Tulare County Football: CVC's Mason Hughes earns 100th win, rankings, top performances
Central Valley Christian head football coach Mason Hughes reached a triple-digit milestone on Aug. 18 in the Cavaliers' 63-41 win over Ripon Christian.
Hughes tallied the 100th victory of his head coaching career.
After the game, Hughes walked over to the north end zone with his son, Tyler, a senior lineman, arm in arm and the two embraced the accomplishment.
Little did Hughes know, Tyler hatched a plan for the landmark win — distract his dad/coach so senior running backs Bryson Donelson and Joe Padilla could douse him with ice water.
It worked.
"I think 100 is special," Hughes said. "There's probably not a lot of guys who have that. I don't think it's easy. Obviously, if you coach long enough, you're going to win a lot of games."
According to Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Hughes now has a career head coaching record of 100-64. All 100 of those victories came at CVC.
Hughes began his head coaching career in 2009.
"It just shows that there are people who are committed to me, as a school and a community, the kids," Hughes said. "I think that's the best thing that is reflective about that is because I don't know, but there's probably not a lot of guys who have been able to coach in enough games to be able to get that number at the same school."
Hughes is one of six active Tulare County head coaches who have tallied at least 100 career wins. That list includes Tulare Union's Darren Bennett, Strathmore's Jeromy Blackwell, Redwood's Kevin Scharton, Orosi's Ben White and Mission Oak's Marty Martin.
Bennett is currently the Central Section's active winningest head coach with 232 victories. Former Woodlake coach Leo Robinson is the section's all-time winningest head coach.
"Our county has some dudes who have been around a long time at the same place," Hughes said. "It's kind of cool. I think those are all really, really good coaches."
CVC displayed its explosiveness in its season-opening win over Ripon Christian at Cavalier Stadium.
The Cavaliers ran only 12 offensive plays but they scored six total touchdowns from scrimmage.
Junior running back Micah Paden found the end zone three times on kickoff returns, finishing with 295 yards. He averaged 59 yards per return and ran back the opening kickoff as the Cavaliers lit up the scoreboard right away.
"He's electric back there," Hughes said of Paden. "He's just really fast. Faster than the guys Ripon had."
More: Tulare County football: Find out everything you need to know for the 2023 season
Star running back Bryson Donelson is already in mid-season form. The senior rushed for a career-high 327 yards and five touchdowns on just seven carries, averaging 46.7 yards per run.
Senior receiver Bryce Crook also scored on an 18-yard pass from senior quarterback Brent Kroeze.
The Cavaliers averaged nearly 30 yards per play on offense.
CVC (1-0) will now host Edison (0-1) on Friday night at Cavalier Stadium. The Tigers are coming off a 64-24 loss to Kennedy-Delano.
Both the Cavaliers and Tigers combined to allow 105 points in Week 1.
"I think you're going to see two teams play better defense," Hughes said.
Remembering Mike Hazelwood: Mission Oak honors late teacher and former Times-Delta editor
Before Mission Oak's 34-6 win over Monache on Aug. 17, the Hawks honored Mike Hazelwood — the school's late English and journalism teacher — with a moment of silence at Bob Mathias Stadium.
Hazelwood, a former Times-Delta senior editor, died unexpectedly from heart complications last May.
He was 45.
During the football season, Hazelwood was a regular in the press box at Bob Mathias Stadium. He dedicated his Friday nights in the fall to covering Mission Oak, Tulare Union and Tulare Western games for the Times-Delta.
His stories usually highlighted team accomplishments but he also put the spotlight on athletes who had excellent performances.
That type of writing made him a hit with Tulare readers.
More: Tulare mourns beloved teacher, journalist Mike Hazelwood, who leaves legacy of service
"Mike was a great guy," Mission Oak head coach Marty Martin said. "He loved the kids. He would do anything to help our kids. I mean, he's a special person. I know he's in heaven, and I know he's looking down on us but he was a special, special man."
Unless there was a scheduling conflict with teaching or school-related activities, Hazelwood only took one Friday night off during the fall season — the first week of November. That specific weekend was spent celebrating his wife Mari's birthday on the coast.
That type of commitment left a lasting impression on Martin.
