Orange Belt football weighs in at Kickoff Dinner

At one point during the middle of The Recorder’s seventh annual Prep Football Kickoff Dinner, held Wednesday evening at McDermont Field House in Lindsay, Strathmore running back Jesse Soria faced off with Lindsay back Jonathan Duarte.

Both had been called to the stage by event co-emcee and K-TIP broadcaster Roland Davis to determine who led the Orange Belt in touchdowns scored last season.

Soria’s 15 total touchdowns was the most, but the scene provided as close to a weigh-in as one can get, thus hyping the upcoming season for all five schools in attendance. Granite Hills, which was preparing for Friday’s game against Hanford West, was unable to attend.

“It’s a great event,” McDermont program manager Rene Hernandez said. “The kids, the fans and the coaches are excited. It’s all for the youth and we’ll continue doing it here.”

The event marked the second year in a row it has been hosted by McDermont, who played The Recorder’s footage of each Orange Belt squad compiled over the 2008 season on many of its large projection screens.

Though this year’s event was not catered due to some early starts by the football programs (Lindsay also plays Friday) and inability to get booster clubs involved, McDermont provided in-house food at a discounted price.

“No one had time this year because when football starts, the coaches focus on football and not so much on the boosters,” Hernandez said. “I don’t think it was an economy issue.”

As for the future, Hernandez expects to get the cheerleaders involved and doesn’t foresee a change in hosting the Prep Basketball Tipoff Dinner this winter.

“I would also like to get softball and baseball in a combined event,” he said. “And one of our goals is to have a Tulare County ESPY awards show.”

Hernandez will discuss with multiple athletic directors and school districts to honor the county’s top athletes — an idea that has already garnered positive responses.

“Whenever McDermont puts on an event,” he said, “we make sure we’re highly organized and we put on a good show.”