News

Madera High Football Coach Strikes Student: Placed on Administrative Leave

MADERA - Just days after his Madera High Coyote varsity football team was trounced by the Bullard Knights on live television, head coach Bonner Cunnings is on administrative leave for striking a student athlete. The Madera Police Department is investigating.

At the Monday practice a 15 year-old boy from the junior varsity team was taunting Cunnings about his recent weight gain. At some point in the practice the boy allegedly slapped or pitched the coach's belly saying, "putting on the weight coach."

Legendary Basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian Passes at 84

FRESNO - Jerry Tarkanian - a Naismith Hall of Famer and Fresno State legend having both played and coached for the Bulldogs - passed away Wednesday morning at a Las Vegas-area hospital with his family by his side. He was 84.

He is survived by his wife, Lois, also a Fresno State graduate, four children and seven grandchildren.

Tarkanian, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2013, played at Fresno State from 1954-55 and later coached for the Bulldogs from 1995-02.

Derek Carr Returns to Bulldog Stadium as Oct. 3 Honorary Captain

FRESNO - Fresno State record-setting quarterback and current starting quarterback of the Oakland Raiders Derek Carr will be making a return to Bulldog Stadium next Friday, Oct. 3, to serve as the honorary captain for the Mountain West league game between the `Dogs and San Diego State.

Carr was a second-round draft pick of the Raiders last spring and is completing 63 percent of his passes with three touchdowns in three games for the Raiders so far this season. Oakland plays Miami on Sept. 28 in England and has a bye weekend after that, allowing Carr the opportunity to return for Fresno State to honor him.

Derek Carr Drafted in Second Round by Oakland Raiders

FRESNO - Derek Carr, Fresno State's all-time leading passer, was selected with the fourth pick in the second round, No. 36 overall, by the Oakland Raiders on Friday in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Carr is the eighth Bulldog quarterback to hear his name called in the NFL Draft and the first since Tom Brandstater went in the sixth round (No. 174 overall) to the Denver Broncos in 2009. He is also the 101st player overall in school history to be drafted.

Fresno State's Davante Adams to Enter NFL Draft

FRESNO - Third-year sophomore wide receiver Davante Adams of the Fresno State football team has informed head coach Tim DeRuyter that he will forgo his two remaining seasons of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft.

"I felt that this was a good time for me to take the next step," said Adams, a two-time All-American and two-time All-Mountain West first-team selection. "I felt that I have done all that I can do and I felt like it was a good move to make going out on a good note because you never know returning and then maybe your stock can be dropped."

Donegan Resigns as Madera South's Football Coach 18-57

MADERA - After seven years at the helm of Madera South High School's football program, Coach Scott Donegan has announced he is stepping down. He will remain as a physical education teacher and his successor has not been named.

Donegan was the then new school's first football coach in 2006 after a very successful run at Chowchilla Union High School where his team won the CIF Valley Championship in 2004 and placed second in 2005.

McKinney Out as Madera High Varsity Football Coach

MADERA - After three straight losing seasons at Madera High School., varsity football coach Scott McKinney steps down. Citing family reasons for leaving, McKinney has had a rough go of coaching at the high school level. In the last three years the Coyote varsity football team has gone 1-14 in the County/Metro Athletic Conference (CMAC), with their lone league victory coming from Madera South last month (48-30).

This season started out with a near riot at a Memorial Stadium scrimmage with Tulare Union where McKinney and the high school administration said the public did not have a right to know what happened or watch a video of the mealy. The season ended with a star football player being removed from the team for illegally accessing the schools attendance records and erasing absences for fellow football players and other athletes.