School House Zach - zewing's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Week 11 (playoffs), Most important things

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:16:04 PST

It's time to admit it. My weekly "Most Important Things" post has become more of a weekly recap than anything — which is OK, but I'd like to really focus today on what is actually important about a first week of playoffs in which nearly every team that was in action is a heavy underdog to win the championship (minus Edison and Memorial from Division II, and Tehachapi, Porterville, Delano and maybe Hanford or Ridgeview from D-III). Which of the teams that had to play in Week 11 is capable of springing an upset in the quarterfinals or beyond? How many will even stand a chance next week when the top teams come back into action?

— Give Centennial much credit for finding a way to get past Clovis East — any time you get a win over another Division I team is a time for some celebration and chest-beating. But as victories go, this 16-14 conquest wasn't particularly pretty or particularly confidence-inspiring. The Golden Hawks got gift after gift from Clovis East, which gave Centennial at least nine of its points with bad punt snaps and fumbled away numerous other chances. If the game had gone another quarter, it felt like the Timberwolves were going to run away with it. But it didn't, and it's Centennial heading to Buchanan. Do the Hawks have a chance? I wouldn't count them completely out, simply because Cody Kessler can be a dangerous adversary when he's playing well and Centennial's defense has been playing very well. But Buchanan isn't going to make the mistakes Clovis East did, so it's going to take a better effort from the Golden Hawks just to stay in the game, methinks.

— Garces, on the other hand, apparently looked most impressive against a Reedley team that, as we discussed all week, was much better than a typical No. 11 seed. The Pirates were 7-3 coming in out of the tough County-Metro Athletic Conference, and the Rams made them look like they had no business being in the game. Garces led 33-0 before Reedley even scored, and it cruised in, 47-23. Jalen Sykes was again a beast, running for 147 yards and a long touchdown on 11 carries. Matt Sumlin showed the Rams still have a passing offense even without the injured Blake Campbell. Sumlin caught four of Phillip Anspach's five completions for 72 yards. Three of the receptions went for touchdowns. These are all things Frontier now has to worry about, because Garces invades Titan Stadium next Friday in the other juicy all-Bakersfield quarterfinal. It'll be interesting to see how the Rams compete in that one, because every time they've stepped up to that level, the offense has suddenly looked very stoppable. Otherwise, though, Garces has been a juggernaut since September.

— All the credit in the world goes to Foothill coach Mike Gregg and his team, which showed how far a little health, continuity and improvement can go in a season. The Trojans didn't really belong on the same field as South back in Week 4, and this Friday they beat the Rebels 21-14. Never underestimate the impact of missed scoring opportunities. Three times South ventured inside the Foothill 35 and came away with nothing. That's called stiffening on defense, and it's called leaving the door open on offense. And despite Lee West's magical season (his 24 rushing touchdowns are a new school record) and a 6-5 finishing mark, South leaves another season with a bitter taste in its mouth. As for Foothill, it seems like a heavy underdog for its trip up the 58 Freeway next week to Tehachapi. But at this point, count the Trojans out at your own peril.

— Nothing too impressive about Ridgeview's 42-30 shootout win against Hanford West. The Wolf Pack have been up and down all year, and this feels like a game it could have lost against a better opponent. Still, Tyler Dogins ran for 162 and accounted for four total touchdowns (one passing), and this is a very dangerous squad when its defense is playing well. Does Ridgeview have a shot up in Porterville on Friday? Absolutely. Can the Wolf Pack play like this again? Not if it wants the season to continue.

— Delano grinded out a 23-6 win against Highland. It might seem like the Tigers could have rolled up a bigger win, but to me, this is what the playoffs are all about. Highland came in with nothing to lose, hit a few people in the mouth and forced Delano to show it had the better team instead of rolling over. The Tigers proved it, thanks in large part to quarterback Josh Garcia, who ran for 119 yards and a couple of touchdowns, and a defense that never allowed Highland to get into the game. I'd say kudos to both teams in this one for a playoff game done the right way. Now Delano's got a much tougher opponent in Hanford, and they'll have to ramp it up a couple of notches.

— Disappointing way to end the season for for a few Kern County teams: West didn't pose much of a threat to Sanger in a 20-3 loss; the Vikings weren't the same team after Moose Cobb was lost to academics in the middle of the season. Bakersfield Christian's offensive woes were its undoing again in a 13-8 loss to SLO-Mission Prep that dropped the Eagles to 3-8 after they flew so high last year. Cesar Chavez continued its fade on offense and defense and had no answer for Clovis North in a 37-6 home loss. Independence and Mira Monte also said goodbye to their first varsity seasons at the expense of Porterville and Tehachapi. I'm sure both would have liked to compete a little more, but I'd say they've both had productive Year Ones.

— Really, the most important thing about this weekend is that the preliminaries are over. There are no more bad opponents in most divisions, and the ones that are left are rewards for top teams to feast on. Nearly every other quarterfinal should be a battle. That includes Stockdale hosting Bakersfield in a huge game (can we get this thing moved to BC? Let's pack the joint), and gut-check games for teams like Liberty, Frontier, Delano and Wasco, who have had great seasons but haven't had a whole lot of playoff success in recent years. It's time for making a good season a memorable one, or it's time for going home.

