Pardon my two-week intercontinental sojourn (is it easier if I just say "vacation"?), but I'm back and rested and ready for an information-packed summer at School House Zach.

Here's my plan: We'll go through each high-school sport from 2007-08, one by one, with a look at the best players, teams and games and a quick glance to next year. Once I've gone through all the sports, which will take two or three weeks, we'll storm ahead into high school football, with a team-by-team preview that will lead us to the start of the season Sept. 5.

So, today, we'll begin with football (what else?).

2007-08 Kern County FOOTBALL

Overview: A grand year for the southern Valley, with four of the five Central Section champions coming from Kern.

Best team: Easy. It was Bakersfield High, led by feisty little Pete Mitchell at quarterback. The Drillers got better and better as the year went on, rebounding from an early loss to Centennial to go undefeated in SEYL play before avenging their only loss by pounding Centennial in the section semifinals, 56-7.
Then came the championship, where BHS battled back against Clovis West and won the title on a 43-yard field goal from Mitchell.
Honorable mention: Division III champion Tehachapi, Centennial, Foothill, Div. IV champ Taft, Div. V champ Bakersfield Christian

Best player: He won't look the most impressive to the eye or play at the most prestigious college, but Mitchell was a man among boys in the high school ranks. Not even a favorite to win the starting quarterback position on his own team, he turned in a phenomenal season under center and kicking field goals. Mitchell will play football and baseball at Whittier College.
Honorable mention: Liberty LB Matt Akers, Highland WR/DB Anthony Johnson, West OL David Born, Centennial QB Brock Bivens, East RB Andre Smith, BHS WRs Emmanuel Ojeriakhi and Vince Van Horne, Tehachapi LB Alek Talilulu.

Best game: It'd be easy to make this a Driller trifecta and use the Bakersfield 19, Clovis West 16 championship game as the answer here, but I'll resist. Instead, how about Bakersfield Christian's 35-34 overtime, come-from-way-behind victory against Fowler in the Div. V section championship? The Eagles trailed 28-6 at halftime on the road, but recovered their own kickoff at the Fowler 20-yard line to set up a touchdown early in the third quarter. Two touchdowns later, and the game was tied at 28.
Both teams scored in overtime, but Fowler tried to go for two and the victory. BCHS' Kody Carr batted down a pass, and the Eagles had their shocker.
Honorable mention: Bakersfield 19, Clovis West 16, Div. I championship; Tehachapi 33, Foothill 28, Div. III championship.

A look ahead: I won't go into too much detail here because we'll have team-by-team previews on the blog in the weeks to come, but here's what I'm thinking: Thanks to another Carr, quarterback Derek from the Houston area, Bakersfield Christian, in just its fifth year of 11-man football, will be a small-school contender for the state championship.
Other storylines? Bakersfield High will search for another QB, and if they can find one, the Drillers might just repeat. South, North and Foothill bring back loads of talent, and each will try to take the next step by making noise in their league races.
And yes, BCHS is going to be good, but they've got a stacked schedule: It opens with 2006 state champion Oaks Christian and includes always-tough SSL teams Tehachapi and Taft. Should be a good race there.

Tomorrow: Volleyball