UPDATED, 6:49 p.m.: Official stats have Mathews with 185 yards on 23 carries. So I was off by one. Sue if you want, but I don't think you'll get anywhere.
I'm headed out, but check The Californian tomorrow morning for a story about Ryan. In the meantime, for those interested, here's the link where you can purchase those "No. 21 Heisman Hopeful" T-shirts.

UPDATED, 5:12 p.m.: Ryan Mathews and the Fresno State offensive line have put this game on ice. Mathews carried twice for a first down, and then converted a third-and-7 with an 11-yard scamper to seal the deal. Knees from here, and FSU survives 31-27.
Again, it's unofficial, but I've got Mathews down for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on 23 carries.

UPDATED, 5:04 p.m.: As bad as the Fresno State defense was in the first half, it has really stepped up in the second half. That's another stop on a three-and-out. 3:35 and ticking on the clock, and Utah State is going to punt and try to get the ball back. Not a good situation for the Aggies.
Fresno State has it at its own 6 with 3:13 left. Utah State has two timeouts.

UPDATED, 5:00 p.m.: By my count, that's now 160 yards rushing for Mathews, his eighth 100-yard game in as many tries this season.

UPDATED, 4:59 p.m.: Ryan Mathews might have just saved the day for the Bulldogs. He carried once for 6 yards, then finally got loose in the secondary and went wild, getting 47 yards to the USU 25. We'll see what the Bulldogs can do with it. Pass interference on Utah State will give the Bulldogs the ball first-and-goal at the 10. Inside of five minutes to play now.
Mathews again. Touchdown. Slipped through two linebackers, and if they touched him, it was just a scrape. Fresno State takes a 31-27 lead with 4:53 left. It's on the Bulldogs' defense now.

UPDATED, 4:55 p.m.: A big stop on an option pitch sets up fourth-and-1 for Utah State. They'll go for it. Taking a huge risk from their own 47. Timeout first. Fresno State also burned its first timeout on defense on this drive, by the way.
We'll see if the Aggies will keep the offense on the field out of the TO. There's 6:10 left, and if they don't get it, Fresno State will be within 15 yards of tying field-goal range. If they do, though, they can keep milking the clock. Punt formation it is. OK, now Fresno State's second timeout. There was some apparent confusion there on defense, maybe expecting a fake? No, it was because they had 12 men on the field. Boy, would that have been costly. Rather burn the timeout, even though that leaves them with just one.
The punt takes an enormous Utah State bounce and goes all the way to the 3-yard line. 5:59 left, and Fresno State has a lot of green in front of it if it wants to even this game or even take the lead.
Nevermind on that. Apparently, the ball hit a Utah State player at the 22. Fresno State will get the ball there. That's a huge break for Fresno, but still a long way to go.

UPDATED, 4:47 p.m.: All of Fresno State's victories have come by 20 points or more. They're 0-4 in games decided by less than that big number, a trend they'll have to reverse to get a win here. And while the Bulldogs' defense has recovered nicely from a bad first half, pitching a shutout in the second, the offense is the problem now. A three-and-out, and FSU has to punt again. Time is becoming more and more of a factor. 7:49 left.

UPDATED, 4:43 p.m.: The Aggies are showing no fear here, risking a deep play-action pass down the right sideline from the 1 on first down. Incomplete. RB Robert Turbin leaps out to the 3 on second down. Jefferson made the tackle, by the way. BIG third down here as we go inside 11 minutes. Converted, pass from Borel to a big tight end on a drag, Kellen Bartlett.
A couple of runs sets up another third down, this one six yards to go. And an open man, Mikahil Morgan, drops the ball. Was running before he secured it, and Fresno State has an important stop. A good punt, though, and though Chastin West had a nifty return, the Bulldogs are back at their own 39. Still good field position with 9:18 left.

UPDATED, 4:37 p.m.: Fourth-and-inches for Fresno State at the USU 47, and they're going for it. Big boys sub in. And a false-start penalty. What a killer. It was Devon Cunningham, and now the Bulldogs will have to punt. All the ingredients for an upset are here, and Utah State is going to have the ball with 11:37 left. But — and this is big too — the Bulldogs were able to down the punt at the USU 1-yard line. So the Aggies have a hole to dig out of on offense. Still 27-24.

UPDATED, 4:31 p.m.: What a bullet dodged there by Fresno State, which forces an incomplete pass with some tight coverage from Isaiah Green on third down and then watches Chris Ulinski's 31-yard field goal attempt sail wide left to keep the score 27-24. Bulldogs take over, and Mathews is back in there. Injury scare averted, apparently.

UPDATED, 4:27 p.m.: No Ryan Mathews on that last drive. Fresno State goes three-and-out with Anthony Harding at tailback, and the timing of that is very strange to me. FSU often gets its other backs some carries, but Mathews ran so well on the last drive that I wonder if he wasn't banged up. Something to keep an eye on, anyway.
As the third quarter clock melts away, Utah State has a third-and-5 from inside the 40 after a Matt Akers tackle. Akers is a redshirt freshman from Liberty playing defensive end. But the Aggies convert the first down, Diondre Borel to Nnamdi Gwacham. Another first down later, the third quarter ends. Utah State is in the red zone to begin the fourth, up by three.

UPDATED, 4:18 p.m.: A.J. Jefferson made about the first open-field tackle on Diondre Borel on a first-down play that Fresno State has all game, but now the Utah State QB is moving the ball through the air, down to the FSU 41.
Crowd is easily the loudest it has been all game, by the way, and Fresno State makes a big stop. Bakersfield High grad Phillip Thomas, the Bulldogs' nickelback, made a third-down tackle for loss to get FSU out of the drive.
Bulldogs' ball again, back at their own 11. 4:08 to go in a fast-moving third quarter.

UPDATED, 4:12 p.m.: Three more plays, and Fresno State scores. There's that Bulldogs ground game. Mathews busted a counter play for 24 yards down to the 3, and Lonyae Miller went in untouched from there to cut the Utah State lead to 27-24. Mathews has 48 yards in the second half already after just 40 in the first half.

UPDATED, 4:08 p.m.: We didn't have a punt from either team in the entire first half, but both teams are forced to kick it away on their first second-half possession. Fresno State ball again.
There's lots of time left in this game, but this feels like an important drive. After the defense finally found a way to contain Diondre Borel, who reminds me a lot of Missouri quarterback Brad Smith from when I was in school there — very mobile, hard to tackle, strong arm, not necissarily the most accurate guy in the world. A good drive here and Fresno State would have some real momentum.
First play, a 36-yard catch and run from Seyi Ajirotutu. Second play, a 13-yard bulldozing run from Ryan Mathews. This is a good start.

UPDATED, 4:01 p.m.: Well, Mathews got carries on second and third down on the Bulldogs' first series, but he came up two yards short of the first down (after no gain on a first-down passing play). Colburn still is in there, by the way. Don't think we've seen anything drastic enough for Carr to come in yet.
But if Fresno State's D can't come up with a big play, it might be time for drastic measures soon.

UPDATED, 3:55 p.m.: I just re-read what I wrote in the previous update and want to clarify: I don't think Ryan Colburn is playing poorly. For the most part, he's done a nice job, both today and on the season. The Bulldogs are 4-3, and in at least two of those losses, the defense has been more to blame than Colburn or anyone else. That's the case again for the deficit today, with Utah State racking up 363 first-half yards, 179 of them on the ground.
But it just seems like Colburn is being set up to fail. Every time he makes a mistake or doesn't execute, someone somewhere thinks of Carr, who's a big-time recruit and the brother of a popular former Fresno State great. That's not fair to Colburn.
The other thing I want to add is more of a question: Where is Ryan Mathews? I know Utah State dominated time of possession in this game, nearly 20 minutes to just more than 10, but Mathews has eight touches. There have been 23 other offensive plays where the Bulldogs haven't utilized their best player. Yes, balance is important, and yes, there are other playmakers in this offense, but that still seems low to me, especially considering Mathews has performed well when he has gotten the ball.
Second half kick-off is in two minutes. FSU gets the ball first. We'll see how it shakes out.

UPDATED, 3:36 p.m.: It didn't take long for a few boo-birds to turn on Ryan Colburn and Fresno State offense there. Colburn didn't look good in the two-minute drill, and though the Bulldogs converted a couple of third downs, Colburn threw a bad interception and gave the Aggies a shot at points before halftime.
Diondre Borel rallies his guys down into field-goal range with a few seconds left, also in part thanks to a pass-interference call in the end zone on A.J. Jefferson. Not a good first half for that former Viking. And Chris Ulinski hits a 23-yard field goal as first-half time expires to make it 27-17 Aggies. Big-time turnaround in this second quarter. More boos as the teams head to their locker rooms.
Don't get me wrong: Ryan Colburn has played well for the most part in this first half. But he's flashing some of the inconsistency that has Bulldog fans waiting for Derek Carr to get his chance. Will Pat Hill's hand be forced? It almost seems like Colburn is hurt by the perception that Carr can do better, even when the starter's playing well. And maybe Carr will get his chance. I don't think it'll happen right away, but if Colburn struggles on another drive, there will be pressure on Hill to give the freshman from BCHS a try.

UPDATED, 3:23 p.m.: If you want an upset, you've got to play well and get a few breaks, and that Jefferson fumble just might help Utah State to a halftime lead here. The Aggies took seven plays to punch in a touchdown with 1:57 remaining in the half. It's 24-17. We'll see how Fresno State responds here in front of what's become a bit of a stunned crowd (it has gotten a bit bigger, by the way, though still pretty small).

UPDATED, 3:17 p.m.: Robert Turbin busts loose for 36 more yards on another third-and-1, and two plays later, he gets in from a yard out on third-and-goal to tie us up, 17-17 with 5:02 to play in the half. Fresno State's defense has looked porous, even as they've made a couple of big plays. Turbin and mobile QB Diondre Borel have really come through when they've needed to on offense.
I know the passing game is working, but it might be time to get the nation's leading rusher some more carries on this drive before the half. He's had seven touches, five of them rushes.
Or not. Mathews' West High teammate, A.J. Jefferson, had a big kickoff return there, but perhaps the last man he had to beat stripped him of the ball. USU recovers the fumble and has it back at the Fresno State 40. Ouch.

UPDATED, 3:05 p.m.: They actually count an incompletion against the quarterback on an intentional-grounding penalty (the defender also gets a sack, which is kind of a double standard, if you ask me), so Colburn didn't have a perfect first quarter after all. All the stats I give you here are my own and thus unofficial, by the way. I'll update with official stats as I get them. Colburn is unofficially 11-of-14 for 170 yards now, still very good numbers. And Ryan Mathews has five carries for 41 yards, plus the 26 receiving yards.
And though that last Bulldogs drive stalled at the USU 33, Kevin Goessling nailed a 50-yard field goal to give Fresno a 17-10 lead. Special teams, folks. Utah State missed a mid-range field goal and Fresno State hit a long one. That will make a huge difference in the course of a game, and it's given the Bulldogs a full touchdown lead here with 9:48 to go before halftime.

UPDATED, 2:54 p.m.: An amazing diving catch near the sideline from USU's Xavier Bowman sets the Aggies up at the 20, but Fresno State's D stiffens from there, and they get a stop when Chris Ulinski pulls his 32-yard field goal attempt wide to the left. Any stop is a big stop in a game like this, and the Bulldogs have the first one. Now we'll see if Colburn and Mathews can separate from Utah State a little bit.

UPDATED, 2:48 p.m.: Looked like Fresno State, aided by Utah State penalties, had the first stop of the game, but Chris Carter's sack on third-and-27 came with a face-mask penalty attached. That's a personal foul and an automatic first down. Pat Hill must want to pull his mustache out at this point. First quarter over, still 14-0, but the Aggies have a first down in Bulldog territory.

UPDATED, 2:40 p.m.: No matter on the long down-and-distance. Pass to Mathews in the flat, makes a man miss, 15 yards. Pass to Ajirotutu, leaping catch in the end zone, 18  yards, touchdown. 14-10, STILL 4:21 left in the first quarter.
By the way that's two catches for 26 yards for Mathews, who had just five catches for 68 yards coming in. He's also got four carries for 33 yards and a TD. Colburn, by the way, is 8-for-8 passing for 147 yards and a TD already. Wow. Everything working for Fresno State, except the defense. There's another first down for USU.

UPDATED, 2:34 p.m.: I know a lot of us in Bakersfield would like to see Derek Carr get his chance at quarterback in a close game, but with the way Ryan Colburn is playing, there's no reason. He's made mistakes early in games this year, but not today. He was spot-on on the play-action to Ajirotutu on the first play of the game, and he just hit Chastin West on a seam route with beautiful touch from the lefty QB. That set Fresno State up in Utah State territory, and with the Bulldogs sporting a balanced offense, they moved the ball down quickly in position for another score. From there, though Colburn took an intentional-grounding penalty (he was going to be sacked, so it wasn't really a bad play), and FSU takes a timeout facing a second-and-22.

UPDATED, 2:24 p.m.: By the way, they're passing out or selling, I'm not sure which, "Ryan Mathews Heisman Hopeful" T-shirts out there. I've seen a few of them. I had heard in the past month that there wasn't really a budget for a Heisman campaign for Mathews, but it's good to see they're doing something.
Meanwhile, a long kickoff return and a bomb complete to Stanley Morrison gives Utah State a first-and-goal. This thing is a shootout. The pass went for 54 yards, and Morrison beat West High's A.J. Jefferson in coverage.
Jefferson did make the touchdown-saving tackle at the 5, though, but Utah State converted a third-and-goal on a pass from Diondre Borel to Xavier Bowman to retake the lead. It's 10-7, still with 8:20 to play in the first quarter. Could be a long, offense-filled afternoon.

UPDATED, 2:19 p.m.: Ryan Colburn looks just fine on the first drive for Fresno State, and so does Ryan Mathews. Colburn used play action to deke the Utah State defense, then went deep up top to Seyi Ajirotutu for 46 yards. An 11-yard pass to Mathews, then a 14-yard Mathews run, and then a 9-yard tackle play that ended with Mathews diving for the pile-on and the touchdown. Just like that, 7-3 Fresno State. Mathews is helped by the threat of a passing attack, and though Colburn has made his mistakes, he has undoubtedly been providing that this season.

UPDATED, 2:14 p.m.: On the first drive of the game, it looked like Utah State's Robert Turbin is the nation's leading rusher, not Ryan Mathews. Turbin carried for a 43-yard gain on third-and-1 on a counter play. He ran up the gut for 16 yards on the next play, and two plays after that, the Aggies had first-and-goal at the 4. Fresno State stiffened from there, though, and the Bulldogs force USU to kick a 26-yard field goal. Nice response by the FSU defense, and it's 3-0 Utah State.

UPDATED, 1:58 p.m.: A couple of things: First, it's either a very small or very late-arriving crowd on Halloween afternoon (or both). Even the student section isn't half-full.
Also, a couple of fun facts. This is Fresno State's first Halloween game at home since 1992. It's the second straight week and the third week this season they've played a team nicknamed the Aggies (UC Davis to start the season and New Mexico State last Saturday). Coincindentally, it's also the second straight week Utah State has played a team named the Bulldogs (Louisiana Tech being the other).  Pretty funny stuff.
As for the game itself,  I don't think we'll see a real barn-burner. Utah State lost to New Mexico State three weeks ago, and FSU beat those other Aggies 34-3 last week. That should tell you a lot, though USU (2-5 overall) has given Texas A&M, Utah and Nevada tough games this year.
My pick? Fresno State keeps rolling, 41-24.

ORIGINAL POST: About 20 minutes from gametime here at Bulldog Stadium, where Utah State is in town to try its hand against red-hot West High grad Ryan Mathews and his Fresno State team. The Bulldogs have won three in a row after a 1-3 start and are mowing through the WAC; Mathews is mowing through everything in his path. He leads the nation in rushing with 1,131 yards, and he might keep that lead even if he didn't play today. But he will, and he'll probably rack up more yardage.

There's also some increasing talk up here about Bakersfield Christian grad Derek Carr getting some more playing time at quarterback. Fresno State coach Pat Hill was asked earlier in the week if he thought about pulling inconsistent starter Ryan Colburn, and he hesitated for a few seconds before giving a drawn-out "Naah. I don't think so." Doesn't sound too convincing to me, and Hill also has talked before about getting Carr some action other than mop-up time. Maybe today will be the day.

Keep it here for updates on the game and for Bakersfield's favorite Bulldog sons.

UPDATED, 12:32 a.m.: A thriller in Tehachapi tonight, and a few other good games around Kern County made it a good Week 8. Let's recap:

Tehachapi 16, Taft 7: It was a defensive battle until the final four minutes, when the Warriors hit two long pass plays, the second one an 18-yard touchdown pass to Zach Maravigli on fourth down that erased a 7-6 deficit. Obviously, I don't need to tell you how big of a win this is for Tehachapi; we've been harping on it all week. The Warriors are a win next week at Wasco away from an SSL championship, and they've probably sewn up the No. 1 playoff seed on their quest for a third straight Division III section title.

Centennial 31, Ridgeview 25: This time, Centennial was able to answer the bell even without quarterback Cody Kessler, who was rumored to possibly be returning from his ankle injury tonight but didn't. Instead, Myren Moore scored three TDs to match Tyler Dogins' output for Ridgeview, and the Golden Hawks erased a 17-14 deficit at halftime for an SWYL victory that keeps them on pace for a winning season and possibly a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

Tulare Union 49, Delano 14: Too much talent from the Redskins for Delano, though the Tigers still accounted well for themselves in that they weren't totally blown away like some of Tulare's other EYL opponents. Delano now can focus on finishing strong and getting a high seed in D-III — at this point, the Tigers look like Tehachapi's biggest challenger, maybe with Ridgeview and Clovis North.

Garces 56, West 42: Another week, another offensive explosion for the Rams, who had more than 400 rushing yards at halftime and more than 600 by the end of the game. Garces is really rolling right now, and I think it's safe to call them a sleeper in a very deep Division II race. Also, that Week 10 game with Liberty likely will still have an impact on the SEYL race, and I wouldn't pencil the Patriots' name in on that trophy just yet — the game's at Garces.

Stockdale 45, North 0; Frontier 43, South 19: Both SWYL leaders take care of business without many problems at home in Week 8 to set up their juicy Week 9 matchup at Stockdale. The winner there can probably take (or keep) the title of Kern County's best and earn itself a pretty seed come playoff time. Can't wait for that one.

Don't forget we'll have a live-blog of Fresno State's game with Utah State tomorrow at 2 p.m., and Sunday I'll be back with most important things for Week 8.

UPDATED, 9:42 p.m.: Fourth-and-goal Tehachapi with 1:09 left, and the Wildcats just called their last timeout. Interesting here, because the Warriors don't have a kicker tonight. But either way, the best Taft can hope for is a long field with no timeouts to tie the game.
And a fourth-down penalty lets Tehachapi milk the clock even more. Taft does get the stop on fourth down, so they've got the ball at their own 5 with 28 seconds left. It would truly be a miracle on the mountain if the Wildcats could pull this one off.
Nope. Cody Shirreffs tackled in the end zone for a safety, and the final will be 16-7 Tehachapi. The Warriors found a way to make the big play at home, and they win another one from Taft on the mountain, and, most likely, the SSL championship.

UPDATED, 9:34 p.m.: And Corey Lange makes a diving interception of Hunter Liljeroos on the first play of the drive. Jesse Olofson has a couple of big runs, and it's first-and-goal Tehachapi. That might just ice this one.

UPDATED, 9:30 p.m.: Fourth and a couple of inches for Tehachapi at its own 35. The Warriors have 6:12 and only one timeout, so it's go-for-it time. Out of a timeout, Michael Lowden carries up the middle for the first down. Bullet dodged there, and now Rush hits Travis Farwell on a post pattern deep! Farewell fumbles, but it goes out of bounds at the Taft 19. Wow. But Jesse Olofson is stuffed twice, and it's third and long. Remember, Tehachapi has no kicker in this game. They have to score. Low throw from Chris Rush, and it's fourth down. Inside of four minutes left. Fourth and about 9. Taft calls timeout.
Out of the TO, Rush has Zach Maravigli wide-open for an 18-yard touchdown! The play of the night, most likely, and it has Tehachapi up with 3:54 to play. Rush also completes a pass for the two-pointer, and the passing game has the Warriors up 14-7. This place exploded. One more chance for Taft.

UPDATED, 9:20 p.m.: And Tehachapi fumbles it back, but the Warriors defense comes up big again, forcing a punt that's shanked and gives Tehachapi the ball back at its 26. About seven minutes left. This could be the drive of the game.

UPDATED, 9:14 p.m.: Quite a turnaround within a few seconds here. Taft was forced to punt from the Tehachapi 41, and the snap sailed far over Ada Figueroa's head. Figueroa retrieved, it though, back at his own 30, and got a blind kick off that bounced to the Warriors 30. That had to be the world's best 11-yard punt, because it keeps Tehachapi back in its own end. Still 7-6, inside of 10 minutes to play.

UPDATED, 9:07 p.m.: At the end of the third quarter, still 7-6 Taft in a defensive battle. Taft has the ball back again, though Tehachapi was able to move the ball enough on that last drive to get out of bad field position. Taft has a second-and-1 from midfield as the fourth quarter begins.
I think we'll see some offense in the fourth, though. Both offensive lines look like they're starting to wear down the defense just a bit.

UPDATED, 8:56 p.m.: Tehachapi jumped offside on a fourth-and-2, keeping a Taft drive alive at about midfield. Big mistake, but it only costs Tehachapi field position. The Warriors hold on the next series but they're pinned deep again, at the 11. Less than five minutes to go in the third quarter.

UPDATED, 8:44 p.m.: Second half under way.

UPDATED, 8:40 p.m.: Ridgeview and Centennial have played a turnover-filled fest that's led by Ridgeview 17-14 at halftime. Cody Kessler is not playing for the Golden Hawks.
Here are some very even stats from Tehachapi:
TAFT (123 total yards) — Shirreffs 17 carries, 68 yards, TD; Eric Foch, 1 carry, 25 yards; Hunter Liljeroos, 1-3 passing for 15 yards
TEHACHAPI (119 total yds) — Olofson 11 carries, 38 yds; Michael Lowder 4 carries, 31 yds; Chris Rush 1-2 passing for 42 yards and a TD to Travis Farewell

UPDATED, 8:28 p.m.: Taft runs the first-half clock out in a bit of a strange sequence. The Wildcats risked going for it on a fourth-and-3 from their 47 with 25 seconds left (and Tehachapi had all three timeouts left). But Taft converted, then picked up 8 more yards on the next carry. Taft's kicker, Ada Figueroa, has a great leg, but Taft went into the locker room with a timeout in its pocket instead of trying what would have been about a 55-yard field goal. Doesn't seem like Steve Sprague to play it safe, but there you have it.
Some other scores, all in the first half — Bakersfield, Liberty and Garces are having no trouble with their opponents, the most significant of those scores probably being the Rams' 28-7 lead at the end of just a quarter against West. I'll try to get a Ridgeview-Centennial score and be back with stats in a few minutes.

UPDATED, 8:20 p.m.: A couple of mistakes that will cancel each other out. A 15-yard punt from Tehachapi gave Taft the ball at the 20 going in, but the Wildcats fumbled the ball back on the first play of that drive. Late first half now, Taft has it back still up 7-6.

UPDATED, 8:12 p.m.: Tehachapi answers very quickly, getting a 23-yard run from Michael Lowden, who bounced, literally bounced, off a tackler before streaking down the sideline. Then the Warriors struck stealthily through the air, using play action to freeze the D and getting a 42-yard touchdown pass from Chris Rush to Travis Farewell to make it 7-6. Tehachapi's kicker, Jake Reimer, however, is hurt, I just learned, and the Warriors tried a swinging-gate handoff to Jesse Olofson that didn't work at all instead of the normal PAT. So it's 7-6 Taft, which just stalled but pinned Tehachapi inside its 10-yard line.

UPDATED, 8:02 p.m.: A personal-foul penalty for a late hit on Tehachapi set Taft up with field position at the Warriors 38, and a long Shirreffs run and a 15-yard pass from Hunter Liljeroos to Drew Powell set up Shirreffs for a 9-yard TD run. Tehachapi makes the first big mistake in this one, and it cost 'em. 7-0 Taft, 10:28 left second quarter.

UPDATED, 7:55 p.m.: That was Michael Lowder, not Jesse Olofson, who muffed that first punt. Taft had a drive going inside the Tehachapi 40, but the Warriors stiffened and forced Taft to punt. A defensive battle thus far, and right on cue, Taft forces a three-and-out inside the Tehachapi 20 as the first quarter comes to an end.
Taft has fumbled once and Tehachapi twice, by the way, but the fumbling team recovered all three.

UPDATED, 7:45 p.m.: Thirteen yards on the first play from scrimmage for Cody Shirreffs, but Tehachapi holds three-and-out from there. Jesse Olofson muffed the punt but got back on top of it, and the Warriors took over from there.
Same deal for Tehachapi. One first down, to get across midfield, then stall. 0-0, midway through the first.

UPDATED, 7:13 p.m.: I need to make a quick update about the JV game, which was a classic. Taft scored twice on passing plays in the fourth quarter to take a 27-26 lead with exactly a minute left, but Tehachapi scored on its own long pass play — what's with the aerial attacks? — of 76 yards to win it 32-27. I don't harp on JV a lot, but what a classic. Let's hope the varsity equals it for drama.

UPDATED, 6:55 p.m.: I've arrived in Tehachapi, and I'm much obliged to the press-box crew here for squeezing me in, actually right on the 50-yard line. Can't ask for much better than that.

A quick programming note before we get going here: I will once again be doing a Fresno State live game thread for tomorrow afternoon's home game with Utah State. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.; the live thread will be posted a few minutes before that.

Here, it's going to be a heck of a game, of that I have no doubt. I probably don't have to tell you how difficult it was to make this prediction Wednesday, because it's tough to pick against the Warriors on their home turf. But Taft has one of those teams that only comes along every now and then, and I think the Wildcats just might have their first road victory at Tehachapi since 1992 in them. For some insight on just how tough it can be to win up here — and just how good of a matchup this is — check out this story from this morning's Californian.

Now they've brought me a tri-tip and a bottle of water. That's what I call service. Check back with you in a few minutes.

ORIGINAL POST: Time to turn our focus to the mountain tonight. Will it be the Wing T and the cold weather of Tehachapi? Or the smashmouth bravado of Steve Sprague and big, bad Taft? Should be a doozy.

Speaking of big bad, Tulare Union invades Delano tonight for the Tigers' biggest game of the season. You can bet the jungle will be rocking and rooting for the upset.

In town, you might be paying attention to Ridgeview-Centennial, West-Garces or a host of other games. No matter what your flavor is, make School House Zach your home base of operations. I'll have a live blog from Tehachapi tonight and update the scoreboard below as often as possible. You can also follow me on Twitter, @zewing, for on-the-go updates.

It's worth noting that Independence got Week 8 started last night with a 45-7 victory at Tulare-Mission Oak. The Falcons scored a couple of defensive touchdowns and had a 45-0 lead at halftime as they improved to 4-4 in their inaugural season.

If you missed it, I posted a great Week 8 podcast last night that you can find here. If you want to catch up on my (very controversial) predictions, you can do that as well.

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

Kern County scoreboard
Independence 45, Tulare-Mission Oak 7 (Thursday)
(3) Tulare Union 49, Delano 14
(4) Stockdale 45, North 0
(6) Bakersfield 56, Golden Valley 7
(8) Liberty 49, East 14
(10) Frontier 43, South 19
(14) Tehachapi 16, Taft 7
Centennial 31, Ridgeview 25
Garces 56, West 42
Foothill 21, Highland 7
Bakersfield Christian 20, Shafter 14
Wasco 41, Arvin 7
Porterville 28, Chavez 14
Mira Monte vs. Kennedy (at Chavez)
McFarland 23, Laton 20
Kern Valley 41, Bishop 35, OT
Frazier Mountain 49, California City 21
Rosamond 30, Desert 8
Victorville-Silverado 35, Burroughs 21
Boron 28, Lancaster-Desert Christian 20
Mojave 34, Yermo-Silver Valley 0
Lighthouse Christian 64, Coalinga-Faith Christian 14
L.A.-Windward 58, Maricopa 8 (Saturday)
Big Pine 62, Immanuel Christian 42 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
Reedley 28, Clovis North 7 (Thursday)
(5) Fresno-Central 77, Madera 14 (Thursday)
(1) Fresno-Bullard 20, Sanger 14
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 28, Clovis 7
(7) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 42, Fresno-Roosevelt 14
(9) Clovis West 21, Clovis East 14
(11) Fresno-Edison 43, (15) Fresno-Hoover 7
(12) Kingsburg 38, Kerman 14
(13) Visalia-El Diamante 37, Visalia-Redwood 21
Fresno-Washington Union 45, Chowchilla 26
Dinuba 37, Visalia-Central Valley Christian 13
Lemoore 25, Porterville-Monache 22
Tulare Western 68, Porterville-Granite Hills 20
Hanford 46, Visalia-Mt. Whitney 22
Hanford West 41, Visalia-Golden West 34
Exeter 21, Coalinga 0
Reedley-Immanuel 47, Selma 21
Dos Palos 27, Oakhurst-Yosemite 14
Tollhouse-Sierra 22, Madera Ranchos-Liberty 21
Corcoran 31, Lindsay 3
Strathmore 54, Orosi 14
Fowler 18, Woodlake 13
Fresno-Sunnyside 28, Fresno-McLane 0
Madera South 25, Fresno 21
Caruthers 72, Riverdale 12
Parlier 32, Fresno Christian 26
Tranquillity 27, Cambria-Coast Union 14
SLO-Mission Prep 41, Farmersville 0
Firebaugh 20, Acton-Vasquez 19
Mendota 55, Avenal 12
Orange Cove 56, Lemoore-Kings Christian 0
Riverdale Christian 51, Clovis Christian 38
Visalia Christian at Alpaugh, Saturday
Santa Rosa-Rincon Valley Christian 50, Madera-Lighthouse Academy 0 (Saturday)

I know it's getting late, but here's your Week 8 podcast. Had to cover some playoff tennis (Stockdale over Liberty) this afternoon, so we got started late on producing this one, but here it is, and I think it's a pretty good one. Lots of Taft-Tehachapi talk and quite a few other things for your enjoyment.

