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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 25, 2009 Profile Views: 3029 Blog Views: 136071 Week 12 (playoffs) HS football predictions 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 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 
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Central Section football rankings, Week 12 (playoffs)
Sorry for the lack of posts around here lately — I've been busy with a few things, namely working on some non-football stories and proposing to my girlfriend (she said yes, for the record). But to make up for that, I'm going to do a very abbreviated version of Most Important Things for the first week of the playoffs. — Don't be too depressed/apathetic about the results in Division I. Like I said Friday night, this was going to be a rebuilding year for most of the D-I teams in Kern County anyway. That's why the league races were so wide-open and why neither Bakersfield, Liberty or Stockdale received a great seed in the playoffs. So the fact that all three were wiped out by a combined 101-40 score shouldn't surprise anyone all that much. I got an e-mail this morning from a fan who wanted to remind everyone that BHS and Liberty (and you can throw Stockdale in this statement, too) were very young teams this year and that all had talent on their JV and freshman teams. Things will be looking back up soon. — Division III is going to be a wild ride. Out of the four quarterfinals, there are no gimmes. Delano is a very, very dangerous No. 8 seed traveling to face No. 1 Hanford. Highland and Foothill have both been competitive at one time or another during the year. Tehachapi, the defending champ, and Golden Valley are both big-time sleepers to win it all. Could look totally different next week than you expect it to. Now on to some rankings: 1. Clovis West (8-3, Division I, last week: 1) — There's a reason Clovis West was a bad matchup for Liberty — the Golden Eagles are a tough, defensive team like the Patriots, but they're a little bit better at it. 2. Fresno-Bullard (9-2, Division I, last week: 2) — The way I see it, the second D-I semifinal at Clovis High will be a 1 vs. 2 matchup, one that Clovis West dominated 28-10 the first time around. I'm not sure if I totally believe that, but for now, consider the Bullard-Clovis West winner the favorite to win it all the following week. 3. Visalia-El Diamante (9-1, Division II, last week: 3) — The Miners open their playoff run with a rematch against West. And the Vikings aren't bad or anything, but it's a very safe match-up for El D. Bring on Edison. 4. Clovis East (8-3, Division I, last week: 4) — Is it possible to underrate the team you have at No. 4? The Timberwolves gave Stockdale a lesson in playoff football with a quick-strike fourth quarter Friday. I now like them to knock off top-seeded Clovis-Buchanan. 5. Tulare Union (10-0, Division II, last week: 5) — The Redskins get one more warmup before a mere two-week stretch that will make their season success or failure: vs. Sanger or North, then vs. (likely) Edison or El Diamante. 6. Clovis-Buchanan (9-2, Division I, last week: 6) — It's difficult to rank the Bears this low, but they've been scuffling for more than a month since beating Clovis West. Plus, starting QB Lance Orender is out for the remainder of the playoffs. How long can backup Taylor Genuser keep winning? 7. Fresno-Edison (8-2, Division II, last week: 7) — Tough team to predict here. I could see the Tigers folding after all the stress and troubles of a season that saw All-American cornerback Rolando Jefferson lost to academics, or I could see an uber-talented team rallying around itself. 8. Liberty (7-4, Division I, last week: 8) — No sense in punishing the Patriots, who were easily the most impressive of the four losers in the D-I playoffs and who I think probably were the second or third best team in the division at the end of the year. 9. Hanford (9-1, Division III, last week: 10) — It's been since Week 2 that the Bullpups won a truly meaningful game. Of course, their only loss since then was to El Diamante. They can't fall asleep at the wheel against Delano. 10. Bakersfield Christian (9-1, Division V, last week: 11) — The Eagles' first-round game is a name-your-score affair. After that, Fowler and Corcoran will present more challenges. But honestly, this team could win Division IV or maybe even III. 11. Stockdale (8-3, Division I, last week: 9) — Don't let a lopsided playoff loss taint what a great job Mike Snow and his kids did this year. A year after going 2-8, the Mustangs were Southwest Yosemite League champs and a legitimate playoff threat. 12. Corcoran (10-0, Division V, last week: 13) — Perhaps the single biggest question mark in the Central Section playoffs this year: How good is Corcoran, really? We won't find out this week, but things get much more interesting after that. 13. Bakersfield (7-4, Division I, last week: 12) — Does this ranking mean BHS would lose to Corcoran or Hanford or Bakersfield Christian? Maybe not every time. But the Drillers were plagued by inconsistency this year, and it didn't get any better in the playoffs. 14. Visalia-Central Valley Christian (8-2, Division IV, last week: 14) — Here's an example of a team that's gotten hot at the right time and parlayed that into a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But a week off and a tough No. 8 seed in Arvin makes for a daunting quarterfinal. 15. Chowchilla (9-1, Division IV, last week: 15) — The Redskins have nice victories against Oakhurst-Yosemite and a couple of Sac-Joaquin Section schools, and you can bet they'd love a rematch with CVC in the D-IV final. Dropped out: none 8 comments from 7 users
