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The Shafter High Generals got a bye for the first week of the Central Section Division IV playoffs as top seed in the division, and with the ranking ensuring a home game throughout the gamers leading to the championship.
The North High Stars, the number eight seed, defeated Templeton, setting up the quarterfinal against the Generals.
Shafter has had another outstanding season, having the top ranking in Division IV throughout. It has been a challenge, though, with the loss of quarterback Ezekiel Osborne, who suffered a broken collarbone in the second week against the Arvin Bears. The Generals didn't miss a step, coming within a 2-point safety of having another perfect regular season. And Sloan returned to the lineup for the last game of the regular season.
With the performance of Mariyon Sloan at quarterback, and the play of a supporting cast including Christopher Espinoza, JJ Vasquez, Cash Gutierrez and Alex Reyna on offense, and a ferocious defense that kept teams on their heels the majority of the games, Shafter gave their faithful an exciting season of football. The special teams added to their strength. It was a losing cause for most teams, just trying to figure out who to kick the ball to on kickoffs and punts, but the Generals ran a league-high six kickoff returns for touchdowns, along with four punt returns.
Head Coach Jerald Pierucci and his coaching staff has led the team into the playoffs once again, looking to finish the job that was started over two years ago. Pierucci is proud of the way his team has responded this year, through the challenges and the targets that have been on their backs throughout the season.
"This season has been really good. We have seen growth from a lot of the young guys and the veterans in parts of the game that we were needing improvement," he said in an interview last week. "We still have a lot to improve on in order to achieve our goals for this season."
Pierucci also said that overcoming these challenges this year says a lot about this team. "Having big wins this year when we were not at full strength speaks to how much this team believes in each other. They don't care who gets the glory as long as we win."
He also mentioned that the playoffs are a totally different beast when it comes to a season and mentality. "I think that our current team has a good mindset moving into the year, with the experiences we have had the last two years."
He closed his comments on the expectations of the team. "The bulk of this team knows what to expect and know the expectations we have to have in order to hoist another section title up."
The quarterfinal contest with North High kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Shafter stadium.
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