This is the time of year when upsets happen. That's because teams get worn out, or they try to get away with resting someone, something clicks for a teams that's been struggling, or someone notices a tendency on film. But it's also because of the way the Kern County schedule is set up. The biggest games, for the most part, are played early in the season — your Stockdale-Bakersfield, Garces-Tehachapi, Centennial-Liberty, etc. — and then the league season is set up with a couple of Division I teams in each league, a couple of D-IIs and a couple of D-IIIs. Those games are ripe for upsets because there's familiarity between the teams, too.

We saw it last week, when West tripped up Centennial. We saw it last year, when Bakersfield lost this same week to Golden Valley. For whom will the bell toll this week? It's a safe bet that someone will be upset, but since it's nearly impossible to predict who, I'll stick with picking mostly favorites. But keep your eyes open for that upset.

Looking back at last week's predictions:

The good: I took Taft to win its first road game at Wasco, Garces to end East's perfect SEYL season in a shootout and Stockdale to cruise by Ridgeview. Nailed toss-up games with Burroughs and South.

The bad: Margins were all off, especially with Taft. I missed toss-up games by failing to take Mira Monte, Shafter or Chavez.

The ugly: Totally didn't see that West upset coming, and looking back on it, the signs were all there. McFarland and Kennedy didn't stand a chance, and I had picked them both to win.

Thursday, Oct. 29
INDEPENDENCE (3-4, 2-1 SCSL) AT TULARE-MISSION OAK (1-6, 1-2) — The second half of round-robin play in the South Central Sequoia League begins. The first time around, just two weeks ago, the Falcons took apart their visitors from Tulare, 50-22. Any reason it should be different just 13 days later? Well, the Falcons couldn't be happy with a home loss to Mira Monte last week, and I think their lack of depth has hurt because of some key injuries. Still, there should be more than enough left for Independence to take care of business here, setting up a shot at a .500 season and a winning record in the last two weeks of the season.
Prediction: Independence 38, Mission Oak 17

Friday, Oct. 30
TAFT (6-1, 2-0 SSL) AT TEHACHAPI (6-1, 2-0) — I'm not completely ready to write Wasco off, but the winner of this game — especially if it's Taft, which has already played the Tigers — is in the catbird's seat in the SSL for sure. I was more impressed with the Wildcats last week than I was with Tehachapi when it beat Garces in Week 2, but it was close. And you've also got to consider the Warriors likely have significantly improved and that they're at home. There's something about that mountain mystique, and though the weather won't be bad (forecast is a low of 39 and clear), it will be loud, and Tehachapi doesn't often lose up there. Still, I got a feeling about the Wildcats last week — they've got a good team that has a chip on its shoulder ever since losing a controversial road game in Week 0 — and they're out for respect. Tehachapi will battle, no doubt, and both teams will go over 250 yards rushing, but in the end I think this is the year Taft goes up there and pulls out a victory.
Prediction: Taft 31, Tehachapi 30

TULARE UNION (7-0, 3-0 EYL) AT DELANO (6-1, 2-1) — There's been a lot of Delano fans clamoring for respect out there, and I have to admit that the Tigers have caught me by surprise this year. I thought the loss of a few key players like Mychal Quiddam, Amandeep Singh and Alex Cabalona would hurt enough to force Delano into a rebuilding year. That obviously hasn't happened, and here they are with a winning season already clinched and likely a fairly high Division III seed to come. And a league championship is still in play, at least until they kick off in The Jungle this Friday night. I think that dream is one that's going to end early in the game — Tulare Union is a different animal than anyone the Tigers have seen, and I think speed and size will be as overwhelming as it has been the past few years. Delano will hit a few big plays, but don't expect the world.
Prediction: Tulare Union 55, Delano 27

RIDGEVIEW (5-3, 1-3 SWYL) AT CENTENNIAL (4-3, 1-2) — Speaking of predictions, it would have been hard to guess that teams would have a combined 2-5 league record coming into this one. Which team is more snakebitten? Both lost fourth-quarter leads to West, and both gave up 40-plus to Stockdale. The game is huge to both teams. Centennial could be looking at a first-round 8/9 game against Clovis East in the playoffs. They'd love to have a few wins under their belt to get that one at home. Ridgeview needs a scalp to sort of legitimize its hot start, not to mention trying to snap out of a funk. Tyler Dogins may be able to do his thing enough for Ridgeview to score some points and stay in this one, but I think the Golden Hawks are due a break after last weekend's fourth quarter, in which they fumbled twice, lost both and saw both returned for touchdowns.
Prediction: Centennial 30, Ridgeview 17

WEST (4-3) AT GARCES (4-3) — Word in cyberspace is that West running back Mustafaa Cobb is academically ineligible to play for the rest of the season, or so a source close to the Vikings program has told me. That's a blow to the Vikings, who obviously are coming off their win of the year. It's possible that will end up being their high-water mark for the whole season, with a tough game here and another against Stockdale in Week 10 still left. But Chad Grider's defense has also been tough, so the loss of Cobb isn't an end-all. Garces' offense has been very, very good too, though, so this will be an interesting matchup. But unless West can find a way to hold the Rams below 20 or so points — something that's been done sparingly this year — I don't think they'll be able to keep up.
Prediction: Garces 24, West 14

EAST (3-4, 3-1 SEYL) AT LIBERTY (4-3, 3-0) — Speaking of interesting matchups, it will be fun — and probably pretty eye-opening — to see what East's (sometimes) high-flying offense can do against the Patriots. Defensive back Zach Vasquez leads a secondary that's one of the best around, and you can bet Liberty will get some pressure on Joe Pearson, the county's leading passer. I don't think the final outcome is really in doubt, because even if the Blades can score a few points, they've had trouble stopping people even in games they've won. Liberty's once-struggling offense will continue to fatten up in league play.
Prediction: Liberty 41, East 14

SOUTH (5-2, 1-2 SWYL) AT FRONTIER (7-0, 3-0) — Next week, at long last, is Frontier's game at Stockdale. But first things first: The Titans play their last regular-season home game this weekend, and if they're at all distracted by Senior Day and whatnot, South is good enough to put a scare in a team that otherwise should breeze to 8-0. I say that because Frontier has faced good backs like West's Mustafaa Cobb, Tehachapi's Jesse Olofson and Ridgeview's Tyler Dogins and more or less shut them down. Could be a big night again for the Titans' defensive line and a long one for Lee West and a pretty good South offense.
Prediction: Frontier 42, South 13

NORTH (1-6, 0-4 SWYL) AT STOCKDALE (6-1, 3-0) — Think back to last year at this time, and this was the Halloween game of the week, with North rolling in at 4-0 in the SWYL and Stockdale hanging on in the league race after losing to Ridgeview the week before. A few mistakes buried North, and though the Stars rebounded to out-gun Centennial the next week and win a share of the league title, they seemingly haven't been the same since. A lopsided playoff loss to Sanger and then a struggle of a 2009 later, North is just a speed bump for Stockdale on its way to Frontier next week and what's looking more and more like a deep run in the Division I playoffs.
Prediction: Stockdale 49, North 6

GOLDEN VALLEY (2-5, 1-3 SEYL) AT BAKERSFIELD (5-2, 2-1) — The Bulldogs' coaching staff had a bit of a revelation last year at this time, realizing that switching from their balanced, maybe even leaning towards the pass, offense to an all-Byron Newman, all-the-time attack might trip up the Drillers. It did, and Newman's big night combined with a few timely forced turnovers from the Golden Valley defense sprung what was one of 2008's biggest upsets. This is a different year and a couple of different teams, however, and I don't think lightning will strike twice in one place. Bakersfield is mistake-prone again, but Golden Valley doesn't have a Byron Newman to make the Drillers pay.
Prediction: Bakersfield 47, Golden Valley 12

FOOTHILL (1-6, 0-3 SEYL) AT HIGHLAND (2-6, 0-3) — If it weren't for that doozy of a Taft-Tehachapi game, this might be the toss-up pick of the week. The Scots finally showed some life in sticking with Frontier for about a half last week. Don't forget this is a team we thought might be pretty competitve this year until they had a rough stretch against East, Garces and Golden Valley. And this is a team that still has some athletes in Alan Roy and John Oglesby. Conversely, I think the pantry at Foothill is pretty bare in terms of experience and experienced talent. Give the Scots their first win in more than a month.
Prediction: Highland 23, Foothill 16

BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (2-5, 0-2 SSL) AT SHAFTER (2-5, 1-1) — Hard to believe that it was just a year ago that BCHS was coming off of a scintillating shootout win against Tehachapi and blazing its way to an SSL title. Now the Eagles simply have to be worried about snapping out of this five-game losing streak. The good news is that Shafter, despite its own thrilling victory last week at Arvin, is more like the two teams Bakersfield Christian beat (Avenal and Kennedy) than it's like the five teams it lost to. Shafter will hang around, and a win here would really be huge for the program, but I think Arend Bos and the Eagles receivers hit enough big plays to give BCHS a much-needed victory.
Prediction: Bakersfield Christian 34, Shafter 24

ARVIN (1-6, 0-2 SSL) AT WASCO (5-2, 1-1) — The key here is Wasco's confidence. The Tigers were flying high a week ago but now are nursing the 42-0 welt Taft left them with last Friday night. If Wasco can shake that off mentally, they've got enough talent to roll past Arvin, but if the bad loss in their heads, that's when mistakes happen. Judging by an almost upbeat Wasco locker room after the Taft game, I'd say shaking it off might not be a problem. And it might not matter — Arvin has had trouble scoring all season no matter who it has faced.
Prediction: Wasco 41, Arvin 10

CHAVEZ (5-3, 2-2 EYL) AT PORTERVILLE (4-3, 2-1) — The Titans have been one of the toughest teams for me to predict all year. What's more, Porterville has played a number of Kern County teams, and I haven't done well there either, I think only 1-3. So to say this one strikes me as a toss-up is quite the understatement. It does seem to me like Porterville has been playing better the past couple of weeks — the Panthers snuck out a win against Delano in their last home game and then at least weren't totally embarrassed by Tulare Union — and they're at home. And I'm in doubt. You know what that means.
Prediction: Porterville 23, Chavez 19

MIRA MONTE (3-4, 3-0 SCSL) VS. KENNEDY (0-7, 0-3) AT CHAVEZ — Another rematch, one the Lions need to win if they want to stay ahead of Independence with those teams' own rematch coming in Week 10. The good news is that Mira Monte won the first meeting 36-6 in Bakersfield and that running back Tim Harris really seems to have hit his stride. Harris already has racked up 971 yards, including more than 200 in each of the past two weeks. He's averaging 203.3 yards a game in league play. Expect that to continue, and expect the Lions to roll and keep Kennedy winless.
Prediction: Mira Monte 42, Kennedy 7

McFARLAND (4-4, 1-1 ESL) AT LATON (1-6, 0-2) — Speaking of good running backs you might not have heard of, keep an eye on the Cougars' Frankie Gonzalez, who was up to 840 yards on just 96 carries as of two weeks ago (last week's stats weren't inputted on MaxPreps). Frankie, though, had only taken the ball into the end zone twice. Laton might be a tougher team that their record indicates — for small-school standards, they've played a decent schedule and they gave Mission Prep more of a test that McFarland did — but this is still a game the Cougars should win. Give Frankie another touchdown and McFarland a second-half pull-away.
Prediction: McFarland 28, Laton 14

KERN VALLEY (6-1, 2-0 HDL) AT BISHOP (3-3, 2-0) — Forget the records here, too: This could very well be the game of the weekend. Even though Desert and Mojave have won a couple of titles each this decade (and Rosamond won one in 2005), this has by and large been Bishop's league to lose for some time. Kern Valley, meanwhile, hasn't been in the picture until this year. So it's a classic case of the challenger against the champion, and it's in the champion's house. (To be fair, Frazier Mountain is going to be in this race, too.) But I like the Broncs with no O in this one for a couple of reasons — their offense has been terrific, and they've won a number of close games while the Broncos with an O have lost a couple. That sort of thing is contagious.
Prediction: Kern Valley 30, Bishop 27

FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (6-1, 2-0 HDL) AT CALIFORNIA CITY (0-6, 0-2) — Awaiting the winner of that game will be the Falcons, who should have no problem getting to 3-0 in league this week. Frazier Mountain must travel to Bishop next week before hosting Kern Valley in Week 10. In the meantime, it can sharpen its defense — even while winning, the Falcons have given up 20 or more points five times — against Cal City.
Prediction: Frazier Mountain 55, California City 14

DESERT (1-6, 0-2 HDL) AT ROSAMOND (1-6, 0-2) — For all the troubles the Scorpions have had this year, they've still been able to run the ball pretty effectively. They've got three kids over 300 yards, led by Chris Buchanan's 513, and they're averaging 4.2 yards a carry. But while offense was the problem early, defense has been the issue of late, and it's just shaping up to be one of those seasons where nothing goes right. Rosamond might be a bit of a respite, but the Roadrunners woke up last week and put some points on the board against Frazier Mountain in a 55-28 loss. Somehow, though, I think Desert's running game will have a big night and have enough to get out of the HDL cellar.
Prediction: Desert 28, Rosamond 19

BURROUGHS (4-3, 1-1 DSL) AT VICTORVILLE-SILVERADO (6-2, 2-0) — After splitting a couple of close games to open Desert Sky League play, the Burros likely need to take two of their final three games to reach the Southern Section playoffs for the second straight year. Unfortunately for them, that stretch begins with a road game at Silverado, a team that pummeled the same Barstow team that beat Burroughs in overtime a couple of weeks ago. The OT loss could haunt Burroughs if they don't get it done here.
Prediction: Silverado 37, Burroughs 20

LANCASTER-DESERT CHRISTIAN (2-5, 1-1 DML) AT BORON (5-2, 2-0) — I got a note earlier this week reminding me of what a great story the Bobcats are, and so I'll share the gist of it here: This is a football program that is a consistent winner, a consistent champion even, despite having a group of less than 20 players year in and year out. That's a testament to the players, the coaches and the small community, which will be able to enjoy another big victory this week.
Prediction: Boron 51, Desert Christian 14

YERMO-SILVER VALLEY (0-6, 0-1 DML) AT MOJAVE (5-1, 1-0) — Boron's run of dominance in the Desert Mountain League might come to an end, though, because of the presence of Mojave. While a much smaller school that it used to be, Mojave still has a consistent football program that produced a couple of champions in the much bigger High Desert League earlier in this decade. All signs are pointing to a battle royale between the Mustangs and Bobcats next week at Boron.
Prediction: Mojave 35, Silver Valley 6

COALINGA-FAITH CHRISTIAN (1-4, 1-1 CVSSL) AT LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (3-4, 1-1) — A win here in its final home game would set Lighthouse Christian up with a chance to go on the road and get a really big victory, next week against undefeated Riverdale Christian. It would also be a giant step towards a .500 season.
Prediction: Lighthouse Christian 47, Faith Christian 12

Saturday, Oct. 31
MARICOPA (5-2) AT L.A.-WINDWARD ACADEMY (6-0) — This is a rare late non-league game for the Indians, and it should provide them with quite a stiff test. Windward is unbeaten, though that counts one forfeit win. The Wildcats' other five victories include one against a previously unbeaten team and another against another unbeaten team. So, yeah, the Indians are underdogs here.
Prediction: Windward Academy 49, Maricopa 21

BIG PINE (4-3, 2-2 HLL) AT IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (5-2, 3-0) — Big Pine appeared to be one of the top dogs in the Hi-Lo League until last week, when the Baker Mad Greeks (er, Braves, and I know that's not the first time I've used the joke but I love that restaurant) took them out 40-20. That, combined with Immanuel Christian's momentum and the fact that the Crusaders are at home leads me to pick them to stay unbeaten, setting up a league-championship showdown at Trona next week.
Prediction: Immanuel Christian 33, Big Pine 24

Last week: 18-6 (.750)
This year: 132-43 (.754)

We're getting into crunch time in the regular season. Three games left for every team in the Central Section, many of them huge league tilts that will alter seeding for the playoffs. Still, the pecking order right now is pretty well established.

1. Fresno-Bullard (7-0, Division I, last week: 1) — For the first time since the early part of the season, I considered knocking the Knights off of their No. 1 perch, after they struggled to put away Reedley and Buchanan hammered Clovis West. But I think Bullard has earned enough benefit of the doubt for a shaky game. Just about everyone in the County-Metro Athletic Conference, though, seems dangerous.
LAST WEEK: won at Reedley, 52-42. THIS WEEK: at Sanger

2. Clovis-Buchanan (7-0, Division I, last week: 2) — You don't find many teams that can put up 38 points on Clovis West with 352 passing yards, but you don't find many teams that suit up QB Lance Orender and gifted receivers Jake East, Kyle Novak and Seth Moranda.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 7 Clovis West, 38-14. THIS WEEK: at Clovis

3. Tulare Union (7-0, Division II, last week: 3) — Every now and then, East Yosemite League fans try to manufacture a "showdown" between TU and another team that has a good record in the league. But there's too big of a gap for that description to be accurate. Porterville took a whipping in the EYL's big game last week; now, Delano will take its shot.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Porterville, 56-21. THIS WEEK: at Delano

4. Stockdale (6-1, Division I, last week: 4) — I was tempted to move the Mustangs into the three spot — no team has been more consistently impressive — but that one-point loss to Bakersfield still bothers me. Stockdale has gotten better, but there were times when the Drillers were running at will. No matter; if Stockdale keeps winning, it'll get that No. 3 spot and then some.
LAST WEEK: won at Ridgeview, 41-7. THIS WEEK: vs. North

5. Fresno-Central (5-2, Division I, last week: 5) — The rare sleeper that actually matierializes into a legitimate title threat, Central has taken a flashy offensive team and made it into a winner. The Grizzlies have allowed just 17 points in three quality wins over the past three weeks. Now they should cruise to 7-2 before a Week 10 meeting with Buchanan, probably with the Tri-River title on the line.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis East, 20-7. THIS WEEK: at Madera

6. Bakersfield (5-2, Division I, last week: 6) — It's almost hard to fathom this, but is it possible the Drillers are flying under the radar a bit? Don't forget, Bakersfield was on its way to running Stockdale out of the building in the first quarter when the mistakes started coming, and while they haven't really stopped, the first California team to 700 victories is a threat to win it all if they can put everything together.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Foothill, 40-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Golden Valley

7. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (6-1, Division II, last week: 10) — The third member of Sleepers Row is Memorial, which notched its second shutout and fourth game allowing 6 or fewer points in Week 7. I'd like to see the Panthers get together with Liberty — it might end scoreless.
LAST WEEK: won at Madera South, 26-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Fresno-Roosevelt

8. Liberty (4-3, Division I, last week: 9) — In similar fashion, the Patriots got their second shutout of the year against Golden Valley. I doubt they'll shut out East and the county's passing leader, Joe Pearson, but they'll be able to show off an improved offense instead. By the way, the seeding I've done in my head has Liberty getting another shot against Stockdale in the D-I quarterfinals.
LAST WEEK: won at Golden Valley, 34-0. THIS WEEK: vs. East

9. Clovis West (2-5, Division I, last week: 7) — Another example of a team falling below one of its victims, but the Golden Eagles can't keep getting a pass on their hellacious schedule. There's certainly time for this ranking to improve, but what happens if the defending champs lose one of their final three? I guess they'll still go to the playoffs, but they'd be a 4-6 team.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan, 38-17. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis East

10. Frontier (7-0, Division II, last week: 12) — It's one thing to have a good team and surprise people with a big early win, like the Titans did at Tehachapi back in Week 2. But Frontier has been consistently good, and even when they've slipped, like last week, they still pour on the points and win big. These last three weeks will be very interesting.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Highland, 36-10. THIS WEEK: vs. South

11. Fresno-Edison (4-3, Division II, last week: 8) — The shock of the week for me was the Tigers' Thursday loss to Sanger, the same team that lost to Buchanan by 43 and to Clovis East by 35 earlier this year. Granted, Edison was missing Tevin McDonald, a stud running back and defensive back, for the last three quarters, but he'll be gone against Hoover this week too, and the Tigers better figure something else out.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. Sanger, 21-19. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 15 Fresno-Hoover

12. Kingsburg (7-0, Division IV, last week: 13) — After seeing Taft last week, I'm not convinced anymore that the Vikings are a shoo-in to win Division IV. Then again, Kingsburg can score points and stop you, and they did both to the Wildcats in a 36-0 quarterfinal win on the day before Thanksgiving last year.
LAST WEEK: won at Visalia-Central Valley Christian, 49-7. THIS WEEK: vs. Kerman

13. Visalia-El Diamante (6-1, Division II, last week: 14) — With Hanford having a down year, El Diamante in the West Yosemite League is about as much of a mismatch as Tulare Union is in the East Yosemite League. This week against Redwood and next week against that down Hanford team are the two biggest tests El D will get, but those are relative terms.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Hanford West, 56-9. THIS WEEK: vs. Visalia-Redwood

14. Tehachapi (6-1, Division III, last week: 15) — A few ho-hum victories behind them, the Warriors can now start gearing up for the big game with Taft. And it's a good bet the whole mountaintop is almost foaming at the mouth for this one — likely an SSL title and, for Tehachapi, a No. 1 seed in D-III, are at stake.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Bakersfield Christian, 40-12. THIS WEEK: vs. Taft

15. Fresno-Hoover (6-1, Division II, last week: NR) — The easy victory against Sanger a couple of weeks ago looks very good now, and the big win against Clovis North last week will also have legs. Now come two really big games in the last three for a team not many expected to be this good. The season finale is against Bullard.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis North, 37-19. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 11 Fresno-Edison

Dropped out: No. 11 Centennial
Waiting: Centennial, Taft, Fresno-Washington Union, Reedley, Clovis East, West, Clovis North, Sanger, Chowchilla, Garces, Dinuba, Porterville, Delano

I was out in Taft (near Taft, really) today for the section's South Area girls golf tournament, so I thought it'd be a good time to check in on our non-football sports, two of which are already into postseason and two more that are rapidly approaching that point.

Girls golf
Frontier stole the show Monday at Buena Vista, with five players among the 15 who get to advance to the individual section championships and a team title with a great score of 395. It's the first time the Titans have broken 400 in their school's history, and it's the first time in a number of years any Kern County has done it. Leading the charge was junior Jordanne Barr, who shot a 1-over-par 73. Frontier is certainly deep enough to win the Division II section title for a second straight year and has a great shot at being one of two Central Section teams through to the Southern Cal regional for a second straight year. As for being the overall top dog? It'll come down to the Titans and Clovis West, the defending Division I champ. Stockdale and Garces will be this area's D-I representatives, but neither has the guns to compete with CW or Frontier, it doesn't look like. The team championships are next Monday in Tulare. The individual titles are in two Mondays at Rio Bravo Country Club, where the Frontier five plus other standouts like Stockdale's Abby Marina, Garces' Jasmine Rodriguez, Ridgeview's Karly Lux, East's Micah Lopez and Bakersfield Christian's Megan Cho will compete.

Girls tennis
League championships last week brought us singles champions Danisa Hromadkova of Frontier, Gracie Jacobs of Garces and a co-championship of Lyndsay and Chelby Cooke of Bakersfield Christian, who for the second straight year didn't play their sisterly finals match, hoping for a later meeting in the section tournament. They just might get it, with Gabrielle Gatewood of Visalia-Redwood likely seeded No. 1 and Lyndsay Cooke No. 2 (they've met in the finals in the past two seasons), Chelby might get the No. 3 seed (it's probably between her and Jacobs). Seeding comes out tomorrow, and if that's the way it is, the potential semifinal match would take place in two Saturdays in Visalia. The individual tournament has its preliminary rounds this Saturday.
If the Cooke sisters do meet, it'll be about the only drama around BCHS' program this fall. The Eagles are the section's best team at any level, and so they will waltz through the Division V team bracket with their eyes closed, starting with a semifinal Thursday. The real team drama could come in Divisions I and II. Stockdale has improved throughout the year, but the young Mustangs will do very well if they come close to winning their seventh straight D-I title. Stockdale is the No. 4 seed and plays No. 5 Liberty in Thursday's quarterfinals. Get past that, and they'll likely have No. 1 Clovis-Buchanan in the semifinals next Tuesday. In Division II, Garces is No. 2 but much improved from last year, when it lost 7-2 to Redwood in the championship. Garces returns its entire lineup plus adds Jacobs and another talented freshman to help the cause. First, the Rams would have to get past No. 3 Frontier in a semifinal.

Cross country
The Ridgeview-McFarland battle will culminate Saturday in the Kern County Championships at Hart Park. Ridgeview won at the Cougars' home invite; McFarland won at the Wolf Pack's meet. Robbie Baker and Alex Garcia for Ridgeview and a host of Cougars led by Eddie Garcia and Francisco Nava will compete for individual honors. Also keep an eye on Highland and East teams as we head into the section and state meets later in November.
As for the girls, Stockdale threw a wrench into things by beating Ridgeview in a tri-meet a couple of weeks ago. Tijerra Lynch is far and away the individual favorite for the Wolf Pack, but Stockdale's depth ran down Ridgeview later in the race to tie them and win on a sixth runner. Ridgeview gets two chances at revenge, first Saturday at the Kern County meet and then Nov. 5 at the SEYL-SWYL league meets, also at Hart Park, where a first-place finish will at least win a co-league title for Ridgeview. The other thing to keep an eye on for Saturday will be the individual battle between Lynch and Bakersfield's Sarah Baker, who haven't met yet this year. There are other competitors, but those seem like consistently the top two dogs this year.

Volleyball
There are still two weeks left in the regular season here, but already the hierarchy among Kern County teams seems to be established: It's Centennial, closely followed by Bakersfield, then Liberty in Division I and then D-II rivals Garces and Frontier. Stockdale follows, along with Tehachapi and Bakersfield Christian in the SSL. BCHS lost its first SSL league match ever a couple of weeks ago in five games to Tehachapi at home; the Eagles return the trip up the mountain next week. Liberty also travels to Bakersfield in an interesting return trip. Garces and Frontier should be the top two seeds when the D-II bracket comes out a week from Saturday, and Centennial hopes for at least a No. 3 seed in Division I, and possibly a No. 2 ahead of North Area powers Clovis-Buchanan and Clovis West.

Another great football weekend, another bunch of statements made by some Kern County football teams. Let's do the recap thing.

— The first big showdown of the year in the South Sequoia League came in Wasco, and the home team was showed down. The Taft Wildcats pounced, winning 42-0 in an utterly dominating performance, that, in my eyes, makes Taft the favorite in the SSL. We'll find out if I'm right next week in Tehachapi; a win there, and the Wildcats will be 3-0 with only struggling Bakersfield Christian and Shafter to go. Can Taft do it? If they play defense like they did in Wasco and spring Cody Shirreffs for another couple hundred yards, I say yes.

— Meanwhile, Centennial was tripped up in Game 2 without quarterback Cody Kessler. West High scored two defensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to stymie the Golden Hawks 16-14, and this is a win the Vikings can feel really good about. They're now 3-1 in the SWYL with games against South and Stockdale left after stepping out of league to play Garces this week. Wouldn't it be something if Stockdale beat Frontier in their Week 9 showdown but then had to win a game against one-loss West in Week 10 to stay atop the league? On the other side, Centennial can regroup and hope for a better performance against Ridgeview next week. The Hawks still have a lot to play for.

