High school football in the Central Section is almost here.
The five-day acclimation period for football begins on July 29, with official practices starting on Aug. 5.
The 2024 season kicks off on Aug. 23 in Tulare County. Week 1 will be highlighted by a marquee matchup between St. Joseph-Santa Maria and Tulare Union at Bob Mathias Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
With football just around the corner, here are 50 things you need to know before the 2024 gridiron season commences in August.
1. Eighteen teams play 11-man football in Tulare County:
- Central Valley Christian
- Dinuba
- El Diamante
- Exeter
- Farmersville
- Golden West
- Granite Hills
- Lindsay
- Mission Oak
- Monache
- Mt. Whitney
- Orosi
- Porterville
- Redwood
- Tulare Union
- Tulare Western
- Woodlake
2. According to Central Section historian Bob Barnett, of those 18 teams, only three schools have yet to win a section championship in football:
- Granite Hills
- Monache
- Tulare Western
3. Alpaugh, a school located in southwest Tulare County, fields an eight-player squad.
4. Thirteen Tulare County teams advanced to the postseason last year:
- CVC (Division II)
- Tulare Union (Division II)
- Redwood (Division II)
- Dinuba (Division II)
- Mission Oak (Division III)
- Mt. Whitney (Division III)
- Porterville (Division III)
- Golden West (Division III)
- Exeter (Division IV)
- Orosi (Division V)
- Strathmore (Division VI)
- Woodlake (Division VI)
- Lindsay (Division VI)
5. CVC and Strathmore each won a state championship in their respective division last season.
6. The Cavaliers captured the 2023 CIF State Division 2-AA title and became the first team from Visalia to win a state football championship.
7. The Spartans claimed their second state crown, a CIF State Division 7-A trophy, and was the first Tulare County program to win two state championships in football.
8. Mission Oak is the defending Central Section Division III champion.
9. The Hawks are also coming off a state championship game appearance after finishing as the 2023 CIF State Division 4-A title runner-up.
10. CVC is under the leadership of new head coach Donnie Arax — a former Bullard coach who compiled a 178-128-1 record in 24 seasons.
11. With the Knights, Arax directed Bullard to seven league championships and two section titles (Division I, 2009; Division II, 2021).
12. Arax is one of four new head coaches in Tulare County this season.
13. In Exeter, coach Ruben Ruiz will be leading the Monarchs.
14. Down the road in Farmersville, former Foothill and Kern Valley head coach Brandon Deckard will call the shots for the Aztecs.
15. Over in Lindsay, Tulare native Marcus Alonzo is in his first season as the Cardinals' head coach.
16. Tulare Union's Darren Bennett is the Central Section's active winningest head coach with 239 victories.
17. Bennett began his head coaching career at CVC in 1991.
18. Tulare Union enters the 2024 season as the Times-Delta's top-ranked team on its preseason Tulare County Cream of the Crop Power Football Rankings.
19. The Tribe return their top quarterback (Jordan Crisp) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Brayden Stevenson and Demaje Riley) from last season's eight-win team that reached the Central Section Division II semifinals.
20. In his second year as a starter, Crisp helped lead Tulare Union's spread offense to an average of 41 points per game.
21. Crisp is one of the top quarterbacks in the Central Section this season after passing for more than 4,000 yards with 48 touchdowns.
22. Stevenson led all Tulare County receivers last year with 1,236 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns on 78 catches.
23. Riley burst onto the scene as a freshman with 1,019 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns.
24. Tulare Union senior linebacker Dominic Wilson is one of the top returning defenders in Tulare County this season.
25. Tulare Union has won four straight Bell Games against crosstown rival Tulare Western.
26. The Tribe lead the all-time rivalry series versus Tulare Western 43-16.
27. Former Farmersville standout Sam Metcalf is the all-time career passing yardage leader in Tulare County history with 11,924 yards.
24. Crisp is the county's active leader in yards passing with 5,022.
25. Only a junior, Crisp is averaging nearly 300 yards passing per game and has completed better than 70% of his passes in his career.
26. Mt. Whitney junior wideout Israel Briggs is the most sought-after college football recruit in Tulare County this season.
27. According to the recruiting website 247sports.com, the 6-foot-6 Briggs has scholarship offers from 10 NCAA Division I programs:
- Auburn
- California
- Colorado State
- Florida
- Florida State
- Kentucky
- SMU
- Texas A&M
- UCF
- UNLV
28. Briggs, who some scouts project as a tight end at the next level, is rated by the recruiting website rivals.com as a four-star prospect on a five-star scale.
29. Briggs was an All-East Yosemite League first-team pick at receiver during his 2023 sophomore year.
30. Briggs helped Mt. Whitney win an outright East Yosemite League championship last season with an undefeated 5-0 record.
31. The Pioneers are the defending EYL, Cowhide and Visalia city (Sid Hosking Trophy) champions.
32. Hanford won last season's West Yosemite League title.
33. Orosi shared the East Sequoia League championship with Corcoran in 2023.
34. CVC has won back-to-back Tri-County Conference-Kings Canyon division championships.
35. Exeter has also captured two straight Tri-County Conference-Sequoia division titles.
36. Redwood leads the all-time Cowhide series against rival Mt. Whitney to 38-29-1.
37. Rangers head coach Kevin Scharton has amassed an overall Tulare County head coaching record of 171-75.
38. Strathmore head coach Jeromy Blackwell is the only head coach in Tulare County history to lead his team to two state championships.
39. Blackwell has accumulated an overall head coaching record of 178-71.
40. Under Blackwell's leadership, the Spartans have won 71% of their games.
41. Mission Oak head coach Marty Martin surpassed career coaching win No. 200 in 2023 and enters this season with an overall head coach record of 208-138.
42. Martin has coached in Ohio, San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, Sun Valley, Clovis, Kerman and Visalia.
43. Orosi head coach Ben White has directed two Tulare County programs (Exeter and Orosi) to a combined 113-69 record.
44. The Central Section regular season concludes the day after Halloween on Nov. 1.
45. There are now eight divisions for the Central Section's playoff format:
- Division IAA
- Division IA
- Division II
- Division III
- Division IV
- Division V
- Division VI
- 8-player
45. Section playoffs are scheduled to begin on Nov. 8.
47. Section championship games will be played on Nov. 22 (finals for 8-player, Division IA, Division IAA) and on Nov. 29 (finals for Division II-VI).
48. Former CVC state championship coach Mason Hughes is now an assistant coach at College of the Sequoias.
49. Former Tulare Union star Kazmeir Allen, a receiver on the Washington Commanders, is Tulare County's all-time touchdowns leader with 121 career scores.
50. In the latest preseason rankings by Calpreps.com, CVC is ranked fourth overall followed by Tulare County programs Tulare Union at No. 12, Porterville at No. 22, Mission Oak at No. 26 and Redwood at No. 30.
Most Popular
Comments / 0