Holy cow, it's 9:30, and I'm late with this post again.

In my defense, it's my day off. And there won't be a season preview tomorrow, so this one will serve for Sunday as well. It's a look at two closer-to-Bakersfield-than-you-think schools, Kern Valley and Frazier Mountain. Both will play their role in the interesting High Desert League race. It says here that at least one of them will finish in the league's top three, thereby earning a Southern Section playoff spot. So read up, and then impress your friends with how much you know about small-school high school football.

FRAZIER MOUNTAIN FALCONS

Coach: Jarudd Prosser (third year)

2008 record: 4-6 (1-3 High Desert League, 2-3 home)
Average points: 14.4
Average points allowed: 21.6
*Average rush yards: 164.7
*Average rush yards allowed: 225.6
*Average pass yards: 86.5
*Average pass yards allowed: 86.0
Best win: Frazier Mountain 33, Panorama City-St. Genevieve 21
Worst loss: Rosamond 22, Frazier Mountain 0
*—yardage figures are from MaxPreps and are only used if at least half of games are available. Take them with a grain of salt. Figure could be skewed depending on which games, if any, are missing

Key players: Mike Morgan, sr, QB; Alec Gotts, sr, RB/LB; Robert Burns, jr, RB/DB; Garrett VanHooser, sr, WR/DL; Josh Carlson, sr, LB

Key losses: Ethan Fausto, OL/DL; Jose Meza, WR/LB; Nick Bozanich, OL/DL; Steven Russell, OL/DL

Outlook: I have talked to few coaches thus far who haven't been optimistic; it's the trendy thing to do in the preseason. After all, who wants to go into the season thinking you have a loser? But Jarudd Prosser was one of the more excited coaches around. His top quarterback and running back are among seven offensive starters returning, and four linebackers in his 5-LB system are among eight returning starters on defense. Frazier Mountain was closer to being competitive last year than its record shows — it beat defending league champ and playoff team Desert (albeit when stud QB Terrence Wells was hurt) — but the consistency has to improved. Prosser hopes that will come with having a senior-laden team, and in what's been a fairly balanced High Desert League over the years, it's hard to think he doesn't have a point. One issue the Falcons could have is in the trenches, where it loses three offensive linemen and two defensive linemen, including Fausto, perhaps the team's most valuable player from a year ago. But if they can protect the skill guys coming back, Frazier Mountain could be a surprise contender for the HDL title.

Quotable: "We just could not put it together every Friday night. That's been a lot of our focus (in the offseason). We had two one-point games, one we won and one we lost. These guys learned a lot last year going through that stuff. Getting your heart broken and then being on the opposite end." — Prosser

KERN VALLEY BRONCS

Coach: Ben Goffinett (fifth year)

2008 record: 5-6 (2-2 High Desert League, 3-3 home)
Average points: 21.3
Average points allowed: 23.1
*Average rush yards: 176.5
*Average rush yards allowed: 167.3
*Average pass yards: 99.7
*Average pass yards allowed: 167.0
Best win: Kern Valley 28, Pomona 14
Worst loss: McFarland 19, Kern Valley 14
*—yardage figures are from MaxPreps and are only used if at least half of games are available. Take them with a grain of salt. Figure could be skewed depending on which games, if any, are missing

Key players: Kyler Emery, sr, QB/DB; Mark Eisenhauer, sr, RB/LB; Warren Pappas, sr, WR/DB

Key losses: Tyler Gibson, RB/LB; Kevin Rendon, RB/LB; Bo Hurley, OL/DL; Ethan Kennedy, FB/DB; David Heitman, TE/LB

Outlook: Kern Valley has taken some relatively mild expectations each of the past two years and turned them into playoff berths with third-place High Desert League finishes. Now it's time to ramp things up. Broncs coach Ben Goffinett said he thinks last year's team, with a few breaks in close games, could have easily been 8-2 in the regular season instead of 5-5 — close losses to McFarland, Boron and Desert were the haunters. This year, the team will rely on its athleticism at the skill positions. Start with Warren Pappas, who accounted for almost half of the team's 997 receiving yards last year and is athletic enough that Goffinett might use him as a running back this year. Kyler Emery is now an experienced quarterback, and Mark Eisenhauer ran for 537 yards and nine touchdowns last year. Two question marks: Can Kern Valley's offensive line, with just two returning starters, protect these guys? And what about the defense? Goffinett said he wants the
program to pride itself on D but admits that that will be difficult early this year with not many returners. Perhaps by the end of the year, the Broncs will be ready to shoot a bit higher than a repeat third-place finish. In the meantime, that sounds about right.

Quotable: "(Defense) is something we should be good at. You're not limited by size the way you are offensively. You can put a quick guy on the d-line, and if he does his job correctly, you're OK. In my mind, I prioritize defense. And I think this year's defense will run with last year's by the time we get to league." — Goffinett

HS FOOTBALL PREVIEW INDEX
July 29: Lighthouse Christian, Maricopa, Immanuel Christian
July 30: Mojave, Boron
July 31: Desert, Rosamond

MONDAY: The last of the Southern Section — California City and Burroughs