A blog about Sports & Recreation.
Real Name: Zach Ewing Address: 1707 Eye St. Bakersfield, CA 93301 Date of Birth: July 29, 1984 Member Since: December 19, 2007 Last Signed In: November 24, 2009 Profile Views: 3025 Blog Views: 135285 Central Section football rankings, Week 12 (playoffs) Week 11 (playoffs), Most important things Week 11 (playoffs) running thread and scoreboard Week 11 (playoffs) HS football podcast (YAY!!!!! EDITION) Week 11 (playoffs) HS football podcast (FAIL EDITION) Week 11 (playoffs) HS football predictions Central Section football rankings, Week 11 (playoffs) Time to talk volleyball Week 10, most important things Football playoff seedings (UPDATED with predictions) December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 
RSS 2.0    Share!
|
|
|
Week 9 running thread and scoreboard (UPDATED WITH FRIDAY NIGHT SCORES)
UPDATED, 12:24 a.m.: Sorry for the lack of updates, but things get crazy when games drag on Friday night. I told you this was stressful for us scribes. But a fun game to watch at Centennial nonetheless, with North hanging on for a 49-42 victory — its first win against CHS in school history. The Stars also clinched at least a tie for their first league championship since 1994. They're 5-1 in the league, with Stockdale at 4-1 and a game left against West next week. As for other key scores: Bakersfield Christian 42, Arvin 35 — The Central Section passing record, which had been 520 yards by Hanford West's Chris Silveria according to section historian Bob Barnett, is no more. It now belongs to Derek Carr, who torched Arvin for 544 yards on 37-of-44 passing. Still, the Eagles had to hang tough to beat the Bears, who put on an offensive show of their own. That's a share of the league title for BCHS, who can win it outright with a win at Taft next week. Otherwise, we're probably looking at a three-way split. Stockdale 34, Frontier 20 — Sounded like a pretty typical Stockdale win for this year: A few mistakes, a few worries as the game stays close, and then a big play or two as the Mustangs' Wing T takes over. Stephen Silva had 164 yards — including a 61-yard run — and Spencer Prince had TD runs of 85 and 30 yards en route to 151 yards as the Mustangs kept their own league title hopes alive. Beating West next week, though, suddenly is turning into a tall order. West 49, South 35 — This quote from Chad Grider (brought to you by Californian correspondent Steve Lynch) pretty much tells you that West High has it together after nine weeks: "The team has finally come together as a team," Grider said. "And they're playing as a team. Guys that were selfish at one point in the season are becoming unselfish and realizing that if we play as a unit, we're a pretty darn good football team." Full of clichés, but it sounds like a pretty effective way to sum up the team. West at Stockdale next week should be fun. Garces 34, Foothill 26 — I swear, you cannot bury this Rams team. I've been this close to writing the Rams off for the season a couple of times, but here they are, 6-3 and 4-1 in the Southeast Yosemite League — tied with Liberty and Bakersfield High for first place. A huge game against Liberty next week will at least decide one SEYL champ. Then it will be up to the Drillers to beat Highland to join the winner as a co-champ (BHS has beat each of the other two). Liberty 20, Highland 0 — The Patriots stifle another league foe. That's now 51 points allowed in five league games, and 14 of those came during garbage time against East. This team is the toughest to score on in Kern County, period. UPDATED, 9:31 p.m.: As they make their way through homecoming festivies at Centennial, here are some other scores of interest. West is up 28-14 in the third quarter against South, thanks to a long interception return, and Stockdale holds a 27-13 lead on Frontier in the fourth. Think about this: If Centennial comes back here and the Vikings hold on, West could still have a chance at an SWYL title share if they could beat Stockdale next week. Don't know if that's going to happen, but it's improbable that West is still in it. Also, Foothill leads Garces 24-20 in the third quarter in another shootout. UPDATED, 9:09 p.m.: Finally halftime here, but not before Dean-Johnson slipped in another long touchdown run and North scored even one more time, this one on a 26-yard pass from Juan Rodriquez to Nathan Vlach with 8 seconds left in the half. I hadn't seen Centennial yet this year, but let it suffice to say the reason the Golden Hawks are 2-6 is because of defense. The Centennial offense has looked fine, but JDJ, as we call him in the office has — get ready for this — 325 yards rushing at the half. 325! He was banged up on his last carry (or maybe he was just tired), but he could be looking at a record-setting day. UPDATED, 8:49 p.m.: I can't update this game fast enough. Julian Dean-Johnson ties things up with a 77-yard touchdown run, his third of the game. He's now at an unbelievable 232 yards on seven carries — in the first half, no less. Bakersfield High is having no such battle at its homecoming game, up 34-0 at the half against East. UPDATED, 8:43 p.m.: The comeback train continues for Centennial, which has now stopped North three times in a row and continued to score, the latest a 19-yard TD run from Shawn Johnson that's made it 28-21 for Centennial. Meanwhile, Spencer Prince's 85-yard TD run has given Stockdale a 13-7 halftime lead on