The Fresno Bee Andy Boogaard column

Oct. 04--MENDOTA -- Friday night lights here illuminated schools of a similar kind, yet with a striking contrast in leadership status atop their football programs.

No matter that Fresno has 2,330 students and Mendota 750. They're virtually all kids with a hunger, kids with less, evident in the percentage who qualify for free or discount lunches -- 87% at Fresno and 94% at Mendota.

This is why it's so evident when that special type of leader comes along and reverses the course of the underdogs.

This is what Fresno is seeing with Ray Reyes.

This is what Mendota saw with Beto Mejia.

Reyes, who led the Warriors to their last winning record in 2004 -- and only one in 36 years -- is once again breathing life into the program.

"He spoke to us two years ago," Warriors two-way standout Matt Stutte says of Reyes, who was on campus at the time but not as a coach. "And I was thinking, 'Man, this guy is cool. He's awesome.' I had no idea two years later he'd be our head coach. That's crazy."

And how else to describe what has unfolded at Mendota, only hardly in a good way.

"It's not the same," two-way lineman Jose Calderon says two weeks after Mejia was arrested on suspicion of insurance fraud.

He was immediately placed on administrative leave and without access to district property.

Yet Mendota, now directed by Mejia's right-hand man, Chuy Cardenas, showed the signature fire and determination of Mejia's 34-6 career by roaring from a 17-7 halftime deficit to defeat Fresno 29-17 Friday night.

While shaken by Mejia's arrest, Calderon says he speaks for the team by continuing to support the coach: "We just push each other because we know that's what he wants."

And at Fresno, they push for a man whose honesty has sold them.

"That's his strongest trait," Stutte says. "When it's on him, it's on him; when it's on us, it's on us. And I love that."

The Warriors went 2-9 and 3-7 during Stutte's sophomore and junior seasons.

Now, Reyes is back -- at 64 and heart ticking as prescribed 11 years following coronary bypass surgery.

"Just in time," Stutte says, "We haven't had too much luck in the past."

Neither did Mendota.

Then, like magic -- and, of course, a lot of Central Section record-breaking running back Edgar Segura -- Mejia marched aboard and delivered two section titles and a runner-up from 2011-13.

Then, poof! He's gone.

"I try not to think about it," says Segura, now at the state's top-ranked program, Mt. San Antonio Junior College. "I'm just down here doing my thing. I can't look back."

Segura is gray-shirting, which allows him to practice with the team but not play while also not losing a year of eligibility.

The current Aztecs cling to chances of Mejia's return.

"We know he's going to come back," Calderon says.

He pauses, then retreats a bit: "We hope."

Mendota Principal Carlos Arredondo reminds: This is far from the players' first hard-ride rodeo.

"Our kids have dealt with a lot of adversity in their lives, whether it's home or at school," he says. "They have great perseverance. They take this with stride and continue to move forward knowing full well the situation, which is very public."

Arredondo says he's "heard very few comments from the community."

Joe Riofrio, a five-term Mendota City Council member, doesn't deny: "The sheer embarrassment of the situation can't get any worse."

Yet he extends Mejia a long rope: "I respect him; he's a human being who makes mistakes like all of us. It was an error in judgment, a very stupid error. But I don't think this is a person that is unsalvageable. He means too much to the community and kids.

"I just can't give up on him; there's too much good left in him. In time, given the opportunity, he'll show he's not a quitter, because he's not a quitter."

Clearly, neither are Mejia's former players.

The Aztecs (4-1) rallied against Fresno (3-2) behind Luis Mojarro's 18-yard touchdown pass from cousin Fernando Mojarro, two powerful scoring runs -- ala Segura -- from Marco Rodriguez and a late interception and 30-yard return from Juan Mendoza.

"We're confident," Calderon says. "That's something coach Mejia taught us."

Game balls

Kobe Portillo and Rudy Vasquez, Tulare Western: Portillo passed for 225 yards in win over Selma -- 132 and three TDs going to Vasquez.

Alex Cortes, Exeter: Scored TDs three different ways in victory against Wasco with a reception, a fumble return and an interception return.

Derek Glasgow, Golden West: Interception sealed victory against Redwood.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or @beepreps on twitter.

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