One of the joys of my job is seeing games like Saturday night's (Oct. 10) 31-24 Bakersfield College win over previously undefeated Allan Hancock.

The game wasn't decided until Hancock's fourth-down pass from the BC 2-yard line fell incomplete in the end zone.

Along the way were some great calls. Like the bomb to William Randle on BC's first play of the second half -- which went for a 61-yard TD. Or the third-and-6 pass in the fourth quarter to Rishard Matthews, which also went for 61 yards and a TD.

Hancock had some great calls also. Like a fourth-and-4 draw play to running back Thomas Sua that went for a 23-yard TD in the middle of the fourth quarter. Or the play-action pass to running back Mario Jones early in the fourth quarter that went for a 5-yard TD when everyone in the stadium looked for a run.

This game was crucial to BC for another reason. Hancock beat Canyons last week in overtime. Since 2000, either BC or Canyons has won the conference championship. If Hancock had beaten BC, the Renegades would have no longer controlled their own destiny in a bid to win the conference title. BC would have needed to run the table and hope Hancock would lose to someone else for a co-championship, and Hancock would have held the tie-breaker because of the head-to-head win.

But now, two weeks into the conference season, BC and Ventura (a 26-20 winner over Pasadena Saturday) are the only 2-0 teams in conference play. Canyons has to be a contender despite its loss last week to Hancock. Canyons rolled past winless Moorpark 31-7. Moorpark comes to BC this Saturday.

BC should have no trouble the next two weeks, with Moorpark winless and Glendale (the opponent on Oct. 24) not at BC's level. Ventura follows (on Halloween night, at BC), then the regular-season finale on Nov. 14 at Canyons (Nov. 7 in is a bye).

I think the Gades are shoo-ins for the eight-team SoCal playoffs; winning the conference title would ensure a first-round home game (which is the Golden Empire Bowl). If BC stumbles, it would be in danger of opening the playoffs on the road, and the Golden Empire Bowl would subsequently attract two out-of-town teams, probably with a miniscule crowd.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. There's a lot of football left before that all shakes out. But the thriller vs. Hancock keeps BC on pace to win the conference title, and more importantly, BC has its destiny in its own hands.