FACTOR-This is a rematch from week 7 and the T Wolves won 34-26. The T Wolves had 5 sacks and forced 5 big turnovers and the Grizzlies still hung around.
For the Grizzlies to win they can’t afford turnovers and Smith needs a big night running with the ball and the Grizz must keep Ty Miller frustrated standing on the sidelines by watching. Dippel needs a clean game.
This is the T Wolves dream team with so many transfers and if they don’t win it this year, they might not win it again for a while. The easy pick is to take CE but…The Grizzlies will be the team to beat the next 4 years.
The Grizzlies are very young and they will have 19 starters returning for next year. When you get to the Championship week, you can throw out being young. The Grizzlies Coaching staff has the big edge in the game because Kyle Biggs just knows how to get to the big game.
The Grizzlies are a heavy favorite to be one of the teams next year playing on Championship Friday.
This is a tough pick because the Grizzlies have the best coaching staff in the Central Section and the T Wolves have the best QB. The Grizzlies come in with some injuries.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Grizzlies have played on Championship Friday 2012, 2016, 2017 (Champs), 2018 (Champs), 2019 (Champs & State Champs), 2020 (the world ended), 2021 and 2023.
The T Wolves-2003 (Champs) 2006 (Champs)
PAGMETER PREDICTION WOLVES 35 GRIZZLIES 34
FINAL GRIZZLIES 33 T WOLVES 24

DIVISION I-A CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FRONTIER TITANS
DIVISION 1-A SECTION CHAMPIONS

No 3 FRONTIER TITANS (9-4) at No 1 BAKERSFIELD DRILLERS (11-2)
The Titans beat Centennial 21-14. With the score tied at the half 14-14, the Titans defense did a great job shutting out the G Hawks in the 2nd half. RJ Green scored on a 7 yard TD run and also the game winning 9 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter. Brady Campbell hit Nsongbeh Ginyui on a 13 yard TD pass.
The Drillers beat Arroyo Grande 24-21. The Eagles did a nice job slowing down the Drillers offense. Jack Hopkins nailed a 41 yard field goal with .10 seconds to go and the Drillers pulled off the win. Brenton Brown rushed for 86 yards and Brison Abbott rushed for 70 yards. BJ Veasey scored a TD. Markis Gomez threw a TD pass to Davis Olson and Joey Wheeler picked a fumble and returned it 80 yards for a TD.
PAGMETER X FACTOR This is a simple one. The Titans must play physical defense, control the line of scrimmage and slow down the Drillers running attack.
The Drillers can not play like they did against Arroyo Grande and expect to win. The Titans have won 5 in a row and they are feeling that they have played the much tougher schedule for this game. Can the Titans slow down Abbott and the Drillers’ speedy offense?
This game will be played at the famous Griffith Field which opened 101 years ago. There will be a huge crowd on a cold night.
Sanger and Tulare Union are so jealous because they both got screwed and had to play up.
PAGMETER PREDICTION TITANS 23 DRILLERS 21
FINAL TITANS 31 DRILLERS 14

DIVISION 2

No 5 SUNNYSIDE WILDCATS (8-5) at No 1 BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN EAGLES (10-2)
The Wildcats beat Tulare Western 43-8.
The Eagles beat St Joseph 21-9. The Eagles defense stepped up. Talen Mather rushed for 84 yards and scored 2 TDs. Ethan Eckles rushed for 48 yards and scored a TD.
PAGMETER X FACTOR The Wildcats will need a big game on defense.
Can the Eagles defense stay with WR CJ Jones and contain QB Tanner Willson? This comes down to the Eagles defense and can they take away the Wildcats deep ball.
PAGMETER PREDICTION EAGLES 33 WILDCATS 27
FINAL EAGLES 29 WILDCATS 14

