So I was busy pouring over Sports Illustrated’s college football preview (imagine that) this past weekend, and they’ve made a big deal over the spread offense — who runs it, how it started, why it’s impossible to stop, how defensive coaches are trying to counter it. It was pretty impressive, but the thing I kept coming back to was this: The spread offense is predicated on creating and exploiting mismatches. Well, doesn’t that mean you’ve got to have the athletes to create those mismatches? What if you don’t? I guess you end up like UTEP or Northwestern, which have ran the spread for years but not had only intermittent success with it (they've certainly had some extenuating circumstances at Northwestern with coach Randy Walker's death, but I think the point still stands).

Read on to find out what that has to do with today's preview.

CENTENNIAL GOLDEN HAWKS

Coach: Bryan Nixon (eighth year)

2007 record: 10-2 (5-0 SWYL, 5-1 home)
Average points:30.8
Average points allowed:19.4
Average rush yards:187.6
Average rush yards allowed:142.5
Average pass yards:137.0
Average pass yards allowed:127.8
Best win: Centennial 28, Bakersfield 26
Worst loss: Bakersfield 56, Centennial 7

Key players: Stephen Casabosas, sr, WR/DB; John Lay, sr, LB; Bryan Maxwell, sr, WR/LB; Brett Wallace, sr, WR; Tim King, jr, OL/DL; Jerry Pendleton, sr, DL; Cody Kessler, soph, QB

Key losses: Brock Bivens, QB/DB; Zander Fabbri, RB/LB; Joey Bertrand, RB/DB; Dustin Robinson, WR/LB; Anthony Masuda, WR/DB; Josh Crenshaw, WR/DB; Jacob Cross, OL/LB; Preston Lopez, WR/DB; Cameron Shelton, OL/DL; Jacob Davis, OL/DL

Offense: So, continuing my train of thought from above: For Nixon and Centennial, will the spread be the powerful machine that has helped the Golden Hawks to nine league titles in 15 years, even though nearly every key player from last year has departed? That’s the big question. And the point man in all of this, it appears, is just a sophomore, Cody Kessler. I don’t have a problem with that, really, considering how good Kessler was in basketball as a freshman and what a great athlete he is. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Centennial has an abbreviated rebuilding period on offense. Once league play starts, I’d say it’ll be less and less of a problem.

Defense: Same story here, with Arizona freshman Zander Fabbri out of town and other standout defensive players like Cross and Robinson no longer around. Centennial has run the 4-4 under Nixon, and it’ll be a struggle to stay effective with so many young players. A good thing is that many of them got some game action last year because of injuries to Fabbri and some other starters, and Nixon said they generally played well.

Outlook: The scariest number for the Golden Hawks this year is four — as in four returning starters. That’s all they’ve got, besides a few part-time, injury-fill-in guys from last year. No matter how good the coaching and the schemes are, it’s tough to stay at a league-championship level when you have nearly an entirely new starting lineup. But despite that, I think Centennial will be fine. The school has tremendous athletes — seemed like every JV team on campus last year was one of the best around — and Nixon knows how to use them. Kessler is a great example and could be a microcosm for the whole team this season. Yes, he’s young, and there will surely be some mistakes early, but when he gets the hang of game action, there might not be anyone better in Bakersfield.

Quotable: “I think we still have those expectations. The learning curve has to be very fast, and we have to mature very quick. But I’ll tell you what, this group is a great group of kids. They’re very coachable, and the work ethic is unbelievable.”
— coach Bryan Nixon

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

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
Aug. 17: West

TOMORROW: Our first stop in the SEYL — Golden Valley