Final preparations from Valley high school football teams before title games

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Turkey Bowls were played crossed the state connected Thanksgiving.

At the prep level, a prime fewer get the grant of a greeting practice.

Through the greeting fog, the Madera Coyotes went done a last signifier earlier playing successful the DIII championship.

It'll beryllium their archetypal last since 2014. Back then, caput manager Kenny Paolinelli was connected unit arsenic the quarterbacks coach.

"It means a lot," helium said. "This is thing I ever dreamed of arsenic a precocious schoolhouse player. We've ever talked astir trying to triumph a Valley rubric here."

The Coyotes person made it to six conception finals but successful those erstwhile title appearances, person a grounds of 0-5.

"Honestly, it's surreal, I don't adjacent know," says backmost Joel Arellano. "I've ne'er been successful this presumption before."

Arellano was conscionable named Player of the Week by Cal-Hi Sports.

In Friday's overtime triumph implicit Kennedy of Delano, Joel accounted for 8 touchdowns and 606 full yards of offense, the second-most all-time successful a crippled successful Central conception history.

"Just making plays and not being tense oregon scared, and my quality to scramble and widen plays," helium said.

Seventeen miles south, the Kerman Lions volition look to widen their title drought.

Last year, Damon Jenkins led Kerman to the archetypal rubric crippled successful schoolhouse history. Despite falling abbreviated to Mission Oak, his Lions are backmost successful the last aft knocking disconnected the #1 effect Porterville.

"It's conscionable those small things that I'm harping connected the kids that they didn't recognize erstwhile I archetypal got present that they recognize now," helium said.

Little things similar the squad responding successful unison.

Jenkins, a Bay Area native, is simply a postgraduate of De La Salle. He won 3 nationalist championships arsenic a subordinate earlier becoming a standout country astatine Fresno State.

"They recognize what I'm about," helium said. "They recognize that erstwhile I speech to them, it's coming from a spot of love."

Both programs would emotion to triumph that archetypal title. For Madera, it'll beryllium the archetypal clip playing big to a Section final.

Something has to springiness Friday -- 8-4 Madera led by their explosive offense, and 11-2 Kerman led by its shutdown defense.

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