I'm not really sure I should be posting this, because maybe I'll get run out of town if I do, but I feel I have an obligation to admit my possible guilt.

There's a chance I've been jinxing Kern County high school teams (yes, I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it is interesting) by my attendance. It kind of started when Garces volleyball coach Kim Harper started jokingly telling me to stop covering the Rams' games, because, at the time, they were 24-2 when I stayed away and 0-2 when I was there. I didn't cover any of their playoff games, and they won a section title. Interesting.

Now, a coach joking around is one thing, but last week was downright weird. After The Californian ran in-depth stories on back-to-back days on two of the fall's better athletes, Foothill cross country champion Chris Schwartz and North football stud Julian Dean-Johnson, on Thursday and Friday.

Well, Friday, Dean-Johnson was ejected from a playoff game as the Stars lost to Sanger, and Saturday, Schwartz faded to a shocking seventh in the state's Division III race in Fresno.

But thinking back on it, this has been somewhat of a disturbing (at least for the locals) trend.

Take this track record:

— Way back on Sept. 5, I covered Bakersfield Christian's only loss, which came to Westlake Village-Oaks Christian. OK, nothing too shocking, considering Oaks Christian is a top-10 team in the state, regardless of division, but BCHS isn't really that far behind. They were when I was on the sideline.

— The next week, West High traveled to Visalia and was blasted 34-14 by El Diamante. Again, hardly a surprise, but last week, the teams played again — without me — and the Vikings almost pulled the upset.

— Garces was Kern's dominant team in girls golf all season, then went up to the Central Section team championships with high hopes and faded to fourth place. Frontier did turn in its best performance and make it to the SoCal regionals, though.

— Liberty, arguably playing the best football of any team in Kern County, went up to Clovis West and lost a tight one, 14-6, in the first round of the playoffs. Guess who was freezing his butt off in the press box. Yep.

— The night before that, Liberty's volleyball team was swept away by Clovis West in the Central Section championship after I made another trip up north.

— Add to that last week, when Taft was drilled by Kingsburg, North lost to Sanger and both Schwartz and favored McFarland in the Division IV race both failed to win state.

I should point out that I saw Stockdale beat Fresno-Bullard for the D-I tennis title and the Mustangs' doubles team of Frances Ellison and Julie Hutton win the section title. And Tehachapi beat Santa Ana-Segerstrom under my watch back in Week 0. That's got to count for something, right? Geez, I don't know.

Now, I've always been one of those people that says sporting events are going to come out the same way no matter what lucky clothes you wear, or where you sit, or what you predict. It doesn't really make a difference. But man oh man, it doesn't seem like that right now.

UPDATED, : It was a night of almosts.

West High almost finished off mighty Visalia-El Diamante. North High almost got back into a dogfight with Sanger. Highland almost got revenge on Foothill. Tehachapi is almost back in the Division III championship.

Even around the rest of the section, there was a bevy of near-upsets. Fresno-Edison, for a while one of the top-ranked teams in the state, needed a late touchdown to stave off 11th-seeded Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 7-3. In Division III, Oakhurst-Yosemite rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat 10th-seeded Dinuba. The only real upsets to develop, though, were No. 5 Clovis East over No. 1 Clovis-Buchanan in Division I (though I wouldn't even really call that an upset) and No. 6 Fresno-Washington Union over No. 3 Exeter in D-III.

Meanwhile, Kern County is now absent from Divisions I and II and has just three teams left in the Central Section playoffs: Tehachapi, Foothill and Bakersfield Christian. Here's the nitty-gritty on some of the local results:

Visalia-El Diamante 42, West 31: In a way, this game was nothing like the first meeting between the teams, which the Miners controlled from the start and easily withstood a couple of big plays from West to win 34-14. But in a way, it was. The difference in the end was El Diamante running back Stefphon Jefferson, who ran for more than 300 yards both times, and he wasn't going to let West win. Give the Vikings credit, though; they used a short passing game to move the ball and capitalized on five first-half turnovers from El Diamante to lead 31-14 at the break. But the game was too long.

Sanger 40, North 21: Bitter way to lose for the Stars, who played the Apaches at least close to evenly but fumbled twice and repeatedly gave away yards with dead-ball penalties. When John Northrop and Julian Dean-Johnson, arguably the Stars' best two players, were ejected for separate incidents within three minutes of each other in the third quarter (and at the same time Sanger was putting up two quick touchdowns), the game was effectively over. North kept fighting, but a great season has come to an end.

Tehachapi 48, Golden Valley 24: It's not too surprising to see the Warriors turn it up a notch come playoff time. The battle-tested team is, after all, the defending D-III champion. Now Tehachapi is two wins away from repeating. Those will have to come on the road, though. Up first is a trip to a different mountain, Oakhurst-Yosemite's. Not going to be an easy trip, but I won't count Tehachapi out for a second.

Foothill 9, Highland 6: Highland led this one 6-0 at halftime and 6-2 late in the third quarter but gave up tremendous field position on a botched punt snap and let the Trojans score the game's only touchdown. Foothill now advances to face No. 1 seed Hanford, one win away from reaching its third straight D-III final. Highland, meanwhile, has to be shaking its head. After a 6-1 start, four straight losses to end the year, all without an offensive touchdown.

Bakersfield Christian 52, Parlier 0: As expected, a rout and a big night for the Eagles passing game. Jake Peterson might have out-shined Derek Carr tonight, though: He caught seven balls for 152 yards — and four of them were touchdowns. For good measure, Peterson also returned an interception for a TD in the Eagles' first shutout of the year. Carr threw for 307 yards and a career-high six touchdowns.

Hanford 48, Delano 6; Visalia-CVC 34, Arvin 7: I thought both Arvin and Delano had decent chances to go up and scare the top-seeded teams in Division III and IV, but it turned out those teams are No. 1 for a reason. You can't win if you don't score, and Arvin rushed for negative-2 yards (199 overall) and Delano only had 187 overall.

UPDATED, 9:14 p.m.: Sanger has run out the string against North here and is up 40-21 with seconds left on the clock. Meanwhile, El Diamante stormed back against West and leads 35-31 with about four minutes to play. The Vikings have the ball at midfield. Meanwhile, Fresno-Edison is struggling, trailing San Joaquin Memorial 3-0 in the fourth quarter. Tehachapi has a commanding lead, 27-3 against Golden Valley.

UPDATED, 8:38 p.m.: The Stars have lost a bit of control here. After yet another unsportsmanlike penalty on the kickoff return (looks like all of these are mouthing-off penalties; I didn't see any fighting or pushing or taunting or anything like that), Juan Rodriquez and Julian Dean-Johnson couldn't hook up on a pitch, and when the ball hit the ground, Dean-Johnson was fighting for the ball with a couple of Apaches. When the officials awarded Sanger the ball, Dean-Johnson said something else, got another penalty and got himself ejected as well. That's two of North's best players gone, and another Sanger score has made it 27-7. Not good news.

UPDATED, 8:23 p.m.: North comes out on fire in the second half, gambling and winning with an onside kick to open the half and then storming down for a 3-yard touchdown run from quarterback Juan Rodriquez to cut the Sanger lead to 14-7. Unfortunately, the Stars were on fire in more than one way. They tried another onside kick that didn't work, then committed two consecutive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties — causing the ejection of one of North's best linemen, John Northrop and giving Sanger a first-and-goal at the North 8. The Apaches punched it in for a 21-7 lead midway through the third quarter.
Meanwhile, from another game, Derek Carr has thrown five touchdown passes in the first half as Bakersfield Christian has stormed to a 42-0 lead on Parlier in the D-V quarterfinals.

UPDATED, 8:11 p.m.: Not much has changed here, with Sanger ahead 14-0 at the half. But there's a shocker going on an hour north. West ran off 17 consecutive points against Visalia-El Diamante to take a 31-14 lead the half against the defending champion Miners. Californian reporter Jeff Evans checks in with a report that El D has fumbled four times and thrown an interception. Maybe the Vikings are finally reaching some potential, though you know the Miners will come out and make a run at some point.

UPDATED, 7:30 p.m.: Bogus start for North. The Stars are moving the ball, but stalled again inside the Sanger 40, then had a punt snap go over David Maciel's head. Maciel made a great play to retrieve the ball and get a good punt off, but Sanger's Mario Navarrete ripped off an 85-yard TD run up the right side on the next play. The PAT was no good, but its 14-0 Apaches very early in the second quarter.

UPDATED, 7:18 p.m.: Not the start North High wanted here at home. The Stars drove to the Sanger 32-yard line on the game's first drive, but Juan Rodriquez fumbled on a first-down play. The Apaches returned the ball 41 yards, then pounded six runs right at the North defense to take the lead. To make matters worse, North jumped offside on the PAT, and Sanger decided to pound in two more points to make it 8-0. Turnovers have plagued the Stars in both of their losses, and they can't afford any more tonight, for sure.

ORIGINAL POST: Happy (Black) Friday everybody. I hope enough of you are in town and not too tired from shopping this morning to create some good atmosphere for the playoffs tonight.

I'll be out at North High, where the Stars are attempting to win their first playoff game since 1994 against Sanger in a Division II quarterfinal. Check back often for updates from the game and for scores from around the Central Section.

If you're into predictions, you can check out this week's picks, though I should note that Mojave is at home this week. I initially wrote they traveled to Yermo to play Silver Valley. Prediction stands, though.

Also, if you missed it, you really need to check out Simon Samano's story on Julian Dean-Johnson, the North High stud back who leads Kern County in rushing yards a game. Simon does a great job weaving Dean-Johnson's difficult upbringing with his rise to football prowess, so check it out.

And The Californian's Thanksgiving story was on Chris Schwartz, the Foothill runner who will defend his state cross country title Saturday in Fresno. Schwartz has dealt with his own set of obstacles and is well on his way past them. The state meet starts tomorrow morning, with Schwartz and McFarland's boys team favored to win state championships.

Once you're done with those feel-good pieces, come back here and make this your base of operations for the second week of the football playoffs.

All games below begin at 7 p.m. Friday unless noted

Central Section scoreboard
Division I semifinals
(5) Clovis East 28, (1) Clovis-Buchanan 20
(2) Clovis West 24, (3) Fresno-Bullard 21
Division II quarterfinals
(1) Tulare Union 49, (9) Fresno-Hoover 6
(2) Visalia-El Diamante 42, (7) West 31
(3) Fresno-Edison 7, (11) Fresno-SJ Memorial 3
(5) Sanger 40, (4) North 21
Division III quarterfinals
(1) Hanford 48 (8) Delano 6
(2) Oakhurst-Yosemite 31, (10) Dinuba 24
(6) Tehachapi 48, (3) Golden Valley 24
(4) Foothill 9, (5) Highland 6
Division IV quarterfinals
(1) Visalia-Central Valley Christian 34, (8) Arvin 7
(2) Chowchilla 28, (7) Kerman 3
(6) Fresno-Washington 29, (3) Exeter 28
(4) Kingsburg 39, (5) Taft 0, Wednesday
Division V quarterfinals
(1) Corcoran 28, (9) Madera Ranchos-Liberty 17
(2) Bakersfield Christian 52, (7) Parlier 0
(3) Fowler 57, (6) Woodlake 28
(4) SLO-Mission Prep 41, (5) Firebaugh 10
Division VI semifinals
(4) Tranquillity 20, (1) Mendota 14
(2) Orange Cove 40, (3) Avenal 24

Southern Section scoreboard
Northeast Divsion quarterfinals
(16) Mojave 28, (8) Yermo-Silver Valley 22
(7) Arcadia-Rio Hondo Prep 42, (2) Boron 14

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Here's the deal with this week's podcast: Because the people who know what they're doing with these things are off for the holiday, I attempted to create this podcast file myself. Obviously, I haven't been able to embed it in the blog, but if you click on either (or maybe just one of?) the files to the left, you should be able to download the file into iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc., and listen (you'll have to wait for it to download). If that's too much work, just be patient. Hopefully I can fix the problem by Friday. Sorry for the inconvenience.

In the mean time, check out high school predictions and a running thread of last night's Taft-Kingsburg game to keep you busy after dinner until football Friday is here again.

UPDATED, 10:30 p.m.: Sorry for the update drought, but there was really not much to say. More Tyler Bray, more London Lacy (that's Bray's backup), continuing to torch the Taft secondary. Kingsburg wins it 39-0 and will go on to the semifinals to play either Arvin at home or Visalia-Central Valley Christian on the road. For the record, I was extremely impressed with the Vikings, who could quite easily be your Division IV champion coming from a No. 4 seed.
Taft coach Steve Sprague was disappointed after the game, more with getting shut out and missing some opportunities than with losing itself. I think he knew his team was up against a pretty good test tonight. But the Wildcats are young, and they returned just seven starters from last year's 12-1 Division IV championship team. They'll be back, you can be sure of that.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Check back for a podcast, and we'll talk more football Friday.

UPDATED, 8:21 p.m.: Not good news for the folks who drove up north from Taft tonight. Kingsburg leads 26-0 at halftime behind a phenomenal first half from Tyler Bray. The Vikings quarterback is 17-of-26 passing for 223 yards and three touchdowns and has 41 rushing yards and another score on the ground. He's completed passes to nine different receivers.
Kingsburg has exactly 300 yards of total offense; Taft has 51. Funny thing is, I'm not sure Kingsburg is that much better than Taft. But the Vikings have run 42 plays to Taft's 19. They've consistently moved the chains on offense and come up with big plays when they needed them on D. I can't say Taft has much hope here, but there's still time on the clock, so we'll see what the defending D-IV champs can do.

UPDATED, 7:52 p.m.: The Tyler Bray show continues. The junior escapes pressure, rolls out and finds tight end Jason Linman wide open for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 19-0 with about four minutes to play in the first half. Taft has had the ball in the red zone both times it's had the ball, but the Wildcats have missed a field goal and failed on a fourth-down attempt. It's an uphill climb now with a running offense, but Taft is driving again.

UPDATED, 7:34 p.m.: Kingsburg's passing game hasn't been slowed by the steady downpour here, as Tyler Bray has moved the Vikings easily down the field twice, scoring once with his arm and again with his feet. He already has 97 yards passing and 29 rushing early in the second quarter. Kingsburg leads 13-0, but as I type, Taft has driven inside the Kingsburg 20. Important series here.

ORIGINAL POST, 7:12 p.m.: Greetings from rainy Kingsburg, where it's a good thing that (a) the school district here installed artificial turf on its new field a few years back and (b) they have a press box with a roof so I'm not electrocuted while blogging.
Probably not so pleasant for those in the stands or down on the pitch (that's a soccer term, for the uncultured).
Anyway, should be a good battle here tonight. Kingsburg took the opening kickoff and marched inside the Taft 10 and now faces a third-and-goal from the 6. And it's a touchdown pass from Tyler Bray to Caleb Fink for an early 7-0 lead. Bray was 5-of-7 for 60 yards to four different receivers on that drive, so Taft at least knows what it has to fix.
I'll update here as much as possible, but we have early deadlines due to Thanksgiving, so forgive me if I'm busy writing the story instead. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody, by the way.

