UPDATED, 12:30 a.m.: As advertised, it was a great night of high school football. Bakersfield's heart-thumping comeback against Stockdale probably tops the list, but there's plenty of action to recap. The complete scorelist is below (and it will continue to be updated as I get scores), but let's pick out a few key results:

Bakersfield 32, Stockdale 31: My two recurring thoughts as this one see-sawed its way to conclusion: (1) The winner has to feel mighty lucky and (2) I'm not sure either one of these teams is ready to win a section title. Not with as many mistakes as were made. I guess we'll find out, because the lucky team is Bakersfield, which got to 2-0 and still has its unbeaten dream alive but has eight turnovers in its two wins. BHS was stopped exactly once other than its turnovers; if the Drillers take away those, they can win at Clovis-Buchanan next week. That's a huge if.

Centennial 10, Liberty 6: Our correspondent Jeff Evans said this score was more due to great defense than putrid offense, though you have to assume there's some of both involved. Still, props to the Golden Hawks, who came through with defense — not what we talk about with Centennial. Cody Kessler threw for 252 yards, too, but most of it was between the 20s. Liberty's great defense stiffened in the red zone, but the Patriots just have to get something out of that offense if they're going to compete against tough teams.

Frontier 43, Tehachapi 14: Ladies and gents, your newest power in Bakersfield! This was a true coming-out party for Frontier, which beat Tehachapi last year in kind of a flukish, injury-influenced game. This time, the Titans left no doubt. They threw, they ran, they defended, they kicked (boy does Matt Darr kick) and they dominate in the return game. That's two straight games with a kickoff return TD. Now Frontier gets Exeter, a good team but a beatable one, then can coast until Week 6 when Ridgeview visits.

Wasco 34, Porterville 14: And here's perhaps the team that can take down Tehachapi in what is shaping up to be another loaded SSL. Beating up on Kennedy and McFarland is one thing; taking out Div. III's Porterville is totally another. Quentin Cheatham is the real deal, and so are the Tigers. And, after they cruise past Lindsay next week, they get D-V powerhouse Corcoran. Can't wait for that one.

Taft 30, Exeter 13: Speaking of SSL contenders, this is the Taft I expected to see this year. This is a reversal of what Exeter did to Taft last year: Pull away in the second half for a big seeding-rights victory in Division IV.

Ridgeview 29, Foothill 3: Dennis Manning compared playing his old team to a Venus vs. Serena grand slam tennis match. He wanted to win badly, but now he's rooting for Foothill. He'll have to root pretty hard for an offense that is at 96 minutes and counting without a touchdown. Ridgeview's defense is a big strength.

Chavez 19, Highland 14: After two and a half games of shutout football, Chavez finally gave up some points, but the Titans got to 3-0 anyway. With Golden Valley next week, they've got a great shot at being 4-0 when a trip to Tulare Union comes.

Independence 27, Shafter 7: Congrats to the Falcons on the school's first varsity victory.

Saturday football: Remember, Bakersfield Christian hosts Visalia-Central Valley Christian tomorrow night at 7. I'll be there with another live-blog you can follow while soaking up college football or whatever else you might be doing. Should be a good one.

UPDATED, 10:07 p.m: The Drillers choose to kick this one deep, and Craig McMahon gets it into the end zone for a touchback. Stockdale has 52 seconds and a timeout to get into field-goal range. A four-yard reverse from Nic Shannon and a spike. It's third down. Pass complete for the first down to Kyle Desimone, but a nice open-field tackle keeps him from getting more than 10 yards. 30 ticks left. Now a pass interference penalty that's going to give Stockdale the ball at the BHS 49! 25 seconds left. Venegas pressured and he gets rid of it. Second down, 20 seconds left. Need at least 20 more yards, I'd say. Malik Henderson is bull-rushed over at the line of scrimmage. Stockdale uses its last timeout, 15 seconds left. 2-yard loss on that play, so third down. Probably have two more plays, if they're passes and they end with the clock stopped. Or you can run and try to spike and get one more play. Here we go. Halfback pass. Nic Shannon. No one open. He runs, picks up good yardage and gets out of bounds with 7 seconds eft. Ball on the BHS 43. Now it's fourth down, and the Mustangs are going to try a 60-yard field goal with their kickoff specialist, Andre Heidart. Make it a 61-yarder.  Boy, if he makes this, he's a legend from one play. It's up. boy it nearly had the distance but not quite. And a bit wide right, too. The Drillers win a thriller, and I didn't just say that to rhyme. 32-31, final

