Here it is folks, your first installment of the 2008-09 Year in Reviews. Today we're taking a look at the most popular high school sport of all.

We'll do one sport a day over the next three weeks or so, following about the same format for each: A quick overview, followed by a glimpse at the best team, best player, best game/event and a look ahead to next year. Throughout the reviews, I've linked to some stories that ran during the season, and at the end, a teaser to what's ahead the next day.

2008-09 Kern County FOOTBALL

Overview: At the top, a tough year for Kern County, with Bakersfield rebuilding (reloading?), Centennial down, Stockdale resurgent but still learning Mike Snow’s system and Liberty a defensive stalwart but offensively challenged. Tehachapi and Bakersfield Christian, however, both defended their Central Section titles, giving the South Sequoia League five Valley championships in the past two years.

Best team: I’m inclined to go small here and say that Bakersfield Christian could have beaten about anybody in Kern County with that high-flying offense behind QB Derek Carr and WRs Jake Peterson and Colby Herron. Carr-to-Peterson could be a common sight at Fresno State in a few years. The Eagles dominated Division V, pounding unbeaten Corcoran 49-27 for the championship. Perhaps even more impressive is that BCHS went unbeaten in the SSL, knocking off D-III Tehachapi along the way.
Honorable mention: Liberty, Division III champion Tehachapi, Stockdale, Bakersfield

Best player: It was going to be nearly impossible for Carr to live up to the hype that preceded him — everybody was talking about what his brother, David, did at Stockdale before becoming the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick at Fresno State. Derek was supposed to be better. And all he did was take that pressure and hype and actually exceed it. Carr threw for 4,068 yards and 46 touchdowns, both second all-time in the Central Section. That included 544 yards against Arvin, a single-game section record, and six TD passes in two other games, second all-time. And to think, Carr and his accurate laser of an arm didn’t even play the fourth quarter of most of BCHS games because they were blowouts.
Honorable mention: Highland LB Pat Su’a, Golden Valley RB Byron Newman, South QB Jose Ramos, Bakersfield Christian WR Jake Peterson, North RB Julian Dean-Johnson

Best game: I hate to be repititive with these things, but it’s hard to top Tehachapi at Bakersfield Christian for pure entertainment value. It was BCHS 40, Tehachapi 35, with the Eagles dominating the air in the first half to the tune of a 34-7 lead early in the third quarter and the Warriors moving the ball on the ground — and, oddly enough, also through the air — to cut the lead all the way down to 34-28 with seven minutes left and then to 40-35 with 2:30 to go. BCHS hung on in a game that featured more than 1,000 total yards and turned out to be the decider in the SSL race.
Honorable mention: Tehachapi 21, Hanford 14, Division III championship; Clovis West 14, Liberty 6, Division I playoffs; Liberty 17, Stockdale 10;  Bakersfield 17, Liberty 10; Clovis-Buchanan 41, Bakersfield 34.

A look ahead: I won’t go too far into this, because within a month we’ll be previewing the 2009 season team-by-team, but I will say it’s going to be a very interesting season this fall. Could it be a return to power for Bakersfield and Centennial, teams with the best young quarterbacks around (juniors Brian Burrell and Cody Kessler)? You know those teams won’t be down for long, and upstart teams from last year like Golden Valley, North and South lost most of their star power. Stockdale should be improved again in Year 2 of the Mike Snow Era, meaning the Mustangs could challenge 8 or more wins again. So should Liberty, which returns many players on the lines.
It’s also the last season of the two-league system — in 2010, we’ll have a “power” league featuring BHS, Liberty, Stockdale, Frontier, Centennial and Independence, and then two lesser leagues. That means it’s the last chance for a team like Ridgeview — always talented and now with reknowned coach Dennis Manning at the helm — to take a league title from the big boys.
Among small schools, BCHS loses a ton, so focus might shift back to the Tehachapi-Taft power struggle in the SSL. I hope that whet your whistle for now; more to come in July.

Tomorrow: Volleyball