— Speaking of Stockdale, it had no problems without one of its offensive stars. running back Malik Henderson. The Mustangs pulled away from what was shaping up to be a road test at Ridgeview behind Henderson's backup, Eddie Gutierrez, who ran for 177 yards and five touchdowns in an impressive 41-7 victory. Is there no end to Stockdale's stable of talented backs? The Mustangs led just 14-7 at halftime but showed again why they've got a team that can challenge for a Division I section title.

— The other two teams in town who hope to compete for that title both notched easy SEYL wins Friday, Liberty 34-0 at Golden Valley and Bakersfield 40-14 at home against Foothill. It was the Patriots' second shutout of the year, and the fourth time they've allowed 10 or fewer points. For Bakersfield, the win was marred by 187 yards in penalties but was a great chance to celebrate the program's 700th win. That's more than any other school in California. Congratulations, BHS. Now they'll try to get to 703 against a weak finishing slate and add a few more in the playoffs.

— Garces dominated East offensively and won the shootout of the year, 67-41, to give the Blades an emphatic first league loss. I don't think East was ever a viable threat to win the SEYL, and the Rams showed that by running all day on the home team even without the threat of starting quarterback Blake Campbell, who broke his collarbone the week before. Jalen Sykes had 266 rushing yards, plus scores on a punt return and a fumble return for Garces, which totaled 479 rushing yards and came up one shy of the school's record for points, even though it didn't score in the fourth quarter. By the way, I also hear Garces parents were wearing "First Down Dave" T-shirts in support of coach David Fanucchi, who has resigned, apparently under some pressure, effective at the end of the year.

— A defensive touchdown for Highland kept the Scots with Frontier in the first half, and though the Titans eventually pulled away for a 36-10 win, this shows the Titans do have a few chinks in the armor. Most of them are on offense, I think, though it's interesting to note that Matt Darr also missed a couple of extra points. Didn't expect that. Frontier has a game with South to try to clean those things up and get to 8-0 before the tussle with Stockdale.

— The Rebels won't necissarily be a pushover, though. They won the Civil War game against North 28-26 in a thriller. The Stars came back late, but they missed an extra point on their third touchdown and so had to go for two to tie the game when they scored with about a minute to go. South held, and they've won their fifth game. One more to go for a winning season that not many saw coming. In another heart-stopper, Mira Monte stopped Independence's two-point conversion when the Falcons went for a win down 28-27. That's a big step towards a league title in their inaugural season for the surprising Lions, who still have to play Independence once more.

— After a disappointing loss at Porterville last week, Delano recovered to mercilessly pound lowly Porterville-Granite Hills 64-6 and at least get to 6-1 heading into an intriguing home game with 7-0 Tulare Union, the defending Division II champion. Are the Tigers up to the task? Seems unlikely, but they do have a great homefield advantage and a running game that could keep the TU offense off the field if it can find any holes.

— Congratulations to coach Ben Ansolabehere and his Shafter team, which got a goal-line stand in the final seconds to beat Arvin 23-19 for the Generals' first SSL win since Nov. 3, 2006. Also, with an eye to the Southern Section, a big Desert Sky League win for Burroughs against Apple Valley-Granite Hills that gives the Burros a big boost for their playoff hopes.

How about the big games in Week 8?

Taft at Tehachapi: Wasco still gets a shot at the Warriors, but this seems like an SSL championship to me
Ridgeview at Centennial: The Golden Hawks can't afford to let another one drop
Tulare Union at Delano: It would be monumental if the Tigers could pull this one off
West at Garces: A couple of improving teams that still have a lot to play for
East at Liberty: Not sure if the Blades' passing attack will hold up against Liberty

UPDATED, 12:06 a.m.: Quite a few blowouts around Kern County tonight, but there were a few exceptions to that — and one in particular. All the scores are updated below, but here's a few I've pulled out.

West 16, Centennial 14: The Vikings returned two — count em — fumbles for touchdowns in the fourth quarter to stun the Golden Hawks, who got 195 yards from Myren Moore on the ground but not much else in the way of offense until a desperation TD pass late that set up a failed onside-kick attempt. West is up to 3-1 in the SWYL and Centennial has fallen a long ways from its 2-0, win-over-Liberty days. The win last week was nice, but this is a different team without Cody Kessler.

Taft 42, Wasco 0: No doubt about it, Wasco is a contender in the SSL only if that means second place (and probably third, honestly, after Tehachapi comes to town in a couple of weeks. Cody Shirreffs exploded for 279 yards and Taft set up the real showdown for a league title, next week up the mountain.

Stockdale 41, Ridgeview 7: A relatively close game exploded in the second half, and that's a great thing if you're Stockdale, which is now just a win at home against North away from its meeting with Frontier. Eddie Gutierrez, by the way, filled in just fine for Malik Henderson, running for five TDs.

Garces 67, East 41: The shootout of all shootouts. Joe Pearson threw for more than 400 yards for the Blades, but Garces kept East at bay with a strong running game and some turnovers. Jalen Sykes ran for 266 yards, returned a fumble 60 yards and a punt 40 yards. Pretty good day for one guy.

Bakersfield 40, Foothill 14: That's No. 700 for the Drillers, and it could have been by a wider margin if it weren't for 187 yards in penalties against BHS. Those mistakes are an old foe for Bakersfield, and it's something to watch as it faces three more overmatched foes to end the season.

Mira Monte 28, Independence 27: Got to give credit to Falcons coach Sean McKeown, who went for two in the final minute to get a win instead of a tie, but give more credit to the Lions who stopped it. Tim Harris had a big day and Mira Monte takes control of the South Central Sequoia race.

UPDATED, 10:19 p.m.: This has to be the earliest I've ever been done with a story on a Friday night, but two running teams and a blowout will do that for you. 42-0 Taft the final here. I'll make the drive back and have another update with a bunch of scores a while later.

UPDATED, 9:40 p.m.: West recovers a fumble and scores a defensive touchdown to seal it, 16-7. Bigtime upset there, and all of a sudden the Vikings, at 3-1, are right near the top of the SWYL race.
Stockdale has dominated the second half against Ridgeview. Eddie Gutierrez, the back filling in for Malik Henderson, has five touchdown runs. That's a way to show you're up to the task.

UPDATED, 9:28 p.m.: It's now 42-0 Wildcats here with 9:21 left, but the bigger news on this night comes from West, where the Vikings have scored to take a 9-7 lead on Centennial with a little more than three minutes left. No Kessler, so Mark Ritchie might have to pass the Hawks into position for a score here with his arm.

UPDATED, 9:07 p.m.: A 57-yard TD run for Shirreffs. It's 35-0 and he has 257 yards rushing. This one has gotten pretty ugly fast.

UPDATED, 8:59 p.m.: To me, it was a bit predictable, but the Tigers still tried an onside kick to start the second half. Taft recovered and promptly marched 52 yards in four plays, capped by a 34-yard TD run by Kevin Rivera, who has touched the ball twice and scored twice, totaling 69 yards. Taft is either the real, real deal, or Wasco is being exposed a bit. Probably a bit of both.
20-0 BHS at halftime over Foothill. The Drillers have had four touchdowns called back because of penalties.

UPDATED, 8:54 p.m.: East's reign atop the Southeast Yosemite League will come to an end tonight, it looks like. Garces 41, Blades 14 just before halftime. Second half just starting here.

UPDATED, 8:35 p.m.: Stays 21-0 here at halftime. Wasco's offense just isn't equipped to pass on command, and a two-minute drill isn't an option unless someone busts a big run.
Elsewhere, Centennial scored late in the first half to break a scoreless tie at West. The Golden Hawks having some offensive trouble without Cody Kessler, evidently, but they're up 7-0. It's Bakersfield 6, Foothill 0 at the end of a quarter as the Drillers go for program win No. 700, and Stockdale leads Ridgeview 14-7 at halftime. Couple of close games there.
Not in Wasco, though. Here are some first-half stats:
TAFT — Shirreffs 13 carries, 167 yards, 2 TDs; Medina 1-35, TD
WASCO — Cheatham 15 carries, 69 yards; Jacob Salinas 8-13, 2 catches, 31 yards
        & nbsp;       &n bsp;  Taylor Yursik 3-5 passing, 66 yards

UPDATED, 8:25 p.m.: Wasco did respond with its best drive of the night, keyed by a 35-yard pass from Taylor Yursik to Rene Medina, but Taft stiffened from there and took over on downs with a Lio Maino sack on fourth down.
And then Cody Shirreffs strikes, breaking tackles all the way down the right sideline until he reaches the Wasco 5. This would be a backbreaking turnaround before halftime if Taft can punch it in. Remember, the Wildcats get the ball first in the second half, too.
Out of a timeout, Taft gives it to Shirreffs, who finishes the job barely touched. He's got two TDs and — get this — 167 yards before halftime. 21-0 Taft, 1:47 before the break.

UPDATED, 8:11 p.m.: Cody Shirreffs is the definition of a downhill runner, and he's making Wasco work right now. An offsides penalty converted a fourth-and-1 for Taft, and Shirreffs pounded out runs of 11, 4 and 15 yards after that. From there, a speedy scatback named Kevin Rivera took it to the house on his first carry of the night, a 35-yard burst up the middle. 14-0 Taft, and I'd say it's pretty darn important for Wasco to do something in the 6:12 left before halftime.

UPDATED, 8:08 p.m.: A third-down pass from Taylor Yursik to Jacob Salinas nets 27 yards and finally gets the Wasco offense moving. Quentin Cheatham follows it with a first-down run before the first quarter comes to an end. Still 7-0 Taft. Defenses came to play tonight in a battle of Kern County's two leading rushers. He follows it up with another to start the second quarter, but Wasco stalls at the Taft 21, fourth-and-5. Tigers call their second timeout. And it's an incomplete pass on fourth down. Yursik had a man on the right sideline but overshot him.

UPDATED, 7:56 p.m.: Another three-and-out for Wasco, which couldn't convert third-and-2 when Jacob Salinas was stuffed at the line. The Tigers then lined up to go for it on fourth, but they were just trying to draw Taft offside. No dice, and a timeout wasted to boot with the punting situation.
I stand corrected! Wasco is going to go for it from their own 25. Risky, risky, and it costs Wasco, which is stuffed a yard short of the first down. Wow. That's a heck of a gamble and it could bury the Tigers quickly. Remember, neither one of these teams has a passing game to speak of, so comebacks will be tough.
But Chris Rocha comes up with Wasco's play of the game thus far, tripping up Brice Royal on third-and-4 in the backfield to force Taft into a fourth down. Tigers' defense trying to bail out their offense for the second time, but Taft also is going to go on fourth-and-7. Cody Shirreffs on a sweep, and he slips. Not sure he was going to get it anyway. Defenses controlling this one so far.

UPDATED, 7:46 p.m.: It took half a quarter, but at least one running game has gotten going here in Wasco. On a third-and-8, Cody Shirreffs ripped off a 22-yard gain on a pitch play, then ran a counter 30 yards for a touchdown on the very next play. Wildcats 7, Tigers 0.
Wasco went three-and-out in its second possession after fumbling on the first. Nerves? If it is, the Tigers had better get over them pretty quickly.

UPDATED, 7:39 p.m.: Not a good start for the home team. Jacob Salinas nearly busted a dive play for 76 yards, but he was caught and then stripped of the ball. Taft recovered and has a first down inside the Wasco 30. With a couple of potent offenses, turnovers are going to be crucial, so score one for the Wildcats.
But a defensive stand for Wasco. Three plays net Taft just a yard, and they'll have to settle for a 45-yard field goal try from Ada Figueroa. He's got a heck of a leg and easily had the distance, but it went wide left. Bullet dodged for Wasco, still scoreless.

UPDATED, 7:27 p.m.: Quite an entrance there for Wasco, with about 30 chopper motorcycles rolling across the field with cheerleaders on board (behind the drivers) as part of Homecoming festivities here, then with all 30 lined up and revving as the Tigers ran through. Big crowd here for Taft, too. Can't wait for kickoff. It's in about five minutes.

ORIGINAL POST: To set the stage for Week 7, take a look at a fun story I got to do this week on Wasco's re-emergence as an SSL contender from this morning's Californian.

I'll be up in Tigertown tonight to see the home team face Taft in probably its stiffest test yet. For the Wildcats, of course, it's a test too, their first road game since Week 0 and a quality opponent. Both teams will run the ball, and both teams will do it all night. Should be a lot of fun.

Week 7 got started in parts of the Central Section last night with a couple of games involving ranked teams. No. 3 Tulare Union pounced on Porterville, but No. 5 Fresno-Edison lost a bit of a shocker to Sanger, a good program having a down year. But it was the Apaches' night Thursday; they scored with 18 seconds to go to win 21-19 after a late Edison turnover. The Tigers are now just 4-3, albeit against a good schedule, but this loss certainly throws a wrench into next week's rankings and into the Division II playoff picture. Not even Friday night and we've had excitement.

Locally, Stockdale visits Ridgeview in a dangerous "letdown" game, Bakersfield High School goes for all-time win No. 700 (a state record including the rugby years), and East tries to keep its unlikely perfect SEYL record going at home against Garces. It's also homecoming for many schools this week and next, so if you're in town for that, have fun.

Also, I somehow left a game on the schedule off of my predictions post Wednesday, so here's the addendum:

KENNEDY (0-6, 0-2 SCSL) AT TULARE-MISSION OAK (0-6, 0-2) — Obviously one of these teams is going to win the first game in school history tonight, but it's difficult to tell which one.The Thunderbirds have scored just 33 points and gained 673 yards in six games, but this will be by far their weakest opponent to date. Mission Oak got 22 points on Independence last week, so it might have a little pop, but I can't get past the feeling that Kennedy is due for a breakout win. We'll see if Delano's third school can get on the left side of the ledger.
Prediction: Kennedy 34, Mission Oak 28

Schedule is below, to be turned into a scoreboard tonight. Also be sure to check out the Week 7 predictions and Week 7 podcast.

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

Kern County scoreboard
(4) Stockdale 41, Ridgeview 7
(6) Bakersfield 40, Foothill 14
(9) Liberty 34, Golden Valley 0
West 16, (11) Centennial 14
(12) Frontier 36, Highland 10
(15) Tehachapi 40, Bakersfield Christian 12
Taft 42, Wasco 0
Garces 67, East 41
South 28, North 26
Mira Monte 28, Independence 27
Shafter 23, Arvin 19
SLO-Mission Prep 30, McFarland 7
Chavez 46, Porterville-Monache 27
Delano 64, Porterville-Granite Hills 6
Tulare-Mission Oak 47, Kennedy 14
Kern Valley 33, Desert 6
Frazier Mountain 55, Rosamond 28
Bishop 43, California City 0
Burroughs 14, Apple Valley-Granite Hills 7
Boron 76, Lucerne Valley 0
Mojave 28, Lancaster-Desert Christian 6
Lighthouse Christian 46, Alpaugh 0
Maricopa 12, Atascadero-North County Christian 8
Immanuel Christian 68, Lone Pine 36

Other Central Section scores
(3) Tulare Union 56, Porterville 21 (Thursday)
Sanger 21, (8) Fresno-Edison 19 (Thursday)
Visalia-Mt. Whitney 13, Lemoore 12 (Thursday)
(1) Fresno-Bullard 52, Reedley 42
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 38, (7) Clovis West 14
(5) Fresno-Central 20, Clovis East 7
(10) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 28, Madera South 0
(13) Kingsburg 49, Visalia-Central Valley Christian 7
(14) Visalia-El Diamante 56, Hanford West 9
Fresno-Hoover 37, Clovis North 19
Fresno-Washington Union 14, Madera Ranchos-Liberty 6
Chowchilla 35, Tollhouse-Sierra 0
Dinuba 42, Coalinga 21
Clovis 49, Madera 12
Hanford 35, Tulare Western 8
Visalia-Redwood 56, Visalia-Golden West 6
Mendota 28, Cambria-Coast Union 6
Corcoran 63, Riverdale 0
Exeter 31, Selma 14
Firebaugh 46, Avenal 6
Fowler 29, Fresno Christian 0
Farmersville 36, Lemoore-Kings Christian 9
Orange Cove 56, Laton 6
Fresno 27, Fresno-McLane 14
Caruthers 45, Parlier 9
Lindsay 25, Strathmore 20
Fresno-Sunnyside 14, Fresno-Roosevelt 13
Woodlake 37, Orosi 0
Oakhurst-Yosemite 30, Kerman 13
Reedley-Immanuel 30, Dos Palos 15 (Saturday)
Visalia Christian 36, Coalinga-Faith Christian 35 (Saturday)
Clovis Christian 82, Madera-Lighthouse Academy 0 (Saturday)

Had some technical issues, but here is the Week 7 podcast, complete with a discussion from Todd Camps and I about the first four playoff divisions and who we might think the favorites are. It's still early for it to be anything but speculation, but it was a fun talking point.

Week 7 running thread will be up tomorrow morning. If you want some football before that, listen to the KRAB Radio (106.1 FM) morning show between 7 and 8 for a short segment with yours truly to discuss some Week 7 news.

It's absolutely amazing how fast some of these seasons fly by. Seems like we were just wondering about whether Liberty would win a big game this year as it entered its Week 0 showdown at Clovis West, and now the Patriots are about out of "big games" to win (they did beat Bakersfield, for the record, and are in pole position for the SEYL outright title). Seems like we were just wondering if any local team has what it takes to run the table (did anybody have Frontier in their last man standing pool?). We were just wondering who would win section titles.

OK, we're still working on that last one. The next few weeks are vitally important for seeding purposes in the playoffs. And yes, that obviously means the big games — Taft-Wasco in Division IV this week, Frontier-Stockdale in Divs. I and II in a couple of Fridays — but it also means the other games. You can't do what Bakersfield did last year and lose to a team you think you ought to beat — it cost the Drillers probably two seed lines and a home game in the quarterfinals. Any slip-up is a cause for a tougher matchup early in the playoffs, and so it hurts your chances at a section title. It's not quite college football, where teams are playing directly for their title hopes every week, but it does have an impact.

Before we get started on Week 7 predictions, a couple of notes out of Garces to pass along:

First, quarterback Blake Campbell broke his collarbone in the Rams' loss to Bakersfield last week, and though he actually continued to play with it (no one realized it was a break), he's now out for the remainder of the season. A big blow there to Garces, which had found some offensive balance with Campbell under center. Sophomore Phillip Anspach will get first crack at replacing Campbell.

Second, a bit of a breakthrough in the David Fanucchi resignation enigma. Neither Fanucchi nor the school has ever confirmed that the coach said he would resign at the end of the year, but now they don't have to. The school sent out a release yesterday saying it's started a statewide search for a football coach for 2010. Still nothing on the Garces website as of noon Wednesday, but you've got to think it's coming. So that's settled: David Fanucchi will not be the Rams' coach next year, at least not unless he somehow re-applies and gets the job, which seems highly unlikely.

Now on to the games. First, let's take a look at my predictive performance last week.

The good: Another solid week overall, with a better-than-75 percent winning percentage. Specifically, calling out Liberty mistakes as the reason in a defensive loss to Stockdale, taking Frontier easily over Ridgeview and picking East to get to 3-0 in the SEYL.

The bad: Missed by a lot on some margins. I thought Garces would give Bakersfield a better battle (the Rams did for a half), and I didn't think things would be so easy for Centennial and Taft, among others.

The ugly: I thought Delano could come up with a big victory at Porterville, but I underestimated the Panthers at home. Also missed for the second time this year on Golden Valley, this time against Highland. About time to think about a Bulldogs pick before too long.

Friday, Oct. 23
TAFT (5-1, 1-0 SSL) AT WASCO (5-1, 1-0) — No secrets here: These teams will run the ball like it's the new fad instead of the old one. The inner battle between Cody Shirreffs and Quentin Cheatham's rushing totals will be interesting, though Shirreffs gets a few more carries a game. It's also interesting to note that Taft hasn't been on the road since Week 0, when they lost a close one at Templeton. Can Wasco turn its magical non-league run into true contender status in the SSL, or will the Wildcats make next week's trip to Tehachapi a league-championship showdown? I'm leaning with Taft, because (a) the Wildcats are a bit bigger and have played more consistent defense and (b) these kids have played in some big games in the past couple of years; for Wasco, the pressure might be on a little bit in front of a big home crowd. This one ought to be a doozy, though.
Prediction: Taft 34, Wasco 28

STOCKDALE (5-1, 2-0 SWYL) AT RIDGEVIEW (5-2, 1-2) — It's been a nice turnaround season for Ridgeview in Dennis Manning's first year at the helm, but I don't think the Wolf Pack really call it a success unless there is an upset in league or a deep playoff run in Division III. We'll see about the latter, but here's a chance for the upset. Last year, Tyler Dogins was a beast on offense and defense, and he led Ridgeview to an upset on the road of Stockdale. But while this year's Ridgeview team is better, so is this year's Stockdale team. The guys I saw on the field after the Liberty win were so amped up that I don't see Stockdale slipping here, even without injured running back Malik Henderson.
Prediction: Stockdale 30, Ridgeview 14

FOOTHILL (1-5, 0-2 SEYL) AT BAKERSFIELD (4-2, 1-1) — I mention this up high because it's a chance, a good one, for the Drillers to get program victory No. 700. Now that total includes 12 rugby victories earned between 1910 and 1914, when the Central Valley played that sport instead of football out of concerns for violence. But both CalHiSports and Central Section historian Bob Barnett count those victories towards a team's total, so that's good enough for me. Maybe they can celebrate 700 again when they reach that in football-only wins. The first milestone should come rather easily against a Foothill team that could have turned a corner offensively in a close loss to East last week but one that shouldn't be able to keep up with the Drillers.
Prediction: Bakersfield 48, Foothill 7

GARCES (3-3, 2-1 SEYL) AT EAST (3-3, 3-0) — Now that the Blades have knocked off the three Division III teams in the SEYL, they get a chance to prove themselves further against the big boys. They might have to settle for those three wins, though; Garces will be a different kind of team defensively than East has seen in league play, and it will make Joe Pearson (Kern County's leading passer, by the way) and company work for their yardage. East's defense, then, will have to step up, and while the Rams will be without Blake Campbell, I think they've got plenty of firepower in that running game to force the Blades into catch-up mode. Once that happens, Garces can feast on some turnovers and pull away. East will get some shots in, but it won't be enough.
Prediction: Garces 37, East 20

CENTENNIAL (4-2, 1-1 SWYL) AT WEST (3-3, 2-1) — The blowout loss to Frontier a couple of weeks ago took some luster off of their position, but the Vikings certainly are still a factor in the SWYL. Think about what a great spot West would be in with a win here — 3-1 in the league with South up after a non-league game with Garces. A win against South would then put the Vikes in position for a league championship with an upset of Stockdale. It's a long way off, yes, but don't discredit this team just yet. However, Centennial has seen West's type of speed before — think Stockdale (didn't fare so well) and Bakersfield (fared reasonably well). I think they keep West's attack at bay, and I think the Centennial attack, which last week proved it could be a lot more than Cody Kessler, scores enough points for an important two-score win on the road.
Prediction: Centennial 31, West 21

MIRA MONTE (2-4, 2-0 SCSL) AT INDEPENDENCE (3-3, 2-0) — One of the better games of the weekend could be between these two new schools, who have each notched blowouts against fellow South Central Sequoia League members Kennedy and Tulare-Mission Oak over the past three weeks. It's a little difficult to gauge teams that are so young, but it's safe to say we'll see Mira Monte's Tim Harris a lot — he of the 261 yards and four TDs last week — against an athletic Independence defense that just needs to keep Harris at bay while its offense puts up some points. The Falcons have averaged 46 in their first two league games, and that plus a home-field edge will be enough here in a great game.
Prediction: Independence 31, Mira Monte 26

HIGHLAND (2-5) AT FRONTIER (6-0) — Last year this game, a 16-3 Highland win, showed off the best of what the defensive-minded Scots and the rest of a deep Southeast Yosemite League could be. This year, it'll show off the opposite. Frontier is leaps and bounds better, and the Scots have stumbled on some hard times with the loss of Anthony Johnson and Patrick Su'a to Fresno State over the past couple of years and now a one-game suspension of running back Alan Roy that contributed to a three-game losing streak to start SEYL play, with none of the games particularly close. Roy is back, but wins are going to be tough to come by for Highland against its back-loaded schedule. Give the Titans another big win.
Prediction: Frontier 44, Highland 6

LIBERTY (3-3, 2-0 SEYL) AT GOLDEN VALLEY (2-4, 1-2) — Bulldogs coach Erich Smith might have found a mix he likes after an offseason in which he lost almost all his key parts from last year either through graduation or attrition of some sort (injury, discipline, grades, transfers, you name it). For instance, senior Manuel Vargas has had his coming-out party in the past couple of weeks, rushing for 105 yards against East and 196 in a victory against Highland last week. But Liberty is a different animal than either of those teams, and Vargas and Golden Valley will probably find holes quite a bit smaller. The real question here for me is whether Liberty's offense can show some real signs of life against a defense that's been torched at times this year. The Pats have scored against teams before, but I think everyone over at Liberty would like to see a real feast.
Prediction: Liberty 38, Golden Valley 7

NORTH (1-5, 0-3 SWYL) AT SOUTH (4-2, 0-2) — After a promising 4-0 start, the Rebels have confirmed some fears, going up against a couple of great offenses and getting hammered to the tune of 98 points over the first six quarters. The good news is that with Stockdale and Centennial out of the way, South should be able to continue its march to a possible winning record and a decent seed in the Division III playoffs. North is having trouble holding on to the ball and getting first downs, much less scoring like either the Mustangs or the Golden Hawks can. Give South's offense a quarter or so to get going, then watch a couple of big plays put North in a hole that it can't climb out of.
Prediction: South 29, North 16

BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (2-4, 0-1 SSL) AT TEHACHAPI (5-1, 1-0) — Tehachapi gave the best BCHS team in history all it could handle last year, nearly erasing a huge deficit and stunning the Eagles at home. This year's Warriors team isn't quite so veteran, but BCHS is merely a shell of what it was last year. Now up on the mountain, Tehachapi won't have trouble controlling the Eagles' passing game or ripping BCHS on the ground. The Eagles need to learn how to run and stop the run to get back on the winning track, but it won't happen this week. Tehachapi sets up next week's big game with Taft with ease.
Prediction: Tehachapi 41, Bakersfield Christian 9

SHAFTER (1-5, 0-1 SSL) AT ARVIN (1-5, 0-1) — Not to put too fine a point on it, but the loser of this game is going to going to find itself getting to know the SSL cellar, I'm afraid. Neither team has shown a propensity to even stick close to good teams. So who will get on the right track here? I'm tempted to call for an upset and pick the Generals, who have been showing signs of improvement in the past few weeks even as they lose. But the Bears have the benefit of recent history — they've handled Shafter easily the past few years — and the better win between the two, against Foothill. I think Arvin simply is a bit better at this point.
Prediction: Arvin 27, Shafter 21

SAN LUIS OBISPO-MISSION PREP (3-3, 1-0 ESL) AT McFARLAND (4-3, 1-0) — This is quite possibly the game of the year for McFarland, at least until the playoffs. The Cougars have been pretty good in their non-league season, a Division VI team beating a Division V and losing to two Division IVs. That alone should let you know they're capable of competing in the East Sierra League, which is five D-VI teams and D-V Mission Prep. If the Cougars can tame Mission Prep, they could very well win the league. So what to do? It will be close, one way or the other, and I'll give the nod to the home team. Cougars win a big one.
Prediction: McFarland 26, Mission Prep 23

PORTERVILLE-MONACHE (3-3, 2-1 EYL) AT CHAVEZ (4-3, 1-2) — Needing a win — or at least some points — in the worst way, the Titans got just what the doctor ordered last week with Porterville-Granite Hills on the schedule. They popped off a 49-0 victory after two straight shutout losses. In fact, if you take away that victory and a 33-0 win against Mira Monte in Week 0, Chavez has scored just 37 points in five games. That's not going to win you many games, even with a solid defense that has allowed only 28 points in six games against teams not named Tulare Union. Monache, though, can score a few points. If they get to 21, this one might be over.
Prediction: Monache 21, Chavez 13

DELANO (5-1, 1-1 EYL) AT PORTERVILLE-GRANITE HILLS (0-7, 0-3) — Here's a chance for the Tigers to get healthy after a bruising loss at Porterville and with a home date to take a shot at Tulare Union coming next week. The starters should be out by the start of the third quarter, and Delano should put up some big numbers. Granite Hills, by the way, has scored in exactly one game all year.
Prediction: Delano 55, Granite Hills 0

DESERT (1-5, 0-1 HDL) AT KERN VALLEY (5-1, 1-0) — At home for the fourth straight week, the Broncs shouldn't have much of a problem scoring in this one — they've scored 27 or more in five of their six games this year and Desert has given up 40 or more in each of the last three games. I don't see any reason to believe that will change — expect Kern Valley to gear up for a big trip to Bishop next week with a second straight High Desert victory.
Prediction: Kern Valley 42, Desert 17

ROSAMOND (1-5, 0-1 HDL) AT FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (5-1, 1-0) — Continuing with the undercard portion of the HDL schedule, the Falcons host the Roadrunners in an another apparent mismatch. It actually works out nicely for the High Desert this year: All three of the top teams, Frazier Mountain, Kern Valley and Bishop, should be 2-0 next week when they finally begin to duke it out amongst one another.
Prediction: Frazier Mountain 33, Rosamond 3

BISHOP (2-3, 1-0 HDL) AT CALIFORNIA CITY (0-5, 0-1) — Signs of progress for the Ravens last week in the form of a couple of touchdowns at Kern Valley last week, one of them even in the first half when KV likely had some starters left in the game. Cal City had scored just one TD in its first four games combined, garbage time or no. But any progress in terms of wins and losses will have to wait until Weeks 9 and 10, when Desert and Rosamond are the opponents. Bishop is too strong.
Prediction: Bishop 45, California City 14

APPLE VALLEY-GRANITE HILLS (5-1, 0-0 DSL) AT BURROUGHS (3-3, 0-1) — Few teams have played more close games than the Burros, who are 1-3 in games decided by eight points or fewer, including last week's 28-21 overtime loss to Barstow to open league play. I'm going to pick Burroughs again, simply because this ought to be another close one and luck is bound to change. It's also a must for Burroughs' playoff hopes. Backs against the wall, the Burros come through.
Prediction: Burroughs 23, Granite Hills 21

BORON (4-2, 1-0 DML) AT LUCERNE VALLEY (2-4, 0-1) — Three Bobcats backs — Reggie Heard, Leroy Taylor and DeAndre Golden — have at least 450 yards, six touchdowns and a run of 60 yards each. Those are pretty explosive stats. Here's a real prediction for you: Boron, as a team, will run for 450 yards, six touchdowns and have a long of at least 60 this week.
Prediction: Boron 56, Lucerne Valley 17

LANCASTER-DESERT CHRISTIAN (2-4, 1-0 DML) AT MOJAVE (4-1, 0-0) — Here's a scheduling quirk, thanks to Mammoth moving to 8-man football: Mojave had two straight bye weeks and hasn't played since Oct. 2. That's probably not a great position to be in — Larry Satterfield has had to find ways to keep his kids sharp — but Boron and Mojave are heads and shoulders above the rest of this league, and the Mustangs should show it in this, what could be a battle for second place but will end up a wipeout.
Prediction: Mojave 35, Desert Christian 13

MARICOPA (4-2, 1-1 CVL) AT ATASCADERO-NORTH COUNTY CHRISTIAN (0-6, 0-2) — A big win for the Indians against Shandon last week, and this now becomes a situation where Maricopa needs to root for the team it just played. Likely the only way it can win a Coast Valley League title is if Shandon beats Santa Maria-Valley Christian in the final game of the year to create a three-way tie. And oh yeah, Maricopa needs to continue to take care of its own business.
Prediction: Maricopa 37, North County Christian 19

IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (4-2, 2-0 HLL) AT LONE PINE (1-4, 0-2) — Lone Pine is better than its record shows, with all four losses coming to teams at .500 or better, but this is a road game the Crusaders can win. That would guarantee a playoff spot for Immanuel Christian and set up a couple of showdowns in the final two weeks of the year with Big Pine and Trona for a Hi-Lo League title.
Prediction: Immanuel Christian 35, Lone Pine 30

Saturday, Oct. 24
ALPAUGH (0-4, 0-1 CSL) AT LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (2-4, 1-1) — There are no eight-man playoffs in the Central Section because there's just one league, though it's been split into two divisions this year. That's going to make motivation a bit of a concern for Lighthouse Christian and coach Tony Martinez. But something the Guardians can chase is a .500 record. They need to win three out of four to get there, and this looks like an easy first step.
Prediction: Lighthouse Christian 47, Alpaugh 15

Last week: 19-4 (.826)
This year: 114-37 (.755)

I'm headed up to Wasco for some interviews on a story I'm working on for Friday in a few minutes, so I'll make this a bit brief.