UPDATED, 9:59 p.m.: This game appears to have turned once again. A huge three-and-out for the Drillers, then a bad snap on the punt and a shank that went out of bounds at the line of scrimmage. BHS takes over at the Stockdale 26.
Three short runs equal a first down at the 15. Under three minutes to go. Burrell keeps down to the 12. Stockdale might think about using timeouts here. The Mustangs have all three left. Now Burrell gets around the right tackle, lowers his shoulder and has a first down inside the 5 at the 4. Mike Snow has to use a timeout, doesn't he? Stephen Scroether down to the 2. Still no timeout. Inside 1:20. This might be it. Peter Welsh stoned on second down right at the goal line. Third down. Less than a minute. And finally Mike Snow calls a timeout, 54 seconds left. He needed one earlier, I think. We'll see what the strategy does for him. Pardon me, they had already used one, so now that's just one left.
It really comes down to this: BHS has two downs to move the ball a foot. And Brian Burrell sneaks in there on third down! 52 seconds left. BHS will try for two again to make it a three-point game. Again Burrell's pass knocked away, so it's 32-31 Bakersfield and a field goal can win it for Stockdale.

UPDATED, 9:47 p.m.: Looks like we'll get an exciting finish. BHS scores on a 53-yard pass from Burrell to Mercy Matson to cut the lead to 31-26 with 4:59 left. The Drillers, after a  5-yard substitution penalty, will go for two to cut the lead to three. Now another penalty, a false start. From the 13, Burrell's pass is knocked away, and it's 31-26. bakersfield has all three timeouts, so Stockdale will need a few first downs — or a score — to salt this one away.

UPDATED, 9:39 p.m.: A couple of HUGE conversions there for Stockdale, one on a third-and-11 from its own 31 on a pass to Henderson from Venegas and another on second-and-11, a beautiful counter that Spenser Prince took 47 yards to the house. Stockdale is on the verge of knocking off Bakersfield for the second year in a row with a 31-20 lead and 7:17 on the clock.

UPDATED, 9:33 p.m.: Another Driller killer, aka a turnover. Brian Burrell throws his second interception of the game, this one to Bladen Seinick, that sets up a third-down touchdown pass from Efren Vengas to Ryan Barnett. It went 21 yards for Venegas' first completion of the season and it gives Stockdale a 24-20 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. Now a dropped pass on third-and-2 gives Stockdale a stop, and the Mustangs will get the ball back. Just 9:11 left.

UPDATED, 9:17 p.m.: Bakersfield is trying to take control of this game, forcing a Stockdale three-and-out there. But give Stockdale punter Andre Heidari a lot of credit. He boomed one over everybody's head that rolled 63 yards to the Drillers 10. So bad field position for BHS.
Meanwhile, Centennial's defense making a big statement against Liberty, and now they've stretched the lead. 10-0 Hawks in the third quarter.

UPDATED, 9:11 p.m.: Boy, the Drillers look unstoppable when they hang on to the ball. It took them just 50 seconds to cash in on the Stockdale turnover with a Silas Nacita 9-yard run off an option pitch from Brian Burrell. The extra point, however, is no good. It's 20-17 BHS with 6:02 to play in the third.