No 3 CENTRAL VALLEY CHRISTIAN CAVALIERS (8-4) at No 2 GOLDEN WEST TRAILBLAZERS (10-2)
The Cavaliers beat San Luis Obispo 21-14. Micah Paden scored a 29 yard TD run and the game winning 10 yard TD run with less than a minute to go. Nathan Peters threw a 40 yard TD pass to Gunnar Piepgrass.
The Blazers beat Kingsburgs 35-34 on a VERY controversial call at the end of the game. With the score 34-28 Kingsburg leading with 10 seconds to go and the Blazers with the ball on the Vikings 11 yard line with no timeouts. The Blazers and instead of throwing in the endzone with a couple of plays, they gambled and ran a back side screen and got ball down to the 1 yard line and a first down stopping the clock momentarily with .1 second to go, the clock runs out and the place went crazy with a Vikings win but the refs huddled up with the GW coaching staff for a solid 3 minutes and the refs took the win away from Kingsburg. The Blazers run a play and Case Anders scored on a 1-yard run. Matthew Garza then nailed the extra-point kick.
Bottom line, the Blazers should have never snapped the ball with 1 second to go and with no timeouts but with the 3 minute timeout, it gave GW plenty of time to coach up the team and run on the whistle. Without the 3 minute break….game over.
Just like last year when Shafter got screwed in the Torres game, This year was Kingsburg.
PAGMETER X FACTOR-It’s the old Coach Donnie Arax vs Arax former Knight player and now GW Head Coach Travis Anderson.
The Cavaliers must contain sophomore QB Jayden Najera who is very slippery.
Can the Blazers slow down the physical CVC running game?
The Cavaliers have played a much tougher schedule and they must be able pound the football and keep the GW offense on the sidelines with long drives.
PAGMETER PREDICTION CAVALIERS 31 BLAZERS 28
FINAL CAVALIERS 28 BLAZERS 7

DIVISION 3

No 6 KENNEDY THUNDERBIRDS (8-5) at No 2 MADERA COYOTES (8-4)
The Thunderbirds beat Righetti High 56-32. Jace Demacabalin rushed for 270 yards and scored 4 TDs. Jamison Membreve rushed for 115 yards and scored 3 TDs.
The Coyotes beat Nipomo 35-21. The Coyotes with a big 2nd half shutting out the Pirates. Jesse Rodriquez scored on 2 rushing TDs, Blake Burton scored a TD. QB Joel Arellano threw 2 TD passes each to Jayden Martinez and Kenji Tiscareno.
PAGMETER X FACTOR-It’s the physical Birds vs the Speedy Coyotes. The Birds offense isn’t fancy and they will work the clock so the Coyotes have to hold serve and score plenty and can’t afford to be punting much. Can the Birds defense slow down the speedy Coyotes offense.
Can the Lions defense slow down the physical Birds offense?
PAGMETER PREDICTION THUNDERBIRDS 44 COYOTES 40
FINAL COYOTES 56 THUNDERBIRDS 49

No 5 KERMAN LIONS (11-2) at No 1 PORTERVILLE PANTHERS (9-3)
The TIGER BOWL
The Lions beat Garza 35-34. Julien Velez rushed for 114 yards and scored 2 TDs. QB Adrian Torres went 25-32 passing for 369 yards and 3 TDs. Nicholas Grewal caught 2 TDs and Velez caught a TD pass,
The Panthers shutout Monache 35-0. Ethan Enriquez threw 4 TD passes and Dillan Williams caught 3 TDs.
PAGMETER X FACTOR Can the Lions match up with the big and Physical Panthers?
Can the Panthers slow down the red hot Lions offense? This game will have a couple outstanding junior QBs with Torres vs Enriquez, Which defense can play better against the junior QBs?
PAGMETER PREDICTION PANTHERS 33 LIONS 27
FINAL LIONS 27 PANTHERS 24

DIVISION 4

No 15 ROOSEVELT ROUGH RIDERS (9-4) at No 3 COALINGA HORNED TOADS (13-0)
The Rough Riders beat South 33-27. Freshman Ehis Idoni rushed for 276 yards and scored 3 TDs. Freshman Jerry Thomas scored on a 45 yard TD run and caught a 6 yard TD pass from junior QB Cj Barker.
The Horned Toads beat Chowchilla 35-7. The Toads defense played outstanding. Jaden Pena had a big game on both sides of the ball. On D, Jaden made 16 tackles, picked off a pass, on offense, he rushed for 71 yards, scored a TD, caught 8 passes for 110 yards and caught a TD pass. Senior QB Noah Tasi went 21-26 passing for 231 yards and 2 TDs. Jd Reed caught a 34 yard TD pass.
PAGMETER X FACTOR for the Riders to pull off another win, they must have a big night on offense and force some turnovers. The Riders have to pound the football with red hot RB Idoni and play great defense.
Can the Toads defense control the line of scrimmage? If they do game over. The Toads are dangerous on both sides of the ball. Can the Riders defense slow down a very good Toads offense?
PAGMETER PREDICTION TOADS 35 RIDERS 25
FINAL TOADS 49 RIDERS 0

