The Tulare Western High School football team rolls into the 2026 season coming off perhaps the most successful summer in program history.
The Mustangs won passing championships at Fresno State’s Battle of the Valley 7v7 Tournament, the Lindsay Tournament, and the Cal Poly Tournament. The linemen also won the Mike Willeford Trench Wars.
The Fresno State tournament featured 55 teams. In that event, as the 10th seed, Tulare Western had wins over Downey, Liberty, Edison, and Redwood. The Mustangs defeated Garces 14-12 in the championship game.
“It felt good to be that successful,” Tulare Western head coach Derek Rosa said. “I can’t remember a time when we won that big of a tournament. It definitely felt nice, but like I told them, ‘That summer success means nothing. Once we roll around to the fall, we have to work towards being a good football team, not just a 7-on-7 team as well.’ “
Tulare Western fields one of the most experienced teams this season. The Mustangs are returning 16 of 22 starters, including three-year starting quarterback Juju Hernandez and junior receiver Amarion Taylor — a three-star Division I recruit who has six scholarship offers from Cal, Fresno State, Colorado State, Idaho, Utah, and UNLV.
Hernandez, who has started since his freshman season, has thrown for 4,326 career passing yards with 39 touchdowns. He is coming off a career-defining fall where he tossed a personal single-season best of 2,697 passing yards and 23 touchdowns.
Hernandez is 13-9 as Tulare Western’s starting quarterback. Under his leadership in Rosa’s spread offense, the Mustangs have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
Hernandez throws to what may be Tulare County’s premier receiving corps — headlined by the 6-foot-3, 188-pound Taylor.
Taylor, a 2025 All-West Yosemite League first-team pick, cemented his status as one of the Central Section’s elite wideouts last year when he broke out for 1,177 yards and 10 touchdowns on 69 catches.
The Mustangs return nearly 95% of their receiving production from last year.
Hernandez’s other top targets this season are returning starting wide receivers Domanik Martinez (59 catches, 642 yards, nine touchdowns), a junior, senior Landan Seechan (34 catches, 449 yards, two touchdowns), and senior tight end Grant Crawford (21 catches, 295 yards, two touchdowns).
Taylor, Martinez, Seechan, and Crawford combined for 183 receptions, 2,563 receiving yards, and 23 touchdowns in 2025.
That unit helped Tulare Western average nearly 30 points per game last season during a six-win campaign.
What’s it like to return that group?
“It’s nice,” Rosa said. “It’s a lot less teaching now, and it’s more getting into the fine details, making them more complete receivers, a more complete quarterback. Just a couple of years ago, I could remember them coming in as babies, after eighth grade for their freshman year. Now, they’ve just completely transformed into really good football players. They understand the game a lot better. They see stuff before me, sometimes: ‘Hey, coach, we can get them in this.’ That’s what it’s all about right there.”
Those are some of the reasons why expectations are high for Tulare Western in 2026.
Rosa believes this year’s team is Tulare Western’s most talented squad since the 2019 unit that reached the Central Section Division II championship game.
The Mustangs are also returning their leading tackler from last season — senior linebacker Xavier Marquez.
Marquez racked up a team-high 62 tackles (29 solo) in 2025 to earn All-WYL first-team honors.
Tulare Western kicks off the 2026 season at El Diamante on Aug. 21 at Visalia Community Stadium. The Mustangs are 8-1 all-time against the Miners, having won eight straight games dating back to 2016.
“I’m excited,” Rosa said. “You can feel the same sentiment amongst the team. On campus, there’s been a lot more buzz. We’re building in the right direction to make it a fun and special year.”
Tulare Western Mustangs
Head coach: Derek Rosa, sixth season
Coaching staff: Eddie Ramos (defensive coordinator), Gabe Azevedo, Chris Covert, Greg Jones, Josh Portillo, Michael Moore, Casey Rogers, Joey Keovilay, Elijah Alonzo, Jake Patton, Adrian Carillo, Brian Beavers
Roster size: 55
Base offense/defense: Spread/3-4
2025 record: 6-5 (lost to Kerman in the Central Section Division III playoffs)
Impact players: QB Juju Hernandez, WR/DB Amarion Taylor, WR/DB Domanik Martinez, WR Landan Seechan, LB Xavier Marquez, LB Jeremiah Gomez, DE Dominick Perryman, TE Grant Crawford, DE Ethan Esquibel, LB Josiah Gomez
Schedule
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Tulare Western football eyes big 2026 season after championship summer
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta | USA TODAY Network
