The Washington Union High football team hadn’t had much luck against Lemoore in recent years. In fact, when Paul Holland took over as the head coach in 2020, the Panthers went 0-4 in those meetings.
That was finally erased Friday night at John Ventura Stadium in Easton Friday night.
Jareal Albert scored on two long touchdown runs, including a 64-yard run to ice the game in the Panthers’ 34-21 victory over Lemoore in a nonleague game.
“It stops now,” Washington Union coach Paul Holland said of the losing streak to Lemoore. “That’s basically what I told them in the locker room that we’ve had enough of it. We need to come out here and compete.”
That is what the Panthers did. It looked dicey in the second half when Lemoore had a quick touchdown to cut Washington Union’s lead down to 21-7 in the third quarter.
Lemoore got closer with a touchdown run, cutting the Panthers’ lead to 21-14.
Washington Union responded just in time, though.
Albert scored on a 15-yard touchdown run to give Washington Union a two-score lead.
The Panthers’ defense also answered the call when Lemoore was about to score at least on two occasions at the 2-yard line.
Lupe Rodriguez recovered a fumble just before half and in the fourth quarter, Paul Holland IV had an interception in the end zone to end the Tigers’ threat.
Washington Union played with heavy hearts, remembering Ernesto “Neto” Garin, who was killed in a car crash in Aug. 27, 2021. The Panthers wore shirts ‘In Memory of Neto 40.’
Washington Union answered with an inspiring effort that resulted in a win.
“Everything we do, we dedicate this game to him,” Holland said. “This was a testament to that.”
San Joaquin Memorial 27, Christian Brothers 25
A’Lonni Robinson and Israel Griffin each had a rushing touchdown, and Colton Johnson puncuntiated the rushing attack with the Panthers’ last touchdown run - good for 23 yards.
Christian Brothers, however, made it interesting.
The Falcons responded with a touchdown on a five-play drive. The Panthers recovered the onside kick and Johnson picked up a first down to run out the clock.
Bullard 15, Mayfair-Lakewood 9
The Knights survived a defensive battle, led by QB Tyler Franklin.
He had a passing TD and scored on one as the Knights held off the Monsoons.
Tomas Dixon had an interception with 16 seconds remaining to seal the game for Bullard.
Clovis West 43, Liberty-Bakersfield 14
The Golden Eagles proved to be too much for the Patriots.
Sophomore QB JJ Howard could be the reason for that.
He threw for five TDs as Clovis West responded after trailing 7-0 early, and that was enough of a wake-up call.
Howard finished with five TDs.
Clovis East 27, Kingsburg 10
Trailing the Vikings seemed to get Caleb Slocum going.
He accounted for the Timberwolves’ first two touchdowns, including a 1-yard run that gave Clovis East a 12-10 lead and that was all they needed as the Vikings were scoreless in the second half.
The Bee’s predictions
In picking nine games this week, The Bee went 5-4.
The games picked were Sanger-Hanford, Chowchilla-Dos Palos, Central Valley Christian-Tulare Western, Clovis East-Kingsburg, Lemoore-Washington Union, Riverdale-Orange Cove, Fowler-Firebaugh and Reedley-Sunnyside.
The Bee fumbled on the picks between Sanger-Hanford, CVC-Tulare Western, Riverdale-Orange Cove and Clovis North-Redwood.
While it was a brutal week, The Bee still managed to be over .500 for Week 2.
Through two weeks of high school football play, The Bee is now 12-5 and will look to improve next week when another round of games are picked.
Top 25 fared
1. Central East (1-1)
Lost to Grant-Sacramento 42-20
2. Clovis East (2-0)
Defeated Kingsburg 27-10
3. Frontier (1-1)
Defeated Liberty-Brentwood 7-6
4. Clovis (2-0)
Defeated Salinas 49-14
5. Clovis North (2-0)
Defeated Redwood 38-34
6. Tulare Union (2-0)
Defeated El Diamante 54-0
7. Clovis West (1-1)
Defeated Liberty-Bakersfield 43-14
8. Sanger (1-1)
Lost to Hanford 39-35
9. Liberty-Bakersfield (0-2)
Lost to Clovis West 43-14
10. Bullard (1-1)
Defeated Mayfair 15-9
11. Bakersfield Christian (2-0)
Defeated Tehachapi 49-7
12. Bakersfield (2-0)
Defeated Garfield 34-0
13. Arroyo Grande (0-2)
Lost to Newbury Park 28-27
14. Buchanan (1-1)
Defeated Kennedy 31-6
15. Golden West (2-0)
Defeated Dinuba 48-19
16. Kennedy (1-1)
Lost to Buchanan 31-6
17. Redwood (1-1)
Lost to Clovis North 38-34
18. Centennial (0-2)
Lost to Moorpark 21-0
19. Central Valley Christian (0-2)
Lost to Tulare Western 12-7
20. Tulare Western (2-0)
Defeated Central Valley Christian 12-7
21. Kerman (2-0)
Defeated Caruthers 53-19
22. Kingsburg (1-1)
Lost to Clovis East 27-10
23. St. Joseph (1-1)
Defeated Edison 28-0
24. Wasco (2-0)
Defeated Ridgeview 35-22
25. Hanford (1-1)
Defeated Sanger 39-35