No 5 IMMANUEL EAGLES (10-3) at No 1 SHAFTER GENERALS (11-1)
The Eagles beat McLane 22-21, Jackson Leibee rushed for 116 yards, scored 2 TDs and also scored on a 2 pt run in the 3rd quarter and that turned out to be the game winner. Junior QB Vincent Rosander scored on a big rushing TD.
The Generals beat North 56-7. The Generals shut it down at halftime. Mariyon Sloan rushed for 186 yards, scored 2 TDs, and caught a TD pass from Ezekiel Osborne. Ez went 12-18 passing for 167 yards and 4 TDs. Alex Reyna caught 2 TDs and Tremelle Spain caught a TD.
PAGMETER X FACTOR The Generals are on a mission to finish strong, especially after Last year in the semifinals. The Generals got screwed in the Torres game and we all know what happened.
Can the Generals slow down the Eagles running attack? The Eagles offensive line averages almost 300 lbs per player.
Can the Eagles defense slow down the best Generals offense in school history?
For the Eagles to pull the upset, they must control the clock with long drives that end with points.
PAGMETER PREDICTION GENERALS 38 EAGLES 21
FINAL GENERALS 31 EAGLES 22

DIVISION 5

No 4 MORRO BAY PIRATES (7-6) at No 1 BISHOP UNION BRONCOS (10-3)
The Pirates beat Atascadero 42-14. Red hot junior QB Sands Dougherty rushed for 85 yards, scored a TD, went 23-27 passing for 387 yards and 5 TDs. Ryder Busch caught 3 TDs and John Myers & James Nickel each caught a TD.
The Broncos beat Santa Ynez 14-7. QB Emory Dondero went 13-19 for 209 yards, threw 2 TD passes each to little brother Dom. The Broncos defense did the rest and leading the way on D was Garin Pritchard who made 10 tackles with 2 sacks. Carlos Sualez and Nik Calderon each had an interception.
PAGMETER X FACTOR This is a great and interesting matchup. The Pirates will want to play 7vs7 and throw the ball all the yard and the Broncos will want to bring the pressure and be physical.
The weather could be a factor.
The Broncos have to bring the pressure on Dougherty and make him uncomfortable and contain one of the best QBs in the state. If the Pirates do turn this game into 7vs7, there will be a lot of points scored.
Can the Pirates defense slow down a very good Broncos offense?
PAGMETER PREDICTION BRONCOS 34 PIRATES 27
FINAL PIRATES 28 BRONCOS 20

No 7 SELMA BEARS (8-5) at No 6 DELANO TIGERS (8-5)
The Bears beat Hoover 43-20. The Bears are playing their best football at the right time. The Bears had a 29-6 lead at the half. Aaron Ramirez scored on a 1 and 4 yard TD runs. Jacob Hernandez scored on a 66 yard run. Dallas Luna scored on a 3 yard TD run. Daniel Armendarez scored on a 11 yard TD run. Kayden Berry scored on a 4 yard TD run.
The Tigers beat Strathmore 38-16. Senior Robert Garcia rushed for 218 yards. Sophomore QB rushed for 84 yards, scored a TD, went 8-13 passing and threw 3 TD passes each to Ben Herrera, Raul Quezada and Jordan Duate.
PAGMETER X FACTOR and it’s the same for both teams, Which offensive line can win the line of scrimmage battle and which defense will play better against the run. Turnovers might be huge in this one.
PAGMETER PREDICTION TIGERS 27 BEARS 23
FINAL BEARS 14 BEARS 6

