After an emotional day yesterday, we'll bury ourselves back into the football previews. Everyone ready to find out who wins the SWYL? As for my predictions about such a wide-open league, I'll only say I'd be surprised if they're right.

Week 0 countdown: 19 days

WEST VIKINGS

Coach: Chad Grider (first year)

2007 record: 6-5 (3-2 SWYL, 3-4 home)
Average points: 21.1
Average points allowed: 21.5
Average rush yards: 157.1
Average rush yards allowed: 182.6
Average pass yards: 133.6
Average pass yards allowed: 82.0
Best win: West 31, Paso Robles 27
Worst loss: North 40, West 13

Key players: David Born, sr, OL; Jeremy Bethell, sr, OL/DL; Dion Curry, sr, WR/DB; Ben Jarvis, sr, QB; Brandon Oxford, sr, RB/LB; Brach'e Hayes, sr, TE/LB; Nate Wiley, sr, RB/LB

Key losses: Allen Daniels, WR/DB; Dionte Tomlin, WR/DB; Nick Sotello, TE/LB; Rodrigo Hernandez, OL/DL; Ronald Howells, RB/LB

Offense: Grider is old school in the sense that his father, Dallas Grider, was the coach at West High back in the 1970s and '80s and that he grew up around the problem. But his offense isn't going to lack modern wrinkles. He's got the size — Born and Bethel are 300 pounds-plus — and the speed — when Curry and Wiley are around, don't blink — to make the pro-style offense work. Grider saw Bakersfield College do it as an assistant coach the past several years, and we all know the Renegades can put up some points. Now that doesn't mean West is going to go crazy with the deep ball and with reverses all the time. Think of it more like, pound, pound, pound with Wiley behind the big line, wait for the D to creep up, and then hit Curry deep when he's got one-on-one coverage.

Defense: This side of the ball is a bit overlooked for the Vikings. Granted, there was quite a bit of inconsistency there last year, but I think it'll improve under Grider, who's his own defensive coordinator. The Vikings will run a 50 front base package with three down linemen and two down outside linebackers. Slow-going in the early season is possible because there's so much to learn scheme-wise with a new coach, but West certainly has the athletes to make it work. Born and/or Bethel could play defense on big running downs and stuff up the middle. Other times, the men to watch is defensive end Brach'e Hayes, who was a beast at Taft's Nike SPARQ camp early this month, and linebacker Brandon Oxford.

Outlook: No team in Kern County was as Jekyll and Hyde as West was last year. Crush Ridgeview to move to 4-2, squeak by Stockdale. Rout South for 6-2, lose by 27 points to North. Play Centennial down to the wire, get blown out in the playoffs. Can Grider get it all together every week for this team? The key for me is defense. You know the Vikings will move the ball behind Born and Bethel,with the athletes they've got and with Jarvis, a smart quarterback, running the show. But if the offense should turn it over, can the D come up with big plays? Or will things snowball? I get the sense West will be OK. Even with some inconsistency, this might be the most talented team in the SWYL and should contend for league and section titles.

Quotable: "We're definitely fortunate to have some big guys up front mixed with some speed. Those usually will help your run game, and hopefully they can come together and figure out the timing factor. Because those speed guys, they want to hit it now, and those big guys need to pave the way first."
— coach Chad Grider

Schedule: Sept. 5 BYE
Sept. 12 at Visalia-El Diamante
Sept. 19 East
Sept. 26 Liberty
Oct. 3 Ridgeview
Oct. 10 at Frontier
Oct. 17 North
Oct. 24 at Centennial
Oct. 31 Garces
Nov. 7 South
Nov. 14 at Stockdale

Prediction: 7-3, 5-1 SWYL

HS FOOTBALL PREVIEW INDEX
July 29: Lighthouse Christian, Immanuel Christian, Maricopa
July 30: Boron, Burroughs
July 31: Desert, Rosamond
Aug. 1: Frazier Mountain, Kern Valley
Aug. 2: Mojave, McFarland
Aug. 3: César Chávez
Aug. 4: Delano
Aug. 5: New schools: Independence, Mira Monte, RFK
Aug. 6: Shafter
Aug. 7: Wasco
Aug. 8: Arvin
Aug. 9: Taft
Aug. 10: Bakersfield Christian
Aug. 11: Tehachapi
Aug. 12: Ridgeview
Aug. 13: Frontier
Aug. 14: Stockdale
Aug. 15: South
Aug. 16: North

TOMORROW: Kings of the west, at least for now — Centennial