Stallions Back2Back Stadium Road Champs

MADERA - The 2016 Battle of Stadium Road was a more one-sided game than the final score may have indicated. The boys of Madera South were seeking their second straight Stadium Road victory over Madera High Coyotes who failed to win a single game all season. This was the second shut-out season for the Coyotes since the 1996 season and their ninth losing season in the last ten years.

Madera High School Athletic Director John Fernandez had this to say of the Stadium Road Showdown, "This game is about Community. Our primary goal is about showcasing. Showcasing the talents of our students, from our football players, to our cheerleaders, to our band and color guard. We want to celebrate them all. It's not about football, scores or stats. We want our community to feel proud."

49-35 - Coyotes Shut-Out on Season - First Time Since 1996

However community pride may have been lost when early Thursday morning a group of Madera High students entered the Madera South campus and destroyed a topiary tree at the entrance to the school that was being formed into the shape of a Stallion before they used spray paint to vandalize a three year old mural of a Stallion painted on the MSHS cafeteria building.

The students painted some profanity on the mural, then signed it in spray paint "Leberty Hawks". However the students had a hard time with the spelling of "Liberty". Video surveillance may have captured images of the vandalism in progress. This senseless attack on one of our Madera Unified Schools has left me with little pride to be a Coyote Alumni.

The game got off to a late start but the Stallions scored early with a touchdown run from Madera South's Jacob Kirkpatrick and extra point within three minutes of the first quarter. The Coyotes answered back with a field goal, but the Stallions rolled through with two more touchdowns by the end of the first quarter from Kirkpatrick and Madera South Quarterback Jonah Johnson. It helped that the Coyotes coughed up the ball following a kickoff.

The Coyotes finally got the ball into the end-zone with four minutes left in the first half but the Stallions had already racked up 28 points in the half. When the Coyotes connected on a pass for their second touchdown, the Stallions quickly responded with a 45 yard pass completion from Johnson to Jaylan Neal to go into the half 35-17.

The third quarter was more of the same as the Stallions ran in a touchdown within a minute of the start of the third quarter. The Coyotes would connect on a short pass into the end-zone but the Stallions answered back with a 35 yard pass from Johnson to Kirkpatrick for another touchdown that would put the visiting Madera South up 48-23 going into the fourth quarter. Then Stallion Coach Dane Cook started replacing his starters.

The fourth quarter the Coyotes were able to score two more touchdowns but failed on both point after attempts. When the clock struck zero, the Stallions took their Saw Blade Trophy back and the Coyotes added another losing season (a shut-out) to their record.

Brackets have not been posted on the CIF Central Section website as of Sunday evening. But we have learned that Madera South will be playing Liberty-Madera Ranchos Thursday in the first round of the Les Schwab Valley Championship playoffs. The game will be played at Liberty and kickoff will be at 7:00pm.

Madera High opted out of going to play-offs after their shut-out season. Fernandez had said if their had won the Stadium Road Showdown, they would have accepted a bid to playoffs.

We would have liked to have shared the names and stats of the Coyote players in our story, but the Madera High Athletic Director did not share his games statistics as Madera South did. But that must be what he meant when he issued Big Valley News a RESTRICTED SIDELINES PASS.

It's what I've come to expect from the administration at Madera High School and one of the reasons my daughters call Madera South home. Fernandez told us why BVN was the only media outlet with a restricted pass, "I have problems with your 'whatever you call it' publication and the stories you have written about Madera High in the past."

You've got to love retaliation. But possibly that was my underlining goal of this story too. So it's hard to blame the guy for some thing that I am just as guilty of committing. Hopefully at some point both of us will put away our petty problems and realize we do this for the kids of both schools. If someone from Madera High would like to send over their stats, we would be happy to update the story so that these players can get proper credit for their part in the game.

If you have any information on the vandalism at Madera South you are asked to call Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP. You may be eligible for a cash reward.