With that in mind, here are the five most juicy quarterfinals to look forward to. Much more to come on these games and others during the week:

Bakersfield at Stockdale: Don't need to say much here
Garces at Frontier: Sounds funny, but the Rams might be the second-best team Frontier has faced
Liberty at Fresno-Central: Such an intriguing contrast in styles
Ridgeview at Porterville: Wolf Pack needs to play much better to be the sleeper
Exeter at Wasco: A win completes a dream season for Tigers, no matter what happens in the semis

Week 11 (playoffs) running thread and scoreboard

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:08:36 PST

UPDATED, 11:49 p.m.: Here's what we're looking at for next week. We'll talk more about it Sunday in a Most Important Things post, but I wanted to get the matchups out there and talked about now:

Division I
(8) Centennial at (1) Clovis-Buchanan
(5) Liberty at (4) Fresno-Central
(6) Bakersfield at (3) Stockdale
(7) Clovis West at (2) Fresno-Bullard

Division II
(8) Sanger at (1) Tulare Union
(5) Fresno-Edison at (4) Fresno-SJ Memorial
(6) Garces at (3) Frontier
(10) Visalia-Redwood at (2) Visalia-El Diamante

Division III
(9) Clovis North at (1) Dinuba
(5) Hanford at (4) Delano
(6) Ridgeview at (3) Porterville
(10) Foothill at (2) Tehachapi

Division IV
(8) Kerman at (1) Kingsburg
(5) Exeter at (4) Wasco
(6) Dos Palos at (3) Taft
(7) Tollhouse-Sierra at (2) Fresno-Washington Union

Division V
(8) SLO-Mission Prep at (1) Corcoran
(5) Caruthers at (4) Woodlake
(6) Lindsay at (3) Madera Ranchos-Liberty
(7) Parlier at (2) Fowler

Division VI
(5) Orange Cove at (1) Tranquillity
(3) Mendota at (2) Strathmore

UPDATED, 11:38 p.m.: Some close games out there in the first round of the playoffs tonight, though there weren't too many upsets. All scores below are final; let's digest:

Centennial 16, Clovis East 14: Not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but the Golden Hawks certainly will take it. That's two big victories for Centennial this year — the other against Liberty in Week 2 — and both came courtesy of the defense, not the Hawks' vaunted balanced attack. Now the concern is for a banged-up Cody Kessler as Centennial gets Clovis-Buchanan next week.

Foothill 21, South 14: It's the Trojans, not the Rebels, who will be heading up to Tehachapi in the Division III quarterfinals, which seems strange considering South won this matchup by 20 points in the regular season. But this one had a couple of elements of an upset: South blew two good scoring opportunities in the first half without points, and Foothill had a couple of monster plays in a big third quarter.

Garces 47, Reedley 23: In what could have turned into a close game, Garces got out on Reedley very early and kept scoring. This Rams offense has been something special against almost everyone in the second half of the season. Unfortunately for Garces, next week's opponent, Frontier, is not everyone else. The Titans' defensive line is big, and it'll be a test like Liberty was for the Rams. But a good win this week, and that's step one.

Delano 23, Highland 6: A couple of defensive-minded teams played smashmouth football in Delano tonight, but the host Tigers clearly had a little more flash to go with the power. The Tigers get their ninth victory of the season and move on to face Hanford, which beat up on Golden Valley. That'll be a doozy in Delano next week.

Ridgeview 42, Hanford West 30: The Wolf Pack is safely into the quarterfinals as well, though they got quite a bit of trouble from a team that only had wins against bottom-feeders coming in. Ridgeview won't be able to play around with Porterville in next week's quarterfinals. But Tyler Dogins showed again why he's one of Kern County's most dynamic players in this one, rushing for 162 yards and three touchdowns and passing for 39 more yards and another score.

I'll have one more update with next week's quarterfinal matchups.

UPDATED, 10:46 p.m.: Some scores updating below. Still looking for McFarland and Burroughs scores, if anyone out there has them.

UPDATED, 9:28 p.m.: Clovis East gets out to its 42 but faces a fourth-and-7. QB rolls out, nowhere to go with it. Incomplete. Ball fluttered out of bounds, and Centennial is going to take over and hang on to win this one, 16-14. Clovis East had spiked the ball on second-and-11, which seems strange with a rushing offense that you'd waste a down like that, time issues or not. Centennial will hang on to play Buchanan next week.

UPDATED, 9:24 p.m.: Centennial's turn to make a bizarre error. A false start on a fourth-and-1 forces them into a punt situation with 2:07 to play. Kessler was limping again, so it's ll be Cole Hallum who punts it. Bit of a shank, and Clovis East has it at its own 25, 1:59 to play and no timeouts.

UPDATED, 9:19 p.m.: Clovis East does have the wind at its back here in the fourth quarter. But the T-wolves have to get a stop for that to matter. Myren Moore, who's quietly up to 83 yards, goes for 10 on the first play from scrimmage. Then a horse-collar tackle call on the next play. Penalties have crippled Clovis East.
Good on Centennial so far for taking advantage. They've got a first down at their 49. And Moore is stuffed, but one of the Wolves hit him waaaay late. Another stupid personal foul, another first down. The Hawks just basically have to hold on to the ball at this point; Clovis East is doing the rest. Inside of three minutes to go.

UPDATED, 9:13 p.m.: Shanked Centennial punt gives Clovis East good field position and some life. But they take so long to move the ball. A pass to the end zone on first down from the Centennial 25 is broken up just before Jordan Macias came down with a touchdown.
Instead, the Timberwolves will keep moving it on the ground. Takes four plays, and they've covered the final 25 yards. Johnson-Bey now has — get this — 38 carries for 230 yards and his second touchdown. And yet, even after the PAT, Clovis East still trails 16-14. 4:25 to play. Clovis East has two timeouts left.

UPDATED, 9:06 p.m.: Centennial has done almost nothing on offense in the second half, and not much for the game, but it's in position to win this game because of defense and especially because of special teams.
Clovis East forces a three-and-out, but by the time the Timberwolves get the ball back, they'll be down two possessions with less than seven minutes to play. Centennial just burned its final two timeouts, but that won't matter if Clovis East can't rally. Punt coming, 6:56 to play.

