MADERA – The Coyotes celebrated homecoming at Madera High this week with festivities, a parade, a grand marshal, a football game and a crowning. The students had their themed days at the school and contests involving the eight 2019 Homecoming King and Queen candidates and floats for the Friday parade were constructed all week at the National Guard Armory on Yosemite.
Friday morning the Homecoming parade route for this year started at the Madera Unified District Office and followed Howard Road to the HOPY Intersection where it then proceeded down Olive Avenue to the Madera Memorial Stadium. Along with the class floats and school band, several floats featured the Blue Pyramid feeder schools such as John Adams and Lincoln Elementary, as well as Thomas Jefferson Junior High School.
Leading off the parade was former Madera Unified teacher and current member of the MUSD Board of Trustees, Joetta Fleak. Mrs. Fleak is the daughter of former trustee Joe Flores and a 1968 Madera High graduate where she was a four-year varsity athlete. She earned her bachelor’s degree and a multi-subject teaching credential from Fresno State and then started a 28-year career with Madera Unified teaching fourth grade. While she retired in 2014, before Friday night’s game many of her former students playing for the Coyotes made their way over to Mrs. Fleak to say hello and wish her well before kick-off.
Mrs. Fleak walked arm in arm with the varsity team captains, two of which were former students of hers, to the center of the field for the coin toss. While Madera won the toss, that was the last thing to go the Coyotes way for the rest of the night. With three turnovers in the first quarter that all resulted in Sanger Apaches scores, Madera was down 24-7 going into the second quarter. It wouldn’t be until the fourth quarter when Sanger started substituting their first-string players, that Madera would score for the second and third time for a final score of 59-21.
At halftime, Kody Coushman and Alyssa Barriga were named 2019 Homecoming King and Queen.
The game was broadcasted live on television CW59.
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