Frontier. If these results hold (and there's still a long way to go), Stockdale, and not North, would clinch a share of the SWYL title. UPDATED, 8:30 p.m.: An hour in and we're still in the first quarter (not good news for those of us with a deadline to worry about). Centennial, though, is having a grand old time of late, scoring twice on short runs from Myren Moore to tie the game at 21. The second score was set up by a North fumble at its own 2-yard line. Meanwhile, Julian Dean-Johnson has 155 yards on just five carries and two touchdowns. Tell me you wouldn't pick him first in a Kern County fantasy football league. UPDATED, 8:08 p.m.: North needs only three more offensive plays to score again, the big one a 56-yard burst from Dean-Johnson. Seth Vlach pounded the ball in from 3 yards out to make it 14-0, but Centennial has answered. The Golden Hawks used a brilliant strike from Cody Kessler to Bryan Maxwell (great throw, better catch, right on the fingertips) to set up Kessler's 1-yard sneak a few plays later. The PAT was no good, so it's 14-6. UPDATED, 7:53 p.m.: We've just gotten underway here at Centennial, and it's taken North all but three plays to prove it means business with an SWYL title at stake. The Stars used a 1-yard carry, then a 37-yard keeper from quarterback Juan Rodriquez and a 16-yard burst from Julian Dean-Johnson to put a quick 7 points up on Centennial. Time for some passing now... ORIGINAL POST: Ah, Friday. I was thinking last night that I'd be glad in a few weeks when high school football season was over and my Fridays weren't so hectic. But you know what? I'm going to miss the first week without them. So let's get to enjoying another one. As far as big games go, Week 9 is more loaded north of Kern County where all of the following showdowns kick off at the same time (you want to talk about hectic): No. 4 Fresno-Bullard vs. No. 1 Fresno-Edison, No. 7 Clovis East at No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan, No. 8 Hanford at No. 5 Visalia-El Diamante and No. 14 Kingsburg at No. 10 Exeter. All of those are for first place. But don't sneeze at the slate of games in Kern, either. The Southwest Yosemite League muddle will be at least partially cleaned up — if North wins at Centennial, it wins a share of the SWYL title. If North loses and Stockdale beats Frontier (at North, of all places), then the Mustangs clinch a share of the title with a chance to win it outright next week. If North wins and Stockdale loses, the Stars have the outright title even though they lost to the Mustangs last week. On the east side, Bakersfield, Liberty and Garces all enter tonight's games with 3-1 records. Liberty travels to 2-2 Highland, BHS hosts 0-5 East and Garces hosts 2-2 Foothill. Finally, Bakersfield Christian travels to Arvin in the South Sequoia League. I've described this as a "trap" game, but I've probably been short-changing the Bears, who with a win would be tied for first place in the league and have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles. Otherwise, BCHS would clinch a share of the title tonight. On to the Week 9 scoreboard — all games are 7:30 p.m. Friday unless noted, and my Central Section rankings are in parentheses. Check back throughout the weekend for live score updates and updates from North-Centennial. Kern County scoreboard Other Central Section scores 10 comments from 5 users
1
posted by
jfrancais
on Nov 8, 2008 at 07:47 AM
Congrats to North High on a great win! If they can make some noise in the playoffs that is great for KC. I wish I could have seen Dean-Johnson play a game or two. I could see the guy had some skill by watching him on film last year. He's got that proverbial motor that analyst always talk about. You can't coach that. posted by
jfrancais
on Nov 8, 2008 at 07:55 AM
Big win by Bullard. They took it to Edison by not being afraid of their athletic ability. posted by
Patrick319
on Nov 8, 2008 at 08:21 AM
Can everyone now agree that Highland was not the team everyone thought they were at the beginning of the year? The North Centennial game could have been billed as the unstoppable force (JDJ) against the force that apparently can't stop anybody. Not to take anything away from the Stars. North has never seen a back as dangerous as Dean-Johnson, and may never again. I hope I'm wrong. From my understanding, the boundaries change again next year which may not bode well for the North talent pool. We'll see. I believe the new league allignment starts next fall which would put NHS in a league West, Highland, East, and Frontier (I think). I believe that this new allignment will place Centennial, Stockdale, and BHS in a league together. Has anyone heard anything to this effect? West has proved that they are back and in it to win it. There is a huge showdown in week 10 between West and Stockdale. A West win and the Stars get the SWYL title all to their lonely. It also, I believe could put West in a position to host a division II playoff game. It would also fuzzy an already fuzzy picture for Division I teams on the south end of the valley. Actually, Liberty has been the most consistent Division I team in Bakersfield. They've had (Liberty) a tough schedule, but have taken care of business in the SEYL apart from letting the BHS game slip away. The Patriots, as previously noted could easily be 9-0. Only one of their losses could POSSIBLY be billed an upset and that was West. But what we've seen