A happy Thanksgiving Eve to everyone. I'll be heading up to Kingsburg in a couple of hours for the Vikings' Division IV game with Taft, which the teams mutually agreed to move up to save holiday plans.

I love the idea, not only because it gives the players, their parents and coaches some time off for the holiday, but because it puts a couple of schools in the spotlight that wouldn't normally be there. I don't know that The Californian would send a writer to this game if it were Friday night with everything else, nor The Fresno Bee, nor TV stations nor radio. All of those things will probably be there tonight. So spend your Wednesday with the Wildcats and Vikings. I'll be doing a live blog from Kingsburg tonight during the game.

So who's going to win? I'd better get these predictions in pretty quick or I'll miss my chance.

Tomorrow, slip in a Thanksgiving podcast between turkey and football, and then we'll gear back up Friday. For now, a look back at last week's predictions:

The Good: Calling for Liberty to lose a tough one, for West to handle Garces again and for Tehachapi and Arvin to get by first round games.

The Bad: Expecting Stockdale to keep it close and for Bakersfield High to find itself for the playoffs.

The Ugly: Well, then. Turns out Delano was pretty insulted by that No. 8 seed, as it rolled past South 42-0 in Division III. That's a bit different than the close Rebels win I predicted.

Wednesday, Nov. 26
DIVISION IV
NO. 5 TAFT (7-3) AT NO. 4 KINGSBURG (9-1) — Somehow, the Vikings were seeded No. 4 when they beat No. 1 seed Visalia-Central Valley Christian by 10 points a few weeks back. Now they get a tough Taft team in the first round. Of course, the Wildcats can't be too happy, either. They've lost three games to three very good teams and will absolutely have their hands full tonight. I think they'll play better than they have in a couple of their losses, but the Division IV title defense comes to an end tonight.
Prediction: Kingsburg 28, Taft 16

Friday, Nov. 28
DIVISION II
NO. 7 WEST (6-5) AT NO. 2 VISALIA-EL DIAMANTE (9-1) — West was able to throw a few haymakers against El D in the teams' Week 1 meeting before ultimately falling 34-14. The temptation is to say that because West found its groove and started playing much better late in the season, this rematch will be closer and might even go the Vikings' way. Not so fast. Remember, too, that El Diamante was a young team early and had lost many starters from last year's D-II championship team. The younguns are grown up now, which means the Miners have improved maybe even more than West has.
Prediciton: El Diamante 49, West 14

NO. 5 SANGER (6-5) AT NO. 4 NORTH (8-2) — One of the more interesting matchups in any playoff bracket takes place in Oildale on Friday night, with a team that's lost five times against a hellacious schedule facing a team that's run more or less easily over a much weaker slate. It's been a while since the Stars have won a playoff game, and I don't think this is the night, unless (1) North doesn't turn the ball over a single time and (2) Seth Vlach and company grind out yards and time off the clock while Julian Dean-Johnson busts a couple of his trademark long runs. It could happen, but I think it's too much to ask.
Prediction: Sanger 34, North 28

DIVISION III
NO. 8 DELANO (8-3) AT NO. 1 HANFORD (9-1) — I fear picking the Delano games, because, much like Bakersfield High was, the Tigers are capable of getting hot and beating about anybody in this bracket. That would include the top-seeded Bullpups. But Delano also has laid a couple of eggs this year, and I won't trust them against a dangerous Hanford team that very well could roll to a section title.
Prediction: Hanford 31, Delano 18

NO. 6 TEHACHAPI (7-4) AT NO. 3 GOLDEN VALLEY (6-4) — It's almost too bad these teams are meeting up in the quarterfinals, because I think they're both great sleepers in the bracket. Both were hot at the end of the year and both are built like playoff teams. I can guarantee Oakhurst-Yosemite, who'll likely end up facing the winner in the semis, isn't looking forward to either matchup. I think the Warriors have enough playoff acumen, plus defense at the line of scrimmage, to keep Byron Newman and the Bulldogs from running completely wild. If Tehachapi can get the ground game going, it'll have the upset.
Prediction: Tehachapi 30, Golden Valley 26

NO. 5 HIGHLAND (6-4) AT NO. 4 FOOTHILL (5-5) — Any respect Highland gained in its 6-1 start has probably been lost with three meager efforts to close the season — three weeks with two points, both of which came in a 24-2 loss to Foothill in Week 8. Can the Scots get some offense going? If they can, they can win this game behind a still-strong defense. It'll be closer than the last meeting with the Trojans. But I don't think the Scots can make up 22 points in four weeks.
Prediction: Foothill 21, Highland 13

DIVISION IV
NO. 8 ARVIN (5-6) AT NO. 1 VISALIA-CENTRAL VALLEY CHRISTIAN (8-2) — By one very important measure, the Division IV bracket is the most wide-open of all. The No. 1 seed does not appear invincible like many of the others do. But CVC is on a roll, no doubt there, and Arvin will need the game of the year to crack a Cavaliers defense that allowed Bakersfield Christian just 27 points (trust me, that's pretty good) and gave up 16 points in its final three regular-season games combined. A Bear-sized upset wouldn't surprise me, but I'm not that confident.
Prediction: Central Valley Christian 23, Arvin 14

DIVISION V
NO. 7 PARLIER (8-3) AT NO. 2 BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (9-1) — The Panthers do bring some punch, but they simply haven't played a team like this yet. That's going to be the case for just about every team in Division V. BCHS will be able to name its score this week and then gear up for (most likely) Fowler and Corcoran.
Prediction: Bakersfield Christian 52, Parlier 14

SOUTHERN SECTION
NORTHEAST DIVISION
NO. 7 ARACADIA-RIO HONDO PREP (7-3) AT NO. 2 BORON (10-1) — This is a major trap for the Bobcats and potentially their biggest test on the way to a possible section championship. Both teams can score; Rio Hondo Prep seems to have a bit better defense. Does that mean it's the end of the line for Boron? I'm going to go with my gut on this one and say the Bobcats, at home, pull another close one out and make it to the semifinals.
Prediction: Boron 37, Rio Hondo Prep 33

NO. 16 MOJAVE (6-5) AT NO. 8 YERMO-SILVER VALLEY (7-4) — Fresh off a massive upset of San Juan Capistrano-Saddleback Valley Christian, the Mustangs tackle what will become a league foe next year. These teams could become pretty big rivals, battling for the right to be a league challenger to Boron. But this year, I'm going with Silver Valley. This year as a freelance team was kind of a lost one for Mojave as it transitions into being a much smaller school, and it's already been a success. But the buck stops here.
Prediction: Silver Valley 31, Mojave 16

Last week: 8-4 (.667)   Season: 169-65 (.722)

Sorry for the lack of posts around here lately — I've been busy with a few things, namely working on some non-football stories and proposing to my girlfriend (she said yes, for the record).

But to make up for that, I'm going to do a very abbreviated version of Most Important Things for the first week of the playoffs.

— Don't be too depressed/apathetic about the results in Division I. Like I said Friday night, this was going to be a rebuilding year for most of the D-I teams in Kern County anyway. That's why the league races were so wide-open and why neither Bakersfield, Liberty or Stockdale received a great seed in the playoffs. So the fact that all three were wiped out by a combined 101-40 score shouldn't surprise anyone all that much. I got an e-mail this morning from a fan who wanted to remind everyone that BHS and Liberty (and you can throw Stockdale in this statement, too) were very young teams this year and that all had talent on their JV and freshman teams. Things will be looking back up soon.

— Division III is going to be a wild ride. Out of the four quarterfinals, there are no gimmes. Delano is a very, very dangerous No. 8 seed traveling to face No. 1 Hanford. Highland and Foothill have both been competitive at one time or another during the year. Tehachapi, the defending champ, and Golden Valley are both big-time sleepers to win it all. Could look totally different next week than you expect it to.

Now on to some rankings:

1. Clovis West (8-3, Division I, last week: 1) — There's a reason Clovis West was a bad matchup for Liberty — the Golden Eagles are a tough, defensive team like the Patriots, but they're a little bit better at it.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 8 Liberty, 14-6. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 2 Fresno-Bullard

2. Fresno-Bullard (9-2, Division I, last week: 2) — The way I see it, the second D-I semifinal at Clovis High will be a 1 vs. 2 matchup, one that Clovis West dominated 28-10 the first time around. I'm not sure if I totally believe that, but for now, consider the Bullard-Clovis West winner the favorite to win it all the following week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 12 Bakersfield, 35-14. THIS WEEK: at No. 1 Clovis West

3. Visalia-El Diamante (9-1, Division II, last week: 3) — The Miners open their playoff run with a rematch against West. And the Vikings aren't bad or anything, but it's a very safe match-up for El D. Bring on Edison.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. West

4. Clovis East (8-3, Division I, last week: 4) — Is it possible to underrate the team you have at No. 4? The Timberwolves gave Stockdale a lesson in playoff football with a quick-strike fourth quarter Friday. I now like them to knock off top-seeded Clovis-Buchanan.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 9 Stockdale, 52-20. THIS WEEK: at No. 6 Clovis-Buchanan

5. Tulare Union (10-0, Division II, last week: 5) — The Redskins get one more warmup before a mere two-week stretch that will make their season success or failure: vs. Sanger or North, then vs. (likely) Edison or El Diamante.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Fresno-Hoover

6. Clovis-Buchanan (9-2, Division I, last week: 6) — It's difficult to rank the Bears this low, but they've been scuffling for more than a month since beating Clovis West. Plus, starting QB Lance Orender is out for the remainder of the playoffs. How long can backup Taylor Genuser keep winning?
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis, 14-6. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 4 Clovis East

7. Fresno-Edison (8-2, Division II, last week: 7) — Tough team to predict here. I could see the Tigers folding after all the stress and troubles of a season that saw All-American cornerback Rolando Jefferson lost to academics, or I could see an uber-talented team rallying around itself.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial

8. Liberty (7-4, Division I, last week: 8) — No sense in punishing the Patriots, who were easily the most impressive of the four losers in the D-I playoffs and who I think probably were the second or third best team in the division at the end of the year.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 1 Clovis West, 14-6. THIS WEEK: season over

9. Hanford (9-1, Division III, last week: 10) — It's been since Week 2 that the Bullpups won a truly meaningful game. Of course, their only loss since then was to El Diamante. They can't fall asleep at the wheel against Delano.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Delano

10. Bakersfield Christian (9-1, Division V, last week: 11) — The Eagles' first-round game is a name-your-score affair. After that, Fowler and Corcoran will present more challenges. But honestly, this team could win Division IV or maybe even III.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Parlier

11. Stockdale (8-3, Division I, last week: 9) — Don't let a lopsided playoff loss taint what a great job Mike Snow and his kids did this year. A year after going 2-8, the Mustangs were Southwest Yosemite League champs and a legitimate playoff threat.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 4 Clovis East, 52-20. THIS WEEK: season over

12. Corcoran (10-0, Division V, last week: 13) — Perhaps the single biggest question mark in the Central Section playoffs this year: How good is Corcoran, really? We won't find out this week, but things get much more interesting after that.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Madera Ranchos-Liberty

13. Bakersfield (7-4, Division I, last week: 12) — Does this ranking mean BHS would lose to Corcoran or Hanford or Bakersfield Christian? Maybe not every time. But the Drillers were plagued by inconsistency this year, and it didn't get any better in the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 2 Fresno-Bullard, 35-14. THIS WEEK: season over

14. Visalia-Central Valley Christian (8-2, Division IV, last week: 14) — Here's an example of a team that's gotten hot at the right time and parlayed that into a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But a week off and a tough No. 8 seed in Arvin makes for a daunting quarterfinal.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Arvin

15. Chowchilla (9-1, Division IV, last week: 15) — The Redskins have nice victories against Oakhurst-Yosemite and a couple of Sac-Joaquin Section schools, and you can bet they'd love a rematch with CVC in the D-IV final.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Kerman

Dropped out: none
Waiting: Exeter, Kingsburg, North, Sanger, Oakhurst-Yosemite, Tehachapi, West, Golden Valley, Fowler

UPDATED, 10:52 p.m.: Looks like all of the Central Section finals have rolled in for the evening. All three Bakersfield teams go down in Division I, with only Liberty in the game at the end. Bakersfield, riddled by mistakes, fell to Bullard 35-14 and Stockdale lost at home to Clovis East, 52-20. The Patriots stayed with their underneath passing game on the final drive and got it all the way to the Clovis West 20 before stalling out into a fourth-and-7 with 15 seconds left. The Golden Eagles dropped about nine into coverage and came up with a pick from Jordan Pirtle, the last big defensive play on a night full of them. Pretty good spirits from Liberty after the game, though they obviously felt like they had blown a great chance to win.
So what to make of the Fresno-area whitewash? Well, the power clearly was up in Fresno this year, though I maintain that "Good" Bakersfield (and tonight against Bullard was definitely "Bad" Bakersfield) and Liberty could be any team in the Valley on a given night. Just not tonight. It also was a rebuilding year at several places around Kern County after a banner year last year. At any rate, the D-I semifinals will be Clovis East at Clovis-Buchanan and Fresno-Bullard against Clovis West.
Elsewhere? There are still four other titles to play for, though the other brackets don't reach their quarterfinals until next week. All scores are listed below, but let's take a peek at the Kern County ones. I think it's safe to say defense rules in the playoffs. Look at how many of these games are won without rolling up big offensive numbers.

West 35, Garces 21: The Vikings trailed 14-0 early but rallied and kept an up-and-down season alive. Next up? A second chance at No. 2 seed Visalia-El Diamante, which beat West 34-14 back in Week 1.

Tehachapi 28, Ridgeview 14: Another comeback, as the Warriors were down 14-7 at the half. I heard some rumblings that Tyler Dogins, a two-way Ridgeview star, was hurt in the second half of this one, which could have contributed to a 14-0 Tehachapi advantage in the final quarter. I still think the Warriors are a great sleeper in the Division III bracket, though they'll have to play better than this to get past No. 3 Golden Valley next week.

Delano 42, South 0: Just like Bakersfield High, the Tigers have a good version and a bad version. They apparently brought out the good stuff tonight, and they'll need it again next week at No. 1 seed Hanford.

Arvin 31, Selma 14: The Bears pull away in the second half and also advance to play a No. 1 seed, Visalia-Central Valley Christian in Division IV. I'll say it early: I think Arvin has a legitimate shot in that one.