UPDATED, 9:09 p.m.: Stockdale able to convert a couple of third downs early in this drive with counter plays to get into Driller territory. I'll be shocked if both Malik Henderson and Spenser Prince don't get over 100 yards tonight. They're both over 80 now.
A halftime score update from the mountain: Frontier 34, Tehachapi 7. Yowzers.
And Henderson is the first over 100, going over with a 16-yard gain. Arm tackles are not going to do it for BHS. Henderson fumbles on his next carry, but the ball bounces right back to him. Lucky play for Stockdale, but they've committed a holding penalty on the next play, and it's second-and-20 back at the BHS 37. And on the third-down play, David  Williams sacks and strips Stockdale QB Efren Venegas, and this time the bounce does go the Drillers' way. First down BHS at the 50

UPDATED, 8:59 p.m.: Before we get going, Ryan Mathews busted yet another long TD run, this one of 68 yards, to pull Fresno State within 41-34 of Boise. He has 223 yards rushing, but BSU just scored again. It's 48-34. Not much D being played.
Here, Stockdale takes the ball first trying to extend its 17-14 halftime lead.

UPDATED, 8:53 p.m.: Some halftime numbers: BHS actually has a 202-150 edge in total yards, but the Drillers are being crushed 4-1 in the turnover battle right now. Brian Burrell has thrown for 30 yards and rushed for 76 on 12 carries. Alfonso Jackson has 51 yards on seven carries. Malik Henderson has 68 yards on 11 carries with 2 TDs, and Spenser Prince has 66 yards on just 7 carries.
One more halftime score: Chavez 13, Highland 0 at half. The Titans still haven't given up a point in 2.5 games now.
About to kick off the second half here.

UPDATED, 8:44 p.m.: Some other scores to update, complete list is below: Centennial up 3-0 at halftime on Liberty, thanks to Cole Hallum's 46-yard field goal. the Pats' offense must really be struggling. Elsewhere, Ridgeview leads Foothill 22-0 at the half and Frontier is up 20-7 on Tehachapi in the second quarter. Looks like the Titans are for real, but the second half on the mountain won't be easy. Taft and Exeter tied at 7 in the second. Big D-IV game there. I'll have some halftime stats from Griffith in a few secs.

UPDATED, 8:34 p.m.: Well, guess what happened next. Bakersfield fumbled it — again. This time the culprit was Peter Welsh, on his first carry of the game. This fumbilitis is contagious. Stockdale recovered again and has countered with a 41-yard Prince run, this time not called back on penalty. That got Stockdale inside the 30, but they've stalled a bit and face a third-and-12 from the BHS 29 with 1:09 left in the half. Henderson gets the carry and  pulls himself down to the 26, where it'll be fourth down. The Mustangs are going to let the clock run down to 23 seconds and attempt a field goal that would give them the lead at the half. This is a long one, about a 43-yarder for Tyler Schleicher, who was one of the area's better kickers a year ago. And Schleicher ducks it through with about three yards to spare! 17-14 Stockdale, seconds before the half.
In other games, Garces is pounding Arvin 42-0 and Taft leads Exeter 7-0 late in the first. I'll have more scores at half.

UPDATED, 8:23 p.m.: Another Bakersfield fumble, this one on a broken play by Alfonso Jackson, gives the ball back to Stockdale. This is the one thing that could kill the Drillers in this game, is turnovers.
Of course, Stockdale just committed a huge penalty. Spenser Prince broke a backfield tackle and scooted down the sideline for a 54-yard TD run on the play after the fumble, but a lineman behind the play made a block in the back. It was the right call, but it's got to be frustrating for Stockdale considering Prince would have scored anyway if the block had never been made. Now the Mustangs punt. Still 14-14.

UPDATED, 8:13 p.m.: What else could Stockdale want? Brian Burrell fumbles the first snap on BHS' ensuing drive, giving the ball back to the Mustangs, who then score on Henderson's spinning, tackle-breaking fourth-down run from the 10. Tie game, folks. That was quick; there's still 10:20 to go before the half.

UPDATED, 8:06 p.m.: Just what the Mustangs ordered: A momentum-changing touchdown drive that ate up some clock, gave the D a rest and cut the BHS lead to 14-7.  Malik Henderson dove in from 3 yards out. We're 30 seconds into the second quarter. Yeah, I didn't think this one would be a blowout.