UPDATED, 9:03 p.m.: A halfback pass from Sean Johnson-Bey to fellow wingback Khary Coleman nets Clovis East's first completion and a 45-yard gain to set Clovis East up inside the Centennial 30.
Ridgeview has pulled away from Hanford West, by the way, leading 42-22 at the end of three.
First down inside the 20 now. Clock rolling down to nine minutes. And now Johnson-Bey has fumbled again. Elijah Trail jumps on it for Centennial at its own 14. Huge play, and if the Golden Hawks can take some time off the clock, they can salt this one away.

UPDATED, 8:57 p.m.: Foothill has come back on South and leads 21-14 with about five minutes to play in the game. Surprsing result there. Ridgeview also having trouble with Hanford West; the Wolf Pack lead it 28-22 late in the third at last update.
Here, Clovis East forces Centennial to punt after the safety kick. Just about 11 minutes left, though.

UPDATED, 8:49 p.m.: Clovis East stalls, and Centennial calls timeout with 5 seconds left in the third quarter to force the Timberwolves, from deep in their own end, to punt into the wind. This is the same end zone where the snap was bad the last time.
And it's high again! This one goes over Josh Long's head and out the back of the end zone for a safety. 16-7 Golden Hawks, a huge play that makes this a two possession game. Three seconds left in the third.

UPDATED, 8:45 p.m.: Cody Kessler is back on the field, by the way, after he limped off in the second quarter. He just converted a fourth-and-1 from the Clovis East 44, giving the Golden Hawks new downs and keeping the clock moving. The clock means a lot when a running team is behind, even in the third quarter.
But now the Hawks misstep, a holding penalty and a sack forcing them into third-and-21 back at their own 47. A complete pass, but it's short and Centennial will punt. Kessler does it himself and pins CE back at its own 5. 1:54 left in the third.

UPDATED, 8:35 p.m.: Finally, here's a Clovis East drive that hasn't been marred by penalties or turnovers, at least not yet. Remember the Timberwolves were inside the 10 when they fumbled before. Right now, they've just converted a third down to get inside the 35.
Now, three plays later, it's fourth-and-1 from the Centennial 24. I think CE has to go for it here, considering there's just a quarter and a half left, and they've been getting a good push at the line of scrimmage. Out of a timeout, they line up not in their double wing but in the I formation and give to Johnson-Bey, who gets three yards. Big first down there.
It feels like the T-wolves need a TD here; a field goal doesn't help you much in an offense that takes a long time to move the ball. Johnson-Bey takes a pitch to the left down to the 2-yard line. Next play, Johnson-Bey touchdown. PAT good, and it's 14-7 Centennial with 5:35 to go in the third. Game on.

UPDATED, 8:22 p.m.: Wild start to the second half. Sean Johnson-Bey fumbled the ball away to Centennial on the first play from scrimmage, but Shawn Johnson gave it right back on the second play from scrimmage. Clovis East is not a team comfortable coming from behind late, so the T-Wolves have to get points soon if they're going to stay in this one.

UPDATED, 8:18 p.m.: Some other scores bring us Garces up big on Reedley, South up 6-0 on Foothill and Ridgeview up on Hanford West 21-15, closer than I thought it would be. Full scorelist is updating below. And what's this I hear? CSUB ahead of UCLA at Pauley Pavilion? That would be quite the coup for Keith Brown and the Roadrunners.

UPDATED, 8:03 p.m.: The half ends with Centennial ahead 14-0, a product of a brilliant final four minutes of the half. Blocked-punt touchdown, successful onside kick (really just a blooper down the sideline) that leads to another TD — this is how you win games.
Here are some first-half stats:
CLOVIS EAST — Sean Johnson-Bey, 13 carries, 110 yards (though he had 77 on his first six, so the Hawks have gotten better at slowing him down)
CENTENNIAL — Cody Kessler, 14-of-20 passing, 115 yards, three carries, 13 yards, TD; Myren Moore, 15 carries, 60 yards; Matt Castellano, 5 catches, 49 yards; Thomas Grimes 3 catches, 36 yards.
One more big stat — the Golden Hawks have ran 39 points, Clovis East has ran just 18. That's a big factor, too.

UPDATED, 7:55 p.m.: Centennial didn't take long there. A 10-yard Kessler completion to Tim Martinez plus a late hit on Clovis East (the yellow flags have killed the Timberwolves), followed by three runs makes it 14-0 with just 1:10 left before halftime. Kessler snuck it in from a yard out, but he did come off the field limping a bit. Something to keep an eye on in the second half.

UPDATED, 7:50 p.m.: Told you it would happen. But it didn't take very long after I said something. Clovis East snapped the ball over punter Josh Long's head, and when he tried to recover the ball, he fumbled it, picked it up again and had the kick blocked. Elijah Trail waited for the ball to come down and when it did, it was 6-0 Centennial. 7-0 now after the extra point, and a suprise onside kick from the Hawks gives 'em another chance before halftime, at the Clovis East 35.

UPDATED, 7:44 p.m.: Cody Kessler finds Thomas Grimes for 16 yards and a key conversion on first down. That was Kessler at his best, finding himself some extra time out of the pocket and then slipping a bullet to Grimes. The drive continues.
The Hawks drive to the 25, but then Hallum misses another FG. This one was 42 yards, and it had enough leg, but went barely wide right. Five minutes left in the half. I'm guessing someone will score eventually, but I'll keep you posted on that. I might change my mind.

