After a perfect week last week (granted, it was just 5-for-5), I take a stab at the last four Central Section games of the season.

Bonus picks this week of the Divisions II and IV championship games — and barring any unforeseen miracles, that will be it. If Bakersfield Christian had nine fewer students, its enrollment would be less than 500 and we'd be talking about the small-school state championship, but in Division III, the Eagles likely are down the pecking order 5 to 10 spots.

A couple of housekeeping notes: There will be a podcast up tomorrow, the last football one of the year. After that, I'm hoping to start on some basketball/wrestling podcasts and keep them going throughout the school year, but the blog in general will slow down just for a week or two while I take some much-needed vacation. I'll try to update as much as possible on All-Area selections as they're released and on some winter sports goings-on, but it won't be a daily thing again until January.

A look back at last week:

The Good: Picking Tehachapi to upset Oakhurst-Yosemite and Bakersfield Christian to rout Fowler

The Bad: Thinking Clovis East could keep it close in the Division I championship

The Ugly: Nothing really, though I thought Foothill would keep it closer, and it took me three weeks to finally predict Mojave's demise correctly

Friday, Dec. 12
DIVISION III
TEHACHAPI (9-4) AT HANFORD (11-1) — I'm not headed to Hanford for this one, but I wish the two Kern-related championship games were different days or something, because this'll be a doozy. Hanford has pitched two straight shutouts of Kern County teams, including a 24-0 win against Foothill last week, breaking the Trojans two-year streak of finals appearances. Now the Bullpups will try to take down defending champion Tehachapi. I will guarantee that the Warriors won't get shut out — their offense is rolling behind triple threats Adam Mullen, Josh Strauss and Kurtis Knudson — but I don't know if they can score enough points to give Hanford a real scare. Then again, the Bullpups only beat Yosemite 19-14 early in the season. Tehachapi beat the Badgers 62-41 last week. In the end, though, give a nod to Hanford, the best D-III team all year long, in a close game, with a late turnover to give it some slight breathing room.
Prediction: Hanford 33, Tehachapi 24

DIVISION V
BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (11-1) AT CORCORAN (12-0) — This is probably the first time since the Central Section split its playoffs into divisions that the Division V game is the headliner. Part of that is that the D-I game was played last week, but part of it is the teams involved. BCHS truly would be the favorite to represent Southern California in the CIF's small-school division, but that's the breaks, and 508 kids means 508 kids. Still, that's how good this team is. Corcoran, of course, didn't allow a point for the first four games and was really only tested once in its first 12 games, a surprising dogfight against Lindsay. The Panthers will surely be tested Friday, though, and they'll be lucky to survive the first half still in the game. It's like I've been saying the past two weeks: Corcoran is a Division V team, and none of these D-V teams have seen anything like BCHS in years.
Prediction: Bakersfield Christian 48, Corcoran 21

And the bonus predictions ...
DIVISION II
VISALIA-EL DIAMANTE (11-1) AT TULARE UNION (12-0) — This was a similar showdown last year, of course, the battle-tested, one-loss Miners against the undefeated but unproven Redskins. The result? 63-14, in favor of El Diamante and its strong schedule. Will anything change this year? Well, the section has flip-flopped and rewarded Tulare Union with the No. 1 seed and the home-field edge, for one thing, and I think the Redskins have a better team overall. Enough for a 49-point turnaround, I don't know. Either way, this one will be fun to watch, with perhaps the section's best two running backs, El D's Stefphon Jefferson and TU's Jontell Reedom.
Prediction: El Diamante 42, Tulare Union 37

DIVISION IV
KINGSBURG (11-1) AT CHOWCHILLA (11-1) — It's nice the way these championships have set up, with the matchup you'd most like to see  — and, in every division except I, not a rematch — coming to fruition. This one will come down to Kingsburg's prolific offense, led by dual-threat QB Tyler Bray, against Chowchilla's stalwart defense, which has given up more than 17 points just three times — and won all of them. I'm going to regret this, because I'm in doubt and should just go with the home team, but I loved what I saw from Bray and Co. a couple of weeks ago against Taft. It's the Vikings in a back-and-forth barn-burner. MIght it come down to a two-point conversion?
Prediction: Kingsburg 29, Chowchilla 28

Last week: 5-0 (1.000)   Season: 182-67 (.731)