UPDATED, 9:30 p.m.: Liberty drives to the Clovis West 20 but turns the ball over on a fourth-down interception with seconds to go. Clovis West 14, Liberty 6, final. Details later.

UPDATED, 9:17 p.m.: Two first downs for the Golden Eagles, and that should just about do it. Give credit to Clovis West. It came up with the big plays on defense when it had to. Liberty, meanwhile, is going to rue those couple of penalties when it had the ball well within Colton Schmidt's field-goal range midway through the fourth quarter, and of course the fumble on the next possession.
And here's an interesting development: Kendall Brock just sprung a 21-yard touchdown run for Clovis West, which is actually going to give Liberty some slim life. The extra point is good, but the score is 14-6, and Liberty still will have a shot with a touchdown and two-point conversion, to tie the game. So hold on to your hats for just a minute. There's 1:30 to play and the Pats have no timeouts.

UPDATED, 9:12 p.m.: And Clovis West pokes the ball loose from Dylan Slayton for a crucial fumble and recovery! The Golden Eagles have the ball and are trying to kill the clock inside the Liberty 35.

UPDATED, 9:09 p.m.: Liberty defense holds, three-and-out. First-and-10 on the Liberty 41 with 4:43 to go and one timeout. Should be a good finish.

UPDATED, 9:04 p.m.: Liberty could be looking at a huge wasted opportunity here. They had driven to the Clovis West 24 before a delay of game and a holding have pushed them back to the 41. It's now 3rd-and-20 ...
... and a Dylan Slayton pass falls incomplete. Liberty's punt goes in the end zone for a touchback, so it's Clovis West's ball at its 20 with 5:53 to play.

UPDATED, 8:42 p.m.: A 12-play drive for Liberty there, by far the most productive its offense has looked all night. The bad news for the Pats? They couldn't convert a third down inside the Clovis West 5 and settled for another Colton Schmidt field goal. It's 7-6. Dylan Slayton threw an interception earlier in the half but the Patriot defense stiffened and kept the Golden Eagles off the board. Good one here, late third quarter.

UPDATED, 8:16 p.m.: I've taken a closer look at the stats, and if you couldn't already tell, Liberty is lucky to be in this thing. Clovis West has a 164-30 edge in total yards, and a 7-1 edge in first downs. But the Pats can take advantage if they can turn things around a little bit here in the second half. They get the ball first.
In other scores, it's Clovis East running over Stockdale in a shootout, 39-14 at halftime, and Bullard leads Bakersfield 14-0 at halftime. Could Liberty be Bakersfield's last Division I hope? Stay tuned.

UPDATED, 7:55 p.m.: It's the end of a very quickly played first half here at Lamonica Stadium with Clovis West leading 7-3. The Golden Eagles have made two big mistakes with an interception deep in their own end and a fumble after a long first down, but Liberrty hasn't really taken advantage. The Patriots didn't gain a first down until the final minute of the half, when they were trying to work the ball out from their own 2-yard line.
Some halftime stats that will tell the story, I think:
For Clovis West, Braden Seibert has 85 yards and the long touchdown on nine carries, and quarterback Jeff Tuel has completed 7-of-10 passes for 55 yards.
For Liberty, quarterback Dylan Slaton is 4-of-5 for 23 yards, and Chris Neal has rushed eight times for just 4 yards. Ugh. That has to change if the Patriots are to win this game.

UPDATED, 7:41 p.m.: Colton Schmidt, who's basically a shoe-in for all-area kicker, just booted a 40-yard field goal that would have been good from about 55 to cut into the Clovis West lead. It's no 7-3 with just 3:42 left in a fast-paced first half. The score was set up by a Mason Urmston interception inside the Clovis West 20. But a couple of sacks forced Liberty into the field-goal try. The Pats are playing it conservative, and so far, it's kept them in the game but behind.

UPDATED, 7:24 p.m.: Bad news for a couple of Bakersfield schools. Stockdale has been blitzed early at home and is down 18-0 to Clovis East in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Liberty just surrendered a 54-yard touchdown run to Braden Seibert to fall behind 7-0 here in Clovis. Bakersfield and Bullard still scoreless.

UPDATED, 7:19 p.m.: It's going to be a low-scoring night like we expected, at least if ever drive takes up 8+ minutes and nets no points. Clovis West took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in 17 plays, only to be stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Liberty 4 to come away empty-handed. Brady Burk made the big play for the Pats on fourth down.
Now this is a field position game, though. Liberty just went three-and-out and will have to punt, resulting in some pretty good Clovis West field position. It's the Golden Eagles' ball at its own 42 with about 1:30 left in the first quarter.

UPDATED, 6:56 p.m.: A quick note I forgot to pass along earlier that I'd like to slip in before kickoff here. In the Central Section volleyball championships last night, Garces won the Division II title over Hanford and Bakersfield Christian took the D-IV title against Visalia-Central Valley Christian, both in sweeps. So congratulations to those schools, who will move on to the state playoffs.
Liberty fell to Clovis West in Division I and Tehachapi lost at Exeter in D-III, also both sweeps, though Liberty took the eventual champs to 28-26 in the third game. Both the Patriots and the Warriors are eligible for the state playoffs, but they'll have to get an at-large berth to make it. They'll find out their fates Sunday.
Meanwhile, stay tuned for updates from the other Liberty-Clovis West showdown of the week, kicking off in exactly 4:14.

ORIGINAL POST: I'm writing from Lamonica Stadium at Clovis High School, where seventh-seeded Liberty and No. 2 Clovis West will tangle in a Central Section Division I quarterfinal in about 40 minutes. Should be a very interesting, well-played defensive battle. First big mistake loses? Or first big play on offense wins? Could be; it's chilly and I don't know that either team will be able to move the ball consistently tonight.

Elsewhere, reporter Simon Samano will have a running thread from the Bakersfield-Bullard game at McLane High School in Fresno. You can catch that over on his blog, Hey Jude. Check here for as many scores as I can gather, plus some updates from Stockdale High back in Bakersfield, where the No. 4 Mustangs are hosting No. 5 Clovis East.

For the playoffs, I've decided to combine Kern County scores with the rest of the Central Section, because everyone's game affects everyone else in that bracket. The games listed by division and each team's seed is in parentheses. All Central Section games start at 7 p.m.; the Southern Section games, listed below the Central scores, start at 7:30.

Kern County scoreboard
Division I
(1) Clovis-Buchanan 14, (8) Clovis 6
(2) Clovis West 14, (7) Liberty 6
(3) Fresno-Bullard 35, (6) Bakersfield 14
(5) Clovis East 52, (4) Stockdale 20
Division II
(5) Sanger 47, (12) Fresno-Sunnyside 19
(11) Fresno-SJ Memorial 6, (6) Visalia-Golden West 2
(7) West 35, (10) Garces 21
(9) Fresno-Hoover 27, (8) Lemoore 6
Division III
(6) Tehachapi 28, (11) Ridgeview 14
(10) Dinuba 34, (7) Porterville 27
(8) Delano 42, (9) South 0
Division IV
(7) Kerman 44, (10) Fresno-Roosevelt 28
(8) Arvin 31, (9) Selma 14
Division V
(7) Parlier 32, (10) Lindsay 14
(9) Madera Ranchos-Liberty 19, (8) Caruthers 0
Division VI
(3) Avenal 32, (6) Farmersville 21
(5) Strathmore 27, (4) Tranquility 20

Southern Section Eastern Division
(9) Palm Desert 41, (8) Burroughs 7
SS East Valley Division
(3) San Bernardino-Aquinas 49, (14) Kern Valley 7
(7) Fillmore 48, (10) Desert 37
SS Northeast Division
(16) Mojave 35, (1) San Juan Capistrano-Saddleback Valley Christian 14
(2) Boron 72, (15) Inglewood-Amino Leadership 7

We're about 26 hours away from playoff football, folks. Hope you're getting as excited as I am.

It's shaping up to be quite an end of the month. Four Kern County volleyball teams are in Central Section volleyball championships Thursday, the football playoffs start Friday and the state volleyball and cross country championships will be decided in the coming weeks as well.

Both McFarland and Foothill senior Chris Schwartz will be favored to win state titles in cross country Nov. 29 at Fresno's Woodward Park, and several Kern teams could be in the state volleyball playoffs as well, depending on what happens in the section finals.

Here's the Thursday slate, with all championship games at 7 p.m.:

Division I — No. 2 Liberty at No. 1 Clovis West
Division II — No. 2 Hanford at No. 1 Garces
Division III — No. 3 Tehachapi at No. 1 Exeter
Division IV — No. 2 Visalia-Central Valley Christian at No. 1 Bakersfield Christian

On another note, Wednesday was the last day of the early signing period. Biggest news that we didn't already know (we already knew Garces' Stephon Carter to CSUB basketball, Centennial's Ensley Gammel to Florida softball and a few others) was that Stockdale baseball player K.C. Hobson, the Californian's Player of the Year last season, inked with Texas A&M. Of course, Hobson is projected as a second-round MLB draft pick, and if that holds true, he'll probably go pro and leave college behind. But he's got the Aggies to fall back on, and that's a good place to be. Read a complete list of Division I signings within this story.

As for football, it's a new year. The one positive about the achingly dilluted Central Section playoffs is that everybody gets a new start. Ridgeview, at 2-8, could end up as a Division III section champion (in fact, the Wolf Pack probably has a better chance than you realize). So with that, let's take a deep breath and delve in.

First, for vanity's sake, a look back at last week's predictions, which went very well for me. (I don't think I'll be so successful at calling the D-I playoffs, though)

The Good: 16-1 baby! Calling Liberty over Garces, Stockdale over West with 33 points and Bakersfield High over Highland with 33 points. Also, BCHS over Taft.

The Bad: Having Desert beating Bishop to win the High Desert League title; the Scorpions lost 43-36 to ruin my chance a perfect weekend.

The Ugly: My chances of coming close to perfect this weekend with all of the toss-ups scheduled in the playoffs.

Friday, Nov. 21
DIVISION I
NO. 7 LIBERTY (7-3)  NO. 2 CLOVIS WEST (7-3) — So this is the punishment the Patriots get for that 1-3 start that easily could have been 3-1 or even 4-0. A road game at what has been the section's best team from start to finish this year. Looks like the six-game winning streak to end the year really didn't do Liberty that much good, but all is not lost. Any time you can play defense like the Patriots can, you'll be in games against anyone. Problem is, Clovis West plays defense just about as well, and it'll have a fired-up home crowd. I'd have picked Liberty against almost any other team in the bracket, but I can't pull the trigger on this one.
Prediction: Clovis West 17, Liberty 13

NO. 6 BAKERSFIELD (7-3) AT NO. 3 FRESNO-BULLARD (8-2) — When the Division I bracket was re-done a few minutes after it initially was released, BHS moved out of that matchup with Clovis West and into one with Bullard. There are two extreme ways to look at the Knights, i think: One is that they've overachieved and will be in over their heads in the playoffs. Another is that they're legit and have been battle-toughened by a tough schedule that included wins against Clovis East, Sanger and Fresno-Edison and losses to Clovis West and Orange-Lutheran. The truth, I'm sure, is somewhere in between, but I maintain that if Bakersfield High plays its best ball, it could be favored against anyone. Here's guessing Paul Golla has his boys ready to play.
Prediction: Bakersfield 28, Bullard 21

NO. 5 CLOVIS EAST (7-3) AT NO. 4 STOCKDALE (8-2) — Stockdale's Wing T offense can be a great equalizer against bigger or faster teams, and it gave Bakersfield fits earlier this season. But the Mustangs will need to be at their best in this one. If Stockdale can get contributions from multiple backs — which it's done with Stephen Silva, Spencer Prince and Malik Henderson throughout the year — some semblance of a passing game, a solid night from its defense and a turnover-free game, it'll advance to the semifinals. Here's guessing the plan slips up somewhere, though.
Prediction: Clovis East 33, Stockdale 24

DIVISION II
NO. 10 GARCES (6-4) AT NO. 7 WEST (5-5) — I hate that there are so many rematches in the section playoff brackets this year, and I hate even more that these teams played just a few weeks ago. I mean, couldn't we have bumped Garces down to No. 11, considering the No. 11 team is Fresno-SJ Memorial, which beat the Rams? Or up to No. 9 past a 5-5 Fresno-Hoover team? Anyway, I don't think there's any reason to think the teams are so much different than three weeks ago when the Vikings beat Garces 31-14. Except that West is wildly inconsistent. That's a good reason. But I'll say they have a nice week, which would set up — drumroll — another rematch, with Visalia-El Diamante. Yippee.
Prediction: West 21, Garces 16

DIVISION III
NO. 11 RIDGEVIEW (2-8) AT NO. 6 TEHACHAPI (6-4) — Both teams have lost some close decisions this year, making this one a chance for one team to get on a sleeper playoff run. On that train of thought, I'm taking the team that's been down that road before — defending champion Tehachapi. That's a smart choice anyhow, because the Warriors have been playing very well since a 1-3 start, mashing Taft, nearly beating Bakersfield Christian and dismissing everyone else.
Prediction: Tehachapi 27, Ridgeview 12

NO. 9 SOUTH (5-5) AT NO. 8 DELANO (7-3) — Both of these teams have reason to complain about their seed, so it might come down to which team can regroup from that disappointment fast enough. Delano has a reason for a vengeance of sorts; a blown halftime lead in the playoffs last year kept the Tigers from the semifinals. But I think South will really be champing at the bit for its first playoff game in a few years. Dual-threat QB Jose Ramos and the Rebels would love a shot at No. 1 Hanford and I think they'll get it with an upset of inconsistent Delano.
Prediction: South 33, Delano 31

DIVISION IV
NO. 9 SELMA (6-4) AT NO. 8 ARVIN (4-6) — Another intriguing matchup between a couple of running teams. Selma features running back Adrian Pacheco, who's rushed for nearly 1,400 yards this year at 8.7 yards a carry. That's obviously a concern for Arvin, but it's played a much tougher schedule than Selma and should be able to move the ball, win the battle of the Bears and prevent yet another rematch (Selma vs. CVC) in the quarterfinals.
Prediction: Arvin 31, Selma 23

SOUTHERN SECTION
EASTERN DIVISION
NO. 9 PALM DESERT (8-2) AT NO. 8 BURROUGHS (6-4) — A couple of weeks ago, this would have looked like a tough matchup for QB Derrick Dison and the Burros. But then, Palm Desert was 8-0 and has since lost twice, including to a 4-6 team. In fact, the Aztecs have played only three teams with a winning record all year. I'm going to say that gives Burroughs a home victory and a date with No. 1 seed Citrus Hill.
Prediction: Burroughs 29, Palm Desert 24

EAST VALLEY DIVISION
NO. 14 KERN VALLEY (5-5) AT NO. 3 SAN BERNARDINO-AQUINAS (9-1) — The Broncs outlasted Frazier Mountain in a defensive struggle last Thursday, 10-7, to make the playoffs. That was the biggest high in an up-and-down season for Kern Valley, which will bow out of the postseason this week. Aquinas is loaded.
Prediction: Aquinas 44, Kern Valley 6

NO. 10 DESERT (7-3) AT NO. 7 FILLMORE (8-2) — I know the Scorpions have struggled a bit down the stretch, losing games to Frazier Mountain and to Bishop, but I find this seed a little low. Desert now faces a tough matchup with a team that went 3-1 and hails from a tough league. I'd like to pick DHS to last another round, but I think the tough draw will mean the end of the road.
Prediction: Fillmore 38, Desert 28

NORTHEAST DIVISION
NO. 16 MOJAVE (5-5) AT NO. 1 SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO-SADDLEBACK VALLEY CHRISTIAN (10-0) — This probably isn't as much of a mismatch as it would seem. Saddleback has played only two teams with winning records, and one was Burbank-Bellarmine Jefferson, which beat Frazier Mountain by just one point. So, I don't know that the Mustangs will run back to Mojave with their tails between their legs or anything. But I can't call the upset, either.
Prediction: Saddleback Valley Christian 30, Mojave 13

NO. 15 INGLEWOOD-AMINO LEADERSHIP (4-6) AT NO. 2 BORON (9-1) — Pretty sure there wouldn't be a dry eye in the locker room if the Bobcats could make a run to a Southern Section title after the season they've been through, with Vinnie Rodriguez's death and a bunch of close games. But let's talk about on the field. Boron's offense, led by Israel Lucas and Josh Glass, is explosive and they won't have trouble with Amino Leadership, only the fourth-best team in its league.
Prediction: Boron 46, Amino Leadership 8

Last week: 16-1 (.941)    Season: 161-61 (.725)

Ladies and gentlemen, you have entered The Twilight Zone.

