Submitted by Denair High School

It’s loud. It’s fun. And, for the first time, tractor pulling is coming to Denair.

The Denair High FFA Booster Club is organizing the event, which will start at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at Jack Lytton Stadium. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door, and can be purchased from any FFA student.

As of Friday, more than 500 tickets already had been sold. Given the long-range weather forecast for a pleasant fall night, odds are good that well more than 1,000 people will be there.

The crowd will be treated to a fun event put on by the Valley Tractor Pullers Association, which has more than 150 members. Some of them are from the Denair area and have never had a chance before to compete on their “home turf.” The VTPA stages events across the region, including at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock.

Tractor pulls involve multiple classes of vehicles – from antique tractors to modified, high-horsepower versions to souped up 4×4 pickups. Each tractor or truck is hooked up to a weighted sled. The farther the sled is pulled, the more the weight moves toward the front – making it more difficult to pull.

Competitors are scored on how far they can pull the sled.

In the Denair event, the pulling will be done on the south side of the track at the stadium. An announcer will rev up the crowd and introduce each participant. The show is expected to last up to three hours.

“It’s very family oriented,” said Ray Prock Jr., an FFA Booster Club member and also a trustee on the Denair Unified School Board.

Organizers hope to raise as much as $20,000. That money will go to support FFA programs at Denair High and pay for things like entrance fees for students at the county fair or to attend conferences.

For more on the Denair event, go to http://www.vtpapullers.org/Denair%20FFA.htm

Submitted by Denair High School

As frustrated as Denair coach Anthony Armas was with his offense after six first-half turnovers Friday night, he was equally delighted with his defense. He had a choice to make during the break: Criticize the offense or heap praise on the defense? Because, as everyone is well aware by now, those are the same players thanks to the Coyotes’ small but tenacious roster.

“It is weird sometimes,” Armas admitted. “I want to say something to one group, but then I realize they’re the same kids playing both ways.”

Armas settled for a reminder about ball security when Denair was on offense and told the Coyotes to keep doing what they had been doing on defense. The result? Denair rallied from a 6-0 halftime deficit against Mariposa, using three touchdowns by Justin Steeley to outlast the Grizzlies 26-12.

The hard-earned victory – which came on the road on a field Denair has had little success on – moved the Coyotes one step closer to an improbable spot in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoffs. Denair is 4-2 in the Southern League (tied with Delhi and Gustine for second place) and 6-3 overall.

A victory at home this week in the regular-season finale against Waterford almost assuredly would clinch a playoff spot for Denair, despite playing with 12 to 16 players most of the season.

“We told the kids a few weeks ago that our playoffs had already started,” said Armas, a Denair graduate in his second year as head coach. “We figured we had to run the table in order to have a chance.”

Orestimba (8-1 overall, 6-0 in the SL) already has clinched the league championship and one of the SL’s two automatic berths. The other spot comes down to Denair, Delhi and Gustine – and Denair appears to have the edge there. Continue reading “Denair’s March Toward Playoffs Continues With Hard-Fought 26-12 Victory at Mariposa” »