UPDATED, 8:02 p.m.: The Mustangs finally get something to go their way, totally fooling BAkersfield with a fake punt on fourth-and-3 from their own 45. Malik Henderson took it 30 yards for a first down at the BHS 25. Now it's second-and-8 from the 23 as a quick first quarter comes to a close.

UPDATED, 7:56 p.m.: Stockdale goes three-and-out, shanks a punt and the Drillers capitalize, driving 34 yards in just four plays, ending with a 17-yard Alfonso Jackson TD run up the gut. Big trouble for Stockdale, which is not a team capable of throwing on every down if they have to play catch-up. The Mustangs need a response here.

UPDATED, 7:49 p.m.: Bakersfield got a second chance on its first drive, and the Drillers made the most of it. After driving to the Stockdale 40, BHS QB Brian Burrell threw an interception, but on his return, Stockdale's Hank Hobson (yep, K.C.'s little brother) fumbled the ball back to Bakersfield at its own 45. From there, using a steady diet of Burrell runs mixed in with a few pitches, converted a couple of third downs and a fourth down before Stephen Schroeter punched it in from a yard out for a 7-0 Bakersfield lead. 5:35 to go, first quarter. Now Stockdale's turn.

UPDATED, 7:19 p.m.: Wow. I still promise that this won't be a Fresno State open thread, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention it if a local boy ripped off a 60-yard TD run. Which Ryan Mathews just did. Again. This one was 60 on the dot. He's got 143 yards already, and the Bulldogs have closed to within 24-17.
Here, the teams are going through their warmups. I've heard Stockdale coach Mike Snow described as a college-style coach in the amount of discipline and structure he has with his teams, and that's showing tonight. This Mustangs team split quickly into position groups and has looked very organized and crisp with everything they do. BHS is running some 11-on-11 drills on the other end. There's nothing unorganized about it, either, but the Mustangs just come off as more polished. We'll see if that keeps up when the whistles start blowing.

UPDATED, 7:07 p.m.: And just like that, West High grad Ryan Mathews takes one 69 yards to the house. Unfortunately for Fresno State, it was preceded by another Boise State touchdown, so the score's 24-10.
I promise this won't be a Fresno State thread all night. Varsity teams are on the field warming up at Griffith. Twenty-eight minutes from showtime.

UPDATED, 7:02 p.m.: I'm probably not the first person you'll hear this from, but Fresno State is off to a bad start against No. 10 Boise State. The Bulldogs just now got on the board with a field goal to cut the Broncos' second-quarter lead to 17-3. And then BSU returned the ensuing kickoff all the way down to the Fresno State 21. Oof. Got to play defense if you want to beat the big boys.
Ryan Colburn is having a rought night thus far, passing just 4-of-8 for 10 yards and an interception. Ebahn Feathers took snaps on the last series. Makes me wonder if Derek Carr will get a few snaps. Ryan Mathews has five carries for 14 yards.
Here, Stockdale's JV has continued to pour it on, expanding a 21-11 halftime lead to 48-11 at this point, with just a couple of minutes left.

UPDATED, 6:37 p.m.: Those of you who read the blog regularly know that I play no favorites, but it's hard to argue that there's few places in Kern County like Griffith Field on a Friday night. Especially if you're here for a big game. The limited parking lots are already full, and the street is getting that way too, right next to where the BHS band is warming up for its performances.
On center stage right now are the Stockdale and Bakersfield JV teams, with the Mustangs leading the Drillers 34-11 midway through the third quarter. That's a good omen for Stockdale, I guess, though it will have little to do with tonight's 7:30 varsity tilt. I'm trying to figure out how many Division I college athletes will be out there tonight. It's difficult, especially with Stockdale's Wing T, but I'd throw Stockdale LB Isaiah Turner and Bakersfield QB Brian Burrell out there for sure. Drillers RB Alfonso Jackson is that caliber of an athlete, but he has had grade problems in the past. He'll have to get those sewn up or go the junior-college route. Linemen? Maybe Bakersfield's Anthony Davis. Stockdale's stud Duane Seaton is a great high school player but probably is too small for Division I. But what do I know? I'm no scout. I just know there will be plenty of talent out there.