UPDATED, 7:33 p.m.: Clovis East quarterback Daniel Corona keeps on the first play of the second quarter and gets inside the 10, but then fumbles and gives the ball back to Centennial. These teams can't stay out of their own way. Maybe that's why they're in the 8-9 game, but it's plain to see there's lot of talent out there, too.
Centennial gets out of its own end but now faces a third-and-15 from its 24.

UPDATED, 7:27 p.m.: The only thing saving the Golden Hawks' defense right now is Clovis East penalties. Every time the Timberwolves run a clean play, it seems like Sean Johnson-Bey is bursting through the front seven, carrying Centennial defenders with him. He's strong and fast, and that's a dangerous combination if you can't snuff out the run at the line of scrimmage.
Two straight runs of 22 and 31 yards give Clovis East the ball at the Centennial 23. A loss on the next play, though, and it's second-and-13 as the first quarter ends. Still 0-0.

UPDATED, 7:20 p.m.: Centennial not doing anything extraordinary on offense, but a nice mix of Myren Moore runs and short passes, mostly to the flat, have the Golden Hawks inside the Clovis East 30. A penalty followed by the first downfield pass of the evening to Matt Castellano gives Centennial the ball down at the CE 13. But the Timberwolves hold there, and Cole Hallum's 25-yard field goal is no good. Lots of real estate, no points for Centennial. Still scoreless, late in the first quarter.

UPDATED, 7:13 p.m.: Nothing doing early here. Centennial had a big kickoff return on a reverse to start the game, but the Hawks' drive stalled after one first down when Cody Kessler threw incomplete three straight times to turn it over on downs. But then Clovis East was hurt by penalties on its possession and went three-and-out. Only three minutes went by in that sequence.

UPDATED, 6:34 p.m.: I'm perced in the press box at Centennial, where we have the most barren (or at least late-arriving crowd I've seen all season. To be fair, this is the Division I pigtail game, the opposing team is from out of town and there was no JV game to bump up the attendance. But I got here about 15 minutes ago, and I can tell you that there were no more than 50 or so people in the stands.
That's too bad, because this one is compelling to me for several reasons. Yes, the winner will be a heavy underdog at Clovis-Buchanan next week, but both have enough firepower to cause the Bears problems if they don't play well. Besides, Cody Kessler is always worth the price of admission for the Golden Hawks, and Clovis East's double-wing attack is always formidable. And, mainly, it should just be a good, close game. Nothing wrong with one of those, especially with both teams' seasons on the line.
Clock says 24 minutes to kickoff.

ORIGINAL POST: As we settle in for the first weekend of the Central Section playoffs, let's not forget what all of this hoopla is really about: Whittling the championship field to eight in each division. Some are already waiting with byes; others just want to take care of business so they can get to the really important games down the road.

Nowhere is that more apparent than at Centennial, where I'll be perched tonight for the only first-round Division I game between the Golden Hawks and visiting Clovis East. It ought to be a good one, and I'm excited — I've never seen Clovis East play. The winner joins seven teams already waiting in the quarterfinals, including undefeated Clovis-Buchanan, who'll play the winner next week.

Elsewhere, we've got what should be a dandy in Division II between Garces and Reedley, plus three all-Kern Division III matchups between South-Foothill, Mira Monte-Tehachapi and Highland-Delano.

The full Central Section scoreboard is below, and you can imagine the way I've got the scores listed like a bracket — If a team wins the top game, it plays the No. 1 seed next week; if a team wins the bottom game, it plays the No. 2 seed, except in Division III, where Tehachapi is the No. 2. Hopefully the list isn't too cluttered. Let me know if it is, and I'll make it more readable next week.

Before we get to that, though, a quick volleyball note from last night: Frontier rallied to beat Garces in five games for the Division II section championship, and for Tehachapi, the fourth time was the charm. After losing in three straigh D-III finals, the Warriors swept Exeter last night. Congrats to those teams.

Also, don't forget to check out Week 11 rankings, predictions and podcast, if you haven't already. Should whet your appettite nicely for tonight.

(Divisional seeds in parentheses; all games 7 p.m. Friday unless noted)
Central Section playoffs
DIVISION I
(8) Centennial 16, (9) Clovis East 14

DIVISION II
(8) Sanger 20, (9) West 3
(5) Fresno-Edison 41, (12) Fresno-Sunnyside 6
(4) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 47, (13) Visalia-Mt. Whitney 7
(6) Garces 47, (11) Reedley 23
(10) Visalia-Redwood 28, (7) Fresno-Hoover 0

DIVISION III
(9) Clovis North 37, (8) Chavez 6
(5) Hanford 37, (12) Golden Valley 14
(4) Delano 23, (13) Highland 6
(3) Porterville 42, (14) Independence 5
(6) Ridgeview 42, (11) Hanford West 30
(10) Foothill 21, (7) South 14
(2) Tehachapi 49, (15) Mira Monte 16

DIVISION IV
(8) Kerman 24, (9) Fresno-Roosevelt 20
(6) Dos Palos 35, (11) Visalia-Central Valley Christian 14
(7) Tollhouse-Sierra 41, (10) Reedley-Immanuel 14

DIVISION V
(8) SLO-Mission Prep 13, (9) Bakersfield Christian 8
(6) Lindsay 42, (11) Fresno Christian 20
(7) Parlier 31, (10) Firebaugh 23

DIVISION VI
(5) Orange Cove 24, (4) Farmersville 12
(3) Mendota 33, (6) McFarland 16

EIGHT-MAN PLAYOFFS
Riverdale Christian 61, Lighthouse Christian 12 (Saturday)
Clovis Christian 74, Coalinga-Faith Christian 6

SOUTHERN SECTION
EASTERN DIVISION
La Quinta 31, Burroughs 28

EAST VALLEY DIVISION
Hesperia-Oak Hills 21, Kern Valley 19
Pasadena-Maranatha 59, Frazier Mountain 13

NORTHEAST DIVISION
Boron 36, Burbank-Bellarmine-Jefferson 25
Mojave 36, Murrieta-Calvary Murrieta 21

Week 11 (playoffs) HS football podcast (YAY!!!!! EDITION)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:14:33 PST

See, I went and tried to make fun of coaches everywhere with a bunch of cliches about our podcast without checking to make sure the thing was actually going to play. It's like talking about your playoff chances without realizing two of your best linemen have swine flu. Epic fail on my part. But this one should be a full playoff preview podcast.