"He wasn't doing it to get his name on an article," Martin said. "He was doing it to help the kids, and get kids recognized, and get them the opportunity to be out in the public. Mike was doing it because he loved kids, and he loves the kids in Tulare, the kids in the Valley, and he wanted to be able to impact their lives."
Before going on to win an Olympic silver Medal, boxing sensation Richard Torrez Jr. played football at Mission Oak and roamed the Hawks' campus.
Hazelwood was one of his favorite teachers.
"He was an amazing guy, man," Torrez said. "One thing I definitely learned from him is how to write an essay in 15 minutes. He gave us a prompt and 15 minutes at the end of class, we would have to write a full essay. At first, I was like, 'How the heck are you going to write an essay in 15 minutes?' He'd say, 'Don't worry about the words. Just get words down on paper. Just make sure you start writing something.' That's really a testament to how I speak, and how I'm able to kind of just come up with those on-the-fly speeches. People tell me I do pretty well at it. My interviews as well. It's just kind of writing down your thoughts and being able to have a story at hand. He was the one who taught me that."
Performances of the week
Every week, the Times-Delta/Advance-Register will recognize the top football performances of the week (Coaches, email your top impact players to vyang2@gannett.com).
Here are this week's top performers:
Case Anders, Golden West: Anders rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown and caught seven passes for 53 yards.
Andrew Camarillo, Orosi: Camarillo rushed for 227 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cardinals to a 56-33 win against Madera South.
Bryson Donelson, CVC: Donelson exploded for 327 yards rushing and five touchdowns.
Jordan Crisp, Tulare Union: Crisp threw four touchdowns as the Tribe defeated Mt. Whitney.
Carlos Garcia, Exeter: Garcia hit a 32-yard field goal to help lead the Monarchs to a victory.
Chris Garcia, Golden West: Garcia had four catches for 164 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns.
Leo Gonzalez, Golden West: The linebacker tallied a team-best 16 tackles.
Josh Harris, Tulare Western: Harris recovered a fumble and made a team-high six tackles.
Matthew Isias, Farmersville: Isias generated 133 all-purpose yards, hauling in four catches for 80 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a 53-yard kick return and made two tackles.
Jacob Molina, Exeter: Molina threw two touchdowns and finished with 104 yards passing.
Josiah Orosco, Tulare Western: Orosco had 61 yards rushing and a touchdown, and also caught one pass for nine yards.
Micah Paden, CVC: Paden registered 295 kick return yards and scored three touchdowns.
Jonathan Perez, Farmersville: Perez racked up 10 tackles and two sacks to help the Aztecs beat Parlier.
Tieler Peterson, Tulare Union: Peterson ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns and also caught three passes for 69 yards.
Jacob Poole, Strathmore: Poole broke loose for 139 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He also had two catches for 42 yards and a score and made 11 tackles and two pass deflections on defense.
Aidan Robertson, Exeter: Robertson had six catches for 72 yards and also intercepted a pass and made two tackles on defense.
Ruben Ruiz, Exeter: Ruiz hauled in two touchdowns and had four catches for 28 yards.
Jaanveer Singh, Tulare Western: Singh recorded 112 yards rushing and scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Brayden Stevenson, Tulare Union: The sophomore receiver registered six catches for 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Darryl Toney, Golden West: Toney finished with six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Raymon Velasquez, Golden West: Velasquez passed for 355 yards, hitting 27 of 34 attempts, and three touchdowns.
Dominic Wilson, Tulare Union: Wilson, a linebacker, scored on a pick-six and finished with a team-high eight tackles.
Tulare County Cream of the Crop Power Rankings
1. Central Valley Christian (1-0). The Cavaliers scored nine touchdowns in their season-opening win over Ripon Christian.
Up next: Edison (0-1)
2. Redwood (0-1). The Rangers lost 35-13 at Centennial.
Up next: Clovis North (1-0)
3. Tulare Union (1-0). Tribe QB Jordan Crisp threw four touchdowns in a victory against Mt. Whitney.
Up next: at El Diamante (0-1)
4. Mission Oak (1-0). QB Danny Gonzalez fired three touchdowns to lead the Hawks to a win versus Monache.
Up next: at Taft (1-0)
5. Porterville (1-0). The Panthers allowed just nine points in a win against McLane.
Up next: at South Bakersfield (1-0)
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: CVC's Mason Hughes earns 100th win, rankings, top performances
