Central East football standouts E.J. Morgan (left) and Brandon Smith were grabbed for a photo after they came out of their locker room and after they helped team to win on Friday over Clovis. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
Brandon Smith has another signature outing in leading state No. 28 Central East of Fresno past Clovis in a matchup of the top two ranked teams in the CIF Central Section. QB Deagan Rose and RB James Curoso both also had big nights in a high-scoring contest.
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Returning CIF Central Section Player of the Year Brandon Smith had about as quick of a memorable start as humanely possible in Friday’s No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown in the CIF Central Section between his team at Central East of Fresno and Clovis.
Smith, a senior two-way standout committed to Arizona who was the leading player for Central of Fresno (the school’s previous name with Grizzlies as the nickname) when it won the D1 section title last year and eventually fell to Edison of Huntington Beach in the CIF D1-A state final, ended the night on his home field with five touchdowns. He lifted the Bengals (8-1) to a 61-49 victory vs the Cougars (7-2).
Based on the score, one would think it was a closer game than how it played out. Central East’s offense did what it wanted just about the entire game and it threatened to be a blowout from early in the first quarter. Clovis scored twice in the last 2:55 of the fourth quarter to make the score closer and at least cause some thought about leaving it second in the section rankings instead of moving up Clovis West (which had an early lead in its game vs Central East last week).
James Curoso scored five touchdowns for Clovis on Friday in its loss to Central East. Photo: Mark Tennis.
After Clovis went three-and-out on its first series to start the night, Smith took a handoff on the Bengals’ first play of the game, broke to his left and turned the corner for a 71-yard touchdown run down the sidelines. Then on just the second play after Clovis started its second series, Smith flew over from his safety position on defense and snagged on interception that he was able to return back down the field for 65-yard touchdown.
“That is the first time I’ve ever done that,” Smith said after the game. “We definitely wanted to come out strong after last week. We had a great week of practice and it showed.”
In addition to those two scores, Brandon had a 56-yard touchdown run, a 12-yard touchdown run and a 40-yard touchdown reception.
The Clovis offense was able to score on its third possession of the game, but Central East then went 60 yards on just four plays and extended its lead even more after Clovis QB Deagan Rose was ruled to have fumbled on a play in which the ball was returned all the way to the 11-yard line by sophomore linebacker Dereck Castro. Two plays later, junior Jelani Dippel tossed a 9-yard TD pass to Bayon Harris and it was a 25-7 lead for the Grizzlies.
Clovis got it a two-score lead with 34 seconds left in the second quarter on a 22-yard TD pass from Rose to senior James Curoso, but in those 34 seconds a 49-yard reception with speed flashing down the sidelines by sophomore Titus Thomas set up another TD by the Bengals. With just four seconds left, there was time for just one play before the end of the half but on that play Dippel fired a pass into the end zone that sophomore Kevin Cooks reeled in near the back corner, got a foot down and it was good for an 8-yard touchdown. It was essentially matching touchdowns in the second half after that.
The 61-49 score had similarities to a game seen at Dean Koligian Stadium back in 2018 when Folsom played Central for the CIF NorCal D1-AA title. Folsom came in smoking hot on offense and won, 84-46, in the highest scoring CIF regional or state playoff game ever played based on the 130 combined points.
Central East head coach Kyle Biggs, who was presented with an award before the game for winning the 100th game of his career at the school in his previous game, knows all about being a front-runner in the Central Section and that winning in the regular season may not be matched in the playoffs. The Bengals just last year lost in a similar showdown in the regular season we saw vs Clovis East, but in the playoffs they not only avenged that loss but also did the same to Clovis North.
Central East head coach Kyle Biggs and family were on the field prior to Friday’s game for a presentation that honored him for his 100 wins at the school. Photo: Mark Tennis.
“We’re one step closer to getting the 1 seed for the playoffs and we did a good job tonight,” he said. “We know we’re going to have to play two TRAC teams (Tri River Athletic Conference) at the end and we know it’s going to be hard to beat the same team twice.”
Central East began the season as a strong favorite in the section with a lot of top returnees from last season, including Smith, Dippel, Harris and more. The team has been greatly impacted with not getting a higher state ranking than only at No. 28 this week (at least in our system of doing them) due to having a 42-26 loss to Grant of Sacramento in its second game. Grant has four losses, three of which were to top teams in the state like Folsom, De La Salle of Concord and Lincoln of San Diego but also has a loss to Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa. And Cardinal Newman has a loss to unbeaten Manteca. All of that has perhaps put the Bengals too low from where they should be based on their talent and speed, but it could still take some weeks to overcome those results. Clovis was No. 45 in this week’s rankings.
Grant was the CIF D2-AA state champion last season, but if it gets back to the NorCal bowl games this year it will be because it beats Folsom in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 playoffs. The Pacers were D2 last year. Central East having that loss to Grant, however, likely should put the team in the CIF NorCal D1-A game if it does go on to win the section title. The opponent could be NCS D1, CCS Open or Sac-Joaquin D2. We will be shocked if De La Salle doesn’t go on to win another NCS D1/Open title and then take the NorCal spot once again for the CIF Open Division state final. Biggs’ team remember also had a home game for last year’s NorCal D1-A game so the likelihood is that it would be on the road if it gets that far this year.
Smith actually only carried the ball seven times on the night for 147 yards. Dippel was a bit busier and finished 15 of 24 on passing for 283 yards and three TDs. Back-up junior RB Andrew Garcia also had a 60-yard TD run for the Bengals.
Smith wasn’t the only player on the field with five TDs, either. Curoso had five TDs for the Cougars. He rushed for three as part of a 22-carry, 127-yard night and he also caught eight passes for 113 yards and two scores. Those totals are based on our notes as the team’s official stats had not yet been posted yet as of Saturday at 12 noon.
Rose, who went past 10,000 yards for his career last week and should soon reach 100 career TD passes, had to throw probably more than his coaches were hoping for, but given the nature of the game and being the trailing team he had 40 attempts. He completed 26 for 388 yards and four TDs. His other two TD passes were to highly-regarded tight end Isaiah Briggs.
Clovis is playing Clovis West in its regular season finale next week. Central East is playing Buchanan of Clovis and is looking to complete a perfect run through the TRAC schedule. Clovis and Clovis West likely are playing for the No. 2 seed in the D1 section playoffs.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.