Week 11 (playoffs) HS football podcast (FAIL EDITION)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:53:34 PST

UPDATED: Use this one instead. Trying to make up for my ineptitude.

Todd Camps was under the weather for this week's podcast and powered through anyway. That's what you do when you're in playoff podcasting. If we win this week, we'll be lucky enough to go to the podcasting quarterfinals next Thursday. But we're just going to take it one podcast at a time and give 110 percent. Nobody wants this podcasting championship more than us. We've worked really hard in practice, and now we hope to see that pay off for us. And if we can't win this podcast, well, then, it is what it is.

Week 11 (playoffs) HS football predictions

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:55:40 PST

It's a great time of year because the postseason for most fall sports is winding down (a couple of exceptions to that which I'll note below) and football playoffs are just gearing up, so I'm able to turn focus almost completely to them.

The two exceptions are tomorrow, when volleyball has its section championship matches. Locals are involved in Division II — Garces at Frontier — and Division III — Exeter at Tehachapi, a rematch of last year's final. I'll be tweeting updates from the Division II final like I did from Garces' semi last night. Centennial, the last remaining Division I local, was swept out of the playoffs by Clovis West on the road last night.

The other exception is Nov. 28, when cross country runs again at Woodward Park in Fresno for the state championships.

But now let's talk football. It's a light week, a byproduct of so many teams, especially the good ones, getting byes through to the quarterfinals. Which is, of course, but a byproduct itself of the watered-down playoff system the section uses. Will things ever change? Not sure, but I'm working on a story about it. Check Friday's paper for what I can dig up.

A look back at the last predictions of the regular season:

The good: Overall, a 20-3 week is never something I'll complain about. I almost nailed the score on Frontier-Centennial and did nail the score on Stockdale-West. Took Liberty to hold back Garces and Independence to avenge its loss to Mira Monte.

The bad: Didn't see North's comeback against East coming.

The ugly: Nothing too bad, I suppose, though I'm reacting too quickly to some results in Division III, notably involving South, Golden Valley and Ridgeview. Throw Foothill in there, too, and I screwed up both games involving those four teams last week. Maybe I'm just lucky they were playing one another.

Friday, Nov. 20
DIVISION I
NO. 9 CLOVIS EAST (4-6) AT NO. 8 CENTENNIAL (6-4) — Compare the team's records against the schedules they've played, and you've got a pretty evenly matched pigtail game in the Division I bracket. The Timberwolves don't have the quality win that Centennial does against Liberty, but they did blank a solid Sanger team 35-0, and they've got more quality losses than you can count on one hand. Centennial stumbled in the second half of the season, and though part of that (much of that, maybe) has to do with Cody Kessler's ankle injury, I'm still not sure I trust the Golden Hawks. When both teams are playing at their best, I think Centennial has a better team. I'm just not sure both teams are playing at their best.
Prediction: Clovis East 26, Centennial 21

DIVISION II
NO. 11 REEDLEY (7-3) AT NO. 6 GARCES (6-4) — Here's an argument against changing the playoff system: Reedley is about the best No. 11 seed you've ever seen. The Pirates' only three losses have come to Fresno-Edison (granted, in a blowout), Fresno-Bullard (in a close game!) and last week to Sanger. They count quality opponents like Clovis North and Fresno-Hoover in their list of victims, and they are clearly going to be a test for Garces. The key for me, though, is that the Rams have looked unbeatable against teams below a certain level over the back half of the season. Is Reedley below the level of Bakersfield and Liberty? Yes. Far enough below it for Garces to move the ball so easily? Not sure, but the Rams might have to if they want to get to Frontier next weekend.
Prediction: Garces 30, Reedley 28

NO. 9 WEST (4-6) AT NO. 8 SANGER (5-5) — Here are a couple of teams, in fact, that Garces might rather have played than that low-seeded Reedley squad. After its win of the season against Centennial in Week 7, West lost three straight games to end the year by an average of 22 points; they gave up 56, 38 and 42 points in them. Sanger plays pretty good defense, so the Vikings are going to have to find a way to plug the holes in their defense if they've got any chance of moving on to play Tulare Union next week.
Prediction: Sanger 33, West 19

DIVISION III
NO. 15 MIRA MONTE (5-5) AT NO. 2 TEHACHAPI (8-2) — It's not too hard to argue that the Warriors are the best team playing in the section this weekend (or, considering Memorial and Edison in Division II, at least the best local team), nor that Mira Monte is the worst. That's not a knock on the Lions, who had a great first varsity season, but to say a playoff team on the mountain in November without seniors is to say a ship is out on the Atlantic Ocean during a winter storm without rudders. Advantage: The Elements, or in this case the Warriors.
Prediction: Tehachapi 42, Mira Monte 7