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posted by
bryanjackson
on Nov 25, 2008 at 09:07 PM
>>I got an e-mail this morning from a fan who wanted to remind everyone that BHS and Liberty (and you can throw Stockdale in this statement, too) were very young teams this year and that all had talent on their JV and freshman teams. Things will be looking back up soon. Let's throw Centennial into this conversation, too. The Golden Hawks were very young this year, too, and they also had some talent on JV and Frosh/Soph. Hopefully things will be looking up for the Golden Hawks next year, too. Anyway Zach, Congratulations! posted by
zewing
on Nov 25, 2008 at 09:30 PM
Yeah, I didn't mean to leave Centennial out of the discussion. The Golden Hawks have farther to climb from a 3-7 finish this year, obviously, but that's a young team with a good coach that was in the section semifinals a year ago. So you know they can get back to that level. posted by
Project86er
on Nov 25, 2008 at 09:46 PM
Congratulations Zach! posted by
Lynchmob1966
on Nov 26, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Zach, Congrats to you and your girlfriend (now fiance') on the engagement.
posted by
Patrick319
on Nov 26, 2008 at 08:05 AM
Congrats Zach. I hope she is a sports fannatic as well (or at least tolerant of our sort). We all know that there were several teams in Division I here in Kern county that had rebuilding years as young teams. Lets look at the REVERSE affect. Can anyone think of any teams in the hunt this year that will be loosing most of its starters and NEXT years starters will be young and inexperienced? Here's an example from my own alma mater: North is loosing a majority of their starters at the skilled positions. Sorry, Stars, I don't see any second stringers or JV talent that impresses me. Enjoy this year Stars. It may be the last playoff appearance for a few years. I've seen their JV play. Expect next year to be bleak for North.
posted by
jfrancais
on Nov 26, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Golla needs to play more guys at the varsity level to improve depth next year. He only dresses about 40 guys for varsity which can kill a team in close games and on special teams when stamina can be an issue. Maybe he can bing up a few JV guys to serve as third string or situational players. posted by
withineachvein
on Nov 26, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Congratulations on the engagement Zach. There are several high schools in Bakersfield. This is what is causing the parity among football programs. I think its great. For one, and most important, this serves the educational realm of our students greatly. I'd rather have schools with no more than 2800 students vs. schools in and around Fresno that have 3500-4000. It provides for a more comfortable environment on campus. With that said, it may be possible that some of our 'affluent' schools with good JV programs year end and year out don't always dominate the leagues they are in at the Varsity level. In response to a previous response, North High never wins at the lower levels. However, they often play with the schools who suit up 80-100 kids on a physical level. The Star's last year JV team was 1-9 but have 8 of those kids starting for the Varsity this year on one side of the ball or the other. The Stars pulled up several more JV players for the playoff this year than the last. Its hard running the veer ,or triple option, at the lower levels...and yes it's not the wing T. Buck Sweep , Belly, and Waggle are and have been plays of the past. On the other end of things, Stockdale, for years, has had dominating lower level teams. It has not always worked out the same on the Varsity level. It comes down to the weight room, dedication to offensive and defensive systems, and fund-raising. Anything can happen If a coach at anyone of these schools in town works hard. BHS, Centennial, and Liberty are always going to be tough to beat. Its up to kids in the other schools to work hard and believe in their program to compete with these schools. posted by
jfrancais
on Dec 2, 2008 at 10:30 AM
The bigger schools do not equate to better programs in Fresno. They downright stink in my opinion. Some schools even have more than one campus (Central and Fresno, I think). As a student at BHS when it was a bigger high school, I enjoyed the bigger campus. It prepared me for college to say the least where there were less students (only 900). You make a good point, withinacheivin about the dedication to schemes and weight program. I could see how it paid off in the CUSD and at BHS. A good program can be consistently competitive when there is a scheme and weight program that the school implements over a long period of time. Trying to implement the latest fad (Wing-T, A-11, spread, etc.) can hurt your program more than help it if it's too drastic of a change from past schemes..
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