The biggest shake-up of the week comes from the northern part of the Central Section, where Fresno-Central got a breakthrough win for its program, 24-3 over defending Division I section champion Clovis West. Gives you one of those tied round-robin situations: Central beat Clovis West, which beat Fresno-Edison. But Edison beat Central. Down in Kern County, we have the same thing between Liberty, Stockdale and Bakersfield after the Mustangs' win against the Patriots this week. Centennial's in that jumble too. Maybe Frontier will go 10-0 and clear things up for us. But the way this year is going, I'd expect more confusion.

1. Fresno-Bullard (6-0, Division I, last week: 1) — Every team has a letdown at some point, but the Knights' came against Clovis West and they still won by a touchdown. I maintain that Bullard has been the most consistent, well-rounded team in the section, and I think that lead is being extended rather than threatened.
LAST WEEK: won 42-0 vs. Clovis North. THIS WEEK: at Reedley

2. Clovis-Buchanan (6-0, Division I, last week: 2) — Keep in mind that Madera actually came into its game with the Bears at 4-1 when you consider that a supposedly pass-happy Buchanan offense finished with 286 yards passing, 284 rushing on Friday night. Looking forward to seeing what this team can do against a tough Clovis West D.
LAST WEEK: won 51-21 at Madera. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 7 Clovis West

3. Tulare Union (6-0, Division II, last week: 4) — As the Redskins continue to pound competition not close to their level, I'm going on faith from last year's D-II championship that this team really is that good. But it can't help that when TU runs into Edison or Memorial or Frontier in the playoffs, they won't have played anyone near that good all year. Can it?
LAST WEEK: won 50-19 vs. Visalia-Redwood. THIS WEEK: vs. Porterville (Thursday)

4. Stockdale (5-1, Division I, last week: 5) — I toyed with the idea of putting the Mustangs ahead of Tulare Union for that No. 3 spot, but I backed off. The loss to Bakersfield still bothers me a little bit because I'm not sure how well Stockdale will respond to great offenses. The D has appeared to turn a corner, though, and if the wins continue, I think I'll have to relent and push Stockdale ahead of TU.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 6 Liberty, 17-3. THIS WEEK: at Ridgeview

5. Fresno-Central (4-2, Division I, last week: 10) — The only way these rankings make sense to me is if the Grizzlies get the nod on the round-robin conundrum. Yes, they lost to Edison, but that was a close game, and yes, they lost out of section to Paso Robles, but there's not much shame in that and that was out of section anyway. The whooping they put on Clovis West, however, speaks triple-digit decibels. They'll have to be consistent to stay here, though.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 3 Clovis West, 24-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis East 

6. Bakersfield (4-2, Division I, last week: 7) — The second half of the win at Garces might show exactly what the Drillers are capable of when they put everything together. Expect a quartet of blowouts now as they rest up for the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: won at Garces, 42-16. THIS WEEK: vs. Foothill

7. Clovis West (2-4, Division I, last week: 3) — I know the record is ugly, and Edison is a quality team, but I'm all about what teams have done lately. That's why the Golden Eagles fall to seventh, but not below the Tigers, whom CW dominated in the second half just two weeks ago. But the road continues to stay tough.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 10 Fresno-Central, 24-3. THIS WEEK: at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan

8. Fresno-Edison (4-2, Division II, last week: 8) — Edison exposed previously unbeaten Reedley and rebounded nicely from the loss to Clovis West the week before. The County-Metro Athletic Conference, by the way, looked mighty good in the non-league season and is, at least at the top, every bit as good as the Tri-River Athletic Conference.
LAST WEEK: won at Reedley, 46-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Sanger

9. Liberty (3-3, Division I, last week: 6) — No need to count the Patriots out — not with close losses to Clovis West and Centennial and a win against Bakersfield on the resume — but Liberty didn't look like it was at Stockdale's level Friday night. Offense continues to be a problem, so key in on any improvement there as the schedule lightens.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 5 Stockdale, 17-3. THIS WEEK: at Golden Valley

10. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (5-1, Division II, last week: 9) — The Division II playoffs are shaping up to be nearly as good — and probably more wide-open — than the Division I bracket. Memorial is an intriguing wild card: The Panthers don't have a really tough schedule, but when they have played good teams, the results have been great. A 41-17 beatdown of Oakhurst-Yosemite, a 20-0 win against Garces, a 15-12 win against Fresno-Hoover, and a 28-21 loss to Buchanan. The D is for real.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fresno, 48-6. THIS WEEK: at Madera South

11. Centennial (4-2, Division I, last week: 11) — Speaking of wild cards, remember that the Golden Hawks have a manageable schedule and a perfectly good enough running game — enter Myren Moore and his 200 yards last week — to get through the next few weeks without Cody Kessler. Then comes a test against Frontier with potentially a huge amount of league and seeding impact on the line for both teams.
LAST WEEK: won vs. South, 48-6. THIS WEEK: at West

12. Frontier (6-0, Division II, last week: 12) — I've seen a couple of other sets of rankings around the section, and some don't have the Titans mentioned, others not until a few spots later than this. And I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to get them higher. People around the Valley might not have noticed, but Rich Cornford has this team rolling right now. And it won't stop for at least two weeks.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Ridgeview, 27-7. THIS WEEK: vs. Highland

13. Kingsburg (6-0, Division IV, last week: 14) — A key win against Division III Dinuba that will go a long way towards a Central Sequoia League title (or at least a Week 9 showdown with Exeter) gives the Vikings a bump at the expense of El Diamante. This team, by the way, is in the state's Division II for bowls — and still gets CalHiSports' mention as a top-10 contender in that bracket.
LAST WEEK: won at Dinuba, 14-0. THIS WEEK: at Visalia-Central Valley Christian

14. Visalia-El Diamante (5-1, Division II, last week: 13) — The Miners keep winning, and I keep sliding them down the rankings. Just correcting myself for starting too high, I think; it's clear that this team doesn't quite have the firepower of last year's.
LAST WEEK: won at Lemoore, 30-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Hanford West

15. Tehachapi (5-1, Division III, last week: 15) — I'm not sure which, but the Warriors either made a bunch of mistakes or took it awfully easy on Shafter last week. They had 412 rushing yards and yet only won 28-0 — and one of the touchdowns was a fourth-quarter fumble recovery in the end zone. Either way, this still is the SSL's force to be reckoned with. Taft against Wasco this week is only for rights to be the main challenger.
LAST WEEK: won at Shafter, 28-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Bakersfield Christian

Dropped out: none
Waiting: Fresno-Hoover, Clovis East, Fresno-Washington Union, Taft, Clovis North, Wasco, Chowchilla, Dinuba, Porterville, Delano

High school football update: Stockdale's Malik Henderson, who suffered one of those scary non-contact injuries Friday against Liberty, apparently is going to be OK.

Like Henderson's mom commented on an earlier post, the injury is just a bone bruise. His dad, Demetrius, said he'll be out 2-3 weeks while some swelling goes down and the knee becomes less painful. Henderson had injured the knee in a preseason camp in Madera and had been wearing a brace on it; this appears to be an aggravation of that injury but nothing new.

So we're 2-for-2 in terms of good news on injuries for high school stars: Looks like both Cody Kessler and Henderson will see the field again this season.

Now onto college football. If you've seen my live blog of Fresno State's game against San Jose State on Saturday night (or any other coverage of the game), you've certainly heard about Ryan Mathews, the West High alumnus who is running rampant over the college football world.

After a 233-yard night Saturday, one that could have been a lot bigger if Mathews had gotten more carries early or if the game hadn't been out of hand by late in the third quarter, the former Viking now has 974 yards rushing, an average of 162.2 per game, to lead the nation. Next closest is Pittsburgh's Dion Lewis, who has 918 yards. But Lewis has played seven games. Mathews has a 26-yard per-game edge on Marshall's Darius Marshall for the national lead.

But before you say Mathews is racking up numbers against lesser competition, consider that the Bulldogs also played Wisconsin, Boise State and Cincinnati, the last two of which make up Nos. 4 and 5 in the first BCS Standings. Check out this site, cfbstats.com. It allows you to break down rushing leaders in different situations. If you break it down to rushing leaders vs. Top 25 teams or vs. winning teams, Mathews still checks in at No. 2 nationally, behind only Alabama's Mark Ingram in both cases.

All of that is leading to quite a bit of hype surrounding Mathews. I think this column from the Fresno Bee's Matt James just about says it all — in fact, many of the answers you see below from Mathews were to questions asked by Matt.

Here, as promised, is some of what he and Fresno State coach Pat Hill had to say after the game:

On tight ends helping with blocking on the outside
"Just like the offensive lines, the tight ends did a good job, too. They put people on their backs, they keyed in on their assignments. They did a good job just breaking me free. I didn't have to do any of the work."

On whether not getting many carries early frustrated him
"Nah, I don't care about that. I'm just here to play the game and have fun. If it's not my time to go in, it's not my time to go in. Lonyae (Miller), all the running backs, Jamaal (Rashad), all the backs, that's how it is. I'm just glad we got the win and everybody got some playing time."

On watching other backs play
"It's fun like that. Everyone gets a chance to play, and everyone is real happy to be in there. Everyone came to this school for a reason, to play football. And it's fun like that. I'll get a break, and Lonyae or Anthony (Harding) will go in there and get the ball or Mike Harris or Robbie Rouse will go in there and just ball out. And I like watching all of them. Lonyae almost popped that one — I love that stuff. It's a good job out there, just watching them play."

On his stiff-arm, which was used multiple times with much success
"If corners or safeties have a good angle, it's a good weapon to use to get them off you. You can use it all different ways — get them to push off, or try to knock them down. It's a good weapon to use. ... I've got a dangerous stiff-arm, I think, and it's just one of the tools you use. ... I get juiced; there's nothing like it. They're coming over there trying to tackle you, and try and get the ball and stuff, and you know that you put him on his back and you've got the ball. It's a whole different thing."

On his 59-yard touchdown run in the second quarter
"I was untouched. I was just reading my blocks and my linemen, my fullback (Reynard) Camp, man, he's a beast; I owe a whole lot of credit to him, he did a lot of work. So I just hit it, and I was saying to myself 'I don't want to get caught.' It's embarrassing. It's little stuff like that that goes through your mind, don't get caught, you want that touchdown."

On if he's better this year than before
"I think I worked a lot harder in the offseason to get where I am. I had that injury last year with my nerve and everything, but I like to say I am a little bit better than last year. I think I'm running a little bit better, and my vision is better."

"The training staff has just been pushing me and pushing me and pushing me to do squats and keep my strength up and everything. I was coming in with tired legs, but after the first quarter, I felt like my legs were fresher than ever."

On whether he's the best running back in the country
"I don't like to say that. I don't think I'm better than anybody out there. All the running backs are good. I don't like to think about that. That's not me. Everyone has a different running style, the way they run the ball that makes them unique. I don't think I'm better than anybody, all the running backs who get good linemen and are working hard can be in the same position as I am."

On whether he notices rushing-yardage lists and national attention
"I don't like to pay attention to that stuff. That's just all numbers and stuff. I just want to stay focused on one game at a time and staying healthy for the rest of the season, helping my team out and getting some wins. Hopefully we can get rolling and get some more wins."

On how he's staying healthy
"I'm eating a little bit better, and like I said, I'm keeping my strength up in the weight room. ... It's little things like that that keep your body healthy."

"Sometimes I break a tackle, and I'm amazed at how I do it. I'm like, 'Oh, shoot, I'm in the open field now.'"

"This is my time. Last year I was doing good and on a good pace and that thing happened to my knee and everything. That's what I think, that this is just my time to shine. (Injuries) can happen to anybody. Anybody can get hurt. That's the one thing about getting hurt: It's stupid."

"I think the RB group is the tightest group in here. We don't fight with each other, we hang out all the time. We all support each other."

"I think we're a good team. I think we're kind of like figuring it out right now. I think we can play anybody; we just can't make mistakes like we did at the beginning of the game. But we've got playmakers on this team. ... I think we're just trying to figure out that we're really good and we can play with the best of them."

FRESNO STATE COACH PAT HILL
"I'm a lot different than most people; I don't care too much about stats. I care about getting to win the game."

On Mathews
"I think he's a very, very special player. I think he's pretty close to 1,000 yards after six games, and he only played one quarter against Davis and two quarters, two and a half against Hawaii, and not very much after the middle of the third quarter in the San Jose State game. I guess if you wanted to really build up his stats, you could, but I don't think there's any need to. I think he's proven himself to be a premium running back. He's strong. He is really strong."

"He played really good last year against Rutgers, Toledo, UCLA, and then he got hurt. He's played really well whenever he's played. He's an exceptional player."

A comment on Derek Carr getting in
"I'd like to see Derek in a situation where we can just turn him loose. We haven't really been able to turn him loose. I guess you could have gone in there and done that, run up the score if you wanted to try, but that's not the way I coach. Never will. That's not my deal. Never has been."

I then asked Hill if he'd configure a situation where he could let Carr "loose"
"Number one, we're going to make sure we're winning. Because right now, my starting quarterback is Ryan Colburn. I think Derek Carr is going to be a great player. There's no doubt in my mind about it. ... But late in the game, when all we're doing is running the ball, and not trying to do anything, we're playing against some pretty stacked boxes. So it's not going to be as efficient as you want it to be. But they get good reps, and they get chances to play, and that's why they sign up to play."

I'm sitting on my couch on a lazy Sunday afternoon, trying to recover from a long Saturday night. To recap, I drove to Fresno to see Fresno State beat San Jose State 41-21 and West High grad Ryan Mathews run for 233 more yards, did this live blog, then did some interviews with FSU coach Pat Hill and Mathews after the game, from which I'll post some interesting quotes tomorrow. Then I drove back to Bakersfield, got home and stayed up too late.

So here I am, recovering. Now I'll try to rewind my head back to high school football on Friday night, which somehow seems like it was 10 days ago. No worries, though; I'll manage if you can.

— With all due respect to 6-0 Frontier, it's time to embrace Stockdale as the best team in Kern County. The Mustangs beat up and bruised Liberty 17-3, and it probably could have been worse. Other than a bad start and a bad finish in a one-point loss at Bakersfield, the Mustangs have been pretty darn good, and that includes offense, defense and special teams. All three contributed to the win against Liberty — though the defensive effort and Kyle Deismone's 87-yard kickoff return deserve extra props. This is the local team most likely to challenge for the Division I section title, if Malik Henderson is healthy. If not (and I hope to find out tomorrow), then the Mustangs might have some trouble on offense.

— The Titans will get their chance to disprove my statement above in Week 9. In the meantime, they got an important 27-7 victory against 5-1 Ridgeview, thanks in large part to a defensive front that held the talented Tyler Dogins to 15 rushing yards on 24 attempts (I'm betting a few sacks are included in that total) and 71 passing yards. Frontier plays struggling Highland next week, followed by a South team that padded its 4-2 record against a weak non-league slate. Two expected wins would put the Titans at 8-0 heading to Stockdale (and, don't forget, at Centennial in Week 10). I would think at least  a No. 2 seed in Division II is within reach.

— A big third quarter led Bakersfield past Garces 42-16. The Drillers out-gained the Rams 160-26 in the third, and the two-touchdown edge that bought them gave them control of the game. Garces was game, but Bakersfield showed what it can do when all that talent gets rolling. Alfonso Jackson had 134 yards on just nine carries, and Brian Burrell threw for 141 yards and ran for 68 more. This really was Bakersfield's toughest remaining game; the rest of the schedule reads Foothill, Golden Valley, East and Highland. The road to 8-2 — and avoiding Buchanan and Bulard until at least the Division I semifinals — is wide open. Also wide is the road to school victory No. 700, most in California, next week against the Trojans.

— As we all know, though, it can be dangerous to look ahead. Golden Valley proved that against Bakersfield last year, and this year we have a surprise leader atop the SEYL. It's the East Blades, who are 3-0 in the league and lead Liberty by a half-game. With a thrilling, four-overtime, 48-42 victory against Foothill, East guaranteed itself a .500 record in the league. Even if they do end up 3-3 — and with games left against Garces, Liberty and BHS, that's still the safe bet — this has been a great season for the Blades. I don't know what the school's policy on qualifying for the playoffs is, but if East can win one more game (its final game is against North) and get to 4-6, I say let quarterback Joe Pearson and company in.

— If there was anyone left to doubt Wasco's place in the top half of this year's SSL, there shouldn't be after the Tigers dismantled defending champion Bakersfield Christian 34-6. Now Wasco has a huge home game, one of the biggest in recent school history, against 5-1 Taft, a 65-6 winner against Arvin, next week. When you get great athletes in a double-wing running system behind a solid offensive line, good things can happen to you. And methinks Quentin Cheatham is one of the best athletes in the county. Me also thinks I'll go see for myself next week up in Tigertown.

— Easy-peasy for Centennial against South. The Golden Hawks took apart the Rebels 48-6 and showed that a Cody Kessler-less Centennial team is still a dangerous Centennial team. Backup QB Mark Ritchie didn't have to do much in place of the injured Kessler, going 3-of-6 passing for 28 yards. But Myren Moore racked up 200 rushing yards and four touchdowns, including three in a first half that saw the Hawks take a 35-0 lead. I hinted at it before, but it bears repeating: It would be a mistake to forget about Centennial and its Week 10 game vs. Frontier in all this talk about Mustangs and Titans.

— There will be no pre-Halloween showdown of 7-0 teams in Delano in a couple of weeks, not after the Tigers were shut out in the second half at Porterville. Big disappointment for Delano, which lost an early 14-9 lead, and then, trailing 16-14 late, threw an interception that the Panthers returned for a touchdown to seal victory. That's probably enough to get to second place in the EYL for Porterville and to ensure that it, and not Delano, will get a shot at Tulare Union. The truth is, either team probably doesn't measure up to the Redskins, but Porterville was so excited about getting the inside path to second place in the league that they actually called the Californian to report the score — a rarity considering Porterville's not in our coverage area.

— Mira Monte and Independence easily dispatched Kennedy and Tulare-Mission Oak, respectively, in home games, the Falcons' 50-22 victory being their first under the lights at their new stadium. Those wins make it clear that the Lions and Falcons are the cream of the South Central Sequoia League, which is made up entirely of schools playing their first varsity seasons. The two new Bakersfield schools meet next week at Independence, and again in Week 10 at Foothill for Mira Monte's home game.

With that in mind, let's move on to next week's big games:

Taft at Wasco: The rushing yards will be fast and furious in the year's first SSL heavyweight bout
Stockdale at Ridgeview: A dangerous game for the high-flying Mustangs
Garces at East: Surely the Blades can't get to 4-0 in the SEYL — can they?
Centennial at West: A tougher test here for a short-handed Hawks team
Mira Monte at Independence: First meeting between two schools with a shared history

UPDATED, 11:16 p.m.: Just got back from some postgame interviews, and while none of the quotes are going to make our print deadlines, I'll type some up and put them on the blog tomorrow or Monday. Some good stuff from Ryan Mathews — no, he doesn't care that leads the nation in rushing or that his name is being bandied about as a Heisman candidate. He just likes to win. He also gets so excited watching some of his fellow backs play that he lost where he was and almost slipped and cussed about it in the interview before catching himself.
One other thing about Mathews: When you see him in person, with no pads on (and I didn't get a chance to when he was at West High, so I don't have anything to compare it to) it strikes you as to how big and physical he looks. This guy is fast, but it's no surprise that he mows defenders down while he's busy being fast.
Anyway, that's a wrap from Bulldog Stadium. Fresno State gets back to .500 at 3-3, 2-1 in the WAC. Next week is a trip to my home state, where the Bulldogs will take on New Mexico State in Las Cruces. Shouldn't have many problems there. I think Fresno has a decent-to-good chance of being 8-3 when they head to Illinois to end the year, and I wouldn't put a win there past them, either. A trip to Nevada is the biggest WAC obstacle left.
Be on the lookout for a high school Week 6 most important things tomorrow and some Ryan Mathews and Pat Hill quotes when I can get around to typing them up.

UPDATED, 9:58 p.m.: Carr is in the game, and he almost threw his first career touchdown pass, barely overthrowing an open Ryan Skidmore — an East High product who's also entered the game — in the end zone. Carr is 1-of-2 for 9 yards and the Bulldogs are in the red zone again.

UPDATED, 9:48 p.m.: No Derek Carr sighting yet, but it might be coming on the next drive. Fresno State goes up 38-14 as its third quarterback, Ebahn Feathers out of Fresno-Washington Union, flips a 3-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Moore as he was being tackled on an option keeper. The guy's athletic as all get-up.
It'd be a bit of a shame, honestly, if Mathews' night is done. He's at 233 yards, one shy of his career high. But he took a shot on his last carry, and I wouldn't be surprised if that caught Pat Hill's attention. No sense in getting your best player hurt in a 17-, now 24-point game. The touchdown was the first play of the fourth quarter, by the way.

UPDATED, 9:37 p.m.: I probably should have mentioned some time ago that the Fresno State single-game rushing record is 295 yards, set by Dwayne Wright in 2006 against Louisiana Tech. Mathews busted out 26 more yards on two carries on this drive, so he's up to 224. If he stays in the whole game, or busts another big one, he'll challenge that record. His career high is 234, set earlier this season against Boise State. That seems like a shoo-in, unless he's done for the night.

UPDATED, 9:31 p.m.: A slowish start to the second half here, and I'm taking the time to catch up on my game story for the newspaper tomorrow. Safe to say that Ryan Mathews will be heavily involved. Anybody think the kid deserves some Heisman love? He was 14th on ESPN.com's Heisman Watch to start the week, getting just one fifth-place vote, but I bet that total goes up this week. More nights like this will help.
He had 4 yards on the Bulldogs' first second-half possession, so he's at 198 on 15 carries. The third quarter, thankfully for deadline purposes, is flying by. San Jose State will be forced to punt back to FSU with 6:30 to play in the quarter.

UPDATED, 8:54 p.m.: There was a long delay there for an injured San Jose State player who had to be carted off the field, but afterwards, Fresno State picked up right where it left off, forcing a three-and-out and then blocking a punt. I believe it was Seyi Ajiritutu who got his hand on it, but I'm not sure about that. Anyway, it came in the red zone but with just 15 seconds to go in the half, so FSU will try a couple of passes to the end zone here to get another score before halftime. Both fall incomplete, and it'll be a field goal from Kevin Goessling instead to end the half. The lefty drills it from 40 yards, and it's 31-14 Ryan Mathews, er, Fresno State, at the half on Homecoming.

UPDATED, 8:37 p.m.: And there it is! That same tackle play that Mathews has been gashing San Jose State with finally goes to the house, 59 yards for the former West High Viking. The guy is strong and agile with good vision, and when he uses those attributes to get into open space, he's darn fast, too, faster than he looks. Now 194 yards on the night on just 13 carries and into fifth place on Fresno State's all-time list, up seven spots in just a half. And, not to be forgotten, it's helped the Bulldogs pull away here — they're up 28-14 with 1:42 left in the half.

UPDATED, 8:33 p.m.: There's a sighting of Matt Akers, a redshirt freshman from Liberty High and the fourth Bakersfield product to get into the game. He might have been in on the punt-return team before; this is the first I've noticed. He actually got reasonably close to blocking that punt, but SJSU got it away and gives the ball back to FSU, 2:33 to play in the first half.

UPDATED, 8:30 p.m.: Scratch that. SJSU challenged the fumble (you can do that in the WAC) and the ruling was overturned — the receiver was down. Instead, the Spartans get a first down with four minutes to play in the half.

UPDATED, 8:25 p.m.: Wait a tick, I missed one Mathews run, a 6-yarder. Make it 132 yards on the night, 54 yards from sixth and 61 from fifth. He's still 1,135 yards from first-place Ron Rivers, if you're wondering. He'd need to come back next year for that.
Now San Jose State has returned the Bulldogs' favor from the first scrimmage play of the game, fumbling the ball away and setting FSU up with prime field position. First down at the Spartans 24.

UPDATED, 8:21 p.m.: Two plays later, it's a 23-yard touchdown toss from Ryan Colburn to Marlon Moore. 21-14 Bulldogs, 5:21 before halftime.
Mathews, by the way, is now seventh on the all-time school rushing list with 2,339 yards. He's 60 yards away from sixth place and 67 away from passing Lorenzo Neal for fifth. Don't think he's up for it, but I know who'd get my Homecoming King vote.

UPDATED, 8:18 p.m.: I know I sound totally infatuated with Ryan Mathews, but the guy is a threat to go all the way every time he touches it tonight. HEe just earned 17 more yards and was barely tripped up at the end of the run or it might have been 75. On the next play, he was dragged down by the last man to beat or he would have had 58. Instead it was 28. He's up to 126 already and Fresno State is down to the San Jose State 30. How high can Mathews go? If this game stays close, he'll keep getting carries. But if he keeps getting carries, it might not stay close.
San Jose State missed a 42-yard field goal to end its last drive.