NO. 14 INDEPENDENCE (6-4) AT NO. 3 PORTERVILLE (7-3) — It's hard to say if this one will be any closer, though Independence beat Mira Monte with ease last week and Porterville probably doesn't have the team, nor the home-field edge, that Tehachapi does. So can the Falcons pull a shocker? I don't think so. Porterville has athletes and it has too many of them for a team with no depth. This one will be like one of those 3-14 March Madness games that seem to happen every year, where the underdog hangs around for a half, almost has you beileiving and then gets buried with a big run down the stretch.
Prediction: Porterville 41, Independence 20

NO. 13 HIGHLAND (2-9) AT NO. 4 DELANO (8-2) — How much of Highland's rapid decline (at one time the Scots were 2-2) is due to a tough closing schedule that included Bakersfield, Liberty, Garces and Frontier, and how much was due to an offense that continued to struggle and a disappearing defense that gave up some big numbers itself? I don't know if I can answer that one, but if it can manage to put things together, the Scots can compete against Delano, which isn't as good as that foursome mentioned above. The Tigers are plenty powerful enough to blow by Highland if it continues to struggle though, and right now that's the safe bet.
Prediction: Delano 39, Highland 13

No. 12 GOLDEN VALLEY (3-7) AT NO. 5 HANFORD (6-4) — Another Division III matchup, another mercurial team. The Bulldogs' 28-2 victory against Ridgeview in Week 9 showed this team at its best, but it has also lost big to the No. 7 seed in this bracket, South, and by 10 to No. 10 seed Foothill. Funny thing about Highland is that they're very unproven, too. The Bullpups reached the D-III final last year, but this year they've beat just one team with a winning record (and that team, Mt. Whitney, went 6-4 itself without beating a team over .500). If you're looking for a first-round upset in a mundane slate of games, this might be it. But I still can't bring myself to trust Golden Valley to deal with a road trip and a solid team and come out with a win.
Prediction: Hanford 35, Golden Valley 27

NO. 11 HANFORD WEST (3-7) AT NO. 6 RIDGEVIEW (6-5) — The more I examine the Division III bracket, the more I think the Central Section seeding committee — namely, Jim Crichlow and his three area commissioners — deserve kudos for giving the whole thing some sense. There aren't any great teams in the division this year, and there doesn't seem to be a bit of hierarchy, but they've done a good job rewarding the teams that deserve high seeds. Of course, that doesn't mean that lower-seeded teams aren't going to wreak havoc with the bracket anyway. As a No. 6 seed that underachieved at times during the regular season, the Wolf Pack still might have the division's best player in Tyler Dogins and an athletic group around him that will compete with any D-III team. Hanford West, which counts among its three wins two against 0-10 teams and one against first-year Tulare-Mission Oak, shouldn't pose much of a problem. That does lead me to one seeding question: How the heck did the Huskies get the No. 11 ahead of Golden Valley, which has actually beaten a couple of teams with a pulse?
Prediction: Ridgeview 45, Hanford West 17

NO. 10 FOOTHILL (3-7) AT NO. 7 SOUTH (6-4) — A lot has happened since the Rebels clocked Foothill 48-28 back in Week 4: South has had some ups and downs, showing that it wasn't at the level of the Division I teams in its league or Frontier but handling North and getting a great win against West before losing to Ridgeview. Foothill has noticeably improved — the Trojans had just one win when they lost to the Rebels, and since played D-II East into four overtimes and beat Highland and Golden Valley. One thing Foothill has done that hasn't been seen there in at least a couple of years is put up some points. I'm still not sure whether the team has improved enough to erase those 20 points against South. Maybe on a good day, but if both teams come to play (and hey, this is the playoffs), I like the Rebels in a repeat victory.
Prediction: South 37, Foothill 24

NO. 9 CLOVIS NORTH (3-7) AT NO. 8 CHAVEZ (4-6) — A matchup of two teams that seemed like they were playing better early in the season than of late. That's understandable, even expected, for Clovis North, which doesn't have seniors and plays in a tough league, the County-Metro Athletic Conference. Not having much depth will wear you down there. But Chavez is a bit more of a mystery. The Titans were playing solid defense early in the year but suffered three straight double-digit losses to end the year against teams it might have been more competitive with. That leads me to favor the Broncos in this one even though they've lost five in a row by 14 or more. Better competition during the season usually breeds better luck come playoff time.
Prediction: Clovis North 24, Chavez 19

DIVISION V
NO. 9 BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (3-7) AT NO. 8 SLO-MISSION PREP (7-3) — It's been a trying year for BCHS, but a win here and a second straight postseason trip to Corcoran next week, albeit under much different circumstances than last year's star-studded championship team, would make the Eagles' season. And I think it's possible — Mission Prep's schedule is very much softer than that of BCHS, and that has to make a difference. But where are the Eagles at mentally? They've been beaten down pretty good in the South Sequoia League and won just won game in their past eight. But many of those games were against teams better than Mission Prep. They might not have seen many better players than the Royals' Kevin Laird, who has passed for 740 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 950 and 12.
Prediction: Mission Prep 28, Bakersfield Christian 21

DIVISION VI
NO. 6 McFARLAND (5-6) AT NO. 3 MENDOTA (5-5) — Disappointing finish to the regular season for the Cougars, who went 2-4 to close the season against what was supposed to be the easier part of their schedule. They did get a playoff bid (or give themselves a playoff bid, I should say), so chalk up an improvement over last year. Frankie Gonzalez missed a couple of games for McFarland, including last week's, so his status could be a concern. Either way, Mendota, which has four wins over Division V teams, will cause a lot of problems.
Prediction: Mendota 27, McFarland 14

