Tulare Union outlasts Kingsburg in shootout featuring 91 points

TULARE – It’s the old football adage — “Defense wins championships.”

Tulare Union High School football coach Darren Bennett knows this well and knows what it takes to win a championship, having won five CIF Central Section titles during his tenure with the Tribe.

On Friday at Bob Mathias Stadium his team gave up 42 points, a number Bennett knows isn’t good enough to win it all in the Division II playoffs.

Luckily for him, his offense put up 49 points, as the Tribe outlasted Kingsburg 49-42 in the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs.

“I’m not real happy with the way we played on defense tonight,” Bennett said. “We had a real good week of practice, the kids thought they were prepared.

“But, you gotta give credit to Kingsburg. … They moved the ball, they had big plays, they made 4th-and-20s. We just didn’t play real good on defense,” he said. “But we won, so that’s a good thing.”

While the Tribe’s defense gave up 42 points and 350 total yards of offense, it did force three turnovers, as Kristian Wood intercepted Vikings quarterback Max Warkentin twice and Brayden Stevenson picked him off once.

“Defensively, we just need to get it together. We’re just on and off,” said Stevenson, who also finished with five receptions for 93 yards, including two touchdowns of 21 and 42 yards. “When we all do our jobs… that’s all we need to do is just do our jobs and we’re there.”

Friday night’s game proved to be a complete juxtaposition of the Tulare Union-Kingsburg game in September, when the Tribe beat the Vikings 42-12.

The one constant in both games was Tulare Union's offense.

Bennett has been working to get his offense more balanced as the season’s progressed. A pass-heavy team early in the season has turned more to the ground game, leaning on running back Tieler Peterson.

More: Tulare County Football: Week 2 Playoff Scoreboard

Peterson ran the ball 21 times for 149 yards and complemented the passing game, led by quarterback Jordan Crisp, who finished with 295 yards passing and accounted for six of the Tribe’s touchdowns, including five through the air.

“We’ve always wanted to elevate from where we started the season to where we are now, it’s crazy,” said Crisp. “Our line’s definitely elevated, our secondary on defense, our athletes on offense it all just comes together and the outcome’s a win.”

The offense totaled 459 yards, but Crisp still sees room for improvement.

“I think somewhat (we’re where we need to be),” he said. “But we can get better day by day. There’s always room for improvement.”

With Friday’s win, Tulare Union earns a trip to Visalia where it’ll take on the Division II No. 1 seed Central Valley Christian on Nov. 17.

With his championship experience, Bennett can take a look at his team as it stands now and determine whether or not it’s capable of winning it all.

“If we play better. We’re going to have to play better,” he said. “We have the potential and we have the guys. We just gotta play better, especially on defense.”

Tulare Union 49, Kingsburg 42

Kingsburg      7          21        7          7          -           42

Tulare Union            14        21        0          14        -           49

First Quarter

TU - Brayden Stevenson 21 pass from Jordan Crisp (Antwan Romo kick) 9:28

KB - Dennis Gagnon 4 run (Matt Ward kick) 3:25

TU - Stevenson 42 pass from Crisp (Romo kick) 1:57

Second Quarter

KB - Wyatt Boyd 47 pass from Max Warkentin (Ward kick) 8:55

TU - Buddy Lockard 25 pass from Crisp (Romo kick) 7:59

KB - Ryan Martinez 66 pass from Warkentin (Ward kick) 6:12

TU - Demaje Riley 12 pass from Crisp (Romo kick) 3:15

TU - Tieler Peterson 6 run (Romo kick) :51

KB - Chris Browe 3 pass from Warkentin (Ward kick) :01

More: CVC's Bryson Donelson explodes for nearly 400 yards rushing, six touchdowns in playoff win

Third Quarter

KB - Gagnon 16 run (Ward kick) :57

Fourth Quarter

TU - Crisp 1 run (Romo kick) 10:36

TU - Sonny Guess 7 pass from Crisp (Romo kick) 3:27

KB - Gagnon 3 run (Ward kick) 1:19

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - KB: Dennis Gagnon 15-61, Kaleb Pedersen 12-26, Max Warkentin 2-6, Gavin Jensen 1-6, Team 2-(-9). TU: Tieler Peterson 21-149, Brayden Stevenson 1-16, Rashawn Hayes 1-5, Jordan Crisp 3-(-6).

Passing - KB: Max Warkentin 14-27-3 260. TU: Jordan Crisp 20-29-1 295.

Receiving - KB: Wyatt Boyd 5-118, Chris Browe 3-35, Ryan Martinez 2-71, Dennis Gagnon 2-13, Kalvin Voyles 1-14, Dalyn Breckinridge 1-9. TU: Brayden Stevenson 5-93, Sonny Guess 5-32, Buddy Lockard 4-104, Demaje Riley 4-47, Tieler Peterson 3-21.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Tulare Union outlasts Kingsburg in shootout featuring 91 points