Courtesy of The Fresno Bee, the Fresno Unified School District finished up its investigation into Edison High School and found ... that the accuser is the guilty party. What?? Yep, that's right. Jeff Powell, the math teacher who said an F he gave to one of Edison's high-profile football players was changed to an A, is now the one being given the blame for changing the grade himself.

Obviously, I don't know the details, and those who did the investigation obviously do, but this seems like a funny conclusion to me. Was the guy just trying to get some attention or a free vacation for himself (He's on paid leave)? I suppose that could be. But I have a feeling this story isn't over yet.

Meanwhile, on the field, Edison is off the hook and into the playoffs. For this week's Central Section rankings, look for each team's seed in their respective division's playoffs.

1. Clovis West (7-3, No. 2 seed in Div. I, last week: 1) — Yes, the Golden Eagles were relegated to a No. 2 seed by a coin flip that decided the Tri-River title. Yes, that's pretty stupid. No, it's not going to change my mind that this is the section's most accomplished team to date.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis, 34-14. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 8 Liberty

2. Fresno-Bullard (8-2, No. 3 in Div. I, last week: 2) — Hearing some rumors about Bullard joining the TRAC in two years. Seems like a good fit: Clovis East, Edison and Sanger is a pretty good collection of wins. Now the Knights need to add another scalp to keep the season alive.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fresno-Hoover, 41-3. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 12 Bakersfield

3. Visalia-El Diamante (9-1, No. 2 in Div. II, last week: 3) — Anybody who remembers what happened in last year's D-II championship (El D 63, Tulare Union 14) knows the Miners are the team to beat again. But Edison is on their half of bracket.
LAST WEEK: won at Visalia-Golden West, 53-34. THIS WEEK: BYE

4. Clovis East (7-3, No. 5 in Div. I, last week: 4) — Timberwolves were relegated to trip south to Stockdale, but remember, they can't host a playoff game. That's why that No. 5 seed might be a little misleading.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Madera, 49-7. THIS WEEK: at No. 9 Stockdale

5. Tulare Union (10-0, No. 1 in Div. II, last week: 5) — Top five remains the same, but Redskins, after a bye and a presumed victory over Lemoore or Hoover, will have toughest test of the season by far against North or Sanger in semifinals.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Tulare Western, 63-0. THIS WEEK: BYE

6. Clovis-Buchanan (8-2, No. 1 in Div. I, last week: 7) — The Bears will play Clovis in the first round of the playoffs, which looks like a mismatch until you consider the Cougars gave Buchanan a major scare before losing 19-17 just three weeks ago.
LAST WEEK: won at Fresno-Central, 48-7. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis

7. Fresno-Edison (8-2, No. 3 in Div. II, last week: 6) — You'd have to think the closure (or at least, supposed closure) of the grade-changing saga will eliminate some distractions around Tigers' locker room. But schedule, with two straight byes, might create some rust instead.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: BYE

8. Liberty (7-3, No. 7 in Div. I, last week: 8) — It was a double-sided whammy: I guarantee neither Liberty nor Clovis West was happy to see the other defensive-minded team opposite in the bracket. This thing is going to be grinder — and don't count out the Pats.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Garces, 28-0. THIS WEEK: at No. 1 Clovis West

9. Stockdale (8-2, No. 4 in Div. I, last week: 10) — Mustangs have gotten more consistent as season has progressed. Now, they've got to channel the early victory against Bakersfield a couple of times to make a playoff run.
LAST WEEK: won vs. West, 35-14. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 4 Clovis East

10. Hanford (9-1, No. 1 in Div. III, last week: 11) — The Bullpups responded from giving up 53 to El Diamante by giving up 2 to Lemoore. That's impressive enough, but Division III is a very deep bracket.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Lemoore, 28-2. THIS WEEK: BYE

11. Bakersfield Christian (9-1, No. 2 in Div. V, last week: 12) — I was nervous about ranking the Eagles this high at the beginning of the year, but I'm now convinced Derek Carr and that spread offense could score on anybody. Stopping anybody, on the other hand, is of some concern.
LAST WEEK: won at Taft, 35-14. THIS WEEK: BYE

12. Bakersfield (7-3, No. 6 in Div. I, last week: 13) — I can see it now: Drillers coach Paul Golla doing a skit from Batman in the locker room. He flips a coin, it lands heads, and he says, 'All right, we're the good Drillers today.' It lands on the burnt end and it's bad Drillers. Good Drillers can beat anybody, but will they show up for three straight weeks?
LAST WEEK: won at Highland, 33-0. THIS WEEK: at No. 2 Fresno-Bullard

13. Corcoran (10-0, No. 1 in Div. V, last week: 14) — It's not hard to imagine the Panthers getting riled up about everyone's prediction that Bakersfield Christian will manhandle them in the D-V final. It's their job to do something about it.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Strathmore, 46-7. THIS WEEK: BYE

14. Visalia-Central Valley Christian (8-2, No. 1 in Div. IV, last week: NR) — The Cavaliers get the nod over Central Sequoia League teams they tied with because of a close call with BCHS and a victory over Chowchilla in non-league play.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Exeter, 14-7. THIS WEEK: BYE

15. Chowchilla (9-1, No. 2 in Div. IV, last week: 15) — Between the hollering about seeding in D-V and D-III's depth, the Division IV bracket gets overlooked. But there are some great rematches waiting to happen between CVC, Chowchilla, Exeter and Kingsburg (I wouldn't throw out defending champ Taft, either).
LAST WEEK: won vs. Dos Palos, 44-3. THIS WEEK: BYE

Dropped out: No. 9 Exeter
Waiting: Exeter, Kingsburg, North, Sanger, Tehachapi, Fowler, Golden Valley, West, Garces, Visalia-Golden West

Sorry this post is a bit late, but I we have such a good discussion going on playoff seedings that I wanted to hold off a bit. But let's not let go of the regular season just yet, not before a quick Week 10 recap. And click the above link to join the playoff seedings talk. I'll try to limit any playoff mentioning here to general terms. We'll talk specific matchups later in the week.

Now, back to Week 10:

— Let's switch things up and start in the South Sequoia League, where Bakersfield Christian played a very competitive game with Taft before pulling away for a 35-14 victory that clinched the SSL title outright. That's the thing about this Eagles offense: You can stay in the game for a while — especially because the BCHS defense is most certainly vulnerable — but if you blink once or twice, it's over. Bakersfield Christian scores almost at will, so it's almost like playing Pete Sampras at tennis — if you get your serve broken once or twice on offense, you're fighting an uphill battle the rest of the night. I would venture a guess to say Division V playoff teams are going to find things very tough with the Eagles.

— For my money, Bakersfield and Liberty proved they're the two biggest playoff threats in from this area in the Division I bracket — BHS because it has such great upside when playing well, and Liberty because its defense is so consistent. We saw both teams at their best in Week 10 as they clinched a split of the Southeast Yosemite League title. Liberty throttled Garces 28-0 and Bakersfield beat Highland 33-0 behind a first-half blitzkrieg. The D-I bracket will be tough, but these teams certainly are capable of doing damage.

— I don't mean to overlook Stockdale in all of this, because the Mustangs completed a run to the Southwest Yosemite League title (sharing it with North) that not many thought they could make before the year, including yours truly. Stockdale finished it off with a dominating 35-14 effort against West. If the Mustangs are consistent with that kind of mistake-free, step-on-the-throat effort, they can be dangerous in the playoffs as well. But Clovis East will not be easy Friday night.

— Not a whole lot else out there to talk about as far as southern Central Section teams, though I'll end the Shafter-Wasco themed weekend with a link to my story talking about rivalry festivities. I'd also like to give a shout-out this Shafter-themed blog, The Bivouac. Read that post and you'll find out why. (Nope, I'm not above giving plugs for some respect. Maybe I'll call in a favor one day, General Shafter. Though, seriously, if there are any other blogs themed for specific schools out there, let me know. It'd be cool to have a collection of links around here).

— Perhaps Kern County's most unlikely league champion was Burroughs. I say that partly because the Burros were 2-9 last year and partly because coming into this past weekend, Burroughs needed a win against Victor Valley just to finish in the Desert Sky League's top three, thus earning a playoff bid. But, the Burros' 30-16 victory combined with Barstow's win against Apple Valley-Granite Hills created a three-way tie at the top. Burroughs won the tiebreaker and ended up with the No. 1 spot from the DSL in the Southern Section playoffs. So congrats, Burroughs Burros.

— Other congrats are in order to Boron, which finished off the Desert Mountain League unbeaten — and finished 9-1 overall — with a 46-27 victory against Yermo-Silver Valley. Other Kern teams in the Southern Section playoffs are Desert (second in the High Desert League), Kern Valley (third in the HDL) and Mojave (as an independent). Actually, that's everybody except Rosamond and Frazier Mountain. So congratulations all around.

— Finally, the section volleyball playoffs get serious tonight, with Bakersfield visiting Clovis West and Clovis-Buchanan going to Liberty in the Division I semifinals. Garces and Bakersfield Christian also host semifinal games in D-II and D-IV, respectively. Whet your appetite for the Clovis-Bakesfield showdowns in football Friday with some indoor action tomorrow (and possibly Thursday in the finals).

UPDATED, 8:42 p.m.: There's more to this seeding story than I initially thought. Turns out there was a Division I bracket released before the one that I've posted (and before I checked the site this morning) that had Liberty as the No. 4 seed hosting Clovis East. Stockdale as the No. 6 traveling to Bullard and Bakersfield as the No. 7 traveling to Clovis West.

The problem with that was, section commish Jim Crichlow told me a couple of hours ago, the old South Yosemite League by-laws (that have never been updated and so still apply to both the SEYL and SWYL) say all ties for a league championship must be broken. The seeding committee didn't realize that until they got a call after releasing the original bracket.

Applying the rules means BHS' Week 4 win against Liberty gives the Drillers the SEYL title and seeding precedence over the Patriots. Hence, BHS moves up to the No. 6 and Liberty gets the 7. Stockdale beat BHS, so it gets precedence over the Drillers and ends up with the No. 4 seed and a home game.

A handful of other notes:

— The D-V bracket also was released, and Bakersfield Christian ended up with an unwarranted second seed behind Corcoran. The Eagles were 9-1 and the Panthers 10-0, but BCHS played a schedule that I'd rate 200 to 300 percent more difficult than Corcoran's.
Crichlow explained this one to me, too. The teams, the committee felt, were relatively equal at face value, and so it went to tie-breaking procedures. After three or four didn't resolve the issue (league standing, record against common opponents, record within division), it went to record against other league champions. BCHS lost its only game with another league champ (though that happened to be Westlake Village-Oaks Christian, about the 10th best team in California in any division) and so Corcoran got the No. 1 seed. Incidentally, the next tiebreaker would have been overall record, which the Panthers win also. Strength of schedule was after that, which seems waaaay too low in my eyes. But that's the way things go, I suppose; the letter of the law rules. We'll see how close the teams really are if they meet in Corcoran for the title on Dec. 12.

— Congratulations to Stockdale's Frances Ellison and Julie Hutton, who won the section doubles title in girls tennis this afternoon. BCHS' super sister, Lyndsay and Chelby Cooke, both lost to champion Gabrielle Gatewood of Visalia-Redwood and finished second and third in the tourney.

— Check back tomorrow for Week 10's most important things and further playoff thoughts.

ORIGINAL POST: I'm about to head out to Clovis, but first, the Central Section has released some playoff brackets from Porterville.

Looks like that business about Centennial being in with a win against Frontier last night was bogus, though that's what the section Web site said yesterday. Centennial apparently chose not to enter the playoffs, leaving an eight-team bracket in Division I.

Stockdale was rewarded for its SWYL championship with a No. 4 seed and a home game next Friday against No. 5 Clovis East. But Bakersfield and Liberty, co-SEYL champs, were not likewise helped. Liberty drew the No. 7 seed and has to play Clovis West, which I thought deserved the No. 1 seed. Tough draw for both teams, and a strange one, considering it's a rematch of a Week 0 game won 22-19 by Clovis West.

Clovis-Buchanan has the No. 1 seed and plays Clovis, and BHS has the No. 6 seed and must travel to play No. 3 Fresno-Bullard. Very interesting, to say the least.

In Division II, North earned the No. 4 seed and will get a bye and then a home game against No. 5 Sanger. A couple of locals, No. 7 West and No. 10 Garces, stage another rematch on the bottom half of the bracket, with the winner traveling to No. 2 Visalia-El Diamante. Tulare Union has the top seed.

Division III should be a barn-burner of a bracket. Hanford is the No. 1 and Oakhurst-Yosemite the No. 2, but a host of dangerous Kern County teams are waiting in the wings: No. 3 Golden Valley, No. 4 Foothill, No. 5 Highland, No. 6 Tehachapi, No. 8 Delano, No. 9 South and even No. 11 Ridgeview are capable of an upset or three. Ridgeview-Tehachapi and South-Delano are games to watch in the opening round.