UPDATED, 8:09 p.m.: Stanford ended up losing a shootout, 43-38 at Arizona, and Toby Gerhart finished with 123 yards. So he's got 869 on the year now. I'll try to see how a few other rushers near the national lead fared, but for now, let's assume Gerhart is the leader. Ryan Mathews, with his 81 thus far tonight, has 822. He needs just 48 more to pass Gerhart back, and he just got about 5 of them there. A sack on the previous play, though has Fresno State in third-and-long. And Ryan Colburn is sacked again. Still 14-14, now inside of 10 minutes to go in the second quarter. Bulldogs will punt.

UPDATED, 8:02 p.m.: I'm going to try to update more frequently while the live stats are out. Mathews went into the end zone from 28 yards out on the first play of the second quarter, but it was partially wiped out by a holding call. It'll go down as a 16-yard gain instead. If I had stats, I could tell you what his yards per carry is, but I can at least confirm that it's very good. And now Pat Hill and the Bulldogs are leaning on him a lot. Here, though, he'll get a rest on a third-and-1. Lonyae Miller and Robbie Rouse are the backs instead. By my gauge, Mathews has close to 75 yards already, but I haven't been keeping exact track like I do at high school games.
Bulldogs pick up the first down with Rouse, who spins and then picks up a bunch more. First-and-goal at the 3. Touchdown Rouse. That'll tie the game with 13:11 to go before halftime, and the live stats are back!
Mathews actually has 81 yards on just eight carries. I'm telling you, this guy has to be one of the best backs Fresno State has ever seen. To back that up, I'll tell you that he's moved into ninth on the school's all-time rushing list. He needs just 23 more yards to move all the way up to seventh.

UPDATED, 7:54 p.m.: There's a perfect example of why Ryan Mathews will be in the NFL in two years, if not by next spring. He can finish a run. The Bulldogs offensive line paved a great hole for him on second-and-10, but Mathews got about 15 extra yards on a 25-yard carry by stiff-arming and skipping past defenders. Then he did it on the next play with no hole, and it got him 6 more yards. There's a reason he leads the nation in rushing, folks. The Bulldogs have a first down inside the 30 as the first quarter comes to a close, but it's still 14-7 San Jose State.
I also understand they're having a problem with the live-stats system here. All of the FSU media relations folks are scrambling around trying to get it fixed, so if yours is frozen, a fix is hopefully on the way.

UPDATED,7:48 p.m. : Bakersfield High product Phillip Thomas had coverage on Jalal Beauchman on a third-and-10 for San Jose State, and Beauchman beat him on a slant across the middle for a key first down on a long drive for the Spartans. There was also a roughing-the-passer call that prolonged the drive on a third down earlier. Brandon Rutley finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run on a draw that Fresno State didn't see coming. 14-7 Spartans now with 2:06 to go in the opening quarter. It's early, but it looks like San Jose State came to play.

UPDATED, 7:31 p.m.: Make it two carries and two first downs for Mathews, who makes a man miss near the line of scrimmage and turns the corner, picking up about 10 more on that play. Next play, touchdown Bulldogs, 27 yards from Visalia-Central Valley Christian's Ryan Colburn to Devon Wylie. That ties the score at 7 with 7:11 to play in the first quarter. A fantastic diving catch from Seyi Ajirotutu got Fresno State to midfield on the drive and seemed to spark them, too.

UPDATED, 7:22 p.m.: The guy who was ahead of Ryan Mathews in total yardage, Stanford's Toby Gerhart, has 115 yards thus far with about 12 minutes remaining in the Cardinal's game against Arizona. That means Mathews, who began the night with 741 rushing yards, needs at least 120 to catch Gerhart, who has played in one more game than Ryan. Mathews' first carry, with Fresno State trailing 7-0, went for 12 yards. But he didn't touch the ball again, and the Bulldogs are punting now, three plays later.
That 12-yard carry, by the way, extended Mathews' national lead in yards per carry among backs with at least 100 carries. He had 6.68 yards per rush on 111 carries coming into the night; Marshall's Darius Marshall had 6.64 on the same number of carries entering the Thundering Herd's game today against West Virginia. That number will go down after a 25-carry, 82-yard performance for Marshall (the player, not the team).
Meanwhile, Fresno State looks stuck in its own tracks in the early going. A missed tackle by cornerback Lorne Bell let San Jose State score a touchdown after the Ajiritutu fumble, and then the Bulldogs had to punt after just one first down. Time to get going for FSU.

UPDATED, 7:10 p.m.: I don't expect this to be a terribly close game — though Mathews could rack up some big yards against a bad rushing defense and Bakersfield Christian grad Derek Carr could get into the game late — so I'm going to try to keep things fresh with some other stuff. Like how about this: San Jose State has 114 players listed on its roster. Obviously some are walk-ons and redshirts, but let's look at everyone for accuracy's sake. Of those 114, 107 are from California. Of those 107, NONE are from the Central Section. Zero. You'd think a program that has historically struggled might try dipping in somewhere where it can nab some high-end high school players, rather than taking Pac-10 leftovers in the other parts of the state. It's no secret the Pac-10 doesn't pay too much attention to the Central Valley.
Meanwhile, Fresno State has 103 players listed. Of those, 96 are Californians. How many from the Central Section? Twenty-nine, including the top two quarterbacks and starting running back and a total of nine from Bakersfield. Let's see which team fairs better tonight. If it's the Bulldogs by a bunch, like it has been in the past in this series (Fresno State has won 14 of the past 15 games between these teams), then maybe that's a sign the Valley needs a few more recruiters making some long, flat drives.
Of course, now that I say that, one of the non-Central Section Bulldogs, wide receiver Seyi Ajirotutu from El Dorado Hills, fumbled after making a catch on Fresno State's first play from scrimmage. SJSU recovered inside the FSU 35, but the play is under review.
Call is confirmed, and the Spartans are set up with great field position.

ORIGINAL POST: About to kick off from Bulldog Stadium with San Jose State (1-4, 0-1 WAC) at Fresno State (2-3, 1-1). In fact, they just finished the national anthem, and then we were treated to a B-52 flyover. I couldn't see the jet with the press-box roof over my head, but Lordy, could I hear it.
Anyway, we'll get going here in about 10 minutes, with West High grad Ryan Mathews looking to re-take the national lead in rushing. He entered the day about 5 yards out of first place, though he was first in yards per game. I'll get an updated list for you based on today's games as we go forward.
Now seven minutes from kickoff. Will update shortly.

UPDATED, 12:12 a.m.: Scores are piling up all over the section, so check the list below for updates. One note I want to make is that the Delano final was Porterville 23, Delano 14, not 33-14 as I said originally.
Let's take a look at the big results:

Stockdale 17, Liberty 3: This result further confirms what we already suspected, that the Mustangs have the best all-around team around. The defense was stifling, the offense was probably better than the final score indicates, and even the special teams contributed with Kyle Desimone's 87-yard kickoff return to open the second half and to open the gap on the scoreboard to 10-0. The Mustangs have Ridgeview next week, which could be a sneaky test, and then Frontier in Week 9. Otherwise, with a Clovis West loss tonight, Stockdale has its sights set on a No. 3 seed in the Central Section Division I playoffs. The health of back Malik Henderson, who left the game with a knee injury and didn't return, is key to any playoff run, though.

Frontier 27, Ridgeview 7: Solid, solid victory for the Titans, who are holding up their end of the bargain for that showdown with Stockdale. Frontier has Highland and South between it and the Mustangs, and with a defense like it showed tonight, getting to 8-0 won't be a problem. Ridgeview back Tyler Dogins was held to 15 rushing yards (on 24 attempts!) and 71 passing yards, and Frontier had three interceptions of Dogins and Joe Ceja combined.

East 48, Foothill 42, 4OT: The Blades are 3-0 in the SEYL. Let that sink in for a while and compare it with your preseason expectations. Pretty good stuff for East High. Things will get tougher, but they can savor victory in the game of the night. A late TD with four minutes left sent the game to overtime, and after each team scored a touchdown in the first three OTs, East got a stop and Joe Pearson found Akilli Holley for a 25-yard touchdown and the win.

Centennial 48, South 6: No Cody Kessler, no problem for Centennial this week. The Golden Hawks might have found a blueprint for success even when Kessler does come back — start with the run, then go to the pass. Myren Moore rushed for 200 yards as Centennial built a 35-0 lead by halftime. Let's not forget that CHS is good enough to challenge Frontier late in the season and make some noise in the D-I playoffs.

Bakersfield 42, Garces 16: The Rams hung around for a half, but Bakersfield did what it does when things are going well — that is, make a bunch of big plays and bury an opponent in a hurry. Smooth sailing, most likely, for the Drillers now to get to 8-2 and rest up for the playoffs.

Wasco 34, Bakersfield Christian 6: The pecking order in the SSL is clear, as far as who the haves are and who the have-nots are. The first haves showdown comes next week in Wasco, when the Tigers welcome Taft to town. Lots of rushing in that one, with the Wildcats' Cody Shirreffs (141 yards in a 65-6 pummeling of Arvin) and Wasco's Quentin Cheatham (a season-low (!) 142 yards in this one.)

Porterville 23, Delano 14: The dream of a 7-0 showdown with Tulare Union comes to an end for the Tigers, who were close late but threw a crucial interception that was returned for a touchdown and a victory by the Panthers. The loss probably relegates Delano to third in the East Yosemite League and seriously wounds its chances of getting a high Division III seed.

UPDATED, 10:41 p.m.: Score stayed the same here, with Stockdale hanging on for a 17-3 victory. Great performance by Stockdale's defense, and the offense had enough grit to separate the Mustangs on the scoreboard.
Elsewhere, the newsworthy result I've seen is that Delano is undefeated no more. The Tigers' magic ran out in Porterville, where the Panthers won 33-14. Wasco cruised past Bakersfield Christian, and last I heard, Bakersfield and Frontier had two-possession leads early in the fourth quarter. I'll head back to the office now and get some finals to you ASAP.

UPDATED, 9:39 p.m.: A third-down chance with a man open deep for Liberty, but Dillon Meadows underthrew the ball and Kyle Desimone came away with a pick and a return all the way out to the 47. They call this kid the closer for a reason, and that probably will effectively end this one.
BHS scored in the third quarter at Garces and leads 28-16 late in the quarter.

UPDATED, 9:31 p.m.: One more Liberty mistake will cost it dearly. Zach Vasquez muffed a fair catch on that punt, and instead of getting the ball with a chance to tie, the Pats give it back to Stockdale, which promptly pounces and scored in four plays, the last a 4-yard Eddie Gutierrez dive play for a touchdown. 17-3 with 9:40 left, and Liberty is really up against it now. Stockdale is showing its toughness tonight.

UPDATED, 9:15 p.m.: The Mustangs stiffen, but Cameron Carroll nails a 30-yard field goal that makes it a one-possession game again. Liberty could have used the TD there, but considering a few minutes ago Stockdale was poised to take a 17-0 lead, I think the Pats have to gladly take 10-3 at this point. Three minutes left, third quarter.

UPDATED, 9:12 p.m.: Got some more local scores that I've posted below.
Here, Liberty looks like a completely different team after that fumble. With some life in their line and their runs, Liberty has driven down inside the Stockdale 20 on its best drive of the day by far. Still plenty of time left, with 3:16 to go in the third quarter.

UPDATED, 9:05 p.m.: After a Liberty three-and-out, Stockdale is back putting pressure on the Liberty D, and now the Mustangs are ripping off bigger chunks of yardage. Of course, Nic Shannon just left with another injury. It might not hurt Stockdale in this game with the way things are going, but they need those backs to compete for a Valley title, no doubt about that.
But here's the break Liberty needed desperately: On the end of a 15-yard run, Spenser Prince fumbled and Liberty's Rane Cravens, all the way from his defensive end spot, recovered the ball inside the Patriots 20. Second life for Liberty; now let's see if the Pats' offense can do anything with the chance.

UPDATED, 8:54 p.m.: Well, the second half is already more exciting than the first. And it's been one play. Kyle Desimone makes the game's first truly big play, going 87 yards on the opening kickoff for a touchdown and a 10-0 Stockdale lead. HUGE.
Meanwhile, Frontier scores again on Ridgeview, a 33-yard TD pass from Josh Legorreta to Jacob Adelman. 21-7 there.

UPDATED, 8:49 p.m.: About to start the second half here, and I'll end halftime with one more update: Garces scored at the end of the half against Bakersfield, and the Rams have closed to within 21-16. The Drillers will have a real gut-check in the second half there. Meanwhile, Frontier also having a difficult time, leading just 14-7 with a few minutes still to go in the second quarter.
Here, Stockdale will get the ball first in the second half.

UPDATED, 8:42 p.m.: Here are some halftime stats, and they aren't pretty: 

Stockdale: 90 total yards; Efren Venegas 3-8 passing for 40 yards. Spenser Prince 7 carries, 24 yards.
Liberty: 70 total yards; Dillon Meadows, 8 carries, 52 yards, 0-4 passing with an interception.

The other news is that apparently Malik Henderson was already playing on a torn ACL in that left knee. That's a problem if he hurt it worse, because Stockdale's offense lives off of having those three dimensions.

UPDATED, 8:33 p.m.: Both teams had a final chance in the half here, but both go three-and-out, and it's 3-0 at halftime. I'll be back with stats in a few minutes.
In the meantime, there are some updated scores below. Frontier is up 7-0 on Ridgeview early in the second quarter and driving for more, and Bakersfield has a 21-9 lead late in the first half against Garces. Interesting games there, with the underdogs hanging in for now.

UPDATED, 8:23 p.m.: Not a good situation here for Stockdale — Malik Henderson is down, and trainers are examining his left knee. The play didn't look bad, in fact there was no contact, but anyone who has blown out a knee can tell you there doesn't have to be.
Sigh of relief there — he's walking off under his own power. We'll see if he returns. Meanwhile it's third-and 9 for the Mustangs, still in a scoreless game, from their own 45. And Efren Venegas finds Spenser Prince with a bullet for a first down. There's no doubt this high-powered offense is having to work harder than normal.
But Venegas is showing off his arm, too. Henderson still hasn't returned, but fullback Eddie Guttierez is getting some carries, and Venegas sets up a first-and-goal with a 17-yard strike to Andrew Garcia. We'll see if the Mustangs can cash this one in. Nope. A holding call pushes third-and-goal to the 15, and Stockdale has to settle for a field-goal try. Tyler Schleicher gets a 31-yard try up and over a block and inside the right upright. Mustangs strike first, and they lead 3-0.

UPDATED, 8:07 p.m.: Liberty has done a fine job of moving the ball on the ground, but every time the Pats go to the air, something bad happens, either a sack or, lately, a tip and an interception. Max Goosen's pick sets up Stockdale with the ball inside the Liberty 20. This is the type of thing Liberty simply can't afford — it can hang with and even force Stockdale into mistakes when the Mustangs have it, but it can't lose field position this badly. That's what happened against Clovis West, and eventually the Liberty D wore down, too.
But that D isn't worn down yet. On third-and-goal from the 1, Liberty stuffs Malik Henderson for a loss and then drags down fullback Hank Hobson on the fourth-down play for a 6-yard loss. They had a similar stuff against Clovis West, but remember that the field position still lies in Stockdale's corner. 0-0, early second quarter.

UPDATED, 7:53 p.m.: First hat tip of the night goes to Liberty coach Tony Mills, who calls for a fake punt on fourth-and-10 on the game's first series. It pays off with a 31-yard run from punter/QB Dillon Meadows, and Liberty is set up at the Stockdale 49. However, a big play on a sweep by David Dolinar caused a loss of 8 on first down. Now on third-and-long, Meadows keeps and breaks a tackle at the first-down marker for another conversion. This offense has some pop, if it can avoid too many negative plays. And this is what I'm talking about. A ineligible receiver penalty and a sack force Liberty into fourth-and-long, and the pass falls incomplete. Stockdale takes over at its 28.

UPDATED, 7:08 p.m.: JV thriller: Liberty hits a field goal with 17 seconds left, then intercepts Stockdale on the goal line. 31-29 Patriots. Hope the varsity game lives up to that.

UPDATED, 6:57 p.m.: Here at Liberty a little early, checking out the JV game. Stockdale just scored to cut Liberty's lead to 28-27, and the Mustangs convert a two-point conversion to go up 29-28 with 4:03 left. Boy, if the varsity game lives up to this, we're in for a heck of a night.
On another note, I ran into Stockdale baseball great (legend??) K.C. Hobson in the parking lot. He's done with his Gulf Coast League duties for the season and is back in town to watch his alma mater, and his little brother linebacker Hank, play some football. Hobson said he's doing well and already looking forward to next spring in the Blue Jays organization.
Be back in a few with game updates, Stockdale's deceptive offense against Liberty's ferocious D. Should be fun.

ORIGINAL POST: Thought I'd start the morning off with a question for everyone, one regarding the high school football story that ran in this morning's Californian.

As many of you probably know, the Central Seciton has a new league setup for high school sports in Kern County next year. Instead of the SEYL and SWYL breakdown, which is roughly geographical, we'll have three leagues: A so-called "power league," which includes Division I schools Centennial, Bakersfield, Liberty and Stockdale, plus potentially rising powers Frontier and Independence. Then you've got the "north of the 58 freeway" league with North, Garces, Highland, East and Foothill, and the "south of 58" league with Mira Monte, Golden Valley, South, West and Ridgeview.

Here's the question: What should they call them? Last time I checked, the Kern High School District hadn't gotten to the issue yet, which is a minor one but sort of a major one, considering its the name you'll hear on TV and see in the newspaper and say to one another thousands of times over the next couple of decades.

Liberty football and baseball coach Tony Mills said there were a few names tossed about for the power league at a recent SWYL baseball coaches meeting. Try these on for size:

South Valley Athletic Conference (SVAC)
South Athletic Conference 6 (SAC 6)
Big 6

Do any of those strike your fancy? Or do you have something better? What about the other two leagues? I'm all for being creative — there's no reason to keep with the geographical direction + Yosemite or Sequoia + League formula that the section has favored in the past.

That should keep us occupied until kickoff tonight. If you want to warm up for the actual Week 6 games, check out the list of games below, my predictions from earlier in the week, or the podcast Todd Camps and I hosted yesterday. I'll update this list throughout the night, plus have live updates from Stockdale at Liberty and a few other games.

Also remember that Fresno State plays host to San Jose State at 7 on Saturday night, and if you're not making the trip, never fear, because I am. Keep it here for a live blog of that game, with special emphasis on the nation's No. 2 rusher, West High product Ryan Mathews, and other Bakersfield natives.

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

Kern County scoreboard
(5) Stockdale 17, (6) Liberty 3
(7) Bakersfield 42, Garces 16
(11) Centennial 48, South 6
(12) Frontier 27, Ridgeview 7
(15) Tehachapi 28, Shafter 0
Wasco 34, Bakersfield Christian 6
Porterville 23, Delano 14
East 48, Foothill 42, 4OT
West 38, North 18
Golden Valley 28, Highland 13
Taft 65, Arvin 6
Independence 50, Tulare-Mission Oak 22
Mira Monte 36, Kennedy 6
Chavez 49, Porterville-Granite Hills 0
McFarland 39, Lemoore-Kings Christian 12
Barstow 28, Burroughs 21, OT
Kern Valley 55, California City 14
Frazier Mountain 49, Desert 28
Bishop 24, Rosamond 6
Boron 57, Yermo-Silver Valley 12
Maricopa 22, Shandon 12
Gilroy-Anchorpoint Christian 56, Lighthouse Christian 6 (Saturday)
Immanuel Christian 64, Lee Vining 40 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
(1) Fresno-Bullard 35, Clovis North 0
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 54, Madera 21
(10) Fresno-Central 24, (3) Clovis West 3
(4) Tulare Union 50, Visalia-Redwood 19
(8) Fresno-Edison 46, Reedley 0
(9) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 48, Fresno 6
(13) Visalia-El Diamante 30, Lemoore 14
(14) Kingsburg 14, Dinuba 0
Fresno-Hoover 34, Sanger 18
Clovis East 31, Clovis 0
Fresno-Washington Union 49, Tollhouse-Sierra 7
Caruthers 28, Lindsay 21
Visalia-Central Valley Christian 21, Chowchilla 20
Hanford 26, Visalia-Golden West 6
Visalia-Mt. Whitney 41, Hanford West 26
Porterville-Monache 24, Tulare Western 7
Kerman 22, Dos Palos 13
Exeter 26, Reedley-Immanuel 17
SLO-Mission Prep 28, Laton 6
Selma 34, Coalinga 28
Madera Ranchos-Liberty 20, Oakhurst-Yosemite 10
Cambria-Coast Union 24, Avenal 8
Farmersville 6, Orange Cove 3
Fowler 21, Parlier 19
Fresno-Sunnyside 15, Madera South 7
Corcoran 39, Orosi 0
Fresno Christian 19, Riverdale 15
Fresno-Roosevelt 12, Fresno-McLane 3
Strathmore 28, Woodlake 20
Tranquillity 27, Firebaugh 7
Visalia Christian 47, Madera-Lighthouse Academy 0 (Saturday)
Clovis Christian 62, Alpaugh 0 (Saturday)
Riverdale Christian 76, Coalinga-Faith Christian 0 (Saturday)

Here is your Week 6 podcast, and with it I offer this bit of news: The Central Section has rescinded its decision on Wasco's forfeit to Fresno-McLane.

Wasco athletic director Raul Rangel told me that section commissioner Jim Crichlow told him earlier today that the Tigers' scheduled Week 5 game with McLane would be a "no contest" rather than a Wasco forfeit.

If you don't remember, the rub was that McLane had asked Wasco to move the game to Thursday because it didn't have use of a field Friday. Wasco said no, citing academic reasons — pretty good ones, when you consider WUHS is a California School Improvement Program school and needs kids' grades and test scores to improve as mandated by the state government.

Anyway, Wasco tried to reschedule for Saturday and also offered to host the game and give McLane 50 or 75 percent of the gate profit. McLane said no to all of those requests, and so the game was canceled. Crichlow said it was Wasco that failed to honor the teams' contract and so gave the Tigers a forfeit loss — one that wouldn't come into play during playoff seeding meetings.

That last point makes today's decision basically moot anyway, but I think for Rangel it was the principle of the forfeit. He didn't think Wasco had forfeited, and I don't blame him for that. Today, Crichlow changed his mind (Rangel said Crichlow told him he had "new information") and said the game would count on neither team's record.

Like I said last week, we all have to remember that academic concerns should come first. Kudos to Wasco for putting them there, and kudos to Crichlow and the Central Section for eventually coming to the right decision, too.

Anyway, with that behind us, (if only we could put the David Fanucchi item to bed as well!) we can move on to the gridiron for Week 6. A gameday post will be up in the morning. Enjoy it, everybody.

Lots of little news items this week, for those interested: Centennial's Cody Kessler is hurt, but not too badly, and Frontier's Matt Darr will be punting in the Alamodome in January, to an All-American punt returner and behind an All-American offensive line. That is, if his team's All-American offense ever gets stopped by an All-American defense (is it clear yet that he's playing in an All-American game?)

But the news items mean nothing without the games, so it's time to get back down to business; specifically, the prognosticating business. Last week was pretty good, so let's recap:

The good: Just about everything. It wasn't a week full of barn-burners, to be sure, but I had Frontier and Stockdale winning big, Bakersfield holding off Centennial, East winning a big of a toss-up, plus I was perfect in the SSL.

The bad: Chavez let me down at Tulare Western, and I thought Highland and Independence would put up bigger fights.

The ugly: I was 18-1 in 11-man games. Can we just count those? I missed all three of the county's 8-man results, including the two Saturday games. Talk about ruining a good weekend of predictions.

Friday, Oct. 16
STOCKDALE (4-1) AT LIBERTY (3-2) — This has got to be one of the toughest games of the season to call. The marquee matchup is the Stockdale offense against the Liberty defense, pitting two of the best units in the section against each other. Each seems perfectly suited to subdue the other: Liberty's athleticism and speed on defense to stifle Stockdale's Wing T, and the Mustangs' deception and speed on offense to pop a couple of big plays. I think back to last year, when Stockdale was moving the ball on a similar (maybe even better?) Liberty D before Stephen Silva got hurt. This year's Mustangs team is better. I think the other key might be what happens when Liberty has the ball: The Patriots have been getting better and better on offense, but mistakes will be costly — Stockdale can win with even a slight edge in field position and time of possession. A lot teeters on this game, and it could fall either direction. Right now, I'm leaning with the Mustangs.
Prediction: Stockdale 21, Liberty 17

RIDGEVIEW (5-1, 1-1 SWYL) AT FRONTIER (5-0, 2-0) — A couple of gaudy records here, but the last two weeks — Ridgeview lost a shootout at home to West, while Frontier pummeled the Vikings in their own house — are telling. I think in this case, the Titans' size and athleticism up front will counteract Ridgeview's speed. The Wolf Pack will pop a couple of big plays, and their defense will keep them in the game, but Frontier is too good in special teams and on defense itself to allow that to matter.
Prediction: Frontier 35, Ridgeview 16

BAKERSFIELD (3-2, 0-1 SEYL) AT GARCES (3-2, 2-0) — This is going to be an interesting test for the Drillers, who even in a win against Centennial couldn't exactly stay out of their own way. They don't want to leave the door open too long for Garces, which has been great on offense the past couple of weeks and could take a lot of time off the clock if they're moving the ball well. Talent-wise and depth-wise, though, Bakersfield should be able to win this game going away. If they've righted the ship, the Drillers roll; if they haven't, Garces might spring the upset.
Prediction: Bakersfield 33, Garces 20

WASCO (4-2, 0-0 SSL) AT BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (2-3, 0-0) — Here is the main event for the first Friday of SSL play; while the Tigers have this tough roadie, fellow favorites Tehachapi and Taft play Shafter and Arvin. That means a Wasco win can get them a small step ahead. Any reason to believe it won't happen? Not really. Bakersfield Christian has had its problems stopping the run this year, and not many run it better than Wasco. The Eagles should land a few punches through the air, but not enough to keep up with a ground game that could score all night.
Prediction: Wasco 41, Bakersfield Christian 24

SOUTH (4-1, 0-1 SWYL) AT CENTENNIAL (3-2, 0-1) — An interesting test for Centennial here in its first full game without Cody Kessler. You'd think the Golden Hawks could wear down the Rebels anyway, but South is more than capable of busting a couple of big plays and making Centennial play catch-up without Kessler. The Rebs even have a couple of backs, Lee West and Odail Crumb, in the mold of those tall, shifty backs that helped Stockdale give Centennial so much trouble. But then again, the Hawks didn't disappear against BHS after Kessler left; Mark Ritchie was fine under center, and the defense kept Centennial in the game. If the game were at South, I'd take a hard look at an upset, but I don't see it this time.
Prediction: Centennial 35, South 21

WEST (2-3, 1-1 SWYL) AT NORTH (1-4, 0-2) — The Vikings looked pretty bad the other night against Frontier, though I suspect that has more to do with the Titans than with West. One concern I would have if I were West coach Chad Grider is how easily Frontier was able to find running lanes — didn't matter the back, it seemed. That will kill you against a team like North, which will run all night whether it wants to or not. However, the Stars are really hurting right now, and I don't think they'll get the push up front that Frontier did at West. North will win another at some point, but this isn't the week.
Prediction: West 34, North 16

EAST (2-3, 2-0 SEYL) AT FOOTHILL (1-4, 0-1) — When the season started, we thought this might be the SEYL pillow-fight of the year, but the Blades have improved to the point where they're actually looking at a 3-0 league start. Foothill has struggled under Mike Gregg, like you might expect any school that lost that much talent to hurt with a new coaching staff to go with it. But this is a chance for the Trojans to break out of a funk — other than a win against Kennedy, they've lost every game by 20-plus points — at home against a team Foothill beat pretty good last year. But I'd be fool to pick against momentum at this point, and East has plenty of it after wins at Highland and against Golden Valley. Didn't think I'd say this in 2009, but here it is: the Blades to move to 3-0 in the SEYL.
Prediction: East 30, Foothill 23

GOLDEN VALLEY (1-4, 0-2 SEYL) AT HIGHLAND (2-4, 0-2) — The common opponents theory here screams to pick the Bulldogs — Golden Valley nipped Chavez, which beat Highland, and GV was much closer against East than Highland was. But something tells me the Scots might have a little fight left. The Scots, even in their struggles, played pretty good defense up until last week's 62-21 debacle at Garces, and you've got to think Tim Hartnett was on his team pretty good in practice last week. Golden Valley will be there till the end of this one, but I like Highland in a defensive struggle and a slight upset.
An update: Just got word that Golden Valley quarterback Darrick Martin, who had missed a couple of weeks with a concussion, will play this week. I'll keep my pick the same.
Prediction: Highland 16, Golden Valley 13

