Lemoore runs past Tulare Union with over 300 yards rushing

The game plan was simple for the Lemoore High School football team — establish the run, sustain drives and keep Tulare Union's high-octane offense on the sidelines.

The Tigers did exactly that on Thursday night at Bob Mathias Stadium.

Lemoore ran past Tulare Union 32-21, rushing for more than 300 yards in both team's West Yosemite League opener.

The Tigers' starting offensive line of left tackle Caleb Griffin, left guard Connor Speiden, center Joseph Fabry, right guard Andrew Robinson and right tackle Mataniu Lagoo paved the way for 334 yards rushing on 37 attempts.

Lemoore had two players rush over 100 yards — Elijah Daley (137 yards) and Dameion Hernandez (123 yards).

Daley found the end zone on a 71-yard jaunt in the third quarter and Hernandez put the finishing touches on the Tigers' strong rushing attack with a 77-yard scoring dash with 7 minutes and 40 seconds left to play in the game.

That Hernandez touchdown gave the Tigers an 11-point lead in the fourth period.

Quarterback Johnny Cunha had 33 yards rushing and Kobe Green, a receiver, scored two touchdowns on a 20-yard run and a three-yard scamper. Seven different players had at least one rushing attempt for the Tigers.

"That's what we've been practicing," Lemoore head coach Rich Tuman said. "That's what we've been setting ourselves around is that we have a stable of running backs that can come out and compete. Our offensive line tonight was off-the-charts good. The push they were getting today was just unbelievable. Pretty much what we practiced this week came to fruition on the field. I couldn't be more prouder."

In Tulare Union's only other loss this season, a 42-35 defeat to Redwood, the Tribe gave up 232 yards rushing.

The Lemoore coaching staff knew they could take advantage of Tulare Union's run defense. The Tigers averaged nine yards per carry and had nine runs gain at least 10 yards or more against the Tribe.

"They were physical," Tulare Union head coach Darren Bennett said. "They beat us being able to run the ball. You can't give up 65-yard touchdown runs and expect us to win. They did that to us."

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On Lemoore’s opening possession, the Tigers marched 95 yards on 16 plays and ate up more than 9 minutes off the game clock between the first and second quarters. Trevon Gaffney, a fullback, capped off that drive with a one-yard plunge for a 6-0 lead.

That set the tone the rest of the way.

"We wanted to take the ball, and I told them, 'You get me three yards and I'm smiling,'" Tuman said. "And I said, 'We're just going to march downfield. We might throw here and there just to loosen [the defense], but we're going to march.' That was 16 plays. That was a pretty good drive."

It was all Lemoore in the first two quarters.

Green extended the Tigers' advantage to 14-0 at halftime with a 20-yard touchdown late in the second period.

The Tigers limited Tulare Union to 45 total net offensive yards and four possessions in the second half. The Tribe converted just five first downs during that two-quarter stretch and ran just 18 offensive plays compared to Lemoore’s 27.

Lemoore sacked Tulare Union quarterback Jordan Crisp three times to pitch a first-half shutout.

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The Tigers held the Tribe to a season-low 21 points. Tulare Union entered Thursday's WYL showdown averaging nearly 49 points per game.

Cunha didn't have to throw much but he completed 5-of-12 passes for 76 yards to help the defending WYL champions open conference action with a win. He was also effective on the ground on the zone-read and had two runs gain 10 and 13 yards, respectively. Both keepers went for a first down.

"He came out tonight and made great decisions on the field," Tuman said. "He pulled the ball and he ran the ball. He's part of that 300-yard game is him pulling the ball and taking it downfield. I got to give Johnny Cunha some credit tonight."

Despite falling behind by two touchdowns at the break, Tulare Union fought back in the second half.

Brayden Stevenson hauled in a pair of touchdowns (14 yards and 72 yards) and Damaje Riley caught a short pass and danced into the end zone for a 33-yard score.

Riley's touchdown cut the Lemoore lead to single digits, 26-21, with 8:25 left in the fourth but Lemoore's ground attack proved to be too much on this night.

"We have to be able to stop the run," Bennett said. "We got the kids we got so we just got to put more guys in the box. Nothing else you can really do."

Crisp completed 20-of-25 attempts for 304 yards and helped spark a second-half surge.

The Tribe played without starting running back Tieler Peterson and linebacker Rashawn Hayes — who were both out with injuries.

Stevenson led all pass-catchers with a game-high nine receptions for 131 yards. Riley had four catches for 82 yards.

"It's great," Bennett said of Stevenson and Riley. "They work hard in the weight room. They want to be guys and they stepped up during the game and made plays. It's exciting."

Lemoore 32, Tulare Union 21

Lemoore       0           14            12              6           -              32

TU           0             0            14              7           -              21

Second quarter

L – Trevon Gaffney 1 run (pass failed), 9:15

L –  Kobe Green 20 run (Elijah Dailey run), 3:42

Third quarter

TU –  Brayden Stevenson 14 pass from Jordan Crisp (Antwan Romo kick), 6:23

L – Elijah Dailey 71 run (kick failed), 5:31

L – Green 3 run (pass failed), 2:04

TU – Stevenson 72 pass from Crisp (Romo kick), 1:41

Fourth quarter

TU – Damaje Riley 33 pass from Crisp (Romo kick), 8:25

L –  Dameion Hernandez 77 run (run failed), 7:40

Individual statistics

RUSHING – Lemoore: Elijah Daley 12-137, Terren McCoy 3-6, Spencer Silva 4-13, Johnny Cunha 6-33, Trevon Gaffney 1-1, Dameion Hernandez 7-123, Kobe Green 2-23, Team-(minus) 2. TU: Dominic Wilson 5-11, Jordan Crisp 6-(minus) 28, Guess 1-10, Team-(minus) 46.

PASSING – Lemoore: Cunha 5-12-0 76. TU: Crisp 20-25-1 304.

RECEIVING – Lemoore: Kiontre Harris 1-28, Lucas Jensen 1-7, T.J. Alverson 1-15, Green 2-26. TU: Damaje Riley 4-82, Brayden Stevenson 9-131, Sonny Guess 5-75, Buddy Lockard 2-16.

Records – Lemoore 4-2, Tulare Union 4-2.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Lemoore runs past Tulare Union with over 300 yards rushing