Our daily high school football previews are moving out of 8-man territory and into the 11-man game we all know and love. And today we bring you a couple of teams from the edge of Kern County that will be worth keeping your peripherals on.

Countdown to Week 0: 37 days

BORON BOBCATS

Coach: Todd Fink (eighth year)

2007 record: 7-4 (3-1 Desert Mountain League (Southern Section), 5-1 home)
Average points: 29.9
Average points allowed:13.1
Average rush yards: 236.4
Average rush yards allowed: 170.8
Average pass yards: 109.8
Average pass yards allowed: 65.0
Best win: Boron 27, Lancaster-Desert Christian 0
Worst loss: Mammoth 30, Boron 28

Key players: Israiel Lucas, sr, RB/DE; Joshua Glass, sr, WR/DB; Cody Caillier, jr, OL/LB; J.R. Peleti, sr, OL/DL

Key losses: Devan Mattox, WR/DB; Marty Powers, QB/DB; Bradley Sailer, OL/LB; Eugene Cotton, OL/LB; Jessie Glass, OL/DL

Outlook: Take a school with enrollment that's about 140 and take away nine starters, and you're talking about a hefty replacement job. Or are you? Fink doesn't necessarily think so. He says the Bobcats still have a goal of winning a league title and advancing in the section playoffs, same as always. Whether or not those things can actually happen is another matter. Joshua Glass and Lucas are two big building blocks, and Peleti is a newcomer from Apple Valley that will make an impact. Also up are four players from last year's JV team that won a league title after starting the year 0-5. Early-season litmus tests at Rosamond and at Kern Vally will tell us if Boron can get by league favorite Mammoth after losing by two in the de facto league title game last season.

Quotable: "For the last three years we've had four new starters on the (offensive) line, and we found a way to get it done."
— coach Todd Fink

BURROUGHS BURROS

Coach: Matt Gracey (second year)

2007 record: 2-9 (2-2 Desert Sky League (Southern Section), 1-4 home)
Average points: 16.6
Average points allowed: 35.2
Average rush yards: 109.1
Average rush yards allowed: 283.3
Average pass yards: 139.9
Average pass yards allowed:119.5
Best win: Burroughs 20, Apple Valley-Granite Hills 6
Worst loss: Ridgeview 22, Burroughs 12

Key players: Stephen Harlow, sr, WR/DB; Daril Manns, sr, QB/WR; Dominic Sween, sr, WR/LB; Derrick Dison, soph, QB

Key losses: Brandon Teasley, RB; Troy Spargo, QB; Frank Heureque, WR; Joe Klein, LB

Outlook: It sounds strange to say for a team that was 2-9 last season — and, let's face it, some of us in Bakersfield forget that Ridgecrest is even in Kern County — but this might be a fun team to watch in the upcoming season. The Burros (can't decide if that nickname is really creative or not so much) are going to be a young team that should be much better because of the lumps they took last year. Leading the charge will be quarterback Dison, who got his feet wet last year — struggling against Ridgeview but then leading a Homecoming comeback against Apple Valley-Granite Hills that eventually gave Burroughs a playoff berth. It's also the first time in three years that the Burros will have the same coach two years in a row.

Quotable: "It'll be a lot of fun. There was a lot of success (at Burroughs) before we showed up and there's been a two-year hiatus. But the kids are proud to be a part of this."
— coach Matt Gracey

TOMORROW: Desert, Rosamond