Taft will be on the road in Division IV after a bye in the first week. The No. 5 Wildcats must travel to No. 4 Kingsburg on Thanksgiving weekend. No. 8 Arvin has a home game this week against No. 9 Selma.

The Division V and VI brackets aren't available yet, but check this link as the day goes on to find them. I'll update this post with a note about them when I'm back in town.

UPDATED, 12:42 a.m.: The regular season is in the books, folks, and we'll know playoff seedings tomorrow. I'm headed to Clovis for the individual section tennis championships, but when I get back, I'll put up a post on seedings. In the mean time, here are some scores pulled out from the list below:

Liberty 28, Garces 0: The Patriots defense finished the season in a fitting way, with a shutout and a share of the SEYL title. Chris Neal looked great in his return from injury, running for 167 yards and three touchdowns. The Pats' stifling defense wouldn't let Garces get a foothold in this one.

Bakersfield 33, Highland 0: The Drillers allow 34 rushing yards and send Highland, once 6-1, to its third straight loss without scoring an offensive point. That's quite a fall for the Scots, while BHS clinches a share (with Liberty) of its second straight SEYL title.

Bakersfield Christian 35, Taft 14: This one was a bunch closer than the score would indicate. Taft could have tied the game at 14 before halftime but threw an interception in the end zone. The Wildcats could have tied it after an 8-minute drive to start the second half, but penalties and a sack pushed them back. Instead, BCHS eventually pulled away and won an outright South Sequoia League title.

Stockdale 35, West 14: Stockdale has played the "no respect" card all year, and it culminated tonight with a great performance and coach Mike Snow ripping up some preseason predictions in front of his team after clinching an SWYL title share with North.

Wasco 37, Shafter 26: Wanted to give a shoutout to this game because, like you'd expect, the records didn't really matter. The Tigers (4-6) eventually pulled away in a tight game after trailing at halftime to the Generals (1-9). Check out Sunday's Californian for a story on the rivalry.

UPDATED, 9:34 p.m.: It's all over but the shouting here at Liberty, where the Patriots have a 28-0 lead with 7:21 to play. Liberty has sucked the life out of Garces, little by little, not really ever giving the Rams a chance to get in it.
Elsewhere, though, there are some great games ongoing. Taft hurt itself with penalties on a long drive down 14-7 and got no points. But, down 21-7, the Wildcats have put together a touchdown drive to cut the lead in half with about nine minutes to play.

UPDATED, 9:01 p.m.: Quick update as the second half starts here at Liberty: Bakersfield High leads Highland 33-0 a couple of minutes before halftime. Looks like the Drillers are going to claim their half of the SEYL championship emphatically.

UPDATED, 8:48 p.m.: Garces had a chance to get back in it, with a Liberty fumble on a punt return, but the Patriots D pushed the ball back to about the 30, where the Rams' Randall Chafin missed a 47-yard field goal. It's still 14-0 at half, with Liberty 24 minutes from a share of a league title.
Elsewhere, Centennial leads Frontier 13-7 with a playoff berth at stake (the school won't let the Golden Hawks go to the postseason without three wins) and South is up 20-7 on Ridgeview. Both are late in the second quarter. BCHS leads Taft 14-7 at halftime.

UPDATED, 8:26 p.m.: Tough row to hoe now for Garces, after Liberty scores on its second Chris Neal touchdown run. The Rams don't have a first down in four possessions, and if they don't get something going by halftime, they're liable to be buried. Stockdale leads 21-7 at the half against West.

UPDATED, 8:08 p.m.: As expected, slow going for the offenses here at Liberty. Garces, though, made the game's first big mistake late in the first quarter, fumbling at its own 25 and giving the Patriots a big chance. They have a second-and-2 at the 6-yard line as the second quarter begins.
Meanwhile, two other teams looking for league championships are off to good starts — Bakersfield Christian leads Taft 7-0 after a quarter and Stockdale is up 14-0 on West in the first quarter.
And there's a Chris Neal touchdown run for Liberty on the first play of the second. Extra point is good, and it's 7-0 Pats.

ORIGINAL POST: I attended a once-a-year celebration this morning, Shafter-Wasco rivalry day. It's one of California's great high school traditions, to be sure.

It was quite an experience, between seeing the teams eat breakfast together to the bus rides from school to school to the raucous rallies Wasco (LOUD and spirited) and Shafter (creative and boisterous) had in front of the other team.

The season will end tonight for both the Tigers and Generals, who will both decline playoff invitations. So the biggest game of the year might as well be a championship game too.

There will be plenty of tangible championships to go around elsewhere tonight as the regular season concludes. Garces-Liberty, Bakersfield-Highland, West-Stockdale, Bakersfield Christian-Taft and Arvin-Tehachapi all will or could have an impact on league title races. There are plenty of other contests that will affect playoff seeding, which is unveiled Saturday.

Before we get to the scores, I wanted to correct something an alert reader caught in a couple of previous blogs. In the past couple of weeks, I said that Cesar Chavez has (1) never had a .500 season and (2) never beaten Delano. Both are technically wrong — Chavez was 5-5 in the regular season in 2005 and beat Delano 22-0 that year. The Titans lost in the first round of the playoffs to finish 5-6, but if we're talking regular season, they did go 5-5. So my apologies to all Chavez-inclined fans.

By the way, in the weekend's first big game, Kern Valley edged Frazier Mountain 10-7 to claim third place in the High Desert League. The top three go to the Southern Section playoffs, so, yeah, I'd say that qualifies as a pretty important win. Here are the rest of the weekend's games, a list that will be updated as the night goes on:

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

Kern County scoreboard
Kern Valley 10, Frazier Mountain 7 (Thursday)
(8) Liberty 28, Garces 0
(10) Stockdale 35, West 14
(12) Bakersfield Christian 35, Taft 14
(13) Bakersfield 33, Highland 0
Tehachapi 24, Arvin 18
Golden Valley 44, Foothill 21
Centennial 30, Frontier 14
South 40, Ridgeview 7
North 29, East 14
Wasco 37, Shafter 26
Delano 26, Chavez 23
Farmersville 29, McFarland 8
Bishop 43, Desert 36
Boron 46, Yermo-Silver Valley 27
Burroughs 30, Victorville-Victor Valley 16
Riverdale Christian 42, Lighthouse Christian 20

Other Central Section scores
(1) Clovis West 34, Clovis 14
(2) Fresno-Bullard 41, Fresno-Hoover 3
(3) Visalia-El Diamante 54, Visalia-Golden West 34
(4) Clovis East 49, Madera 7
(5) Tulare Union 63, Tulare Western 0
(7) Clovis-Buchanan 48, Fresno-Central 7
Visalia-Central Valley Christian 14, (9) Exeter 7
(11) Hanford 28, Lemoore 2
(14) Corcoran 46, Strathmore 7
(15) Chowchilla 44, Dos Palos 3
Fowler 28, Caruthers 0
Madera Ranchos-Liberty 22, Coalinga 8
Dinuba 33, Reedley-Immanuel 6
Firebaugh 20, Mendota 0
Fresno-Roosevelt 28, Fresno 7
Laton 34, Lemoore-Kings Christian 32
Madera South 20, Fresno-McLane 16
Orange Cove 37, SLO-Mission Prep 34
Visalia-Redwood 35, Visalia-Mt. Whitney 21
Orosi 2, Fresno Christian 0 (forfeit)
Porterville 50, Porterville-Monache 26
Sanger 47, Reedley 7
Parlier 32, Riverdale 12
Kingsburg 35, Selma 14
Oakhurst-Yosemite 42, Tollhouse-Sierra 20
Fresno-SJ Memorial 24, Fresno-Sunnyside 7
Avenal 40, Tranquillity 20
Fresno-Washington 28, Kerman 23
Woodlake 31, Lindsay 20
Alpaugh 2, Sanger-Bethel Christian 0 (forfeit)
Clovis Christian 54, Visalia Christian 0

Live to you from Fresno, where some congratulations are in order to the Stockdale girls tennis team for its sixth straight Division I Central Section championship. The Mustangs won it today with a 6-3 victory at top seed Fresno-Bullard.

Can you imagine a football team winning six straight D-I titles? It'd be a dynasty we'd talk about for years and years to come. So take a minute to appreciate just what the Stockdale ladies did today.

Also winning a championship today was Bakersfield Christian, which cruised to the D-V title, 7-2 over SLO-Mission Prep. The Eagles actually beat Stockdale in Lewis Cup action earlier this year, so that tells you how good of a team that is.

In volleyball action, quarterfinals take place tomorrow. Keep your eye on a few biggies: In D-I, No. 5 Bakersfield travels to No. 4 Centennial. The Drillers are red-hot, the Golden Hawks the unbeaten SWYL champs. No. 2 Liberty welcomes No. 7 Madera into town and No. 6 Stockdale travels to No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan, the three-time defending champ. In Division II, top seed Garces hosts a tough No. 8 seed in Frontier. Ridgeview and Tehachapi (D-III) and Bakersfield Chrsitian (D-IV) also have home games.

Now, on to football, where we'll be talking playoffs soon enough.

Recapping Week 9 picks (17-4!!):
The Good: Taking Stockdale, West and Golden Valley in close games; picking Liberty to beat Highland 20 to not very much; and going 6-1 in Southern Section games

The Bad: Picking Centennial to win the shootout with North; thinking BCHS would roll over feisty Arvin

The Ugly: Whiffing on Garces — again; Expecting Chavez to show up against Visalia-Mt. Whitney

And on to this week:

Thursday, Nov. 13
FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (4-5, 1-2 HDL) AT KERN VALLEY (4-5, 1-2) — A big game between mountain teams because (1) the winner finishes the regular season .500, which is always a big deal, and (2) the winner makes the playoffs; the loser doesn't. So who'll it be? Kern Valley has been steady, and Frazier Mountain has a big win against Desert. What do I always say, though — when in doubt, go with the home team.
Prediction: Kern Valley 21, Frazier Mountain 16

Friday, Nov. 14
GARCES (6-3, 4-1 SEYL) AT LIBERTY (6-3, 4-1) — I'm telling you, you write off Garces at your own risk. I've done it a couple of times this year and
been burned by a team with a classic "nobody respects us" attitude. The New York Giants rode that to the Super Bowl last year, and the Rams could do it all the way to a league title. But I'm going to maintain Liberty and BHS are on another plane in this league, that the Patriot D is too tough for the Rams to pull another surprise. But trust me, I'm plenty worried this time.
Prediction: Liberty 23, Garces 10

BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (8-1, 4-0 SSL) AT TAFT (7-2, 3-1) — A fantastic contrast in styles to finish the season. The Wildcats beat the Eagles up physically last year, but BCHS might be just quick enough to avoid that happening again. But Taft will be rockin' and rollin' to be sure. Can the 'Cats pull a mild upset and force a split of the SSL title? In my book, they've got to prove they can stop Derek Carr and Co. first. And no one's done that yet. Better hope for fog.
Prediction: Bakersfield Christian 44, Taft 27

WEST (5-4, 3-2 SWYL) AT STOCKDALE (7-2, 4-1) — A victory would complete the Mustangs' magical ride to an unlikely league championship (they were picked fifth in a preseason coaches poll) and give help them immensely for seeding purposes. But West is a tough customer, having won three in a row by at least 14 points. The Vikings match up well athletically, but I'm going with the home side — Stockdale is 7-0 when Stephen Silva is healthy.
Prediction: Stockdale 35, West 28

BAKERSFIELD (6-3, 4-1 SEYL) AT HIGHLAND (6-3, 2-3) — We rag just a little on Highland in the podcast that's coming at you on the blog tomorrow, because the Scots have faded fast against a back-loaded schedule. They've scored a grand total of two points in losses to Foothill and Liberty, and now they get the defending section champs. But make no mistake: A victory here would wipe out any disappointment and make this season a rousing success for Highland. Can it be done? No offense — and trouble stopping BHS' running game — are signs that point to no.
Prediction: Bakersfield 33, Highland 13

GOLDEN VALLEY (5-4, 2-3 SEYL) AT FOOTHILL (5-4, 2-3) — In what could be a batttle for fourth place, a nice seed and a home game in the first round of the D-III playoffs, the Bulldogs and Trojans stage one of the week's most intriguing battles. Both feature stars in the backfield — Matt Guerra and Lawrence Weldon for Foothill, Dylan Finch and Byron Newman for GV — and a couple of wins to hang their hat on. But I like where Golden Valley's momentum is. The Bulldogs beat BHS and Ridgeview the past two weeks while Foothill faltered at Garces, and it's time for GVHS to get its first ever win against its southeast Bakersfield rival.
Prediction: Golden Valley 36, Foothill 28

ARVIN (4-5, 2-2 SSL) AT TEHACHAPI (5-4, 3-1) — For their sake, I hope the Hanfords and Yosemites of the world, who expect to be among Division III's top seeds, are looking in their rearview mirror. Tehachapi is finally healthy and rolling along ever since falling behind big at Bakersfield Christian. The Warriors also could have a league title share at stake here, if they can get some help from Taft against BCHS. Arvin is a tough customer, which they've showed a couple of times, but I'm taking the Warriors to continue their roll at home.
Prediction: Tehachapi 24, Arvin 14

CENTENNIAL (2-7, 1-4 SWYL) VS. FRONTIER (4-5, 2-3) AT NORTH — Predictable for a young team without a home stadium, the Titans have faded just a bit down the stretch by losing three in a row. Can Centennial take advantage? I was really impressed with sophomore QB Cody Kessler in a losing effort against North last week, and he'll give Frontier's solid linebackers a test. I can't seem to guess right on the Golden Hawks, but I'll ride with them again.
Prediction: Centennial 30, Frontier 27

RIDGEVIEW (2-7, 1-4 SWYL) AT SOUTH (4-5, 2-3) — Let's count the ways the Wolf Pack has been gut-punched this year: A 35-34 loss to Foothill when a late two-point conversion failed, a 13-8 defeat to North when Julian Dean-Johnson ran for a long touchdown with about a minute to go, a 21-20 loss to Frontier on another failed 2-pointer late, a blown 20-point lead in a 37-30 loss to Centennial, and a last-second field goal from Golden Valley to lose 23-21. Can Ridgeview's luck get any worse? Well, I'll guess yes. South in a nail-biter.
Prediction: South 27, Ridgeview 26

NORTH (7-2) AT EAST (1-8) — This week's interleague game seems like a mismatch, but you never know when a team will click under a new coach. North has to be careful here, because a loss could drop them out of a No. 4 seed in the Division II playoffs, which would mean they'd be on the road for the quarterfinals. Then again, anybody who saw Julian Dean-Johnson last week knows the Stars have the horses to roll in this one.
Prediction: North 42, East 14

