Team of the Week: Reedley Pirates

REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Reedley Pirates are vying for a league title for the first time in 47 years this Thursday night.

"Our school is coming to the realization that we get an extended season, so I like seeing their faces after the win. Especially when we qualified for the playoffs, we hope it's the norm here at Reedley, it's going to be what we strive for every year," said head coach Tony Gates.

Reedley is led by Gates, who returned to his alma mater and has turned the program around. The Pirates sport a winning record for the first time since 2010.

"We've been playing with each other for a long time, and it's really great to see us coming together and experience this."

"The senior class has been fighting for a long time this really means a lot to us. I think we really came together and brought this team where it is today."

Last Friday, the Pirates defeated Hoover 42-28 to remain unbeaten in the North Yosemite League. What's even more impressive, they got the victory without their starting quarterback.

"We actually came into the game with nobody listed as a quarterback on our roster so we had some guys step up it was kinda quarterback by committee. We had a package for each guy, each guy did fantastic our offensive line dominated as usual and our defense held us in."

The players say that they wouldn't have had their success without the support of the community. They hope to bring them a league Championship with a win over Sunnyside.

"One of the best teams in our league, it's not so much what they bring to the table but what we bring to the table."

They'll face Sunnyside this Thursday night on Halloween kick-off is at 7:00 p.m.