SOUTHERN SECTION
EASTERN DIVISION
BURROUGHS (5-5) AT LA QUINTA (7-3) — The Eastern Division is considered Division VIII (that's eight, if you didn't pay attention in Roman numeral class) in the Southern Section, and I'd say it's about the equivalent of Division III, maybe Division II, in the Central Section. Burroughs lost a shootout at Tehachapi this year and handled Arvin rather easily before slipping into this bracket after going 2-2 in a league that was full of evenly matched teams. The Burros bring QB Derrick Dison, who had 896 of his 2,000-plus total yards on the ground, and RB Frank Brown and 700 more rushing yards, to town. La Quinta, though, is a league champion, and while its Desert Valley league might not have been quite as good as the Desert Sky League, it was good enough for me to think the Blackhawks will end Burroughs' run after a nice win last week got Ridgecrest's team into the playoffs.
Prediction: La Quinta 32, Burroughs 24

EAST VALLEY DIVISION
HESPERIA-OAK HILLS (8-2) AT KERN VALLEY (9-1) — This strikes me as an awfully tough first-round game for the Broncs after a marvelous season that ended with wins at Bishop and at Frazier Mountain, but when you consider that Oak Hills hasn't played a team of Kern Valley's caliber all season, you start to believe that KV will roll here and into the quarterfinals as the dream season continues.
Prediction: Kern Valley 30, Oak Hills 13

FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (7-3) AT PASADENA-MARANATHA (8-2) — My first prediction here is that the Falcons fans will be warmer in Pasadena this week than they were last Thursday for that high-altitude showdown with Kern Valley. The question is whether Frazier Mountain's red-zone offense will be any hotter. The Falcons moved the ball against KV last week, especially in the first half, but they stalled in the red zone and fell behind big in what ended up as a lopsided loss. I've played it very safe so far this week, but I'll go out on a limb here and say Frazier reverses its fortune and gets an unexpected road victory.
Prediction: Frazier Mountain 27, Maranatha 25

NORTHEAST DIVISION
BURBANK-BELLARMINE-JEFFERSON (6-4) AT BORON (8-2) — If you're looking for Kern County's hottest team heading into the playoffs, you could certainly consider Stockdale or Bakersfield or Liberty, who are all riding nice winning streaks heading into the playoffs. But I'd throw in some consideration for the Bobcats, who have won six in a row, all of them easy except last week's 14-13 non-league win against Redlands-Arrowhead Christian, which I'm guessing was a game to rest many of the Bobcats' key players. On second thought, when you've only got 40 or 50 boys in your whole school, much less the football program, do you have the luxury of resting key parts? Either way, they'll be playing this week.
Prediction: Boron 45, Bell-Jeff 14

MURRIETA-CALVARY MURRIETA (6-4) AT MOJAVE (7-2) — This is a matchup of two teams that lost late games pitting them against the other unbeaten team in their league. Both lost, and both now have the chance of some redemption if they can get the ball rolling in the playoffs. It's a long drive for Calvary, but I get the feeling the Mustangs have lost a bit of momentum during the stretch run of the year. Mojave reached the final of the Northeast Division last year, so I might look dumb for this, but I think the Mustangs lose a nail-biter at home.
Prediction: Calvary Murrieta 24, Mojave 23

Saturday, Nov. 21
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (5-5) AT RIVERDALE CHRISTIAN (7-0) — Unbeknowst to me for quite a while, the Central Section's 8-man teams have gotten together to stage a playoff of their own. Four teams got in, and Lighthouse was the fourth, so they play what you'd consider the No. 1 seed in Riverdale. The playoff isn't sanctioned by the Central Section, but if they're playing, I'll predict it. Unfortunately for the Guardians, they played this one two weeks ago. The Ambassadors won 44-0.
Prediction: Riverdale Christian 41, Lighthouse Christian 10

Last week: 20-3 (.870)
This year: 191-54 (.780)

Central Section football rankings, Week 11 (playoffs)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:33:00 PST

Yes, the playoffs have started, so my opinion (or anyone else's) doesn't really matter on who the best team is anymore. Well, OK, it never really did. But that's not going to stop me from pressing on with Central Section rankings, and it probably won't stop all of us from dissecting them every week.

On another note, remember that you can follow along with high school volleyball playoffs tonight from Garces on Twitter, @zewing. The Rams are playing El Diamante, and we'll have scores from a bunch of other semifinal matches, including Centennial's visit to Clovis West, as the night goes on.

Here we go:

1. Clovis-Buchanan (10-0, Division I, last week: 2) — Maybe I was just being stubborn, but I really didn't see a reason to knock Bullard from the top perch all year long. The Knights struggled in some games, sure, but so did Buchanan, and they both had a number of impressive wins. But injuries have taken their toll on both teams now, and it was the Bears who kept impressing regardless. That second half against Central must have been a sight to see, and for now, this is your team to beat in Division I.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 5 Fresno-Central, 56-20. THIS WEEK: BYE

2. Fresno-Bullard (10-0, Division I, last week: 1) — The great thing about all of this is that the teams could get to settle it all in the Division I championship in three and a half weeks. Then again, one of them could get beat first. If that happens, my vote is Bullard, which has a minefield of Clovis West and then either Stockdale or Bakersfield just to get to Buchanan.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fresno-Hoover, 35-13. THIS WEEK: BYE

3. Stockdale (9-1, Division I, last week: 3) — At first I thought neither Stockdale nor Bakersfield wanted to see each other so early in the playoffs, but maybe I'm wrong about that. They both get to stay home and see an opponent they already know; in the Mustangs' case, it's a chance to avenge their only loss.
LAST WEEK: won at West, 42-13. THIS WEEK: BYE