SHAFTER (1-8, 0-4 SSL) AT WASCO (3-6, 0-4) — Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're a combined 0-8 in the South Sequoia League. You can bet the stands will be packed and the hits will be crisp in what clearly is the best rivalry around. Look for a story in Sunday's Californian on game-day festivities at each school — and then look for a a big day from the Tigers' running backs and a Wasco win at home, their second straight in the longtime series.
Prediction: Wasco 39, Shafter 21

CHAVEZ (3-6, 2-3 EYL) AT DELANO (6-3, 3-2) — Another crosstown rivalry, this one with some implications in the standings. A Delano win, coupled with a Monache win against Porterville in another crosstown battle, would put the Tigers in a three-way tie for second in the East Yosemite League. A Chavez win would be the first for the Titans against the older school in town and give them bragging rights for a whole year. It'll be a fight, but Chavez will have to wait 12 more long months.
Prediction: Delano 38, Chavez 23

McFARLAND (3-6, 2-2 ESL) AT FARMERSVILLE (2-7, 2-2) — Boy, 4-6 would sound a lot better than 3-7. Not sure there's a bigger difference in the whole record spectrum. It doesn't seem that way, anyway, and a McFarland win would give the Cougars that 4-6 mark. But I can't decide here, and so — you got it — I'm not going with the road team.
Prediction: Farmersville 26, McFarland 22

DESERT (7-2, 2-1 HDL) AT BISHOP (4-4, 3-0) — The game of the year in the High Desert League, where Bishop has clinched a share of the league title, but Desert can force a tie with what would be a tie-breaking victory. We have word that Terrance Wells has been back for the Scorpions, so give them the edge.
Prediction: Desert 27, Bishop 23

BORON (8-1, 3-0 DML) AT YERMO-SILVER VALLEY (6-3, 3-0) — Another game that will decide the league championship, this one with no shares involved. Win and you're the champ; lose and take home the silver. I just can't see Boron losing when it could dedicate a title to fallen teammate Vinnie Rodriguez. Bobcats take the next step in one of the year's great stories.
Prediction: Boron 30, Silver Valley 19

VICTORVILLE-VICTOR VALLEY (3-5-1, 1-2 DSL) AT BURROUGHS (5-4, 2-1) — Perhaps even more urgency in this battle, which isn't directly for a league title but is for the last playoff spot out of the Desert Sky League. Actually, if Burroughs wins, it can force a three-way tie at 3-1 with Victorville-Silverado and Barstow, but the Burros have to be more concerned with what would happen if they lost: 2-2 and home for the winter.
Prediction: Burroughs 31, Victor Valley 17

RIVERDALE CHRISTIAN (7-1, 5-0 CVSSL) AT LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (5-5, 4-1) — Want to get into the playoff spirit before Central Section festivities begin next week? Head over to Peacock Park, where the Guardians and Christ Ambassadors will stage a de facto Central Section title game. In eight-man ball, there's only one league, so the champ gets all the marbles. Lighthouse is the defending champ and is a young team coming on strong again, but Riverdale's been the better team all year.
Prediction: Riverdale Christian 53, Lighthouse Christian 35

Last week: 17-4 (.810)    Season: 145-60 (.707)

We're going to shake things up just a little bit here in Week 10 because I'm on the road up to Fresno for Stockdale's Division I girls tennis championship with Bullard this afternoon and then for cross country divisional championships tomorrow morning.

So, I'll give you time to digest this podcast, the last of the regular season. Predictions will be later today.

Before we get to the final rankings of football's regular season, it's time to offer a couple of shout-outs from other sports:

— To Deidre Crabtree, a Liberty senior who took home the Central Section's individual golf title Monday by shooting a 1-over-par 73 at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch to beat Garces' Mica Guzman and Clovis East's Andrea Mersino by a stroke each. Crabtree is having about as good of a year as that other famous Crabtree (Texas Tech WR, for those not in the know) and found a great way to cap her career. She holed out an eagle from 95 yards out on No. 12 and hit a 25-foot downhill birdie putt two holes later, followed by three pars to end the round and ice victory. Guzman, Garces' Cassie Clayton and Stockdale's Tammy Park were among the other golfers to earn an individual spot in next week's SoCal regional. Frontier (and Clovis West) already is going as a team — the Titans' Jordanne Barr shot well enough Monday also to qualify as an individual had she needed it.

— To the Cooke sisters of Bakersfield Christian, Lyndsay and Chelby, who are both in the tennis singles semifinals along with East's Nancy Ramirez. They'll duke it out for the title Saturday at Clovis-Buchanan (Ramirez vs. Lyndsay, Chelby vs. defending champ Gabrielle Gatewood of Visalia-Redwood). Also, Stockdale's top-seeded doubles team of Frances Ellison and Julie Hutton is into the doubles semifinals, and Stockdale, Garces and Bakersfield Christian all play section championships in the team playoffs Wednesday. Tehachapi wrapped up the Div. III title last week.

— To McFarland's boys and Ridgeview's girls cross country teams, who won the Kern County championships a couple Saturdays back. They'll lead their teams into the section divisional championships Thursday in Fresno. The Masters meet is next week. To that end, volleyball playoffs are under way, with quarterfinals Thursday and semifinals and finals next week.

Now, on to football. League championships obviously will be decided Friday night, and we'll go through those scenarios as the week goes on. For now, here's looking at the big picture with the shaken-up Central Section rankings:

1. Clovis West (6-3, Div. I, last week: 2) — A couple of big losses to Southern Section powers doesn't sway me from this opinion: The Golden Eagles are the most consistently good team the section has to offer this year.
LAST WEEK: won at Madera, 51-19. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis

2. Fresno-Bullard (7-2, Div. I, last week: 4) — Very quietly, the Knights have gone about their business before shocking Edison last week. Only losses are to Orange-Lutheran and Clovis West.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 1 Fresno-Edison, 17-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Fresno-Hoover

3. Visalia-El Diamante (8-1, Div. II, last week: 5) — Ho-hum. Another year, another cast of studs and, after a 31-14 thrashing of unbeaten Hanford last week, another West Yosemite League title. Also, probably another No. 1 seed in Division II.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 8 Hanford, 31-14. THIS WEEK: at Visalia-Golden West

4. Clovis East (7-2, Div. I, last week: 7) — Last week, I wouldn't believe in Timberwolves because they were 0-for-2 in big games. This week, I will believe because they're 1-for-3.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan, 35-28. THIS WEEK: vs. Madera

5. Tulare Union (9-0, Div. II, last week: 6) — Legitimate question: Everyone knows the Redskins are the best by far in the East Yosemite League. Does anyone think they're the best in D-II?
LAST WEEK: won at Porterville-Monache, 42-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Tulare Western

6. Fresno-Edison (8-2, Div. II, last week: 1) — Five spots is a harsh drop for a three-point loss, but in reality, this has been far from the section's best team for weeks, what with academic trouble, close calls and general loss of invincibility.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 4 Fresno-Bullard, 17-14. THIS WEEK: BYE (season over)

7. Clovis-Buchanan (7-2, Div. I, last week: 3) — It's only taken a couple of weeks for the Bears to change from my pick to win the section to merely dangerous underdogs. Of course, that all could change back this week.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 7 Clovis East, 35-28. THIS WEEK: at Fresno-Central

8. Liberty (6-3, Div. I, last week: 9) — If Buchanan is dangerous, Liberty is difficult. The Pats will hit you in the mouth, score on a short field, then hit you in the mouth again. A long-awaited league championship share could come this week.
LAST WEEK: won at Highland, 20-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Garces

9. Exeter (9-0, Div. IV, last week: 10) — One showdown down, one to go for the Monarchs after coming back to edge Kingsburg last week. Now it's on to CVC with an outright Central Sequoia League title on the line.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Kingsburg, 30-27. THIS WEEK: at Visalia-Central Valley Christian

10. Stockdale (7-2, Div. I, last week: 11) — Here's an interesting stat: The Mustangs are unbeaten when Stephen Silva plays (for the whole game) and 0-2 when he doesn't. Guess what? He's healthy, with a league title on the line.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Frontier, 34-20. THIS WEEK: vs. West

11. Hanford (8-1, Div. III, last week: 8) — While the Bullpups' ranking might have gotten a little inflated before a second-half thrashing at the hands of El Diamante, they at least proved they should be considered D-III kings until further notice.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 5 Visalia-El Diamante, 31-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Lemoore

12. Bakersfield Christian (8-1, Div. V, last week: 12) — Derek Carr and his record 544 passing yards have gotten the pub (and rightfully so), but is anyone in Eagleland worried by a defense that's given up 35 to Tehachapi and Arvin in the past three weeks?
LAST WEEK: won at Arvin, 42-35. THIS WEEK: at Taft

13. Bakersfield (6-3, Div. I, last week: 13) — From the Stephen Silva-esque stat department, the Drillers are 4-0 with an average victory margin of 32 points when Brian Burrell plays at QB. They're 2-3 otherwise and have been outscored by eight points (albeit against a much tougher schedule).
LAST WEEK: won vs. East, 41-7. THIS WEEK: at Highland

14. Corcoran (9-0, Div. V, last week: 15) — After a Week 8 road scare against Lindsay, the Panthers got back on track. Still, they'll have to amp things up if they're going to beat BCHS come playoff time, no matter where the game is.
LAST WEEK: won at Woodlake, 35-23. THIS WEEK: vs. Strathmore

15. Chowchilla (8-1, Div. IV, last week: NR) — The section's other prominent Redskins (besides Tulare Union) make their rankings debut, edging out 8-1 Kingsburg because of a nice strength of schedule.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Madera Ranchos-Liberty, 45-17. THIS WEEK: vs. Dos Palos

Dropped out: No. 14 Kingsburg
Waiting: Kingsburg, North, Sanger, Tehachapi, West, Fowler, Garces, Visalia-Central Valley Christian

You know when a cartoon character gets his bell rung? He comes to, and for a few seconds we get to see the world from his point of view. At first, it's always blurry and wobbly, and then, suddenly, everything clears up.

Welcome to Kern County football, ladies and gentlemen. Week 9 helped clear up scenarios for league titles, if nothing else, and probably answered more questions than that — Who's ready for a legitimate playoff run and who's just playing out the string? for one.

With that in mind, let's try to recap what we now know.

— North is a league champ and is guaranteed a home game after the Stars won a shootout at Centennial 49-42. It's the first ever victory for North against the Golden Hawks, and it came courtsey of Julian Dean-Johnson and his 380-yard, four-touchdown performance. I said this yesterday, but it's worth mentioning again: If you started a Kern County fantasy football league, Dean-Johnson would be your No. 1 pick, hands down. Derek Carr would probably be No. 2, but you've got to go with the explosive running back. Now that I think about it, though, Golden Valley's Byron Newman would have a good argument too.

— Notice that in the above paragraph I said North is a league champ, not the league champ. That's because coach Mike Snow and Stockdale kept rolling, beating back Frontier — Snow's old school — 34-20 behind a few big runs from Stephen Silva and Spencer Prince. If Stockdale wins at home against West next week — and that's no easy task — the Mustangs share the SWYL title with North (and own the tiebreaker, for that matter).

— Also claiming a share of its league title is Bakersfield Christian in the South Sequoia League. Quarterback Derek Carr set a Central Section record with 544 passing yards (the old record was 521, set by Hanford's Chris Silveira in 1993, courtesy of section historian Bob Barnett). Whether this was Carr's best game, I don't know. He probably could have gotten to that number in some blowouts where he sat out a quarter or more. Arvin gave BCHS a surprising test in a 42-35 game. Still, the Eagles are a victory at Taft away from an outright SSL championship. If they lose, they'll share the title with the Wildcats and possibly Tehachapi, too.

— The story in the Southeast Yosemite League is still somewhat muddled. Three teams: Bakersfield, Liberty and Garces, have 4-1 league records and one game left. That's after Garces rose from the ranks of the forgotten again, shaking off a loss to West with a 34-26 victory at home against Foothill. You just can't ever count out the Rams, who play against Liberty this week. The winner of that game will join BHS (if the Drillers beat Highland) as SEYL co-champs. BHS beat both if you want to get into a tiebreaker argument.

— Liberty won its fifth straight game, a 20-0 shutout of Highland. The Patriots have continually shown their defense is the best in Kern County. That's why I like them against Garces and to give and Division I team in the bracket a test in the next month.

— Speaking of teams that can make some playoff noise, Golden Valley followed up its upset of Bakersfield High exactly how it needed to. The Bulldogs beat Ridgeview 23-21 on a last-second 24-yard field goal from Jose Medina. It wasn't pretty, and the Wolf Pack's Tyler Dogins (the best player in town you haven't heard about) nearly led his team to its third win, but GV got the job done.

— In 8-man ball, Lighthouse Christian can achieve an improbable defense of its Central Section championship with a win at home against Riverdale Christian next week. The Guardians beat Visalia Christian 74-39 today to remain as the Central Valley Small Schools League's only 1-loss team. Riverdale Christian is unbeaten. (The league champ is considered the section champ because there's only one eight-man league in the Valley.)

Now, for five other games to watch next week:

Bakersfield Christian at Taft: If you compare scores, Eagles will soar, but I have a feeling Taft will be foaming at the mouth for this one.
West at Stockdale: Under a spotlight, the Vikings can show how much they've improved this year
Garces at Liberty: Should be a defensive battle, just like Pats want
Golden Valley at Foothill: A nice seed (and a home game?) in the D-III playoffs is at stake
Shafter at Wasco: Yeah, the records are bad, but in this rivalry, that just doesn't matter

UPDATED, 12:24 a.m.: Sorry for the lack of updates, but things get crazy when games drag on Friday night. I told you this was stressful for us scribes. But a fun game to watch at Centennial nonetheless, with North hanging on for a 49-42 victory — its first win against CHS in school history. The Stars also clinched at least a tie for their first league championship since 1994. They're 5-1 in the league, with Stockdale at 4-1 and a game left against West next week. As for other key scores:

Bakersfield Christian 42, Arvin 35 — The Central Section passing record, which had been 520 yards by Hanford West's Chris Silveria according to section historian Bob Barnett, is no more. It now belongs to Derek Carr, who torched Arvin for 544 yards on 37-of-44 passing. Still, the Eagles had to hang tough to beat the Bears, who put on an offensive show of their own. That's a share of the league title for BCHS, who can win it outright with a win at Taft next week. Otherwise, we're probably looking at a three-way split.

Stockdale 34, Frontier 20 — Sounded like a pretty typical Stockdale win for this year: A few mistakes, a few worries as the game stays close, and then a big play or two as the Mustangs' Wing T takes over. Stephen Silva had 164 yards — including a 61-yard run — and Spencer Prince had TD runs of 85 and 30 yards en route to 151 yards as the Mustangs kept their own league title hopes alive. Beating West next week, though, suddenly is turning into a tall order.