ORIGINAL POST: I'm up early after my radio stint on KRAB radio, and I'm already excited about tonight. T-minus 11 hours until the biggest Friday of the 2009 high school football season so far. No matter where you're headed tonight, there are intriguing games galore and it should be a good time.

Of course, the other big game tonight is in Fresno, where Boise State will visit Fresno State in some college action — for the record, I love college football but Friday night ought to belong to the high school kids. Still, it'll be worth keeping an eye on West High grads Ryan Mathews and A.J. Jefferson up there plus a host of other former Valley high schoolers lighting it up one more time under the Friday night lights.

If you're not headed anywhere tonight, or you want an option B to keep track of your team's game and the other big games, or you just want to watch Fresno State on ESPN, stay in and log on here to School House Zach. I'll have live updates from Stockdale-Bakersfield, plus some updates from Liberty-Centennial, Exeter-Taft and hopefully Frontier-Tehachapi among other games. Keep your cursor on that refresh button and I'll update scores and analysis all night long from Griffith Field.

If you want to get warmed up between now and then for Faceoff Friday (does that work?), then be sure to check out my Week 2 predictions and the Week 2 podcast hosted by myself and Californian copy editor Todd Camps. There's also a list of this week's Kern County and Central Section games below, one that will be updated throughout the night.

Also, for on-the-go updates, you can follow me on Twitter at @zewing.

(All games are 7:30 p.m. unless noted; Central Section ranking in parentheses)

Kern County scoreboard
(4) Bakersfield 32, (7) Stockdale 31
(13) Centennial 10, (6) Liberty 6
(8) Visalia-El Diamante 50, Golden Valley 20
Frontier 43, (15) Tehachapi 14
Ridgeview 29, Foothill 3
West 58, East 35
Taft 30, Exeter 13
Wasco 34, Porterville 14
Chavez 19, Highland 14
Delano 14, North 13
Garces 42, Arvin 13
South, 48, Mira Monte 0
Independence 27, Shafter 7 (at Stockdale)
McFarland 45, Kennedy 13 (at Delano)
Kern Valley 31, Boron 30
Frazier Mountain 49, Lancaster-Desert Christian 9
Acton-Vasquez 19, Desert 7
Apple Valley 29, Burroughs 26
Mojave 34, North Hills-L.A. Baptist 31
Lighthouse Christian 28, Atascadero-North County Christian 16
Visalia-Central Valley Christian 28, Bakersfield Christian 19 (Saturday)
Immanuel Christian 64, Alpaugh 14 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
Reedley 13, Fresno-Sunnyside 10 (Thursday)
Fresno-Hoover 29, Madera South 8 (Thursday)
(1) Fresno-Bullard 48, Clovis 14
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 43, Visalia-Redwood 21
(5) Tulare Union 35, Lemoore 13
(9) Fresno-Edison 25, Fresno-Central 17
(10) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 31, Sacramento-Christian Brothers 6 (Saturday)
Oakhurst-Yosemite 35, (11) Hanford 30
(12) Kingsburg 28, Fresno-Washington Union 21
(14) Clovis East 35, Sanger 0
Selma 33, Fresno-McLane 0
Dinuba 22, Hanford West 12
Madera 61, Stockton-Chavez 30
Clovis North 28, Fresno 7
Tollhouse-Sierra 35, Fowler 28
Fresno-Roosevelt 41, Porterville-Granite Hills 0
Corcoran 49, Tulare-Mission Oak 0
Visalia-Mt. Whitney 41, Porterville-Monache 40
Tulare Western 20, Visalia-Golden West 14
Los Banos 35, Dos Palos 19
SLO-Mission Prep 58, Avenal 0
Kerman 14, Coalinga 0
Caruthers 28, Cambria-Coast Union 0
Chowchilla 14, Le Grand 7
Woodlake 28, Farmersville 6
Strathmore 54, Fresno Christian 19
Vacaville Christian 49, Lemoore-Kings Christian 18
Lindsay 63, Parlier 0
Mendota 18, Riverdale 13
Tranquillity 35, Laton 0