EMPERORS BRING A LOT TO THE TABLE IN MOUNTAIN VISIT
Weekly Warrior Special Addition
By TOM SHEA, Warrior Website Guest Columnist
Posted Wednesday, November 13, 2002
If you had to sum up this year’s Dinuba team in one word...
It would be improvement.
No one would have picked the Emperors to enter the playoffs this year, let alone come in as the five-seed. But yet, after going 1-9 last year, and starting 0-5 this year…
Here we are…a date with Dinuba this Friday on the mountain.
After struggling to only log in one solitary victory over an all-junior Granite Hills squad in 2001, Dinuba continued their losing ways in the start of their 2002 season, losing to Sierra power Immanuel and Sequoia power Coalinga at home, and going on the road to take some hard lumps against Kingsburg, Selma, and Kerman. Although the Emperors lost these games, they weren’t without their positives.
Against Immanuel, Quarterback Jose Del Rio completed 14 passes for 261 yards and two scores. If it wasn’t for the outstanding play of Immanuel’s Jacob Wild hauling in 10 catches for 187 yards and three scores, that game may have taken a whole new perspective…maybe even an Emperor win. For the year, Del Rio has completed 36 passes for 430 yards and seven touchdowns.
The following week against Coalinga, runningback Chris Hall led the multiple pro offense by carrying eight times for 70 yards in a losing effort to the Horntoads, helping Dinuba to seven first downs in the game against a very stingy defense. Even though the Emperors were sitting at 0-2, improvement and confidence, was shaping through the entire team.
Things were looking up…slowly but surely.
On October 11th, things started to take shape. Dinuba broke their 11-game losing streak in a thriller, defeating East Sequoia League opponent Exeter on a 21-yard Oscar Garcia field goal in double overtime.
Dinuba logged their first victory…1-5. Hey, it was a start.
And winning, my friends, has an interesting way of healing all wounds. More than any other game, the Exeter game was the beginning to Dinuba’s success for the rest of the year. Even though a set back occurred the next week in eventual league champion Lindsay, the Emperors held the Cardinals to their lowest scoring output all season, and went on to go 3-0 the rest of the way against Woodlake, Corcoran, and Orosi.
Dinuba finally seemed to have put the pieces put together, much to the East Sequoia League’s dismay.
Against Lindsay, the league title-deciding game, the Dinuba pass found a home in the hands in a vast multitude of receivers, some of whom being Patrick Eubanks, Adrian Vasquez, Hector Ochoa, Rolando Jaime, Jeremy Hoeflinger, and Jose Guerra. Much like the Shafter passing game, it’s difficult to key on just one player because all have good catching and running ability, helping Dinuba to over 700 yards passing this year. If you had to pick one player though, the ‘Nick Abarca’ of the Emperors is Eubanks, who has caught 26 passes this year for 458 yards and five scores. Also doing the receiving is multi-back Michael Hinajosa, who can be dangerous in the pass as well, taking over for Del Rio for a few games early in the season. For the Warriors defense to be successful, Hinajosa and Eubanks will have to be neutralized.
Overall, Dinuba is a well balanced team on offense, and ‘bend but don’t break’ mentality on their ‘50’ defense. Linebackers Chris Hall and Oscar Garcia, along with defensive line standout Brenton Boles will give Tehachapi a difficult time in the running game, and they’ll be prepared to mount a Clovis East-like upset.
Overall, think of this match-up similar to a Shafter-like contest. Of course, saying that may not excite too many of you, but looking at the raw numbers, this is a finesse team, so Tehachapi will have to be ready for it.
That being said, with the Generals sitting at the #8 seed, a rematch in the second round of the playoffs could be looming if Shafter upsets Yosemite…
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
This week, it’s Dinuba, and after last year’s loss to an all-junior Clovis East team, no team should be taken likely.
Especially when they’re the #5 seed.