West 49, South 35 — This quote from Chad Grider (brought to you by Californian correspondent Steve Lynch) pretty much tells you that West High has it together after nine weeks: "The team has finally come together as a team," Grider said. "And they're playing as a team. Guys that were selfish at one point in the season are becoming unselfish and realizing that if we play as a unit, we're a pretty darn good football team." Full of clichés, but it sounds like a pretty effective way to sum up the team. West at Stockdale next week should be fun.

Garces 34, Foothill 26 — I swear, you cannot bury this Rams team. I've been this close to writing the Rams off for the season a couple of times, but here they are, 6-3 and 4-1 in the Southeast Yosemite League — tied with Liberty and Bakersfield High for first place. A huge game against Liberty next week will at least decide one SEYL champ. Then it will be up to the Drillers to beat Highland to join the winner as a co-champ (BHS has beat each of the other two).

Liberty 20, Highland 0 — The Patriots stifle another league foe. That's now 51 points allowed in five league games, and 14 of those came during garbage time against East. This team is the toughest to score on in Kern County, period.

UPDATED, 9:31 p.m.: As they make their way through homecoming festivies at Centennial, here are some other scores of interest. West is up 28-14 in the third quarter against South, thanks to a long interception return, and Stockdale holds a 27-13 lead on Frontier in the fourth. Think about this: If Centennial comes back here and the Vikings hold on, West could still have a chance at an SWYL title share if they could beat Stockdale next week. Don't know if that's going to happen, but it's improbable that West is still in it. Also, Foothill leads Garces 24-20 in the third quarter in another shootout.

UPDATED, 9:09 p.m.: Finally halftime here, but not before Dean-Johnson slipped in another long touchdown run and North scored even one more time, this one on a 26-yard pass from Juan Rodriquez to Nathan Vlach with 8 seconds left in the half. I hadn't seen Centennial yet this year, but let it suffice to say the reason the Golden Hawks are 2-6 is because of defense. The Centennial offense has looked fine, but JDJ, as we call him in the office has — get ready for this — 325 yards rushing at the half. 325! He was banged up on his last carry (or maybe he was just tired), but he could be looking at a record-setting day.

UPDATED, 8:49 p.m.: I can't update this game fast enough. Julian Dean-Johnson ties things up with a 77-yard touchdown run, his third of the game. He's now at an unbelievable 232 yards on seven carries — in the first half, no less. Bakersfield High is having no such battle at its homecoming game, up 34-0 at the half against East.

UPDATED, 8:43 p.m.: The comeback train continues for Centennial, which has now stopped North three times in a row and continued to score, the latest a 19-yard TD run from Shawn Johnson that's made it 28-21 for Centennial. Meanwhile, Spencer Prince's 85-yard TD run has given Stockdale a 13-7 halftime lead on Frontier. If these results hold (and there's still a long way to go), Stockdale, and not North, would clinch a share of the SWYL title.

UPDATED, 8:30 p.m.: An hour in and we're still in the first quarter (not good news for those of us with a deadline to worry about). Centennial, though, is having a grand old time of late, scoring twice on short runs from Myren Moore to tie the game at 21. The second score was set up by a North fumble at its own 2-yard line. Meanwhile, Julian Dean-Johnson has 155 yards on just five carries and two touchdowns. Tell me you wouldn't pick him first in a Kern County fantasy football league.

UPDATED, 8:08 p.m.: North needs only three more offensive plays to score again, the big one a 56-yard burst from Dean-Johnson. Seth Vlach pounded the ball in from 3 yards out to make it 14-0, but Centennial has answered. The Golden Hawks used a brilliant strike from Cody Kessler to Bryan Maxwell (great throw, better catch, right on the fingertips) to set up Kessler's 1-yard sneak a few plays later. The PAT was no good, so it's 14-6.

UPDATED, 7:53 p.m.: We've just gotten underway here at Centennial, and it's taken North all but three plays to prove it means business with an SWYL title at stake. The Stars used a 1-yard carry, then a 37-yard keeper from quarterback Juan Rodriquez and a 16-yard burst from Julian Dean-Johnson to put a quick 7 points up on Centennial. Time for some passing now...

ORIGINAL POST: Ah, Friday. I was thinking last night that I'd be glad in a few weeks when high school football season was over and my Fridays weren't so hectic. But you know what? I'm going to miss the first week without them. So let's get to enjoying another one.

As far as big games go, Week 9 is more loaded north of Kern County where all of the following showdowns kick off at the same time (you want to talk about hectic): No. 4 Fresno-Bullard vs. No. 1 Fresno-Edison, No. 7 Clovis East at No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan, No. 8 Hanford at No. 5 Visalia-El Diamante and No. 14 Kingsburg at No. 10 Exeter. All of those are for first place.

But don't sneeze at the slate of games in Kern, either. The Southwest Yosemite League muddle will be at least partially cleaned up — if North wins at Centennial, it wins a share of the SWYL title. If North loses and Stockdale beats Frontier (at North, of all places), then the Mustangs clinch a share of the title with a chance to win it outright next week. If North wins and Stockdale loses, the Stars have the outright title even though they lost to the Mustangs last week.

On the east side, Bakersfield, Liberty and Garces all enter tonight's games with 3-1 records. Liberty travels to 2-2 Highland, BHS hosts 0-5 East and Garces hosts 2-2 Foothill.

Finally, Bakersfield Christian travels to Arvin in the South Sequoia League. I've described this as a "trap" game, but I've probably been short-changing the Bears, who with a win would be tied for first place in the league and have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles. Otherwise, BCHS would clinch a share of the title tonight.

On to the Week 9 scoreboard — all games are 7:30 p.m. Friday unless noted, and my Central Section rankings are in parentheses. Check back throughout the weekend for live score updates and updates from North-Centennial.

Kern County scoreboard
(9) Liberty 20, Highland 0
(11) Stockdale 34, Frontier 20
(12) Bakersfield Christian 42, Arvin 35
(13) Bakersfield 41, East 7
North 49, Centennial 42
Garces 34, Foothill 26
West 49, South 35
Golden Valley 23, Ridgeview 21
Tehachapi 49, Wasco 21
Taft 36, Shafter 0
Delano 27, Tulare Western 6
Visalia-Mt. Whitney 41, Chavez 15
Orange Cove 59, McFarland 14
Phelan-Serrano 34, Burroughs 20
Boron 72, Mammoth 28
Bishop 32, Frazier Mountain 21
Kern Valley 21, Rosamond 14
Mojave 27, Lucerne Valley 14
Maricopa 26, Santa Maria-Valley Christian 13
Lighthouse Christian 74, Visalia Christian 39 (Saturday)
Baker 34, Immanuel Christian 28 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
Fresno-Roosevelt 14, Madera South 6 (Thursday)
(4) Fresno-Bullard 17, (1) Fresno-Edison 14
(2) Clovis West 51, Madera 19
(7) Clovis East 35, (3) Clovis-Buchanan 28
(5) Visalia-El Diamante 31, (8) Hanford 14
(6) Tulare Union 42, Porterville-Monache 2
(10) Exeter 30, (14) Kingsburg 27
(15) Corcoran 35, Woodlake 23
Clovis 21, Fresno-Central 3
Firebaugh 33, Cambria-Coast Union 14
Fresno-Washington 34, Dos Palos 0
Farmersville 43, Laton 14
Fowler 42, Riverdale 14
Fresno-Sunnyside 14, Fresno 7
Caruthers 2, Fresno Christian 0 (forfeit)
Visalia-Golden West 28, Lemoore 14
Visalia-Redwood 41, Hanford West 14
Fresno-Hoover 25, Reedley 18
Coalinga 38, Reedley-Immanuel 18
SLO-Mission Prep 62, Lemoore-Kings Christian 14
Chowchilla 45, Madera Rachos-Liberty 17
Lindsay 21, Orosi 14
Fresno-SJ Memorial 49, Fresno-McLane 8
Mendota 27, Tranquillity 24
Parlier 44, Strathmore 17
Porterville 41, Porterville-Granite Hills 29
Visalia-Central Valley Christian 31, Selma 3
Kerman 34, Tollhouse-Sierra 27
Oakhurst-Yosemite 34, Dinuba 12
Clovis Christian 56, Alpaugh 24
Riverdale Christian 2, Sanger-Bethel Christian 0 (forfeit)

Check out tomorrow's print edition of The Californian for a short piece on changing — or not-so-changing — offenses in Kern County. For now, enjoy the podcast.

I think I might need to see a psychologist or something: I can't even make up my own mind. This prediction blog becomes the highlight and lowlight of my week every Wednesday.

On one level, I love doing it and love going out on a limb and taking a shot at what's going on. But at the same time, it's getting harder and harder to do. The parity in the Central Section this year makes it so that almost nothing is an upset and everything is a toss-up game. That's a testament to the coaches and players out there who keep working no matter what the records say or what the score is.

Wow, now I've gone and energized myself again. A quick look back at last week's picks and then I'll step into the Week 9 gauntlet.

For Week 8:

The Good: Taking Tehachapi to win at Taft for the first time since '99, picking Liberty big and Foothill to hand Highland its second loss

The Bad: Expecting North to keep it close against Stockdale, whiffing on Garces, Frontier and Ridgeview picks

The Ugly: Taking a Bakersfield over Golden Valley — by four touchdowns! Instead, the Drillers had eight turnovers in a 23-14 loss

Week 9 picks:

Friday, Nov. 7
STOCKDALE (6-2, 3-1 SWYL) VS. FRONTIER (4-4, 2-2) AT NORTH — The temptation here is to make this one about Mike Snow leaving Frontier after the school's first two years for a more established program, and there certainly is something to that story — whether they harbor ill feelings or not (my guess is all is water under the bridge at this point) Frontier's players will still get up to face their old coach. But on the field, what chance do the Titans have? Well, they defend the run well — and they know Snow's offense well enough to not be fooled by the Wing T at least most of the time. But I have a feeling the Mustangs are done messing around.
Prediction: Stockdale 26, Frontier 19

NORTH (6-2, 4-1 SWYL) AT CENTENNIAL (2-6, 1-3) — North has everything to play for here — the school's first league championship share since 1994 belongs to the Stars with a win, plus they've never, ever defeated Centennial. This is the year to do it. The Golden Hawks are as down as they've been in a long time (and they probably won't be this down for some time to come) and have just a comeback win at Ridgeview and a win over East to show for eight weeks of effort. Still, if there's one thing the Golden Hawks have done consistently well, it's throw the ball. North has had trouble defending the pass. Throw in a couple of North's typical turnovers, and it's upset time.
Prediction: Centennial 35, North 34

FOOTHILL (5-3, 2-2 SEYL) AT GARCES (5-3, 3-1) — All of a sudden — even after a week in which they lost a non-league game — the Rams find themselves tied for first in the SEYL. Now the trick will be staying there with games left against Foothill and Liberty. The Trojans might be hitting their normal postseason stride under Dennis Manning, so this isn't the best time to have them on the schedule.
Prediction: Foothill 23, Garces 11

LIBERTY (5-3, 3-1 SEYL) AT HIGHLAND (6-2, 2-2) — The Patriots are also tied for first, and the task here might be not to look back and wonder what might have been — Liberty had a 10-point fourth-quarter lead on Bakersfield and didn't even get overtime out of it. But the Pats don't seem to be looking anywhere but forward, especially on defense, where they haven't given up more than 23 points in a game all year — and not more than 17 in league play. Highland has a great D too, but I don't think it'll be enough.
Prediction: Liberty 20, Highland 7

SOUTH (4-4, 2-2 SWYL) AT WEST (4-4, 2-2) — Two more teams technically still alive for the SWYL title, though one will be eliminated Friday. This is one game I really hate to pick, because I can really see an argument for both sides: West has found some consistency and probably has more overall talent than South, but the Rebels have the right man at quarterback in Jose Ramos for their spread offense and some nice victories of their own. Do I have to pick? Aw, heck, when in doubt, go with the home team.
Prediction: West 28, South 23

GOLDEN VALLEY (4-4) AT RIDGEVIEW (2-6) — So how does Golden Valley build on a season-defining upset? Do they let Byron Newman (35 carries, 303 yards, three touchdowns vs. BHS) continue to pound the rock? That sounds like a good plan to me, though the Bulldogs are making a mistake if they underestimate Ridgeview because of a 2-6 record. The Wolf Pack has only been outscored by 29 points on the season, an average of less than four per game.
Prediction: Golden Valley 29, Ridgeview 21

EAST (1-7, 0-5 SEYL) AT BAKERSFIELD (5-3, 3-1) — I can't imagine it'll be a pretty sight for East, considering: (a) BHS will want to play lights-out after losing to Golden Valley, (b) it's homecoming and (c) this is a rivalry game the Drillers don't want to lose anyway. That is a lot of pressure for sophomore QB Brian Burrell (who will play, after injuring his quad last week) and Co., but not too much.
Prediction: Bakersfield 40, East 10

BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (7-1, 3-0 SSL) AT ARVIN (4-4, 2-1) — At first glance, this looks like the ultimate trap game for the Eagles — they've already outlasted Tehachapi and waxed Wasco and Shafter, and they have at trip to Taft — the only team other than Tehachapi to beat them last year — on the Week 10 horizon. But first comes this little trip to Arvin, which has nearly beat Highland, beat Foothill and hung with Taft already this year. But the more I think about it, I don't think the Bears can score with Derek Carr and BCHS. And once the snowball gets rolling, it'll be hard to stop.
Prediction: Bakersfield Christian 45, Arvin 19

WASCO (3-5, 0-3 SSL) AT TEHACHAPI (4-4, 2-1) — It's hard to believe the same Tehachapi team that lost at home to Garces and against Frontier and Burroughs early in the year rolled into Taft and over the Wildcats 41-13 last week. That's impressive, but I'd say the turnaround might have started the week before, when the Warriors were down 34-7 at halftime to BCHS and nearly pulled off an amazing comeback. Methinks that won't be necessary this week, with the mountain crew at home again.
Prediction: Tehachapi 41, Wasco 9

TAFT (6-2, 2-1 SSL) AT SHAFTER (1-7, 0-3) — There's probably no better remedy for the Wildcats after their disappointment against Tehachapi than to look to the next line on the schedule and see Shafter. The Generals haven't competed in any of their losses (they did beat Woodlake) and don't have the horses up front to compete with Taft's crew. It is senior night at Shafter, but that emotion won't go far enough.
Prediction: Taft 37, Shafter 6

DELANO (5-3, 2-2 EYL) AT TULARE WESTERN (0-8, 0-4) — Speaking of good remedies, playing the Tulare schools in this order is probably pretty nice. Get blasted by Union, get better against Western. It's already worked for Visalia-Mt. Whitney and for Chavez this year, and it'll work for Delano too.
Prediction: Delano 51, Tulare Western 13