DELANO (5-0, 1-0 EYL) AT PORTERVILLE (3-2, 1-0) — Lost in some of the discussion about whether the Tigers are for real or not is that Mario Millan and Steve Brown are doing a heck of a job up in D-Town. A year after losing most of the big names off of its offense, Delano has four players with more than 200 yards rushing, all averaging better than 7 yards a carry. It's also allowed just 54 points in five games. But that original discussion is there for a reason — this is the first opponent on Delano's schedule that currently has a winning record. It should be another win for the Tigers, though, and good enough for No. 1 challenger status to Tulare Union.
Prediction: Delano 28, Porterville 17

ARVIN (1-4, 0-0 SSL) AT TAFT (4-1, 0-0) — Forgotten in many discussions about the best around is Taft, which suffered a controversial road loss to Templeton, now 4-1, in the season opener, then has rattled off four impressive wins, including 30-13 against Exeter and 28-6 against Porterville last week. The Wildcats have been especially tough at home over the years, so the fact that all four of those games were at home might have had something to do with it. This is the fifth straight game in the friendly confines of Wildcat Stadium, and it will serve as a warm-up to Taft's league-deciding trips to Wasco and Tehachapi in the next two weeks.
Prediction: Taft 35, Arvin 7

TEHACHAPI (4-1, 0-0 SSL) AT SHAFTER (1-4, 0-0) — The best three teams in the SSL ought to be 1-0 after the first week without much of a sweat. The Warriors, like Taft, were somewhat forgotten after an early loss to Frontier. But the Titans have shown what they can do, and a win over Garces looks better all the time. This week will be about staying healthy and sharp — and probably piling up the rushing yards — for next week's home tilt against Bakersfield Christian and the weeks after against Taft and Wasco.
Prediction: Tehachapi 49, Shafter 10

TULARE-MISSION OAK (0-5, 0-1 SCSL) AT INDEPENDENCE (2-3, 1-0) — After taking a terrible whipping at Clovis North and losing starting running back/linebacker Drew Schilhabel to an injury in that game, the Falcons enter a part of their schedule where they ought to have success. Independence, starters or not, is much more advanced than its other three opponents in the South Central Sequoia League, and the Falcons should be favored from here on out.
Prediction: Independence 41, Mission Oak 3

KENNEDY (0-5, 0-1 SCSL) VS. MIRA MONTE (1-4, 1-0) AT GOLDEN VALLEY — After earning their first win last week, the Lions return home with a great chance to add another. The emerging stars here are dual-threat quarterback Anthony Rios and running back Tim Harris, who scored twice against Mission Oak last week and has hit 100 yards three times already. At exactly 500 yards, he'll have a good shot at rolling right past 1,000.
Prediction: Mira Monte 42, Kennedy 14

PORTERVILLE-GRANITE HILLS (0-5, 0-2 EYL) AT CHAVEZ (3-3, 0-2) — A promising start to the season for the Titans took a hit two weeks ago with a blowout loss to Tulare Union, but that would have been OK if Chavez hadn't followed it up with a bad 7-0 loss at Tulare Western, the much weaker of the schools from that town. That's two duds the Titans have suffered this year and all of a sudden they've got their backs against the wall for a playoff spot. Depending on school rules, they might need three more victories, with Porterville, Monache and Delano still on the schedule. A win here against hapless Granite Hills is a must.
Prediction: Chavez 23, Granite Hills 0

LEMOORE-KINGS CHRISTIAN (1-4, 0-0 ESL) AT McFARLAND (3-3, 0-0) — Another entry from the you-probably-didn't-know department is Frankie Gonzalez, a McFarland running back who has already hit 687 yards in six games. Now that the Cougars are into their East Sierra League schedule, which offers an easy path to some wins, Gonzalez — if he stays healthy — ought to threaten 1,500 yards and, perhaps more important, improve vastly on his total of just two touchdowns thus far.
Prediction: McFarland 34, Kings Christian 13

BARSTOW (4-1, 0-0 DSL) AT BURROUGHS (3-2, 0-0) — The Desert Sky League race ought to be a doozy, considering the Burros' 3-2 mark is the worst non-league record of the whole bunch. That means every game is important, and likely every game will be close (remember, in the Southern Section, only three from each league can make the playoffs). The Aztecs have three rushers between 375 and 400 yards on the season, and Burroughs counters with Derrick Dison and his 260 total yards per game, including a 216 passing, 99 rushing performace last week. I'll stick with the hot QB and the home team.
Prediction: Burroughs 35, Barstow 28

CALIFORNIA CITY (0-4, 0-0 HDL) AT KERN VALLEY (4-1, 0-0) — Much like the SSL, the first week of High Desert League play doesn't really bring with a marquee matchup, at least not if you believe that the big three in the conference are Kern Valley, Frazier Mountain and Bishop. This one should be especially lopsided — KV just wants to stay healthy, get the younger kids some playing time and move on to Desert next week.
Prediction: Kern Valley 48, California City 0

FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (4-1, 0-0 HDL) AT DESERT (1-4, 0-0) — Last year, when the Falcons upset the Scorpions at home, it was a pretty big upset and probably a tide-turning win for Frazier Mountain coach Jarudd Prosser, even if it came when Desert was without quarterback Terrence Wells. This year, Frazier is looking for a win to jump-start what could be a league championship season.
Prediction: Frazier Mountain 27, Desert 7

BISHOP (1-3, 0-0 HDL) AT ROSAMOND (1-4, 0-0) — The record makes it appear like the Broncos are struggling this year, but their three losses have come against teams that are an incredible 16-1. Make no mistake: Bishop will figure into the High Desert race, and it'll start with a statement win against the Roadrunners.
Prediction: Bishop 38, Rosamond 17

YERMO-SILVER VALLEY (0-5, 0-0 DML) AT BORON (3-2, 0-0) — It looks as if Kern County is going to dominate the top of the Desert Mountain League, with the Nov. 6 game between Boron and Mojave likely deciding the title. What the teams do up until then will be securing a playoff spot and making sure the winner has as good of a seed as possible in the Southern Section Division XIII playoffs.
Prediction: Boron 55, Silver Valley 14

SHANDON (4-1, 1-0 CVL) AT MARICOPA (3-2, 0-1) — I'm not sure if an injury is to blame or anything, but the Indians haven't played well the last three weeks after a promising start to open the season. We'll see if they can turn it around against another Coast Valley League contender this time around.
Prediction: Shandon 27, Maricopa 13

Saturday, Oct. 17
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (2-3) AT GILROY-ANCHORPOINT CHRISTIAN (5-0) — A loss to Clovis Christian last week probably ended the Guardians' hopes of another league and Central Section title last week. A win against Anchorpoint Christian out of section would carry almost as much weight, but that's probably too tall of an order.
Prediction: Anchorpoint Christian 47, Lighthouse Christian 19

IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (3-2, 1-0 HLL) AT LEE VINING (3-2, 1-1) — Trona and Big Pine are the big dogs in the Hi-Lo League, so this one could be for the remaining Southern Section playoff spot. Give credit to the Crusaders, who scheduled tough out of league and could see the reward here.
Prediction: Immanuel Christian 34, Lee Vining 31

Last week: 18-4 (.818)
This year: 95-33 (.742)

Went out to Frontier at noon today for an announcement that Matt Darr has been named to the West roster for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl as a punter. Darr is a USC commit who punts, kicks and plays linebacker for 5-0 Frontier.

This is a pretty big deal for Darr — it's most of the best high school players in America going at it on national TV at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Past players include NFL standouts Reggie Bush, Ted Ginn Jr., Tommie Harris, Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson, Mark Sanchez, Marcus Spears, Beanie Wells and Vince Young, plus college stars Tim Tebow and Terrelle Pryor. Pretty heady company there for Matt, and he deserves many congratulations.

Another standout at a northwest Bakersfield school could get to that point next year, but for now Cody Kessler is trying to get back under center for Centennial after a high ankle sprain suffered last Friday night. Read my update on it from last night here.

Now on to Week 6 rankings talk.

I always maintain that we get smarter as fans and analysts as the season goes on — not that that's a revelation, really — because we have more and more data to build a case for or against a certain team or outcome.

This year might be an extreme example of that, at least at the top of the Central Section. There are still big games to be played for sure, but I've got a pretty clear 1-2-3 in the section right now and a clear No. 1 in Division II. After that, you get into Kern County, and that's where it gets murky. Stockdale-Liberty should help clear things up even more this Friday. That might be the biggest game among a bunch of big ones in the section for Week 6.

It's also about time, as league play starts everywhere and the second half of the season gets under way, to start looking ahead at some playoff scenarios. These rankings, I'd like to think, are a pretty good indicator of where things stand in Division I — the three Fresno County teams at the top, followed by a host of able challengers from Kern County and maybe Fresno-Central or Clovis East from up north. Division II has a clear favorite in Tulare Union, but the Redskins will be challenged by a really deep field. Edison, San Joaquin Memorial, El Diamante and Frontier are the teams in the rankings this week, but there are some more who give teams headaches as well.

One area I'm still not sure what to do with is Division III, where it's clear there are some quality teams — Tehachapi, Delano, Clovis North, South, Ridgeview — but none, I don't think, that are really part of the section's elite right now. Other than South and Ridgeview, none play each other, either, which is going to make for a very deep and interesting D-III playoffs.

Let's set the scene for Week 6 with some rankings.

1. Fresno-Bullard (5-0, Division I, last week: 1) — After a week off, the Knights get an interesting game to open County-Metro Athletic Conference play against new school Clovis North. The Broncs aren't slouches, though; they've got longtime Clovis High coach Tim Simons at the helm and are among the Division III favorites.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis North

2. Clovis-Buchanan (5-0, Division I, last week: 2) — Rumor has it there was a flu going around the Bears last week, which may explain their trouble putting away defensive-minded Memorial. Excuses, excuses? Maybe, but either way, Buchanan found a way to win.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 10 Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, 28-21. THIS WEEK: at Madera

3. Clovis West (2-3, Division I, last week: 4) — A comeback victory at Edison — the Golden Eagles trailed 14-0 at the break — finally gives Clovis West a foothold into a brutal schedule. Things don't get much easier this week, with speedy Central the opponent to open Tri-River Athletic Conference play.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 6 Fresno-Edison, 28-14. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 10 Fresno-Central

4. Tulare Union (5-0, Division II, last week: 3) — Nothing against the Redskins, but a blowout win over Granite Hills in perhaps the section's mismatch of the year doesn't quite have the oomph of a win against Edison. So TU loses a spot but remains a clear D-II favorite.
LAST WEEK: won at Porterville-Granite Hills, 69-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Visalia-Redwood

5. Stockdale (4-1, Division I, last week: 5) — It'll be fun to see Friday night how Stockdale's offense — the most efficient that I've seen thus far — matches up with Liberty's stiff defense. Last year, an early injury to Stephen Silva might have cost the Mustangs in a 17-10 loss at home.
LAST WEEK: won at South, 63-20. THIS WEEK: at No. 6 Liberty

6. Liberty (3-2, Division I, last week: 7) — A pretty surefire way to make people forget your 0-2 start is to win everything else. The Dallas Cowboys did it en route to the 1995 Super Bowl title, and Liberty has done it thus far. Find a way to win this week, and there aren't many tests left until the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: won at Foothill, 31-7. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 5 Stockdale

7. Bakersfield (3-2, Division I, last week: 8) — The Drillers' six-game gauntlet to open 2009 ends with a trip to Garces this Friday. The games have taken their toll, but one benefit of a front-loaded schedule is that this team's starters should be rested for the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 9 Centennial, 22-7. THIS WEEK: at Garces

8. Fresno-Edison (3-2, Division II, last week: 6) — Not quite at the level of Buchanan or Clovis West, this team still obviously is a playoff factor in Division II. The Tigers get their warm-up CMAC games before ending the year against Hoover, Bullard and Clovis North.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 4 Clovis West, 28-14. THIS WEEK: at Reedley

9. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (4-1, Division II, last week: 10) — Some losses speak louder than wins, and for the Panthers to put a huge scare into Buchanan says a lot. You'd better bring your best game to have a shot at many points on this defense, and at this point, anything but 9-1 would be a huge disappointment.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan, 28-21. THIS WEEK: vs. Fresno

10. Fresno-Central (3-2, Division I, last week: 11) — This is the monkey wrench in the TRAC race: Central has lost twice without having played a Division I team. But they beat El Diamante, scared Edison and obliterated Fresno-Sunnyside. So how will the Grizzlies' obvious speed stack up in the TRAC? We're going to find out real quick.
LAST WEEK: BYE. THIS WEEK: at No. 3 Clovis West

11. Centennial (3-2, Division I, last week: 9) — The Week 2 win against Liberty is the only thing keeping the Golden Hawks relevant right now in any Division I title discussion, but there is reason behind that: If Centennial's defense can keep it in games, like against Bakersfield this past week, then the offense is good enough to worry you. The other huge caveat here, of course, is the status of junior QB Cody Kessler as the weeks go by.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 8 Bakersfield, 22-7. THIS WEEK: vs. South

12. Frontier (5-0, Division II, last week: 14) — Nothing against the next two teams in the rankings, who both had impressive wins last week, but I had to do something to bump the Titans up after seeing them in person. They thoroughly whipped West, which had given El Diamante problems. Few teams will be more physical than Frontier, and even if they are, they'll have to contend with the Titans' defensive speed and special-teams prowess.
LAST WEEK: won at West, 42-7. THIS WEEK: vs. Ridgeview

13. Visalia-El Diamante (4-1, Division II, last week: 13) — The Miners' win against Southern Section stalwart Paso Robles looks impressive, to be sure, but keep in mind the Bearcats' dual-threat quarterback, Thomas Bernal, missed the game with an injury. It still means something to El Diamante, most likely a 9-1 season. But this is not quite the same team that's been in the Division II championship each of the past three years.
LAST WEEK: won at Paso Robles, 21-18. THIS WEEK: at Lemoore

14. Kingsburg (5-0, Division IV, last week: 12) — I can't justify dropping the Vikings two spots after another blowout win other than to say I don't think they beat Frontier or El D on a neutral field. It's just that Kingsburg proved its pedigree a little more to me earlier than those teams. But this still is clearly the best Sequoia-level team in the section, a title they can prove with a tough game this week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Coalinga, 62-0. THIS WEEK: at Dinuba

15. Tehachapi (4-1, Division III, last week: NR) — The latest round of musical chairs ends with the Warriors in the 15 slot. I picked 'em over bigger schools like Fresno-Hoover and Clovis East and over fellow D-IIIs like Delano and Clovis North because (a) the easy win at Garces is looking better all the time, (b) the loss to Frontier is looking better all the time and (c) they've started to roll again, and this team got better and better and better as last year went on.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Rosamond, 32-6. THIS WEEK: at Shafter

Dropped out: No. 15 Chowchilla
Waiting: Fresno-Hoover, Clovis East, Clovis North, Fresno-Washington Union, Delano, Taft, Lindsay, Wasco, Chowchilla, Dinuba, Tollhouse-Sierra

It's a good-news, bad-news situation for Cody Kessler and Centennial: Kessler, one of the section's best quarterbacks (and basketball players, for that matter), has a high ankle sprain and possibly a partially torn ligament in his ankle. But x-rays were negative, and Kessler most likely will be back before season's end.

That's the diagnosis after Kessler rolled the ankle on a sideline run against Bakersfield High on Friday night. The prognosis is that Kessler won't be able to play for at least the next two weeks, and possibly as long as four weeks or more if the injury is stubborn. Kessler has started some physical training and rehab at Terrio Fitness.

“It’s a pretty severe sprain,” said Kessler's dad, Don. “There’s no breaks or anything like that. It just takes time. We’re attacking it aggressively and going two times a day to therapy. Two (weeks) would be outstanding; four is probably more realistic.”

Centennial's remaining regular-season schedule looks like this: South, at West, Ridgeview, at North, Frontier.

Kessler has completed 71-of-114 passes for 856 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions on the year, but he's generally accepted as the city's best quarterback. He's also run for 177 yards and four TDs and has been offered scholarships by multiple Division I schools in both football and basketball.

In Kessler's absence, Centennial will turn to junior Mark Ritchie, who was 7-of-12 for 110 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions filling in on Friday night.

My take — this is obviously a blow for the Golden Hawks, though they've got to be relieved it wasn't so serious that Kessler couldn't return at all. That Week 8 game against Ridgeview could be tough without him, but the Week 10 game vs. Frontier and the playoffs are the biggest games left, and it sounds like Cody will be back for those.

That said, I hope everyone involved, including Cody himself, is careful with this. You don't want it to turn into a nagging ailment or a more serious injury that could jeopardize what is a promising career.

Another quick note: Bakersfield visits Liberty on Tuesday night in a huge volleyball tilt, with the winner taking control of a crowded SEYL race and putting themselves in position for a nice seed come playoff time. Last year, the teams split their two games, Liberty won the league title and both bowed out in the late rounds of the playoffs to Clovis West.

Before I get started wrapping up Week 5, I want to point out that this weekend's running thread was a great one for several reasons, all courtesy of you guys, the readers. First off, any time we can get 10 people to comment on a football blog and join in an intelligent discussion about football, asking questions and making comments, that's a great thing for me. I don't care if you want to criticize me or the paper; I might argue, but I'm never going to stop someone from constructive criticism.

The other thing is that someone clicking on the blog this weekend was our 100,000th visitor since I started School House Zach about 22 months ago. Thank you to everyone who has contributed even one of those. I never expected this kind of response in that time, and I'm incredibly thankful for the community that has developed here. Keep showing up, and I'll continue to provide as much high school content as I can muster. And I'll try to keep it entertaining, too.

To that end, let's look back at Week 5.

— Yes, Cody Kessler hurt his ankle early in the game, but take nothing away from Bakersfield, which gave up the lead shortly after the injury but fought through some more adversity and coming up with a 22-7 victory. This stops the Drillers' bleeding and allows them to go into a tough game at Garces next week with some momentum. Win at Sam Tobias Field, and BHS should be — and yes, Golden Valley fans, we know what happened last year — but BHS should be 8-2 going into the playoffs. As for the Golden Hawks, Kessler's health obviously is the most important thing right now. Centennial has very winnable games from now until Week 10 when Frontier visits. But that could change if Kessler can't return. Check the blog tomorrow; I'll try to have an update on Cody's status by then.

— As each week passes, Frontier forces its way more and more into the championship picture both in the SWYL and in Division II. The Titans dismantled West 42-7, and though they did have several little things go right in the game, they were clearly the better team. Behind a big offensive and defensive lines, a smart offense and brilliant special teams, it will be tough to beat Frontier for any team — whether it be Stockdale or Centennial, Fresno-Edison or Tulare Union. I'm not saying we have an undefeated season going here, but it's apparent that it'll take a great effort.

— As for Stockdale, the Mustangs had no problem with undefeated South, winning a road game 63-20 behind 137 rushing yards from Nic Shannon (on six carries with two TDs) and 105 from Malik Henderson (also on six carries with two TDs). This is another well-rounded team and all of a sudden, the two biggest games left on the regular-season schedule in Kern County both involve Stockdale — next week at Liberty, a 31-7 victor at Foothill this week, and Nov. 6 at home against Frontier.

— There were points scored in copious amounts in more places than just South. In addition to Stockdale's 63 and Frontier's 42, Garces put up a bunch in a 62-21 win at home against Highland, East beat Golden Valley 40-30 and Clovis North got 63 on Independence. Even the 8-man game was more explosive than usual: Clovis Christian knocked off Lighthouse Christian 55-28, and — get this — Immanuel Christian beat Baker 80-56. Where is the D?

— A further note on the East Blades: That's two wins in a row and a sure sign of progress for Jerald Pierucci and crew. There are tougher games ahead, starting next week at Foothill and the week after at home against Garces, but even if it loses the last five, East can call this season a success.

— The SSL had a light week leading up to the start of league play next week, especially after Wasco had its so-called forfeit against Fresno-McLane. Tehachapi got a win against Rosamond, and Taft a solid resumé win at home against Porterville. Things get serious next week.

— Down to two unbeatens in the county: Frontier and Delano, which won again with a 33-12 victory at home against Porterville-Monache. The Tigers have a great home-field advantage, and now at 5-0, they've got only a couple of more obstacles, starting next week at Porterville, before a Week 8 showdown with Tulare Union. Frazier Mountain and Kern Valley, the two unbeaten Southern Section teams in Kern, both lost their first game this weekend.

Five to watch in Week 6:
Stockdale at Liberty: "Best team in Bako" could be on the line; so could the No. 4 seed, and a home quarterfinal, for the playoffs
Bakersfield at Garces: Just how well is Garces playing? We'll find out
Ridgeview at Frontier: Don't overlook the 5-1 Wolf Pack in this SWYL race
Wasco at Bakersfield Christian: The big game in the first SSL week gives us a litmus test for Wasco
Delano at Porterville: First opponent with a winning record for the Tigers

UPDATED, 12:12 a.m.: it was another night of the blowout in Kern County — and I think that might remain the case throughout a lot of the league season, with maybe a close game or two in town and the rest convincing victories. We've got a serious case of the haves and the have-nots. Let's look at some key scores.

Frontier 42, West 7: My first chance to see the Titans, and they were really well-rounded and impressive. Offense rolled, with DeShaunte Webber running for 112 yards and four touchdowns. Defense ruled, with several sacks and a dominating effort from the defensive line. Special teams rocked, with Matt Darr booming punts and even blocking one of West's. This team is for real, and it's clearly a factor in both the SWYL and the section's Division II. At this point, it'll be an upset if Frontier isn't 8-0 heading to Stockdale in four weeks.

Bakersfield 22, Centennial 7: Changing that SWYL landscape in a big way could be the status of Golden Hawks QB Cody Kessler. Kessler turned his ankle late in the first quarter, had it wrapped and did not return. Even after he left, the Hawks took a brief 7-3 lead before the Drillers got on a roll. Bakersfield needed this win in the worst way, and it doesn't matter a bit to them that they didn't get it done against a full-strength Centennial team. The question now is Kessler's health; he's obviously the centerpiece of a strong offense.

Stockdale 63, South 20: So much for keeping the game close until the fourth quarter. Stockdale scored 2:30 minutes into the game, got a turnover and scored again, and then used a long drive to make it 21-0 before the first quarter was up. The Mustangs rolled from there. I've heard the Rebels are a gambling bunch on offense, and if the defense they're facing stays at home and has some athletes, it'll be a long night. Stockdale has a huge game at Liberty next week, and like Patrick319 said below, all of a sudden a lot of signs are pointing towards the Mustangs' Week 9 game with Frontier. That game is Nov. 6 at Stockdale.

East 40, Golden Valley 30: This probably was the most exciting game of the night, and who would have thought we could say this at the end of Week 5: The Blades have a game and a half lead on Bakersfield in the SEYL standings. Obviously, that can and will change, but it's good to see coach Jerald Pierucci's tenure at East off the ground after a tough year and a half.  East is 2-0 atop the SEYL with Liberty and Garces.

Garces 62, Highland 21: Speaking of the Rams, they've now out-scored their first two league opponents 111-21. That's much better than last year, when Garces was pretty formidable and finished third in the league. Can the Rams run with Bakersfield when the Drillers come calling next week? It's suddenly become a very interesting game. An upset for Garces would likely mean the SEYL title would come down to its home game with Liberty in Week 10. But let's worry about next week first.

Delano 33, Porterville-Monache 12: Yes, Tigers fans, your team won again, and it seems to be looking more impressive each week. The inconsistency that plagued Delano last year hasn't shown up, and I think the Tigers clearly are in the Division III championship picture with teams like Tehachapi, Clovis North and possibly Ridgeview or South. A tricky trip to Porterville is next.

I'll take a more complete look at Week 5 in Sunday's Most Important Things.

UPDATED, 11:16 p.m.: Updated some scores below. Weren't a whole lot of close games tonight. Bakersfield gets a much-needed win at Centennial. Frontier rolls, 42-7 was the final. Delano stays undefeated, looking impressive against Porterville-Monache. South does not stay unbeaten, not by a long shot. Stockdale rolls, 63-20 in Rebel-land.
I'll have some more in about an hour when I get away from a few editing duties.

UPDATED, 9:50 p.m.: First final of the night: Stockdale 63, South 20. Less than four minutes remain here, and West was just stopped on fourth down, courtesy Matt Darr. Looking like a 35-7 final. I'm gonna head to the field, but I'll update shortly after I have the story in.
First I'll update: Deshaunte Webber, trying to run the clock out, gets 31 yards to the 1, and then punches it in. He has 112 yards and four touchdowns, so quite a night for the junior. 42-7, 2:30 to go.

UPDATED, 9:40 p.m.: West is trying to make things interesting late here. The Vikings have forced a three-and-out and now are driving again, at the Frontier 40 before a false start pushes them to the 45. And there's a huge penalty on West. Moose Cobb just completed a halfback pass to Taiyon Jackson inside the 15, but it was called back because of holding. It's first-and-28 now, and now Tyler Barnhart sacks Franklin Simmons to make it second-and-34. That's probably going to do it; clock's inside of eight minutes now.
And just for historical perspective, a couple of sacks and another penalty and West has a fourth-and-50 from its own 20. And none other than Matt Darr, who knows a thing or two about punting, blocks the punt at the 5! Frontier is doing it all tonight, and now the Titans can add more. It takes them two plays, with Deshaunte Webber going in for his third touchdown run from 4 yards out. 35-7.
An update from Centennial: Bakersfield has just taken possession with 6:50 to play and the Drillers ahead 19-7. Looks like a much-needed victory for BHS.

UPDATED, 9:24 p.m.: Just got to see Matt Darr drop back to punt for the first time, and he took a bad snap. He showed his athleticism by jumping up to corral the snap, rolling to his left and completing a pass beyond the first-down sticks. Of course, the pass was to an illegible receiver, a lineman. So after a five-yard penalty, Darr punted again, and he unleashed a high, hanging 43-yarder that West had no chance to return. Game has slowed down other than that excitement, and at the end of the third quarter, it's still 28-0.
Meanwhile, at Centennial, I have no new score update, but it sounds like Cody Kessler's injury might be rather serious. He still hasn't returned, and whether that's a precaution or not, it's a cause for major concern for the Golden Hawks — and you can extend that to the basketball program, for which Kessler is a valuable point guard.
West has finally capitalized on a red-zone drive, here, with Franklin Simmons completing a couple of nice passes to Taiyon Jackson and then finishing the drive himself with a 5-yard sneak up the gut. 28-7 now, with 10:56 left.

UPDATED, 9:06 p.m.: In perhaps its last gasp, West returned the second-half kickoff all the way to the Frontier 17, courtesy of Taiyon Jackson. But for the third time, Frontier stiffens in its own end, with linebacker Will Harvey intercepting Franklin Simmons. Frontier proceeded to suck up half of the third-quarter clock before turning it over on downs. West has the ball again, still 28-0, but it's getting late in the third already.

UPDATED, 8:53 p.m.: About to start the second half at West. Here are some first-half stats:

Frontier — Deshaunte Webber nine carries, 67 yards, two TDs; Rudy Valdivia eight carries, 29 yards. Josh Legorreta 4-of-7 passing for 81 yards, with two catches for 33 yards and a TD going to Jacob Adelman.
West — Moose Cobb nine carries for 25 yards, Franklin Simmons five carries, 14 yards and 2-of-5 passing for 66 yards, 49 of those yards going to Bryan Ortiz.
BHS-Centennial is still 12-7, now at the half. Kessler said he might have heard a pop in his ankle. He sat out the whole second quarter. Not good at all. It was the Golden Hawks backup, however, who led Centennial to its only scoring drive.

UPDATED, 8:45 p.m.: It stays 28-0 at halftime here, where Frontier is proving yet again that it's an elite team in Kern County. Elsewhere, I've got some scores rolling in, and we're learning a lot about other teams as well.
Bakersfield leads Centennial 12-7 late in the first half, where maybe the bigger news is that Cody Kessler apparently rolled an ankle earlier in the second quarter. Californian correspondent Ron Stapp says he's had the ankle taped on the sideline but it looks like Kessler might not be able to return. BHS should feast if that's the case, you would think. Meanwhile, Stockdale is up 35-6 on South at the half — the undefeated Rebels fail to keep it close in their first test. And a couple of shutouts, Liberty 24-0 over Foothill, and Ridgeview 21-0 over North, also halftime scores. Garces leads Highland 20-7 in the second. I'll be back with stats from this one in a second.

UPDATED, 8:30 p.m.: I hate to call a second-quarter play a dagger, but West just lost a lateral pass from Franklin Simmons to Moose Cobb and Jacob Adelman scooped it up and could have walked the 23 yards to the end zone from there. Two plays, two touchdowns, and it's 28-0. Simmons just found Bryan Ortiz on a slant across the middle, though, and the speedy Ortiz took it 49 yards to set West up inside the 20.
Now it's third-and-9 from the 17, though, and it looks like Frontier will stiffen when needed again. Incomplete pass, fourth down. West is going to go here; this is about the Vikings' last chance to get back in it before half. Simmons tries to run for it and gets only about two yards. Titans take over, up 28-0, with 1:33 left.

