Central Section: Sixth-ranked Central shocks No. 1 Clovis West behind defense, Dayton Tafoya

CLOVIS, Calif. — The Central Grizzlies wanted to come out and make a statement that they would be a force to be reckoned with in the Central Section playoffs. 

This was a hurricane. 

Led by five touchdown passes from quarterback Dayton Tafoya, who was playing against his former team, and a defense that intercepted four passes, the Grizzlies defeated the No. 1 ranked Clovis West Golden Eagles 45-0 Friday at Kologian Stadium. 

Remarkably, this one went quick because of a running clock in the fourth quarter. No one, not even Tafoya who left Clovis West after his sophomore year, could have predicted that. He finished 20-for-33 for 283 yards. 

With three Division I Section titles in the last five years, Central has felt like it has under-achieved thus far this season. The Grizzlies went the other direction on Friday. 

Ranked sixth in the SBLive Central Section Fab 15, the Grizzlies moved to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the Tri-River Conference. They will end the regular season next week against Clovis North.

The Eagles fell hard at 8-1 and 3-1 in conference play. They end the regular season against Clovis.

“For me personally, this was my ex-school so that fired me up a little when I saw them on the schedule,” Tafoya said. “Those loses to Liberty, Memorial, Buchanan really lit the fire under us and we just got to keep proving to everyone that Central is not done and we are going to keep bringing ballers.”

Central coach Kyle Biggs echoed Tafoya's sentiments. 

“It was a great effort, they did everything we asked them to do, believed in each other and believed in themselves and showed how good we are capable of being.” he said. "The defense played phenomenally. They got after the quarterback, got hands on the ball and they played fast.”

Central raced to an early lead scoring on the first possession of the game when Tafoya connected with LaDanian Streets on a 49-yard touchdown pass. A Braylen Hall interception — the second of the quarter against Ryan Markarian — set up Central's next score, a 17-yard TD pass from Tafoya to Joshua Hill, making it 14-0 late in the first quarter. 

Kaleb Tennison had the first interception for the Grizzlies. 

A third pick set up a Edwin Melgar 31-yard field goal making it 17-0 before halftime. 

Clovis West, known for its comebacks, had no answer in the third, as Tafoya connected with Noel Felix III on a 5-yard TD pass to make it 24-0. 

Tennison's second interception set up the second TD connection between Tafoya and Streets, this one a 6-yarder to push the lead to 31-0. Tafoya's final TD pass went 12 yards to Daylon Scott, making it 38-0 late in the third quarter. 

“We all played with heart and we were very consistent on both sides of the ball,” Tafoya said. “The preseason really helped us to get to where we are, we are playing with our hearts and playing as a family.”

The Grizzlies added a touchdown in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback David Marquez and Kai Hughes connected on an 18-yard touchdown.

Caleb Shelton, Grizzlies starting linebacker, said that the team had a good mindset heading into the game.

“Our defense locked it down, offense executed, and everything just went our way,” Shelton said. “Our mindset was just to believe, and that’s what we did. We believed the whole time and we won.”

Postgame interviews from Chris Aguirre: Kyle Biggs, Caleb Shelton, Dayton Tafoya

Here are photos from Friday night's game in Clovis:

All photos by Bobby Medellin