VISALIA-MT. WHITNEY (3-6) AT CHAVEZ (3-5) — Interesting story from Chavez's loss to Porterville last Thursday, courtesy of the Porterville Recorder: The Panthers lost 60-0 to Tulare Union the week before, but that's partly because their coach, Rick Stewart, rested his key players against the Redskins. He figured they'd get beat up in the game and likely lose anyway. He was resting for the Chavez game. When Chavez called and asked to bump the game up to Thursday, it played right into Porterville's hands. As for this week: Mt. Whitney has three more wins than it did all of last year, but Chavez will keep hopes for its first .500 season alive.
Prediction: Chavez 42, Mt. Whitney 34

ORANGE COVE (5-3, 3-0 ESL) AT McFARLAND (3-5, 2-1) — After losing three of its four games, two of them very close, Orange Cove has won four in a row by an average of 32 points. That's not good news for McFarland, which is holding its own in the newlty formed East Sierra League but struggled to finish off winless Laton last week.
Prediction: Orange Cove 41, McFarland 21

BURROUGHS (5-3) AT PHELAN-SERRANO (5-3) — Enormous victory for the Burros last week, who knocked off Victorville-Silverado and got themselves back in the chase for a league championship, probably securing a playoff spot in the process. Now the boys from Ridgecrest step out of league, where they can really help their seed in their Southern Section Eastern Division bracket with a win. Serrano is tough, though — it was 11-1 last year and has gone 1-1 against its common opponents with Burroughs, Apple Valley and Hesperia, just like the Burros did.
Prediction: Serrano 30, Burroughs 27

MAMMOTH (2-6, 2-1 DML) AT BORON (7-1, 2-0) — For all the Bobcats have done — seven wins in eight games, a 2-0 league start, a No. 2 ranking in the Southern Section's East Valley Division, and all after the loss of inspirational sophomore Vinnie Rodriguez — they still have to play their top two league competitors. Mammoth this week, then a daunting road trip to Yermo-Silver Valley next. It's hard not to root for Boron, but it's also hard to think objectively the Bobcats will get the job done.
Prediction: Boron 36, Mammoth 17

BISHOP (3-4, 2-0 HDL) AT FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (4-4, 1-1) — Two really nice victories for the Falcons in the past three weeks, beating Desert and Malibu, but they sandwiched those between a dud, a 22-0 loss to Rosamond. A win here would go a long way towards a league title (Desert is the other one-loss team), so it'd be a good time for Frazier Mountain's "Jekyll" side to show up.
Prediction: Bishop 20, Frazier Mountain 16

KERN VALLEY (3-5, 0-2 HDL) AT ROSAMOND (2-7, 1-2) — In their last game of the regular season, the Roadrunners are playing for the playoff lives — they need to win to get to 2-2 and then hope for some help to get into the High Desert League's top three — but I can't shake the feeling that Kern Valley is due for a win. I was wrong last week; here's another try.
Prediction: Kern Valley 27, Rosamond 14

LUCERNE VALLEY (1-7) AT MOJAVE (4-5) — A .500 season for the Mustangs in their independent season would be a nice step before they move into the Desert Mountain League next season. A win would also give them one up on a future league opponent.
Prediction: Mojave 36, Lucerne Valley 12

SANTA MARIA-VALLEY CHRISTIAN (1-4-1, 1-2 CVL) AT MARICOPA (2-6, 1-2) — It's the last week of the regular season in the Coast Valley League, so it'd be nice for either of these teams to go out with a win. Coach Al Allen and the Indians get it.
Prediction: Maricopa 37, Valley Christian 33

Saturday, Nov. 8
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (4-5, 3-1 CVSSL) AT VISALIA CHRISTIAN (3-2, 2-2) — We don't talk too much eight-man ball here, but the job Nick Park has done at Lighthouse deserves a shout-out. The Guardians lost every significant part from last year's team, struggled early, but still find themselves in the middle of the Central Valley Small Schools League race.
Prediction: Lighthouse Christian 43, Visalia Christian 33

IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (3-5, 1-3 HLL) AT BAKER (1-5, 0-4) — Because Baker is the spot that tells you you're two-thirds of the way to Vegas — and that's it's time to stop and eat — I'll be severely disappointed if Immanuel Christian doesn't stop in at the Mad Greek Cafe on its way back to Ridgecrest. Have a strawberry shake for me, boys, to celebrate the win.
Prediction: Immanuel Christian 52, Baker 21

Last week: 12-8 (.600)    Season: 128-56 (.696)

It's Election Day, and if you haven't voted, go out and do so before you read this. I don't care if you write in your own name, but you owe it to the country and to its people to make your voice heard.

OK, now that that spiel is out of the way, let's get to something decidedly undemocratic — my Central Section rankings. No, these suckers are completely subjective, and they almost have to be considering how wild and wacky things have been in the section this year.

One more thing to keep an eye on: Look at how many ranked teams are colliding this week (all of them, incidentally, outside of the parity party that is Kern County). These rankings are going to look a lot different next week — what will be the final rankings before the playoffs.

1. Fresno-Edison (8-1, Div. II, last week: 1) — Only one more game to go for the Tigers, who are 2-1 in games against ranked teams, plus 2-0 against out-of-section teams.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fresno-Hoover, 47-15. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 4 Fresno-Bullard

2. Clovis West (5-3, Div. I, last week: 3) — A big win against Clovis East reminds everyone that the Golden Eagles are winning big games with regularity: Liberty, Bullard, Edison, now the Timberwolves. No one wants to play this team in the postseason.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 6 Clovis East, 19-14. THIS WEEK: at Madera

3. Clovis-Buchanan (7-1, Div. I, last week: 2) — Yes, yes, Buchanan beat Clovis West just a couple of weeks ago. But the Bears had better improve if they want to win this week after escaping 19-17 against 1-7 Clovis last Friday.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis, 19-17. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 7 Clovis East

4. Fresno-Bullard (6-2, Div. I, last week: 4) — This is a nice Division I sleeper, simply because you don't hear many people talk about the Knights. That will change if they knock off Edison this week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Sanger, 28-21. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 1 Fresno-Edison

5. Visalia-El Diamante (7-1, Div. II, last week: 7) — Good news for Miners: They've very seldomly been tested. Bad news: The one time they were, they lost big to Paso Robles. We'll see what happens this week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Visalia-Redwood, 48-15. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 8 Hanford

6. Tulare Union (8-0, Div. II, last week: 8) — So much for that showdown with Delano. The Redskins dispatched their closest league challengers with a 40-point first half. Next up is Monache, another one-loss East Yosemite League team.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Delano, 54-16. THIS WEEK: at Porterville-Monache

7. Clovis East (5-3, Div. I, last week: 6) — There were high expectations in Timberwolve-land (does that work?) before the season, but Clovis East hasn't won a really big game all year. Next and last chance, at least before the playoffs is this week.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 3 Clovis West, 19-14. THIS WEEK: at No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan

8. Hanford (8-0, Div. III, last week: 10) — Is this too high for the Bullpups? We'll find out pretty quickly when they meet El Diamante in maybe the most underrated showdown of the weekend. Last year, El D won 30-7 at Hanford, but that was a 5-5 team.
LAST WEEK: won at Visalia-Mt. Whitney, 38-13. THIS WEEK: at No. 5 Visalia-El Diamante

9. Liberty (5-3, Div. I, last week: 11) — Is this really Kern County's best team? Is it really the only top-10 team around? I really like the Patriots, and I think some local teams will make playoff runs that reshape this picture. But for now, No. 9 is all Kern gets.
LAST WEEK: won at East, 48-14. THIS WEEK: at Highland

10. Exeter (8-0, Div. IV, last week: 10) — Finally, a test for the Monarchs. Their closest game so far was a 28-14 win against Frontier. That result doesn't exactly inspire confidence above the D-IV level.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Coalinga, 42-14. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 14 Kingsburg

11. Stockdale (6-2, Div. I, last week: 13) — Quite the impressive bounceback for the Mustangs, who can still go into the playoffs as SWYL champion and with a decent seed, though they might have ruined their chance for a quarterfinal at home. Frontier and West is a tricky finishing stretch.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 15 North, 44-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Frontier (at North)

12. Bakersfield Christian (7-1, Div. V, last week: 12) — Tehachapi's rout of Taft says more about the Eagles than their easy win against Shafter. The BCHS duty now is to finish the job with road games against Arvin and Taft. It'll be all home cooking in the playoffs if they can win those two.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Shafter, 56-7. THIS WEEK: at Arvin

13. Bakersfield (5-3, Div. I, last week: 5) — The health of sophomore QB Brian Burrell is a key factor for the Drillers, but even with him missing, there's no excuse for losing to a Division III team this late in the season.
LAST WEEK: lost at Golden Valley, 23-14. THIS WEEK: vs. East

14. Kingsburg (8-0, Div. IV, last week: NR) — The undefeated team you didn't know about hasn't really beat anyone of note (besides maybe Visalia-Central Valley Christian), so consider this a place-holder ranking until next week.
LAST WEEK: won at Kerman, 28-12. THIS WEEK: at No. 10 Exeter

15. Corcoran (8-0, Div. V, last week: 14) — A scare for the Panthers last week, but they held on late against 2-6 Lindsay. The next two weeks don't appear to be challenges, but if Corcoran doesn't play better, the unbeaten season will end quickly.
LAST WEEK: won at Lindsay, 21-20. THIS WEEK: at Woodlake

Dropped out: No. 15 North
Waiting: Chowchilla, North, Sanger, Tehachapi, Fowler, West, Visalia-Central Valley Christian, Foothill

Now that we're all completely confused — and yet somehow even more mesmerized — by the high school football season, it's time to gauge where we are with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

A full Central Section and Kern County score list from Friday night can be found here. But what, Mr. Holmes, does it all mean?

Hell, I have no idea. But I'll give it a shot.

— There don't seem to be too many big games left on the schedule, as far as showdowns between teams fighting for a league championship. But if the last couple of weeks have taught us anything, it's been a harsh reminder that every game is a big game. That's the old cliché, sure, but if players actually thought like that, you probably wouldn't see Stockdale losing to Ridgeview or Bakersfield losing to Golden Valley.

— That Drillers loss is the one I just can't seem to explain. Every time I predict a score, it's either an easy call or one where I have a reason for picking one team or another (sometimes just a gut feeling) but I could easily see it going the other way. Even Ridgeview over Stockdale, I had a moment's hesitation before I picked the Mustangs. This Golden Valley win, though, is the first time I've had no thought whatsoever of picking the team that ended up winning. It caught me completely off-guard.
And that's nothing against the Bulldogs, who might have the most balanced offense in town, but Bakersfield had been rolling the last couple of weeks, and Golden Valley had already lost a couple of heartbreakers that can sometimes cripple a team. Kudos to coach Erich Smith and company for not only keeping the ship afloat but shocking the section, too.

— Where does BHS go from here? The injury problem with sophomore QB Brian Burrell, obviously, is one question that has to be answered. The Drillers obviously aren't the same team without him behind center. The other thing that needs to be shored up is penalties. How can a team that brought back so many veterans from a championship be so undisciplined?

— I shouldn't say there are no games left between league championship contenders, because in the Southwest Yosemite League, just about everyone is still alive for the championship. North, even after its disaster against Stockdale (four fumbles, an errant snap on a punt, some penalties) that resulted in a 44-14 loss, is in the lead at 4-1. The Stars play at Centennial in a tougher-than-it-looks game to end their league schedule. Meanwhile, Stockdale (3-1) has games left with 2-2 Frontier and 2-2 West. Throw in South, which beat Frontier 39-30, and you have five teams that could potentially finish 4-2, though only four could logjam at once. Seems unlikely now, but in this season, I certainly wouldn't say it's out of the question.

— Tehachapi walloped Taft 41-13, the first road win in the series this millennium. What a great feat for the Warriors after their comeback fell achingly short against Bakersfield Christian last week. It might say even more, though, about how far BCHS has come since losing lopsided games to both Tehachapi and Taft last year. If the Eagles can go to Taft in Week 10 and win, they'll be league champions by their lonesome — and heavy favorites to win a second straight section title.

— Stepping in to benefit from Bakersfield's upset loss to Golden Valley was Liberty. We heard a rumor or two about how East High was going to use an A-11 offense — no linemen, 10 eligible receivers — to surprise Liberty and jumpstart its lackluster offense, but it turns out that was nothing but a decoy. Instead, the Patriots took a 48-0 lead on their way to another easy victory. Liberty is now wins against Highland and Garces away from at least splitting the league title with BHS (though the Drillers won the head-to-head meeting).

— Highland could have benefitted from BHS' loss also, but the Scots took it on the chin Friday, 24-2 at Foothill. The Trojans might have put together their most complete performance of the season, and now have to be considered a threat to compete for the Division III Central Section title. Remember, Foothill has been runner-up the past two seasons. As for Highland, its second SEYL loss probably eliminates it from contention for the league title.

— In the weekly interleague matchup, West handily beat Garces, a surprising result considering (a) the SEYL had appeared to be the stronger league and (b) the Vikings have been maddeningly inconsistent. But the more I think about it, the more I shouldn't be taken aback. West has plenty of talent, and when it all comes together, the Vikes can beat lots of teams. They can prove it with games against South and Stockdale to end the year. As for Garces, the Rams are still 3-1 in the SEYL, but they'll have to play better to keep that up against a tough finishing slate — Foothill, then Liberty.

Now a quick look at next week's big games. Again, no marquee matchup here per say, but there are some really intriguing games across the board:

Stockdale vs. Frontier (at North): Mike Snow and Co. return to North High with league hopes likely on the line again
Liberty at Highland: First one to 10 might win, unless great defenses score on their own
North at Centennial: Second chance for Stars to clinch a title share, but it won't be easy
Foothill at Garces: Do the Rams have enough left in the tank to stay in SEYL race?
Bakersfield Christian at Arvin: Trap game for Eagles on their way to Taft

Also, there are some bigtime showdowns in the rest of the Central Section. Consider: 5-3 Clovis East at 7-1 Clovis-Buchanan, 6-2 Fresno-Bullard at 8-1 Fresno-Edison, 8-0 Hanford at 7-1 Visalia-El Diamante and 8-0 Kingsburg at 8-0 Exeter.

To help sort it all out, I'll have Central Section rankings up on the blog Tuesday. In the meantime, keep an eye on the first section title to be decided — girls golf's team title Monday at Riverbend Golf Course in Madera. I'll make the trek up and back to see if Garces can out-duel Clovis West for the first D-I section championship in school history and to see if Frontier can win D-II, which would be its first title of any kind.