UPDATED, 8:23 p.m.: Looks like all Matt Darr might have to do tonight is boot some impressive-looking extra points. Deshaunte Webber just made it 20-0, Darr 21-0, with a 24-yard run over right tackle. West has just one stop on the night, when Bryan Ortiz intercepted Josh Legorreta on the goal line. But West couldn't get a first down and gave the Titans great field position at the West 30. Easy pickins for Frontier from there, and they've got a commanding lead 3:09 from halftime.

UPDATED, 8:11 p.m.: West does manage to convert a couple of first downs to get out near midfield, and from there Mustafaa Cobb, the man they call Moose, got free on the left sideline and accelerated for 23 yards. Now the Vikings have a real threat going.
But now Frontier stiffens, forcing a fourth-and-11 from the their 36. West is gonna go for it, but the Titans call a timeout first. At least West has been able to get something going here and stop the bleeding for a few minutes. If they can get points here, or pin Frontier deep, maybe they'll get a foothold in this game. Keep in mind the Vikes were down 14-0 to Ridgeview last week and came back to win.
Out of the timeout, on second thought, West will punt. And Richard Soria hits it off the side of his foot and only gets four yards on the punt. That's a bad mistake, and Frontier gets field position without even getiing the stop.

UPDATED, 7:58 p.m.: If you needed another reminder that it's a game of inches, you got it at West here. Frontier converts a fourth-and-1 from inside the 10 by the nose of the football on a Josh Legorreta keeper, then pushed in for their second TD from there. Deshaunte Webber did the honors from a yard out, and it's 14-0. Fifteen seconds left in the first quarter. It'd be a good idea to respond if you're the Vikings, and do it quickly.
First score from around town: Garces 14, Highland 0, late first quarter.

UPDATED, 7:49 p.m.: Frontier wastes no time taking the lead in this one. Actually, it could have been even faster. Jacob Adelman took the opening kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown (probably should have been a touchback, actually), but it was called back because of a block in the back away from the play. Undeterred, the Titans marched 61 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on Adelman's 15-yard reception from Josh Legorreta. After a three-and-out, Frontier has the ball back again in West territory.

UPDATED, 7:17 p.m.: Here at West High, checking in about 10 minutes before kickoff. Rich Cornford is out there, very businesslike with his Titans, as he visits his old stomping grounds for the first time as a visitor. West High won the JV game 22-7 in what strikes me as a bit of a surprise, though I admit I don't know many other JV results. In the varsity game, Frontier is favored to move to 5-0, but West's speed will be a test for the Titans.
Keep it here throughout the night — I'll have updates from this game, and I've got some reporters checking in at games around the city, including Stockdale at South, Bakersfield at Centennial and Highland at Garces.

ORIGINAL POST: The air a bit crisper, the players a bit more seasoned and the games a bit more meaningful. Hard to believe that we'll be halfway through the regular season after tonight (more than halfway when you include Week 0), but here we are. The season is taking shape. And that will continue tonight.

I'll be at West High watching Frontier try to stay undefeated against Rich Cornford's old team. We'll also have plenty of updates tonight from Stockdale at South, where the Californian's Jeff Evans is stationed, and from Bakersfield at Centennial and Highland at Garces from correspondents Ron Stapp and Steve Lynch. We'll try to get scores from a few other games as well as we go on.

The complete list is below, and the live updates will begin around 6:30 or 7 tonight. They'll update above, with the most recent on top. Make this your Friday night home base, and you'll be in good hands.

Also, check out my Week 5 predictions and a Week 5 podcast with myself and Todd Camps before the action starts tonight.

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

Kern County scoreboard
Mira Monte 39, Tulare-Mission Oak 7 (Thursday)
(5) Stockdale 63, South 20
(7) Liberty 31, Foothill 7
(8) Bakersfield 22, (9) Centennial 7
(14) Frontier 42, West 7
Garces 62, Highland 21
Ridgeview 35, North 7
East 40, Golden Valley 30
Delano 33, Porterville-Monache 12
Tulare Western 7, Chavez 0
Sun Valley-Village Christian 35, Bakersfield Christian 14
Clovis North 63, Independence 0
Tehachapi 32, Rosamond 6
Taft 28, Porterville 6
Lindsay 35, McFarland 0
Arcadia-Rio Hondo Prep 40, Desert 6
La Habra-Whittier Chrisitan 33, Kern Valley 7
Burroughs 61, Hesperia 25
Clovis Christian 55, Lighthouse Christian 28
Panorama City-St. Genevieve 50, Frazier Mountain 39 (Saturday)
Santa Maria-Valley Christian 20, Maricopa 12 (Saturday)
Immanuel Christian 80, Baker 56 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
Fresno-Roosevelt 28, Mendota 0 (Thursday)
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 28, (10) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 21
(3) Tulare Union 69, Porterville-Granite Hills 0
(4) Clovis West 28, (6) Fresno-Edison 14
(12) Kingsburg 62, Coalinga 0
(13) Visalia-El Diamante 21, Paso Robles 18
Kerman 20, (15) Chowchilla 13
Fresno-Hoover 28, Fresno-Sunnyside 8
Reedley 49, Fresno 24
Visalia-Mt. Whitney 40, Visalia-Golden West 27
Hanford 38, Hanford West 14
Visalia-Redwood 27, Lemoore 21
Tollhouse-Sierra 14, Exeter 7
Dos Palos 21, Madera Ranchos-Liberty 14
Dinuba 35, Selma 13
Fresno-Washington Union 30,  Oakhurst-Yosemite 20
Reedley-Immanuel 35, Visalia-Central Valley Christian 17
Farmersville 42, Cambria-Coast Union 6
Corcoran 22, Fowler 14
Avenal 24, Lemoore-Kings Christian 16
Caruthers 49, Laton 6
Orange Cove 50, Orosi 6
Parlier 47, Firebaugh 22
Strathmore 55, Riverdale 7
Tranquillity 32, Fresno Christian 29
Madera-Lighthouse Academy at Alpaugh, Saturday
Riverdale Christian 61, Visalia Christian 0 (Saturday)

Here's your Week 5 podcast, though there are again changes to what Todd and I are talking about (we often record these on Mondays). Wasco will not be playing Fresno-McLane this weekend, and I just spent a couple of hours on the phone trying to figure out exactly why. I'm still not sure, actually.

The story, according to Wasco athletic director Raul Rangel starts back in May, when McLane, which has the game at home, realized it wouldn't have a field to play on Friday night. Rangel says the Fresno Unified School District called him and asked if the game could be moved to Thursday. After consulting with his administration, Rangel declined to move the game. Wasco is a California School Improvement Program participant, so it has a mandate to improve grades and test scores. Instead, Wasco asked if the game could be moved to Saturday or to Wasco on Friday night, in which case the Tigers were willing to split the gate with McLane — or, after the school declined that option, even give McLane 75 percent — but no mutual ground could be found.

Here's the real rub to me: The Central Section is saying Wasco forfeited this game to McLane, because Wasco wouldn't play on Thursday and thus did not honor the schools' contract. That, as you might imagine, rankles Rangel and Wasco. He said the contract specifically mentions the date Oct. 9 — Friday, and so that if anyone is going back on the deal, it's McLane. Section commissioner Jim Crichlow says the "loss" will have no bearing on Wasco's playoff seeding, but it's still a bit of a slap in the face.

My take is that Wasco should be commended for sticking to its guns and putting academics first. It's not easy for kids to travel a couple of hours on a Thursday night, get back at midnight or later and then try to get to class — and pay attention, to boot — the next day. Not sure why the section would feel Wasco is the one at fault here, but there you have it. Rangel even said he sent Crichlow an e-mail when this all started in the spring asking him what he recommended, and Crichlow wrote back asking what the difference between playing on a Thursday and a Friday was. I would hope that was just a slip-up on Crichlow's part and not an endorsement of athletes missing class. Remember, folks, we love our high school sports here, but it's school first, sports second.

Anyway, enjoy the podcast. Week 5 scoreboard post up tomorrow morning.

I know it's football season now, but I have to say, there's something about playoff baseball that absolutely captures my attention. These guys play 162 games in a game that's all about repitition and longevitiy and then have their entire seasons come down to one game. That said, the fact that Major League Baseball put Tuesday's Tigers-Twins game at 2 p.m. disturbs me. Not that I don't like day baseball; I think as many games as possible should be played in the afternoon. It's just that I'm trying to start this predictions column a little early this week and the game is distracting me to no end.

But, the show must go on, and if I'm going to have this posted by Wednesday afternoon, it's time I got going. After all, there's more playoff baseball tomorrow afternoon. And there are good football games to talk about, too. The Southwest Yosemite League brings us a trio of intriguing games in what should be one of many great weeks in that balanced league. There's also the last non-league week for South Sequoia League teams, some more league play from the SEYL and of course, another Division I showdown, Bakersfield at Centennial.

So let's look into the crystal ball and do some Week 5 predictions. First, a look back at a wild and crazy Week 4.

The good: Quite a few things, if I do say so myself. Wasco to take out D-V power Corcoran probably was my best pick. Taking Stockdale to roll Centennial. Garces shaking off any off-field distractions and beating Golden Valley. Going 6-1 in Southern Section games (though, again, the Immanuel Christian schedule was screwed up, so I didn't count that game. I think the issue is solved now.)

The bad: Thinking Liberty wouldn't find the offense to capitalize on any Bakersfield mistakes. I thought West would make a game of it with Ridgeview, but I picked the Wolf Pack to come through late, not the Vikings.

The ugly: Not much, though thinking East didn't have much of a chance at Highland turned out to be a black eye. I did better on teams I haven't seen than teams I have, which probably doesn't speak well for me.

Thursday, Oct. 8
MIRA MONTE (0-4, 0-0 SCSL) AT TULARE-MISSION OAK (0-4, 0-0) — They've officially named the Freeway League the South Central Sequoia League, which is important only for this year because in 2010, all of these teams will go into their permanent leagues. But while Independence has to be the odds-on favorite to win the league title, this could well be a battle for second place (the teams play again Nov. 6 at Highland). Neither team has shown a whole lot so far; the closest game either has played was the Lions' 30-11 defeat to lowly Shafter two weeks ago. Mission Oak has played a tougher schedule, but I'll say getting pounded by 50+ every week has messed with the Hawks' confidence a little. Mira Monte gets its first varsity win by a touchdown.
Prediction: Mira Monte 28, Mission Oak 21

Friday, Oct. 9
FRONTIER (4-0, 1-0 SWYL) AT WEST (2-2, 1-0) — What originally looked like a game that would be interesting only because Frontier's Rich Cornford is going back to his old stomping grounds has suddely become much more than that, thanks to West's hard-fought loss to Liberty and, more important, a comeback to beat Ridgeview last week. So what do the Vikings have in store for Frontier? Lots of speed and probably the stiffest test the Titans defense has faced all year. But Frontier is the best around on special teams, and that can play a huge role in a game. West also has struggled at times on D, while Frontier's offense has put up 40+ in three of four games so far. Matt Darr will force West into some long fields and the Vikings won't be able to keep up.
Prediction: Frontier 35, West 17

STOCKDALE (3-1, 1-0 SWYL) AT SOUTH (4-0, 0-0) — Now the real challenge begins for the Rebels. They've shown they can put up points in bunches against lesser teams, but they haven't seen the speed Stockdale has on defense. They've shown the ability to pull away from teams in the second half — Foothill kept it close for a half last week — but Stockdale has a huge roster full of athletes. I'm not saying South can't win; it's not out of the question by any means. But the Rebels will need an early lead, or at least a close score throughout, so they can shorten the game with their ground game. Then, a big play or a mistake from Stockdale could turn it and keep South unbeaten. But I'll play the odds here and say Stockdale wears the home team down.
Prediction: Stockdale 41, South 21

BAKERSFIELD (2-2) AT CENTENNIAL (3-1) — This certainly has game of the week potential, but for some reason it doesn't excite me like last week's Division I games or next week's Stockdale-Liberty clash. Or maybe I just feel like giving a little more love to some other teams playing well, like Frontier, West and South. But this really ought to be a good game. It's a must for either team if they want a chance at a top-four seed in the playoffs after last week's losses in league openers. Centennial has to be hopeful about its passing game's chances after what Buchanan did to BHS a couple of weeks ago, but I have a feeling this is the week the Drillers put together a complete game — limit the mistakes and tighten up the defense, and this can still be the best team around. And they have to show it sometime, don't they?
Prediction: Bakersfield 42, Centennial 28

HIGHLAND (2-3, 0-1 SEYL) AT GARCES (2-2, 1-0) — For a team desperate for some wins after dumping a home game to East last week, the Scots' schedule doesn't set up well. They still have trips to Frontier, Liberty and Bakersfield after this one, which isn't exactly an easy game. I sense there might be a "circle the wagons" mentality on the Rams team after all that David Fanucchi controversy. And the team is plenty good to get that done. The Wing T should hum through this one and set up a no-lose situation for the Rams at home against BHS next week.
Prediction: Garces 27, Highland 10

LIBERTY (2-2, 1-0 SEYL) AT FOOTHILL (1-3, 0-0) — The Trojans showed some life in the first half last week against South before wilting, and they won the week before, albeit against Kennedy and its seniorless team. So are they up for setting a trap for Liberty, which is coming off an emotional, crucial victory against Bakersfield and gearing up for another biggie with Stockdale next week? I don't think so. Even if the Patriots are sluggish, their defense should be more than enough to keep Foothill at bay long enough to give Dillon Meadows and the spread offense to continue to find itself.
Prediction: Liberty 31, Foothill 0

RIDGEVIEW (4-1, 0-1 SWYL) AT NORTH (1-3, 0-1) — Here's an interesting test for the Wolf Pack. Fresh off a disappointing (probably, that's putting it mildly) fourth quarter at home against West when they lost a chance to be 5-0, Dennis Manning's boys have to refocus and figure out how to stop North's Wing T. Lucky for Ridgeview, the Stars have been hurting themselves with turnovers for much of the year and haven't had a whole lot of success defensively. I think Tyler Dogins has another big night, and I think the Wolf Pack outrushes North — that's usually a recipe for success against a Wing-T team.
Prediction: Ridgeview 33, North 14

GOLDEN VALLEY (1-3, 0-1 SEYL) AT EAST (1-3, 1-0) — It's funny how one game can change your outlook on everything. East wins at Highland, with a shutout no less, and all of a sudden the Blades probably see three or four more possible wins sitting in their schedule. Especially at the high school level, the confidence you can get from that first one can go a long way. Of course, Golden Valley's outlook probably changed after each of the past two weeks: The Bulldogs beat 3-0 Chavez two weeks ago before losing 49-0 to Garces last Friday. Will things change again? I'm going to say East keeps it rolling behind QB Joe Pearson and an offense that can get things done.
Prediction: East 30, Golden Valley 24

INDEPENDENCE (2-2) AT CLOVIS NORTH (3-1) — These are clearly the best two first-year teams in the Central Section; it's no fluke that they've combined for five wins and the other three (Mira Monte, Kennedy, Mission Oak) have none. But there might just be another gap between them. The Broncos decided it was a good idea to enter the Division III playoffs and the County-Metro Athletic Conference before they even had a senior class; that alone should tell you that Clovis North is no normal first-year team. Plenty of wins are coming in the South Central Sequoia League for the Falcons, but I don't think they're up for a road win here.
Prediction: Clovis North 34, Independence 16

SUN VALLEY-VILLAGE CHRISTIAN (4-1) AT BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (2-2) — The Eagles' loss to Pasadena-Maranatha bothered me a lot more than their previous defeat to Visalia-Central Valley Christian because Maranatha was so easily able to make BCHS one-dimensional. Then they shut down that dimension. In a 28-2 loss, Bakersfield Christian had just 100 yards of offense, and quarterback Arend Bos, who had been very productive in each of the first three games, was just 2-of-20 for 33 yards. Ick. The good news is that Village Christian has surrendered more than 100 passing yards and a TD per game, so Bos and company should be able to find their timing. The bad news is the Crusaders look like the kind of team that can chew up a lot of yardage on the ground — just like CVC.
Prediciton: Village Christian 28, Bakersfield Christian 20

PORTERVILLE (3-1) AT TAFT (3-1) — I really need to get out and see a game at Taft at some point, because word is the Wildcats have one of the best home-field advantages around. It should be at full strength here, against a Division III team and with a three-game winning streak on the line. Taft's biggest games after this — Tehachapi and Wasco — are on the road, which doesn't bode particularly well. But Steve Sprague has his team rolling right now, and I don't expect it to end this week.
Prediction: Taft 31, Porterville 21

PORTERVILLE-MONACHE (2-2, 1-0 EYL) AT DELANO (4-0, 0-0) — Speaking of home-field edges, the Tigers enjoy one too, or so I hear — this is another place I need to get out to. This week Delano faces its toughest test yet, a Monache team that was 5-5 last year and gave Visalia-Mt.Whitney a scare in a 41-40 loss. This still is a team Delano ought to be able to handle, especially at home, setting up a nice little showdown at Porterville next week.
Prediction: Delano 35, Monache 20

ROSAMOND (1-3) AT TEHACHAPI (3-1) — As I begin to realize more and more how good Frontier is, it'd be wise not to forget that Tehachapi's resume looks better and better too. That blowout loss to Frontier is one a lot of teams would have suffered, especially in Division III. Because they get Taft at home, I still think the Warriors have the goods to win the SSL again. Rosamond and Shafter in the next two weeks offer a couple of good opportunities to tune up for the bulk of the league run.
Prediction: Tehachapi 40, Rosamond 7

CHAVEZ (3-2, 0-1 EYL) AT TULARE WESTERN (1-3, 0-1) — Forget the Tulare Union blowout loss — those aren't the types of teams Chavez is ready to compete with. But this tricky road test is exactly the sort of game the Titans need to win if they're to get that elusive first winning season in school history and get a decent seed in the Division III playoffs. It's a road game, and the Mustangs are a similar type of ball control/defense team, but it's a winnable game. Gut-check time for Chavez, and I'll say they pass.
Prediction: Chavez 20, Tulare Western 12

LINDSAY (4-1) AT McFARLAND (3-2) — Here's a perfect example of what I was talking about with East: One win for the Cougars, even though it was against seniorless Kennedy, sparked something, and McFarland was able to turn that into quality victories against Mojave and Cambria-Coast Union. This is a team that has three running backs averaging better than 6 yards a carry, so it's a threat in the East Sierra League. This week, McFarland probably is in over its head a bit, but it's still a good measuring stick before the league season. Just don't lose that momentum.
Prediction: Lindsay 49, McFarland 9

ARCADIA-RIO HONDO PREP (4-0) AT DESERT (1-3) — It's obviously taking the Scorpions some time to get over the graduation of Terrence Wells. They've scored just 47 points in four games and now face a team that's given up only 13.3 points a game. The Kares (don't know what the heck that is, but it's cool) also beat Boron, who handled Desert easily last week.
Prediction: Rio Hondo Prep 37, Desert 13

LA HABRA-WHITTIER CHRISTIAN (3-1) AT KERN VALLEY (4-0) — If you want excitement, Kern Valley is the team to watch. After a couple of ho-hummers to start the season, the Broncs have won back-to-back overtime thrillers against Boron and Piedmont, with the scores of both games well up in the 30s. Now another quality team comes to town. I've picked against KV each of the past two weeks and come out on the wrong end; but I feel like if I change my ways, I might miss the week that the Broncs' luck turns against them. So you're welcome, Kern Valley fans; my anti-jinx is in effect again.
Prediction: Whittier Chrisitan 33, Kern Valley 27, OT

FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (4-0) VS. PANORAMA CITY-ST. GENEVIEVE (5-0) AT SUN VALLEY-POLY — Something obviously has to give in this battle of unbeatens, and while I hate to predict that three of the county's five unbeaten teams will see their runs come to an end in the same week, I've just got a feeling the Falcons are the underdogs here. I think St. Genevieve's dual-threat QB, Chris Navarro, goes over 200 yards of offense and leads the Valiants to another victory. But it'll be close.
Prediction: St. Genevieve 28, Frazier Mountain 24

BURROUGHS (2-2) AT HESPERIA (2-2) — You can say one thing about the Burros: They like to challenge themselves in the non-conference schedule. There are no gimmes, and they're always heading to Tehachapi or Bakersfield or Lancaster to play another good-sized school, and they usually give 'em hell, if not a loss to go with it. I think that attitude is rewarded more often than not, and so after a comeback fell short against Tehachapi last week, this week's effort will be enough to get into Desert Sky League play with a winning record.
Prediction: Burroughs 31, Hesperia 23

Saturday, Oct. 10
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (2-2, 1-0 CVSSL) AT CLOVIS CHRISTIAN (1-2, 0-0) — This will be a hotly contested rematch of a game from last year when Clovis Christian stormed off the field in the fourth quarter, accusing Lighthouse of stealing play calls with the help of a chain-gang member on a cell phone. I did some investigating, and while the chain-guy apparently was talking to somebody (welcome to 8-man football!), I don't think any info was being exchanged. That'd be a little too suspicious, wouldn't it? More likely is that Clovis Christian was getting surprised by a rebuilding Lighthouse team. Good karma (and the fact that the architect of that upset is now the Guardians' head coach) says Lighthouse wins another one.
Prediction: Lighthouse Christian 31, Clovis Christian 28

MARICOPA (3-1) AT SANTA MARIA-VALLEY CHRISTIAN (2-1-1) — While it probably won't be as well attended as Bakersfield College's juco showdown with Allan Hancock in Santa Maria the same day, this one also has some league title implications. Al Allen's Indians have the goods to win the Coast Valley League, and with two winless teams around, it looks like it'll come down to these two teams and Shandon, which visits Maricopa next week. I'll trust coach Allen and say Maricopa takes a big step towards that title.
Prediction: Maricopa 38, Valley Christian 25

BAKER (2-0) AT IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (2-2) — I think I'm finally on the same page with the Crusaders on their scheduling now that we're into Hi-Lo League play. Now the problem will be getting a beat on the team. Immanuel Chrisitian looks fairly young and is playing for a new coach. Baker is undefeated. Seems like enough reason to go with the Mad Greeks, er, I mean, Braves.
Prediction: Baker 39, Immanuel Christian 31

Last week: 16-4 (.800)
This year: 77-29 (.726)

I usually close one week of high school football with some idea of how I'm going to start the next — what game I'll cover, who I'll assign to cover other games, who I like to win some of the big games and how I might arrange the teams in Tuesday's set of Central Section rankings. Things might change, and they usually do, but for the most part, I stick to my basic idea. I don't really have an official brainstorming session for this or anything, but I automatically do it while I'm covering a game or writing a blog or going for a run or taking a shower or whatever. Helps me manage time and get everything done.

So, this week, like normal, I went through those thought. I think I'll give the Division I teams a rest for a week and see red-hot Frontier play at intriguing West. I think the incomparable Jeff Evans will see unbeaten but untested South get a visiting exam from Stockdale. Like always, I'll save my predictions thoughts for tomorrow's post.

But this week, something was different. Every time my mind wanted to broach the subject of rankings, I pushed it aside and went on to something else, like my wife or the alma mater's huge game on ESPN against Nebraska (nervous about that one) or the weather or my cats or a hundred other things. Anything but those rankings.

Here's the rub: It's time to do the rankings. And how do you separate Bakersfield's four Division I teams? BHS beat Stockdale, which beat Centennial, which beat Liberty. OK, easy enough there. But Liberty beat BHS last week. And Stockdale looked great against the Golden Hawks. And where does Frontier fit in all of this? And the northern teams?

I'm telling you this because the rankings below are just my best approximation of what could be reality. The truth is, any of those teams could probably beat the other depending on which Friday they get a chance. So have an extra grain of salt, then enjoy as I attempt not to make a fool of myself.

1. Fresno-Bullard (5-0, Division I, last week: 1) — I'm still not totally convinced the Knights would beat Buchanan head-to-head, but I started with them here and they've done nothing to disappoint me. One thing's for sure: There's a gap between No. 2 and everyone else right now.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 3 Clovis West, 28-21. THIS WEEK: BYE

2. Clovis-Buchanan (4-0, Division I, last week: 2) — Even though the Bears struggled to put away Edison — needing three interceptions and a goal-line stand to do it — it's probably a good sign for coach Mike Vogt that both sides of the ball have looked good at times. Now a couple of tricky games, including next week's league opener at Madera, before Buchanan hits the meat of its TRAC schedule.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 7 Fresno-Edison, 22-12. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 10 Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial

3. Tulare Union (4-0, Division II, last week: 5) — No matter who you're playing, it's impressive to put up an average of 54.3 points a game against Yosemite-class opponents. That trend ought to continue as the Redskins' next two foes are a combined 1-8 before Porterville and Delano try to offer more of a challenge.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Chavez, 58-0. THIS WEEK: at Porterville-Granite Hills

4. Clovis West (1-3, Division I, last week: 3) — If you thought Fresno State was a good 1-3 team, check out these Golden Eagles on the high school level. A win against Liberty, two losses to Southern Section powers and then a three-point defeat to Bullard in which a late Clovis West turnover was the difference. Point is, though, the next four games are tough, too, so the Eagles had better find a way to start winning some of them.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 1 Fresno-Bullard, 28-21. THIS WEEK: at No. 6 Fresno-Edison

5. Stockdale (3-1, Division I, last week: 6) — Seems like the Mustangs might be taking over that typical Clovis East role of a team that's a bit under the radar section-wide, but a team no coach in his right mind would want to play. With the Wing T humming along plus the threat of a passing attack, Stockdale is a legitmate threat to run the table — playoffs included.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 8 Centennial, 49-20. THIS WEEK: at South

6. Fresno-Edison (3-1, Division II, last week: 7) — A loss to Buchanan says a lot when the loser is a few breaks away from a season-changing win. Keep in mind this is a program that had enough talent to be a Division II state-bowl threat a year ago before off-field issues derailed it. There are some new faces, but don't forget about the Tigers.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan, 22-12. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 4 Clovis West

7. Liberty (2-2, Division I, last week: 12) — It didn't take long for the Patriots to remind all of us doubters that it only takes a little offense to support a truly great D. Liberty got that against Bakersfield and now stands a great chance at an undefeated league season. A showdown in Week 6 with Stockdale could be the only obstacle between Liberty and, against a lot of odds a couple of weeks ago, a home game in the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 4 Bakersfield, 27-20. THIS WEEK: at Foothill

8. Bakersfield (2-2, Division I, last week: 4) — Seems strange to rank the Drillers so far below Stockdale just three weeks after BHS beat the Mustangs in a nail-biter. But if you look at the whole body of work, I think Stockdale deserves the clear nod for now. Bakersfield still has the talent to compete, but mistakes have derailed the Drillers too many times to consider them a fluke anymore.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 12 Liberty, 27-20. THIS WEEK: at No. 9 Centennial

9. Centennial (3-1, Division I, last week: 8) — Again, here's a team that's multiple spots below another, Liberty, that it beat just a few weeks ago. I told you to take these rankings with a grain of salt. But just like I see Stockdale as a cut above the other D-I teams in town, I'm not sure Centennial isn't still a slight notch below. They have a huge chance to prove me wrong this week.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 6 Stockdale, 49-20. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 8 Bakersfield

10. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (4-0, Division II, last week: 9) — Another casualty of the Kern County Division I mix-up is the Panthers, who won a road game against a ranked team and dropped a spot. Somebody had to make room for Liberty, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take Memorial seriously — though a defense that has averaged just 8.8 points against gets a serious test this week.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 15 Fresno-Hoover, 15-12. THIS WEEK: at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan

11. Fresno-Central (3-2, Division I, last week: 10) — Here's a team with some speed that can cause some serious problems for anyone. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Grizzlies can do when they get into TRAC play — this is a school with the athletes to compete and win against Clovis Unified schools in basketball, so don't doubt it can do it on the gridiron as well.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fresno-Sunnyside, 73-7. THIS WEEK: BYE

12. Kingsburg (4-0, Division IV, last week: 11) — Quarterback Tyler Bray has completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,050 yards, 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He hasn't even had to use his considerable running ability. No wonderLane Kiffin at Tennessee was interested.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Reedley-Immanuel, 63-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Coalinga

13. Visalia-El Diamante (3-1, Division II, last week: 13) — A huge out-of-section game for the Miners this week, especially when you consider the rest of the schedule. With Hanford having a down year, there isn't anyone to give El D much of a challenge in the West Yosemite League, meaning Friday night might be the Miners' last chance to learn something before running into Tulare Union or Edison in the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Visalia-Mt. Whitney, 41-20. THIS WEEK: at Paso Robles

14. Frontier (4-0, Division II, last week: 14) — Don't sleep on Frontier. The Titans play in a league that will test them nearly every week, especially now with North out of the way, and they still have a chance to be 8-0 when they visit Stockdale in Week 9. Not to mention that the top dogs in D-II better scoot over; someone else belongs at the table.
LAST WEEK: won vs. North, 40-0. THIS WEEK: at West

15. Chowchilla (3-1, Division IV, last week: NR) — Meh. Consider this spot up for grabs until a team takes it by the reins. For now, the Redskins get it thanks to a win against Oakhurst-Yosemite last week. The first four or five teams on the waiting list below could easily be here this week or next.
LAST WEEK: won at Oakhurst-Yosemite, 30-22. THIS WEEK: at Kerman

Dropped out: No. 15 Fresno-Hoover
Waiting: Fresno-Hoover, Clovis East, Tehachapi, Clovis North, West, Taft, Lindsay, Fresno-Washington Union, Wasco, Delano, South, Exeter

It's high time we took a break from football at School House Zach and took another look at the other fall sports going on. They're all well into league seasons, and I hate to pay so little attention to them. But they're up against football, and its vociferous demands on attention, so we'll just do the best we can. And right now, that's a look at each of the sports' different league races.

