Generals to play for Valley title Friday night

The Shafter Generals football team punched their ticket to the Valley Championship game with a 31-22 win against the Immanuel Eagles on Friday night. Shafter, the top seed in the Division IV bracket, beat the 5th-seeded Eagles with a mixture of offense, defense, and special teams, with each faction contributing to the victory.

The Generals jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half, thanks to some key runs from Maryion Sloan and Christopher Espinoza, accounting for the majority of the yardage in the first half.

The Generals defense kept the high-powered Eagles offense off the field, stopping each drive that they attempted in the first 10 minutes of the half.

Quarterback Ezekield Osborne had a great game, going 16-19 passing for over 130 yards. Osborne was aided in a big way by the running of Maryion Sloan, who ended the game with 84 yards rushing and four receptions. Espinoza gained 86 yards on the night, giving the Generals a number of long, sustainable drives.

On the defensive side, the Generals helped the offense greatly with key stops on third down situations, and a big fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. With the Eagles closing the gap to 17-14, Immanuel seemed to be gaining the momentum. But, after successfully running a flea-flicker play, the Eagle receiver was stripped of the ball and recovered by Luis Santana inside the Generals' five-yard line. From there, Osborne and company put up another score, keeping the game out of reach for the visitors.

For the majority of the game, the actual worst enemy of the Generals was themselves. With the offense marching down the field, the Shafter offense saw drives stalled or slowed down because of penalties and personal fouls. Even on defense, the Generals saw the same tendencies as the Shafter defense had the Eagles' drives stopped a couple of times, only to see the drive extended because of penalties. This sentiment was echoed by Head Coach Jerald Pierucci after the game. "I am proud of our guys for pulling this one out. But, you just can't make the mistakes that we made on both sides of the ball. Penalties will come, but it is how you handle them that count. Championship teams can't make the mistakes that we made, especially with us marching down the field on a drive or making a good defensive stand."

The Generals will now play for their second Valley Championship in the past three years, winning the title in 2022. They will play the third-seeded Horned Toads of Coalinga High School. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Friday night.