UPDATED, 11:41 p.m.: Offense carries the night in Kern County. With Bakersfield Christian, of course, that's the routine. Derek Carr threw for 417 yards and six more touchdowns tonight. I wrote that so non-chalantly that it makes me feel dirty. Let me try again: FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTEEN YARDS AND SIX TOUCHDOWNS!!!!

Bakersfield Christian 62, Fowler 20: It wasn't entirely a rout from the start, as Fowler actually stopped BCHS three-and-out on its first drive and then went down and scored rather easily, with Jose Mendez toting 33 yards for the score and the 6-0 lead. But once BCHS got rolling, there was no stopping it. Christian Taylor 1-yard TD run. Jake Peterson 71-yard punt return. Carr 64 pass to Marcus Hall. Carr 43 pass to Peterson. Carr 19 pass to Colby Herron. Carr 25 pass to Peterson. Halftime, finally. Carr 13 pass to Herron. Carr 13 pass to Peterson.
Are you kidding me? This offense was moving so well that's hard to imagine anyone shutting it down completely. I know Oaks Christian beat BCHS 35-7 in Week 0, but I'd sure like to see that game again, now that Carr has the hang of this spread attack. I'd put a lot of money down (if that sort of thing were legal, of course), that the Eagles would score more than 7. Up next is Corcoran, which is 12-0 and has had a nice season. But yeah, the nice part is going to end, I think, and that's a non-partisan opinion.

Tehachapi 62, Oakhurst-Yosemite 41: Adam Mullen is making his case for one of the most valuable players in Kern County. He had 195 rushing yards, 108 receiving yards and six total touchdowns in the Warriors' road upset in Oakhurst. That's 10 touchdowns in two weeks for Mullen, about the best you can do this side of Derek Carr.
The other story here was turnovers, just like Warriors coach Steve Denman said it would be. Tehachapi had six takeaways and converted most of them into points, giving the Warriors a chance to defend their Division III championship next week against...

Hanford 24, Foothill 0: Not much room for the Foothill offense to move. Lawrence Weldon finished with just 52 yards rushing, and Matt Guerra had 20 yards passing. That's not going to get the job done, but then that's why Hanford is the No. 1 seed. That sets up an intriguing final next week, with Tehachapi's suddenly explosive offense taking on a Bullpups team that doesn't allow a lot of yardage.

In other news, which you can see in the score list below, Clovis West was crowned the Division I champion with a 24-7 victory against Clovis East, and Tulare Union and Visalia-El Diamante set up a rematch in the D-II final next week. Something tells me it'll be different from El D's lopsided win last year.

UPDATED, 9:04 p.m.: Derek Carr just threw his sixth touchdown pass, matching his output from last week, a 13-yarder to Jake Peterson that gave him 404 yards on the night. I hope, for the sake of Fowler, and sportsmanship, that that's the last pass Carr throws tonight. BCHS leads 62-14 as the third quarter comes to a close.
In the meantime, it looks like Foothill, down 21-0, has put up a fight at Hanford but won't have enough offense to pull off an upset. Might it be Tehachapi at Hanford for the D-III title next week?

UPDATED, 8:30 p.m.: Carr has 290 yards and four touchdowns passing at halftime. Ho-hum. Just another day at the office, right? BCHS leads it 41-6 as we kick off the second half. Jake Peterson has 124 of those yards and two scores, and Marcus Hall has 91 yards and another score.
More interesting news elsewhere. Tehachapi has roared back from an early deficit and leads Yosemite 34-20 at halftime.
If there aren't many more updates, it's because my fingers are cold. Eh, I'm a trooper, I'll get you another.

UPDATED, 7:46 p.m.: Fowler Redcats, meet Derek Carr. He's the guy who just lasered a couple of perfectly placed passes, first to Marcus Hall and then to Jake Peterson, for touchdowns of 64 yards and 43 yards. It's now 27-6, and the Eagles are not disappointing. Both balls were put exactly where the receivers could make a play after the catch. Both ran across the face of the secondary and then freely up the right sideline.
On defense Christian Taylor had an interception in the red zone for BCHS. Fowler is really up against it now. A score on this drive certainly would help.

UPDATED, 7:25 p.m.: After some temporary technical issues, I'm up and running here at what Bakersfield Christian has taken to calling the Eagles Nest.
Not an auspicious start for the Eagles, though, as Fowler forced a three-and-out and then marched down the field behind running back Jose Mendez, who scampered for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Redcats the lead.
But BCHS has responded, scoring to take a 7-6 lead on a balanced drive that ended with Christian Taylor's 1-yard plunge, and then, just now, extending the lead to 13-6 on Jake Peterson's 71-yard punt return for a TD. Fowler needs to make this a shootout, so this is an important possession.

ORIGINAL POST: Anyone up for an encore?

Tonight brings a rematch of perhaps last year's most exciting football game. Bakersfield Christian went up to Fowler, fell behind 28-6 by halftime before rallying for a dramatic 35-34 overtime victory for the title.

This year's version comes in the semifinals, with No. 1 seed Corcoran likely waiting for the winner in the championship. The other big difference? This guy named Derek Carr, who will pass the 3,500-yard mark early in the Eagles' first drive and still has a good chance at a 4,000-yard, 40-touchdown season.

Oh, and if you didn't hear, Carr got some good news about his college team of choice this week.

In other area games, it's Foothill at No. 1 seed Hanford and Tehachapi at No. 2 seed Oakhurst-Yosemite in Division III. Might BCHS be the only Kern County team left in the Central Section playoffs by 10 p.m.? Find out by keeping your mouse on the refresh button. I'll have live updates (internet willing) from Bakersfield Christian as well as scores from Hanford and Oakhurst, plus updates on an intriguing Division I final and Division II semifinals.

Central Section scoreboard (all games 7 p.m.) (seeds in parentheses)
Division I championship
(2) Clovis West 24, (5) Clovis East 7
Division II semifinals
(1) Tulare Union 38, (5) Sanger 20
(2) Visalia-El Diamante 21, (3) Fresno-Edison 15
Division III semifinals
(1) Hanford 24, (4) Foothill 0
(6) Tehachapi 62, (2) Oakhurst--Yosemite 41
Division IV semifinals
(4) Kingsburg 14, (1) Visalia-Central Valley Christian 13
(2) Chowchilla 26, (6) Fresno-Washington Union 17
Division V semifinals
(1) Corcoran 49, (4) SLO-Mission Prep 10
(2) Bakersfield Christian 62, (3) Fowler 20
Division VI championship
(4) Tranquillity 30, (2) Orange Cove 26

Southern Section scoreboard
Northeast Division semifinals
(4) Riverside Christian 34, (16) Mojave 7