October is the most wonderful time of the sports year, with baseball playoffs beginning (we have a certain staffer at The Californian, who shall remain nameless, who says the baseball season doesn't begin until October), basketball and hockey season getting ready to go, and of course football.

The air cools, the games get more important and playoff chases start. My Missouri Tigers got a big win last night, one that will let me dream of championships for at least another week, and that was the case for several area teams too.

— Bakersfield High quite frankly might have saved its season with a fourth-quarter comeback against Liberty to win 17-10. Yeah, the Drillers are only 2-2, but the first two losses were out-of-league and early, painful but sustainable. This one would have been a crippling defeat in the league race and in Division I seeding, and BHS was able to get away with victory even though it probably was outplayed.
On the other side of the coin, Liberty has to pick itself up after a heartbreaking loss for the third time this season. The Patriots have outscored opponents 85-62 this year but have just one win in four games to show for it. That hurts. This team is good enough to go 7-3, but it's got to show even further resiliency.

— Sure, it was exciting, but Stockdale's 45-44 victory against Centennial raises one question: How long can the Mustangs walk this tightrope? They survived against Bakersfield with a surprisingly effective attack and when the Drillers self-destructed with penalties, then jumped out to a lead and held on against Clovis and did the same with Centennial. There aren't too many landmines left on Stockdale's schedule — Liberty and West stick out — but the Mustangs have a lot of improving to do if they want a good regular season to translate into playoff success.

— This was mentioned in the comments of the Friday night thread, but it's worth talking about again: If North can limit its own mistakes, it could be a real factor in the league race. But the Stars can't seem to stay out of their own way. They survived against Frontier in a game they clearly deserved to win but could have let get away. This is what I mean when I talk about teams learning how to win.

— Speaking of which, what a huge win for a Foothill team that has tasted success each of the last two years, and what a painful loss for South, which is looking to turn a corner. The Trojans won a pivotal game, 42-32, that will serve them well when playoff seeding is decided.

— In another 2-1 vs. 2-1 game, Garces rebounded from a bad loss last week to nip Golden Valley 32-28. I'm still relatively new to the Kern County game, but I can see why the Rams have such a good reputation — they fight like hell and won't give an inch even when it seems like they're beaten.

— Exactly how good is Highland? I could see the Scots getting to 7-0 or even 8-0, because they don't play SEYL royalty Liberty and Bakersfield until the final two games of the year. At that point, the Scots would be playing with tremendous confidence. Actually, they probably already are, considering they notched their second consecutive shutout, 23-0 against East.

— West beat Ridgeview 28-7, and I think the Vikings are back on track. We'll know more after the next three weeks, when West plays at Frontier (well, away from home, anyway), home against North and at Centennial. Survive those three, and the countdown will begin to the game at Stockdale to end the season.

— Desert won a, well, desert showdown against Boron, handing the Bobcats their first loss in a 56-40 shootout. Check out these stats: Israel Lucas ran for 253 yards and three touchdowns — for the losing team. Terrance Wells ran for two scores and threw for another for the Scorpions, who jumped to a 21-0 lead before Boron cut it to 35-34 after three quarters. Desert, the bigger school, pulled away to move to 4-1 two weeks before High Desert League play begins.

— The South Sequoia League still is a couple of weeks off, but it looks like as good or better of a race than we thought in the preseason, even if Tehachapi, Taft and Bakersfield Christian all have losses. Arvin had a great win against Burroughs, 17-10, and BCHS pounded hapless Cambria-Coast Union. Meanwhile, Tehachapi broke a three-game losing streak at Rosamond. We know Taft is tough, and they get Tehachapi and BCHS at home. Still too close to call in my mind.

In the mean time, here's a quick look at next week's best games:
Centennial at Bakersfield: Another week, another showdown for the Drillers.
Foothill at Liberty: Trojans' first league game also is first test with the big boys.
Garces at Highland: Scots will test Garces' mercurial offense.
West at Frontier: A game Vikings need to win if they're going to compete in league.
South at Stockdale: Rebels shocked the Mustangs last year; might they pull a bigger upset here?

Central Section rankings will be posted Tuesday, with Week 5 predictions and podcast coming later in the week. Happy October, everyone.