DIVISION 6
No 3 LINDSAY CARDINALS (8-5) at No 2 CORCORAN PANTHERS (8-5)
The Cardinals beat Riverdale 24-13. The Cardinals down 13-10 after the 1st quarter and the defense shutout the Boys the rest of the way.
The Panthers beat Granite Hills 46-29. Senior QB Tony Alvarez went 14-23 passing for 317 yards and 4 TD passes. Julian Fernandez caught 2 TDs, and Daniel Cardiel & Brennan Botill each caught a TD pass.
PAGMETER X FACTOR this is an East Sequoia league rematch from week 7 and the Cardinals beat the Panthers 28-24 in Corcoran. The Cardinals scored 14 straight points in the 4th quarter including the game winner with 1 minute to go.
Since the loss, the Panthers offense has been scoring over 40 points per game.
The Cardinals started the year on fire, then hit a mid season slump and now back playing good football.
Can the Panthers slow down Jose Cortes and the Cardinals running game? The Cardinals are not a throwing team.
Can the Cardinals slow down the Panthers passing attack with senior QB Alvarez and 6’6 TE Fernandez? If the Cardinals focus on Hernandez, Alvarez has plenty of other targets.
The pressure is on the defensive side of the ball for both teams.
PAGMETER PREDICTION PANTHERS 33 CARDINALS 23
FINAL CARDINALS 42 PANTHER 2

No 12 MIRA MONTE LIONS (7-6) at No 1 MINARETS MUSTANGS (10-3)
The Lions beat Firebaugh 21-14. Nathan Gonzales rushed for 231 yards and scored 3 TDs. The Offensive line did a great job all night long.
The Mustangs beat Boron 49-12. The defense dominated for 48 minutes and had 5 interceptions. Matthew Carlton with two Pick-6’s (44 & 42 yards), Daniel Williams, Ethan Akins and Carson Wimer each had an interception.
Junior QB Torin Wolf rushed for 45 yards, scored on a 7 yards TD run, went 18-22 for 182 yards and 3 TD passes. Caden Larsen caught 9 passes for 126 yards and scored 2 TDS (15 & . Andrew Mellon caught a 19 yard TD pass. Jabari Gomez scored on a rushing TD.
PAGMETER X FACTOR Can the Mustangs slow down Gonzales and match up with the Lions O-line? There is no secret that Gonzales is getting the ball.
Can the Lions slow down junior QB Wolf and the Mustangs offense?
For the Mustangs to have a fun bus ride home, they must pound the ball with long drives, points, shorten the game and keep the Mustangs offense on the sidelines.
In the two Mustangs losses, the Mustangs defense gave up 440 yards rushing vs Liberty Madera and 390 yards rushing to Chowchilla.
PAGMETER PREDICTION MUSTANGS 28 LIONS 25
FINAL LIONS 24 MUSTANGS 22

8 MAN CHAMPIONSHIP 6 PM

FRESNO CHRISTIAN EAGLES (7-5) at MAMMOTH HUSKIES (11-1)
The Eagles beat Laton 52-8. Sophomore Alex Asatrian rushed for 108 yards and scored 3 TDs. Junior QB Tycen Ramirez rushed for 41 yards, scored a TD, went 11-20 passing for 171 yards and 2 TD passes each to Bryce Smith & Joshua Kubota.
The Huskies beat Orcutt Academy 40-0. The Huskies with 3 straight shutouts coming into this game.
PAGMETER X FACTOR this is a re-match from week 1 and the Huskies beat the Eagles 54-18. This is also a rematch from the championship game last year and the Eagles beat the Huskies 32-28 at Fresno Christian and won their 2nd straight Championship.
These are the two best teams in 8 man football.
The Eagles are the Kansas City Chiefs of 8 man football and the Huskies waited all summer to play FC in week 1. The Eagles were banged up in the 2nd half the year, now healthy again and playing their best football.
The Eagles have to travel and will be fired up to get a 3-peat at cold Mammoth.The Huskies have been the team to beat all year long.
Can the Eagles slow down senior dual threat QB Tanner Knott? The Eagles will need a big night on offense to pull it off. The Huskies at home have the edge.
PAGMETER PREDICTION HUSKIES 43 EAGLES 34
FINAL HUSKIES 56 EAGLES 30