And for you football-only fans, we'll be back on normal schedule tomorrow with Week 5 coverage, starting with Central Section rankings.

Volleyball
Let's start in the SWYL, where Centennial has already confirmed its front-runner status with sweeps of Frontier and Stockdale early in league play. Add that to a 3-0 record against Bakersfield (keep in mind two were best-of-three tournament shorties, and the other a five-game epic) and a 3-1 win against Liberty, and the Golden Hawks represent Kern's best hope of derailing an expected meeting between Clovis West and Clovis-Buchanan in the Division I Central Section championship. Those northern schools have combined for the last four titles. But Centennial, which has just two losses to out-of-section teams, is a force, led by accurate, intelligent setter Carly Maxwell and a big front line led by Alyssa Gammel, Lauren Campbell, Regan Richert and Lacey Congdon. The defense isn't too shabby, either. As for the Titans and Mustangs, they're good teams who will battle for second place, first on Oct. 13 at Frontier. The Titans also are a legitimate Division II threat.
There's no such clear No. 1 in the SEYL, but a clear No. 2. Bakersfield and Liberty, who split last year (the Patriots took the title because BHS lost a match to Garces) have taken the SEYL by the reins, and it's no surprise that the Drillers and Patriots also have elite setters in Savannah Wedemeyer and Emily Cote. Bakersfield has swept Garces, and its close results against Centennial lead me to believe the Drillers may be the team to beat here after Liberty lost Mariah Alvidrez to a knee injury over the summer. But we won't get a clear answer until the teams tangle Oct. 13 at Liberty and then again Nov. 5 to end the season at BHS. Garces will push both teams — the Rams get Liberty for the first time Thursday at home — and has a 1-2 record against Frontier in the D-II argument, though the one win was a sweep in the only regular-season match the teams played. Golden Valley, a team that with Ridgeview and Tehachapi could make some local D-III noise, probably comes next in the pecking order.
Speaking of Tehachapi, the Warriors are one of the teams with a shot in what should be a wide-open South Sequoia League. Bakersfield Christian has more or less dominated here since it joined the league, but the Eagles lost a lot of talent off of last year's Division IV section champs, and that's opened the door for 16-4 Tehachapi, 8-1 Taft or 10-4 Wasco to compete. Of course, BCHS and its tough non-league schedule will be in it, too. League play starts this week, with the big games Taft at BCHS on Tuesday and Tehachapi at Wasco on Thursday.

Girls tennis
Those who follow Central Section tennis won't be surprised by this, but it might seem odd to those who mainly pay attention to football, basketball and baseball: Division V's Bakersfield Christian is the best team in the Central Section.
And this isn't just a flash-in-the-pan, Derek Carr-is-my-quarterback type of best team; the Eagles arguably have the most dominant program in the section, and that includes six-time defending Division I champion Stockdale. BCHS proved it again Saturday when it won the Lewis Cup with easy wins against the host Mustangs and Clovis West and a less-lopsided but still comfortable 4-2 victory against runner-up Garces. Yes, Visalia-Redwood and maybe Division I favorite Clovis-Buchanan have an argument here, but I think it's clear nobody matches the Eagles. BCHS is strong at the top, where senior Lyndsay Cooke, a two-time section singles runner-up to Redwood's Gabrielle Gatewood, and her sister, sophomore Chelby Cooke, are a combined 25-1. They're also dominant below — the Eagles usually sweep teams and have one of the section's better doubles pairings in Lily Schuler and Carolyn Stevens.
The Eagles competed in the Division I bracket of the California High School Tennis Classic to open the year. The quality of competition was so high, BCHS coach Frank Thiessen said, that it was the rough equivalent of a state tennis championship. The Eagles lost their first match 5-2 — losing two third-set tiebreakers — to Cupertino-Monta Vista, who went on to win the tourney without another close match. BCHS won the consolation bracket. So take from that what you will, but know this — nobody in the SSL or in the Division V section bracket can touch the Eagles. So the Lewis Cup was their championship.
As for Stockdale, the Mustangs have looked like mere mortals after losing top players Frances Ellison and Julie Hutton from last year's latest champions. Stockdale tied a dual with Frontier, 6-6 — the first non-win in SWYL play for the Mustangs in at least a decade — and then finished last among the four-team championship group at the Lewis Cup. Just getting there is an accomplishment, and Stockdale still has a fine team, but the loss to Clovis West especially hurt — Stockdale likely has been pushed behind Buchanan, CW and Fresno-Bullard in the Division I seeding argument, making a seventh straight title increasingly unlikely.
In the SEYL, it's all Garces. East has Nancy Ramirez, but the Rams have an answer now — freshman Gracie Jacobs, who beat Ramirez earlier and gave Lyndsay Cooke quite a challenge before falling at the Lewis Cup. The Rams have a lot of depth, too — they didn't lose any of their top six players from a year ago — so they'll win the SEYL without a sweat and challenge Redwood for D-II supremacy.

Boys cross country
A coup for Ridgeview, but not times two. Oh my, that was horrible. But it fits. The Wolf Pack accomplished something of a local milestone three weekends ago when they won the McFarland Invitational, something only three other local teams have done in the past 30 years. The Cougars were missing a starting runner, but the score wasn't close enough for that to make a difference. But the next week, at Ridgeview's own invite, a full-strength McFarland returned the favor and relegated the Wolf Pack to second place. Still, expect these teams to have a lot to say about the Division III and IV section races in November at Woodward Park in Fresno. Clovis-Buchanan probably is the best team in the section overall, but the two Kern County rivals are ranked second and third in the latest Central Cal Cross Country Rankings.
As for the other league races, Stockdale looks like it's the Wolf Pack's biggest challenger in the SWYL race and the best Kern bet for a top-five finish in the Division I section race. Highland is favored over East to win the SEYL race. And Shafter and Wasco will be doing batte for the SSL crown.
The individual races could be wide open with Chris Schwartz absent. Ridgeview won the individual titles at both the McFarland and Ridgeview invites, but it was a different runner each time: Robby Baker (16:00) at McFarland and Alex Garcia (16:14) at Ridgeview. Any of the McFarland runners, most notably Erik Garcia or Francisco Nava, could challenge. And then you've got a couple of guys who have come out of nowhere: Golden Valley's Daymon Sandles and Stockdale's Blair Slaton, the latter of whom won the season-opening East Invitational. Ridgeview and McFarland were absent from that race, though; the Mustangs meet the Wolf Pack in a league meet with South on Wednesday.

Girls cross country
There's little debate here about the best team in the area: It's Ridgeview, which has convincingly won the McFarland and Ridgeview Invites plus the Highlander Invitational at all-important Woodward Park. The individual champion at all of those meets was Tijerra Lynch, a junior who was The Californian's Runner of the Year last fall. The Central Cal rankings have Ridgeview third overall in the section, behind only Buchanan and Clovis.
But again, there are caveats. The Wolf Pack has yet to face Stockdale head-to-head (they will with the boys Wednesday), and Lynch hasn't met Bakersfield junior Sarah Baker, perhaps her biggest head-to-head competition. Baker won the EB Invite easily.
In the other leagues, it's Stockdale to challenge Ridgeview and then perhaps North in the SWYL. The Stars are a Division II section contender along with Garces, which along with Highland is a favorite for the SEYL title. In the SSL, the clear nod at this point goes to Shafter and Moriah Millwee, who pushed Ridgeview a bit at the Wolf Pack Invite. Taft might sit second.
The Kern County Championships for boys and girls cross country is Halloween morning at 9 a.m. at Hart Park.

Girls golf
The sport that's most quickly coming to its postseason climax is on the links, where Frontier continues to cruise along as Kern County's clear best team. The Titans are balanced and deep, with as many as four or five girls who would be the top golfer on almost any other team around. That shoutout belongs to Cami Ullrich, Meghan Shain, Jordanne Barr, Malea Miller and Tavia Rutherford. All are capable of breaking 80, and that's what Frontier will need to defend its Division II section title or challenge for the overall crown.
Stockdale is a clear second in the SWYL. In the east-side league, Garces lost a ton from its area champion squad last year but still is the bee's knees (yeah, sorry again). Liberty has been competitve, though, winning its first league mini-tournament in five years a couple of weeks ago. As a whole, though, the SWYL is by far the strongest local league this year, with Stockdale Abby Marina and Kaley In and Centennial's Chelsey Roberts joining the Frontier five as some of the top individuals around. Garces' Jasmine Rodriguez can join that group as well.
In the SSL, it's rare that more than a few strokes separate Tehachapi and Wasco in a mini-tournament, and a single point is between them in the season standings. Right now, the Tigers have a 37-36 edge. Bakersfield Christian's Megan Cho has been consistently the best individual in the league.

Seems like no matter how much people like me think we know about a group of football teams or a particular season, things get turned on their head at one point and we have to re-examine everything. For the 2009 season, that point came Friday in Week 4.

— First off, the one everyone's talking about. Bakersfield lost to Liberty 27-20, bringing the Patriots back from the dead and, more important, all of a sudden giving them the inside track to an outright SEYL title. And while it was defense that carried the boat like we expected — Bakersfield's high-powered attack didn't have a rusher or a receiver gain more than 50 yards — Liberty's offense showed up enough to take advantage of it. Tyler Gellinck's 43-yard run in the third quarter gave the Pats a commanding 20-10 lead in the third quarter, and Dillon Meadows had 172 total yards at QB. Hats off to Liberty, which plays Stockdale in two weeks. Other than that, it's all SEYL games, and the Pats should be heavily favored in each of them.

— As for the other Division I game, Stockdale looked like the best team I've seen this year this side of Clovis-Buchanan. Better than Clovis West, better than Bakersfield, even though the Mustangs dropped one at BHS two weeks ago. The Mustangs' 49-20 demolition of Centennial was complete, with offense, both rushing and passing, defense and special teams playing their part. This is what happens when you put together a tremendous coaching staff with athletic players who have bought into the system. Stockdale is a force to be reckoned with, and I don't think the Mustangs will lose again until the playoffs — if then.

— Of course, there still is the matter of the Mustangs' trip to Liberty on Oct. 17. That brings me to my next point: No matter what happens in that one, or in Bakersfield's trip to Centennial next week, the Division I teams in town are going to be hurting when the Central Section convenes for its seeding meeting in November. Right now, the pecking order is Bullard and Buchanan, 1 and 2 in some order, then Clovis West and then possibly one Kern team with a home game. Of course, that spot could go to Fresno-Central if they make more noise, too.

— In Division II, though, Frontier keeps humming along. The Titans made another statement in their SWYL opener, pounding North 40-0. The Titans' Week 9 game with Stockdale will be a doozy, because both teams do so many things well. Frontier ran, passed and defended, and we all know that team is excellent in special teams. I think I might eschew BHS-Centennial next week to go see Frontier take on West.

— That offers a nice transition to the Vikings, who took out 4-0 Ridgeview 42-35. The Vikings got a gut-check in this one and came through with a 14-0 fourth quarter for the victory despite Tyler Dogins' 264 rushing yards and 92 passing yards for the Wolf Pack. The kid still has to be a favorite for Player of the Year. But Ridgeview no longer is among the ranks of the unbeaten. And West has a suddenly huge game against Frontier at home next week.

— The Wolf Pack's loss leaves us with a suddenly very short list of undefeated Kern County teams. There's Frontier, Kern Valley and Frazier Mountain out of the Southern Section, and two teams you wouldn't have guessed for this position: South and Delano. Both are Division III schools (they actually met in last year's playoffs, with the Tigers winning 42-0) who lost a lot off of last year's successful editions. Keep in mind neither team has played a great schedule (South's opponents' record: 3-14, Delano's: 4-13), but they're winning and winning big. The Rebels get a huge test next week with a visit from Stockdale. Delano plays a decent Porterville-Monache team but probably won't get a really stiff test until Week 6 against Porterville or Week 8 against Tulare Union.

— Big ups to Garces' players and coaches on ignoring the talk around them about head coach David Fanucchi's (possibly forced) resignation and taking care of on-field business. The Rams hammered Golden Valley 49-0 behind 134 rushing yards from Jalen Sykes and 132 from Grant Campbell. This team still probably is the only SEYL squad capable of challenging Liberty or BHS the rest of the way, so keep an eye out.

— Also a word of congratulations to Jerald Pierucci and East High, which won their first game of the year and first SEYL game in Pierucci's two-year tenure. And it was a quality win, 20-0 at Highland. Keep in mind that the Scots turned the ball over five times in the red zone, which will pin a loss on you against just about anyone, but also keep in mind that even had the Scots scored three touchdowns in those possessions, they'd only be even with the vastly improved Blades. I don't know how many more wins are out there for East, but I bet it feels great to get this one out of the way.

— A beautiful recovery for Wasco after a missed chance at Lindsay last week. The Tigers returned home and made big plays late to take out defending Division V runner-up Corcoran, 35-28. After scoring twice in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 28, Wasco successfully tried a surprise onside kick, got the ball back and scored again on a Michael Martinez run. Jacob Salinas then intercepted Corcoran to seal it. Quentin Cheatham was held to a (for him) modest 142 yards and two touchdowns, but this is the Tigers' best win of the year thus far.

Moving on to next week's biggest games. This is a week that looked a little dull if you looked at the slate a month ago, but with the season changing, it's become another Friday of showdowns.

Frontier at West: Right now I'm starting to wonder why we don't think of Frontier as the SWYL favorite
Bakersfield at Centennial: Last chance for Drillers to make a statement; both teams need a win
Stockdale at South: The last time Mustangs played here, it was 22-13 — for the Rebels
Porterville-Monache at Delano: Probably the best team 4-0 Delano has played
Porterville at Taft: Chance for Taft to measure itself against Wasco, which beat P-ville handily

UPDATED, 12:36 a.m.: Week 4 turned into a huge statement night for several teams around town. Let's get straight to the nitty-gritty.

Liberty 27, Bakersfield 20: Don't forget about the Patriots just yet, folks. Their offense was all but written off after three poor weeks, but what we forgot is that this team was learning a new offense. The team I saw in Week 0 had no hope of consistently moving the ball, but Liberty was able to do that tonight, and that's a sure sign of progress. Of course, it was the defense, that old stalwart, that came through in the end with a big fumble recovery for the touchdown to ice it. This win means an inside track to the SEYL title for Liberty and probably is the program's biggest win in four or five years.

Stockdale 49, Centennial 20: This Stockdale team looked fantastic. Like, best team in the county, maybe best team in the section fantastic. Don't know if they can keep it up every week, but if the Mustangs play like this, they'll be a tough out for anyone in the playoffs. They ran the ball well. They got Centennial guessing, and then they passed the ball well. They flew to the ball on defense. They've got some of the best kickers in the county and they don't make many mistakes.
These results tonight do raise an interesting point that we'll talk more about later, but here's what I'm thinking: All four Division I teams in town have at least one loss, and the two big games they played against Clovis schools were losses. That means that come playoff time, everybody's traveling, just like last year.

West 42, Ridgeview 35: A back-and-forth game that might have been the best of the evening, this one turned the Vikings' way late with two short touchdown drives. It gives West a leg up in the SWYL race, obviously, but it also knocks the Wolf Pack down a notch. We'll see how they regroup. West, meanwhile, gets Frontier next week in what's turned into a surprisingly big game.

East 20, Highland 0: How bout them Blades? Their first league win since the Andre Smith days comes courtesy of the defense. Highland was stifled five — count em — times inside the East 20 and came away without points. That's super-frustrating for the Scots, but it's gotta feel great for the Blades. Congrats.

Garces 49, Golden Valley 0: So much for the David Fanucchi saga being a distraction. That is all, except that I found it funny that the Diocese extended its gag order to the football field, where players were permitted only to talk about the game, not about their feelings on their soon to be outgoing coach.

South 48, Foothill 28, and Delano 36, Visalia-Golden West 22: OK, Delano fans, I got it. You think your team deserves some credit. And it does, to be sure, as does South. Both teams got to 4-0 tonight. But I'm not going to be sold on either team until the schedule stiffens a little bit. The Rebels' opponents have a combined record of 3-14, and for Delano, it's 4-13. South we'll find a lot out about next week when it plays Stockdale. Delano? Maybe Week 6 against Porterville, definitely Week 8 against Tulare Union but it doesn't look like the Tigers will lose for a while. The howls for respect will continue.

UPDATED, 10:42 p.m.: 49-20 Stockdale the final here after Centennial scores on the game's final play. Huge night for the Mustangs.
Liberty comes up with a huge night as well, hanging on to beat Bakersfield 27-20.  Also big wins for East, 20-0 over Highland. Ridgeview was tied 35-35 with West with 6:47 to play at last update. I'll be back tonight late with a final scorelist and some thoughts.

UPDATED, 9:50 p.m.: Ridgeview has come back on West and now leads that game 35-28 late in the third quarter.
Here, Stockdale's running game is busy running out the clock in a hurry. The Mustangs have had a really balanced night, with offense, defense, special teams and even the passing game getting in on the act. We just went under the five-minute mark. I'll update the final in a bit, but I'm going down to the field for some interviews. Also have BHS-Liberty and West-Ridgeview finals as soon as possible.

UPDATED, 9:42 p.m.: Call that one the double juggular, courtesy of Stockdale's Kyle Desimone. First he caught a short swing pass from Efren Venegas and took it 35 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Then, after an extra point and a touchback on the kickoff, Desimone jumped a crossing route, intercepted Cody Kessler and took THAT one back 42 yards for a touchdown. In less than 30 seconds, that's two TDs and a 42-14 lead for Stockdale.
The bigger news, perhaps, is at Liberty, where BHS blocked a Patriots punt and gave themselves good field position, but then fumbled and let the Pats take it back for a touchdown. A commanding 27-17 lead for Liberty now with about six minutes to go. All this is going to really hurt Kern County come playoff seeding time, but that's a discussion for later. Right now, it's Stockdale's and Liberty's night.

UPDATED, 9:31 p.m.: Stockdale didn't get the long drive, but it did get another Centennial turnover. Myren Moore was making some nice moves along the sideline after a reception from Kessler, but he forgot the ball. Stockdale recovered and now has it inside the Centennial 40 as the third quarter comes to an end. Going for the juggular now.

UPDATED, 9:25 p.m.: Perhaps the play of the game made by Isaiah Turner on fourth-and-goal for Centennial from the Stockdale 2. Turner burst through the line and tripped up Myren Moore before he could even get his momentum going forward. Turnover on downs, and Stockdale takes over at its own 8 again. Another long drive and this one will be all over but the shouting.
Up at Liberty, the home team leads 20-17 in the third.

UPDATED, 9:13 p.m.: What an opening drive for Stockdale in the second half. A penalty on the kickoff pushed the Mustangs back to their own 8, and they methodically pushed the ball out towards midfield. Then, faced with fourth-and-1, Malik Henderson burst through the line for a 52-yard gain down to the 1. He scored on the next play to make it 28-14 Stockdale. Meanwhile, West has scored three times in the final four minutes at Ridgeview to take a 28-21 lead at halftime.

UPDATED, 8:57 p.m.: First off, a surprise going on at Liberty, where the Patriots have a 14-10 lead at halftime. Don't have many details, but I'll try to update again as the second half goes on. Also at the half, it's East 7-0 over Highland, Corcoran 21-14 over Wasco and Frontier 28-0 over North. West has fought back and is even with Ridgeview, 21-21, just before halftime.
Here, it's 21-14 Stockdale and a very even statistical battle. Centennial leads total yardage 267-246. Individual leaders for the Hawks: Cody Kessler 15-of-23 passing for 182 yards and no TDs, one INT; Myren Moore 11 carries for 75 yards and a TD. For the Mustangs: Malik Henderson 8 carries, 95 yards, TD; Spenser Prince 6-18 on the ground and a TD catch for 80 yards; Efren Venegas 4-of-7 through the air for 97 yards and a TD. Both teams have missed a field goal. Really, the difference in this one is an early muffed punt from Centennial that led to Stockdale's first score. Gonna be a doozy of a second half. Stay tuned.

UPDATED, 8:43 p.m.: Very impressive two-minute drive by a run-first offense there, with Efren Venegas showing off his arm a couple of times. It's no Cody Kessler gun, but it's effective when the defense has eight or nine guys in the box. The drive gets Stockdale down to the Centennial 17, but Tyler Schleicher's 35-yard field goal, while it had plenty of leg, went wide right with 11 seconds left in the half. The score stays 21-14 at halftime.
Meanwhile, South looks like it's struggling with Foothill, but the Rebels have recovered to take a 13-7 lead just before halftime. East has a surprising 7-0 lead at Highland, could be the Blades' first win in more than a year. And Garces is doing just fine with David Fanucchi still at the helm, thank you very much. The Rams are putting a 30-0 welt on Golden Valley at halftime. No update from BHS-Liberty yet, but I'll work on that plus some stats here at halftime.

UPDATED, 8:35 p.m.: Things slow down for a while here, but Centennial just completed a crisp 75-yard drive to cut Stockdale's lead in half with 1:48 to go before halftime. Stockdale's only got one timeout left, so you'd think the Hawks could keep it at 21-14 going into the half. It's crucial that they do, because Stockdale gets the ball first in the second half.

UPDATED, 8:12 p.m.: And the defense makes itself be known at Mustang Field. Hank Hobson just laid a slobberknocker of a hit on a Centennial receiver to force a fourth down. Cole Hallum came on to try a 40-yard field goal and missed it barely wide right. So Stockdale takes over, still 14-7.
And before I can even post that update, Efren Venegas shows that the Mustangs can pass if you're not careful, too. He hits Spenser Prince across the middle, wide open. And Prince can MOVE. He outruns the Centennial secondary all the way 80 yards for a score to make it 21-7. Gonna be interesting now, because you'd think Stockdale would start trying to milk clock if they can get this lead a little deeper into the game.

UPDATED, 8:01 p.m.: Boom. Answered. After squeaking out a couple of first downs, the Mustangs hit the big play, with Malik Henderson busting up the gut for a 60-yard TD run to make it 14-7, 1:03 left in the first quarter. Meanwhile, it's 14-7 Ridgeview over West in the first. All scores below.

UPDATED, 7:56 p.m.: I'm running out of breath trying to keep stats with Centennial's hyper-active no-huddle offense. Cody Kessler dug the Hawks out of a hole with a 26-yard completion on third down to Matt Castellano and then finished the drive several plays later with a 2-yard sneak up the middle to tie the game at 7. About three and a half minutes to go, first quarter, and we've got the shootout we thought we'd get so far.

UPDATED, 7:44 p.m.: So my first update is that the officials are using pink penalty flags for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Then the first flag came out yellow. So who knows.
Anyway, a stuffed run and a penalty force Centennial three-and-out on their first possession. Now Stockdale's vaunted Wing-T. And they come out passing. An incompletion, but who would have thought that.
Anyway, Stockdale goes three-and-out as well, but the Hawks muff the ensuing punt and give it right back. Now the Mustangs have it at the Centennial 23. And Stockdale capitalizes with three straight runs, the last a 10-yard scamper over left tackle from Nic Shannon. Just like that, the turnover costs Centennial and it's 7-0.

UPDATED, 7:30 p.m.: Sitting here on a gorgeous night at jam-packed Mustang Stadium, where Centennial and Stockdale are set to kick it off in about six minutes.
We should have quite a shootout here, if things go according to plan for both offenses, who have moved the ball well in their first three games (with the exception of Centennial's gutsy 10-6 win against Liberty. Both teams could really make a statement with a win, too, but I think that's especially true for Centennial, which would be 4-0 with a visit from Bakersfield possibly the only obstacle between it and a 10-0 season. But this is a big one tonight to get through. Stockdale won the JV game 41-21, if you're interested. Varsity kickoff coming up.

ORIGINAL POST: It's a beautiful Friday morning — first one we've had since the season started, if you say it's can't be beautiful and miserably hot at the same time. It might actually feel like football weather tonight.

If you missed it, I posted the Week 4 podcast late last night, so check it out to gear yourself up for tonight's games. Also feel free to make fun of my Week 4 predictions. There are two big games tonight, Centennial at Stockdale and Bakersfield at Liberty, but nearly every team in town begins league play, so meaningful matchups abound. Check back here often for updates tonight; I'll be live-blogging the Centennial-Stockdale game, but I'll have tabs on BHS-Liberty, West-Ridgeview, Garces-Golden Valley and as many other games as I can throughout the night.

Meanwhile, in the college game, there's a bit of news surrounding the Fresno State/Kern County Bulldogs. West High's Ryan Mathews, as many probably know, still leads the nation with 592 rushing yads. What you might not know is that there's been talk about Bakersfield Christian grad Derek Carr getting another shot at the starting quarterback job. The Bulldogs are 1-3, and though they've been very good offensively, one weakness has been starting QB Ryan Colburn's seven interceptions. Coach Pat Hill says in this story, though, that right now Colburn still is the man. But Carr is getting more reps in practice. Fresno State plays at Hawaii next Saturday, then returns home Oct. 17. Stay tuned.

Back on the high school field, here's tonight's schedule. This will morph into a scorelist when the games start tonight, so keep your mouse on that refresh button.

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

Kern County scoreboard
(12) Liberty 27, (4) Bakersfield 20
(5) Tulare Union 58, Chavez 0
(6) Stockdale 49, (8) Centennial 20
(14) Frontier 40, North 0
Wes 42, Ridgeview 35
Garces 49, Golden Valley 0
East 20, Highland 0
South 48, Foothill 28
Wasco 35, Corcoran 28
Delano 36, Visalia-Golden West 22
Independence 41, Kennedy 14 (at Chavez)
Woodlake 26, Shafter 7
Burroughs 26, Arvin 0
McFarland 31, Cambria-Coast Union 7
Boron 40, Desert 14
Frazier Mountain 41, Simi Valley-Grace Brethren 32
Mojave 26, California City 0
Acton-Vasquez 27, Rosamond 6
Lighthouse Christian 49, Visalia Christian 8
Immanuel Christian 52, New Cuyama-Cuyama Valley 50
Granada Hills-Hillcrest Christian 40, Maricopa 14 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
(1) Fresno-Bullard 28, (3) Clovis West 21
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 22, (7) Fresno-Edison 12
(9) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 15, (15) Fresno-Hoover 12
(10) Fresno-Central 73, Fresno-Sunnyside 7
(11) Kingsburg 63, Reedley-Immanuel 14
(13) Visalia-El Diamante 41, Visalia-Mt. Whitney 20
Clovis North 61, Tulare-Mission Oak 7 (Thursday)
Clovis East 42, Modesto-Davis 0
Chowchilla 30, Oakhurst-Yosemite 22
Fowler 22, Lindsay 21
Dos Palos 27, Tollhouse-Sierra 10
Exeter 21, Dinuba 17
Madera 14, Madera South 13
Clovis 21, Sanger 12
Reedley 34, Fresno-McLane 6
Lemoore 41, Hanford West 20
Visalia-Redwood 28, Hanford 21
Porterville-Monache 48, Porterville-Granite Hills 14
Porterville 27, Tulare Western 11
Laton 51, Avenal 22
Madera Ranchos-Liberty 10, Kerman 0
Temecula-Linfield Christian 33, SLO-Mission Prep 13
Fresno-Washington Union 54, Selma 34
Coalinga-Faith Christian 49, Alpaugh 14
Caruthers 41, Firebaugh 26
Visalia-Central Valley Christian 18, Coalinga 15
Fresno Christian 40, Lemoore-Kings Christian 6
Mendota 26, Parlier 16
Farmersville 37, Orosi 6
Tranquillity 27, Riverdale 20
Orange Cove 28, Strathmore 24
Riverdale Christian 71, Madera-Lighthouse Academy 0 (Saturday)

Sorry this is late, but I present our Week 4 high school football podcast. Can't wait for Week 4 — and if you can't get enough of football (or of my voice), listen to KRAB Radio's morning show to catch me talking about a few of the matchups and news of the week. Should be on the air sometime between 7 and 7:30 a.m.