MBHS Football Dominates CIF Round One

On Nov. 7, the MBHS football team traveled up to Delano to face off against the Delano High School Tigers for the first time in history. The Pirates were placed in the ninth seed of the Division Five bracket due to their 3-7 record entering the game, but that proved no problem as they dominated the Tigers, who were the eighth seed. Senior wide receiver and corner, Efrain Hernandez, said, “Going into the game did feel different than a regular season matchup, obviously it’s high stakes. A lose-you-go-home situation. But that makes us play our best because we don’t want it to be our last game.” Jayden Johnson, a junior and fellow corner, felt different, “The game didn’t feel any different because we treat all our games the same. We want to come out and win no matter the opponent. The game did feel better, though, knowing it was the first round of CIF,” said Johnson. “Contribute to the team, know my assignment, execute, win,” Johnson said as his goal coming into this game. 

Hernandez shared a similar approach: “I just wanted to play how I have been, just do my part for the team,” Hernandez said. The team went into the game with high excitement, goals, and discipline to help better the group as a whole. “We were excited to travel and try to beat Delano on their home field. We were extremely prepared and hyped for the matchup,” Johnson said. “Everyone was locked in and focused,” said Hernandez. The excitement was shown on the field because during just the first quarter, MBHS had already scored four touchdowns, with two of them coming from just senior Tony Campanario alone.

During the second quarter of the game, the Tigers took control, scoring three touchdowns to leave the score 21-24 at halftime, with the Pirates merely in the lead. The boys responded well to the Tigers’ run, “Our coaches fired us up during the halftime talk, and all of us players fixed simple mistakes we were making; we went back to the basics, the fundamentals,” said Hernandez. “We weren’t too worried going into the halftime huddle. We knew we had some flukes and mess-ups, but we knew if we fixed simple things, we could gain the momentum back that we had in the first quarter,” Johnson said. After halftime, the team collectively got back on track and started scoring again while holding the Tigers back.

During the fourth quarter, Hernandez grabbed an interception and ran it in for an 80-yard touchdown, ultimately firing up the sideline and players on the field. Another senior, Colton Rosenlieb, also grabbed a pick during the third quarter. “Him grabbing that pick boosted the team’s morale and hyped up everyone,” said Johnson. Rosenlieb had an astounding game outside of his pick; he held his ground on defense, leading his team in total tackles with eleven. 

Quarterback, Sands Dougherty, had a standout game with 458 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Dougherty is a natural leader, “Shoutout to Sands for being an amazing quarterback and leader. He really helps build the team morale,” said Johnson. Hernandez had a similar shoutout to the team’s star quarterback, “He’s humble and always pushing everyone and racking up stats while giving me the ball,” Hernandez said. Trevor Riddiough, a junior receiver, caught a majority of Dougherty’s passes, leading the team with 179 receiving yards and two touchdowns. 

Campanario, a wide receiver for the team, led the team in touchdowns with three and a fumble recovery.

“Tony has grown a lot this season, he’s made mistakes and grown from them,” Hernandez said in praise of his wide receiver partner. The team altogether put up good stats with different leaders for different categories. When the team sticks together and does their jobs, they play astounding games like they did in this 52-28 blowout, giving them high probabilities to win.

This season for the football team has been full of growth. Despite the team’s losing record, the team improved in different areas of the game. “My mental aspect really grew this season. I had to learn to know the situation and not to get tired, to dig deep,” Hernandez said. “Selflessness, instead of being an individual player, you learn to play as a combined team,” Johnson said. The seniors this year have stepped up and filled the roles of past players while showing strong leadership to help the team develop and win. The team has shown improvements from their first game as they have become more disciplined on and off the field, and have learned to play together and trust one another.

The football team will travel three hours on Nov. 14 to Madera to face off against the Liberty High School Hawks, who are the one seed of the D5 bracket and undefeated overall. The team is yet again excited to try and take another win while away from home and bring down the Hawks in an upset. If the Pirates play like they have in recent games, as a team and doing their roles while sticking together, they will have no problem in the upcoming game.