A quick respite from football coverage to let you in on what Californian assistant sports editor Ross Priest says could turn into (and I tend to agree with him) the biggest sports story of the year in Kern County.

Bakersfield High graduate Bhavik Patel, now a Fresno State sophomore, is in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Championships after another match-play victory this morning. He's won four match-play rounds after becoming one of 64 amateur golfers to survive two stroke-play rounds.

This is an enormous deal. First of all, the U.S. Amateur is one of golf's oldest and most prestigious tournaments. It used to be considered one of golf's majors before the professional game took over, and it's been won by legends like Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Patel is two victories (the final on Sunday is a 36-hole affair) from joining that list.

Second — and this might wow you even more — if Patel were to make the championship, which would take just one more win, he receives an automatic invitation into next year's Masters and U.S. Open. If he wins the whole thing, add the British Open to that list, and the U.S. Amateur champ also gets to play in a group with the defending champion at the U.S. Open on Thursday and Friday.

This is heady stuff. Patel tees off against Byeong-Hun An of South Korea at 7:15 a.m. our time tomorrow morning. The semifinals will be on NBC. Congrats to Bhavik already; now let's see how far he can go.

Now, back to the gridiron.

Countdown to Week 0 in famous jersey numbers: John Elway

NORTH STARS

Coach: Mark Camps (fourth year)

2008 record: 8-3 (5-1 Southwest Yosemite League, 3-2 home)
Average points: 27.7
Average points allowed: 24.2
*Average rush yards: 337.3
*Average rush yards allowed: 146.9
*Average pass yards: 27.7
*Average pass yards allowed: 146.8
Best win: North 25, West 6
Worst loss: Delano 31, North 14
*—yardage figures are from MaxPreps with fill-ins from Califormian box scores (one game is missing from the “allowed” numbers; the “for” numbers are complete)

Key players: Juan Rodriquez, sr, QB/LB; Jason Bennett, sr, RB/LB; David Maciel, sr, WR/LB; Nathan Vlach, sr, QB/DB

Key losses: Julian Dean-Johnson, RB; Seth Vlach, RB/LB; Ruben Suarez, RB/DL; John Northrop, TE/DE; Joe Clevenger, RB/LB; Aaron Brown, LB; Brock Peterson, DB

Offense: The Wing T thunderstorm at North High — Seth Vlach providing the thunder, Julian Dean-Johnson the lightning — has passed. Is another on the way? Could be, though replacing a talent like Dean-Johnson isn’t a snap. The guys who will get their hands on the ball this year in the complex, look-this-way-nope-I’m-running-that-way offense include Seth’s brother, Nathan, returning quarterback Juan Rodriquez, Cameron Bailey, Jason Bennett and David Maciel. Coach Mark Camps hopes that a couple or three of those will be dangerous enough to replace the production lost. It helps tremendously that three starters on the offensive line are back.

Defense: The question mark here in Camps’ 4-3 defense will be the defensive line, which, quite naturally, was the strength last year. Having to replace Ruben Suarez and John Northrop with JV call-ups is no picnic for the rest of the defense, which has to react faster and defend longer if the d-line isn’t applying as much pressure. It says here that the Stars will miss that up-front presence on D just as much as they’ll miss Seth Vlach and Dean-Johnson on offense. Still, Camps likes the returning talent and the replacements, so this could still be a solid unit.

Outlook: This situation is much like we talked about with South earlier in the week. North had a dedicated senior class come together last year, and for the Stars that meant a share of an SWYL championship, an eight-win season and a home playoff game in the Division II quarterfinals. Also like South, it’s safe to say there will be a drop-off in the next year. But success breeds success, and, as you can see in the quote below, North doesn’t plan on going back to the league basement any time soon. My take? This will be a solid team that doesn’t have the firepower it will need to win the really big games. The trick is to not take too many steps back until you’re ready to make another run. That’s North’s mission this year.

Quotable: “When you haven’t won a lot of games, and you’re trying to change the attitude, it’s a battle. But getting to that point? Yeah, it’s a different mindset. It’s not a ‘let’s wait for something bad to happen’ mindset. It’s more of that ‘make something happen.’ But we’ve got to be careful. We’re putting last year was last year. This is a new team.” — Camps

Schedule: Sept. 4 at Shafter
Sept. 11 Porterville
Sept. 18 Delano
Sept. 25 BYE
Oct. 2 at Frontier*
Oct. 9 Ridgeview*
Oct. 16 West*
Oct. 23 at South*
Oct. 30 at Stockdale*
Nov. 6 Centennial*
Nov. 13 at East

Prediction: 5-5, 2-4 SWYL

HS FOOTBALL PREVIEW INDEX
July 29: Lighthouse Christian, Maricopa, Immanuel Christian
July 30: Mojave, Boron
July 31: Desert, Rosamond
Aug. 1: Frazier Mountain, Kern Valley
Aug. 3: California City, Burroughs
Aug. 4: McFarland, Robert F. Kennedy
Aug. 5: Delano
Aug. 6: Cesar Chavez
Aug. 7: Shafter
Aug. 8: Wasco
Aug. 10: Arvin
Aug. 11: Taft
Aug. 12: Bakersfield Christian
Aug. 13: Tehachapi
Aug. 14: Independence and Mira Monte
Aug. 15: East
Aug. 17: Highland
Aug. 18: Foothill
Aug. 19: Golden Valley
Aug. 20: Garces
Aug. 21: Liberty
Aug. 22: Bakersfield High
Aug. 23: Ridgeview
Aug. 24: Frontier
Aug. 25: Centennial
Aug. 26: South
Aug. 27: West

TOMORROW: Ending our previews with a favorite — Stockdale