the last few weeks from West makes the win against Liberty look less like an upset. Things appear to be tight up north. We see another example of two TRAC powerhouses pounding on eachother-Clovis East vs Clovis Buchannan while CW took care of business against Madera. Unfortunate thing for Clovis East is that they will not host any home games to my understanding due to some CIF infraction. I would definately place Clovis East in the top 5 or 6 while El Diamante should be the #1 Seed in Division II. Tulare Union and Edison will be forces in DII. I'm not completely convinced that Edison is better than El Diamante. Playoffs will tell. It wil be interesting to see how North and West (The best two DII schools in Bakersfield I believe) might fare against them. The seniors on North saw both El Diamante and Edison last year (result unfavorable). posted by
jfrancais
on Nov 8, 2008 at 09:30 AM
I agree with you, Patrick, that Liberty has been the most consistent. That is what the playoffs will be about since the teams seem so evenly matched in D. I. North has a chance to make some noise with that offense. Edison hasn't faced a team with such a ground game as the Stars. posted by
zewing
on Nov 8, 2008 at 12:03 PM
First off, I want to make something clear in light of a couple of comments (since deleted) that have been put up on the blog: I'm not going to make this a home for comments that call players or coaches out individually or that are needlessly negative. If you want to comment on why you think a team is struggling, other than "They suck" or "It's embarrassing," I have no problem with that. But we're talking about high school kids here. Keep it civil. Patrick319, I haven't heard anything about a new league alignment. I believe the next alignment won't come until the 2010-2011 school year. I would imagine the new varsity teams next year, Independence and Mira Monte, will be independents for a year or even in a smaller league for a year before joining the other city schools (much like Frontier was an independent last year). As for West and North against El Diamante and Edison, I don't like the matchups at all. North has the potential to give those teams trouble because it can break the big play, but it has to improve defensively or it'll be buried. As for West, the Vikings lost their season opener 34-14 to El D — the Vikings made some plays in the game but were never really close to winning. posted by
Patrick319
on Nov 8, 2008 at 06:53 PM
I agree that North's pass defense will doom them against good teams. The West comment, however is a bit unfair, because, as you and I can hopefully admit, the West team thats playing now is a much improved team with improved chemistry compared to the team that played El Diamante earlier this year. I thought 2010-2011 too initially, however I JV assistant for North told me 2009-2010. 2010-2011 sounds more like it. posted by
blade4101
on Nov 10, 2008 at 02:15 PM
East High is struggle becuase their offensive scheme is not right for the school. Second, I have every right to talk about East right or wrong. Out of respect for your blog I will further evaluate my comments before they are written. When it comes down to it the best teams will prevail and if East wants my respect they should take my comments and use them rather than hide behind being civil. If my team in 2004 proved anything is that you have to play every down every second for the man next to you. You have to be willing to go in the trenches and shed your blood to become a champion. posted by
notatroll
on Nov 10, 2008 at 03:25 PM
As a parent of past, current and future EBHS FB players I have hopes that things will click for them next year. Have you paid any attention to the East High JV team? They are 4-2 in the SEYL. They lost to BHS and GV. However they beat Garces, Highland, Liberty, and Foothill. I believe they shut out Foothill. Those EBHS varsity FB players are working hard every game. Many of those guys play both O and D. According to MAX Preps EBHS has one of the smallest varsity FB rosters in the Valley. They have just 33 players listed. Stockdale has 52, West 45, Centenial 49, Highland 59, Garces 55, Liberty 64, and BHS has 37. Look for yourselves. Southeast Yosemite I plan on being at their game against North this week. I'll be yelling Go Blades! Whether they win or lose I will clap for them at the end of the game. posted by
blade4101
on Nov 10, 2008 at 05:18 PM
To get respect you have to earn it. I earned my respect and didn’t receive anything from East. This is why you only have 33 kids are playing for East, they are moving to other schools. We had 36 actual players on our team in 2004 most going both ways so please don’t use that as an excuse for a team that should be doing much better. How many times has the Valley Championship banner at East been up on the new locker room? East has to work as a team to win or they will lose plain as that. posted by
jfrancais
on Nov 10, 2008 at 10:48 PM
The way coaches set up their varsity teams is different from when I played. The rule of thumb at BHS was Juniors and Seniors played varsity and Sophmores could play varsity if they started. Golla pretty much has a rule of if you don't play significant minutes then you play JV even if you're a senior. During the playoffs, the JV players move up to varsity. When I was in HS only a few good players moved up instead of the whole team.
1
 Loading Stories
Advertisement |