4. Tulare Union (10-0, Division II, last week: 4) — The Redskins pulled quite a trick last year by knocking off Sanger and El Diamante in the D-II playoffs after not playing anyone nearly as good as either during the regular season. Can they do it again in a deeper bracket this time around? We know they've got the talent.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Tulare Western, 47-0. THIS WEEK: BYE

5. Bakersfield (8-2, Division I, last week: 6) — It's almost too bad that we're getting the Drillers and the Mustangs in just a quarterfinal. The schools are selling tickets almost two weeks in advance, the anticipation will have everyone's mouth watering and I think the winner will have a heck of a task in getting back up for a game the next week that either team can win.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Highland, 48-7. THIS WEEK: BYE

6. Fresno-Central (7-3, Division I, last week: 5) — Don't lose sight of the fact that the Grizzlies were within a point of Buchanan midway through the second quarter when Buchanan turned the jets on — something Central is used to doing to teams. But this still is a very, very good team, just perhaps not on the level of the very top tier.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan, 56-20. THIS WEEK: BYE

7. Liberty (7-3, Division I, last week: 9) — No problems for the Patriots in a game that looked like it would be full of them. The vaunted Liberty defense did the job in the first half to keep Garces at bay, and the offense found its rythym in the second half. The rout was on behind Dillon Meadows' 291 total yards and four passing touchdowns.
LAST WEEK: won at Garces, 35-6. THIS WEEK: BYE

8. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (9-1, Division II, last week: 7) — It's very difficult to separate the top four (or even five) teams in Division II, so Memorial really got unlucky when it drew the No. 4. The Panthers are now forced to meet Edison, another of the top five, before the semifinals, while Tulare Union, El Diamante and Frontier all get less treacherous games.
LAST WEEK: won at Fresno-Sunnyside, 29-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Visalia-Mt. Whitney

9. Frontier (9-1, Division II, last week: 8) — Funny to drop the Titans after their best win of the season, but they got jostled around when I needed to move Liberty up. The game against Centennial was competitive, but Frontier had control throughout and never gave up its early 14-0 lead.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 14 Centennial, 30-22. THIS WEEK: BYE

10. Clovis West (5-5, Division I, last week: 10) — There really wasn't much doubt that the Golden Eagles would rebound from that bad start to get back to .500, but even against a tough schedule, this was a disappointing year for Clovis West. That doesn't mean they won't give Bullard hell next Friday, though.
LAST WEEK: won at Clovis, 28-13. THIS WEEK: BYE

11. Fresno-Edison (6-4, Division II, last week: 11) — This is a team with a very solid resume — three of the losses are to Buchanan, Clovis West and Bullard in double OT — and the Tigers are the wild card in the D-II playoffs. If they pull out a dud, they could be gone in the first two rounds — or they could win the whole thing.
LAST WEEK: won at Clovis North, 32-0. THIS WEEK: at Fresno-Sunnyside

12. Kingsburg (10-0, Division IV, last week: 12) — On one hand, there is no more prohibitive favorite in any division than Kingsburg, which hasn't played a game closer than a touchdown in two months and which beat Division III No. 1 Dinuba 14-0. On the other hand, Division IV is very top-heavy and there are teams like Washington Union, Taft, Wasco and Exeter that can pose a threat to the Vikings.
LAST WEEK: won at Selma, 43-14. THIS WEEK: BYE

13. Visalia-El Diamante (9-1, Division II, last week: 13) — This is the one ranking I hate out of all of them, and it's because El Diamante is a better team than this. I'll even go so far as to say that the Miners would beat a few of the teams ahead of them in head-to-head meetings. And there's a big gap between the top 13 and everyone else, it seems. But someone has to be 13, and El D picks the short straw. I'll be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs means more to them, anyway.
LAST WEEK: won at Visalia-Golden West, 62-7. THIS WEEK: BYE

14. Fresno-Washington Union (8-2, Division IV, last week: 15) — I'll be the first to admit I don't know a whole lot about these Panthers, but there's something to be said for their resume: A one-point loss to D-III No. 1 Dinuba, a one-touchdown loss to D-IV No. 1 Kingsburg, and then eight straight wins in convincing fashion. Looking forward to a possible semifinal showdown with Taft.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Kerman, 51-0. THIS WEEK: BYE

15. Centennial (6-4, Division I, last week: 14) — It's fitting for me that the Golden Hawks play Clovis East in the first round of the D-I playoffs, because it came down to those two teams for the last spot in the rankings. The Hawks get the nod based on a superior record for now, but things will be neatly settled Friday either way.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 8 Frontier, 30-22. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis East

Dropped out: none
Waiting: Clovis East, Taft, Tehachapi, Sanger, Dinuba, Wasco, Garces, Porterville, Delano, Exeter, Fresno-Hoover, Ridgeview

Time to talk volleyball

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:20:22 PST

We interrupt your scheduled football thinking time to bring you a reminder that this is the biggest week of the year in Central Section volleyball.

To wit:

Tomorrow night, Centennial, undefeated against Central Section competition and 29-3 overall, will travel to defending section champion Clovis West for a Division I semifinal, for a battle of Golden birds. The Golden Eagles have lost just two intra-section matches, both to top seed Clovis-Buchanan. In the other semifinal, No. 1 seed Buchanan takes on No. 5 Fresno-Bullard. Centennial is trying to become the first Kern County team to win the D-I title since Stockdale in 2004; Buchanan won the next three in a row, and Clovis West beat Liberty for the title last year.

Meanwhile, Kern County has fairly dominated Division II, with Centennial beating Liberty for the title two years ago and Garces taking out Hanford last year (the Rams had won Division IV the year before). This year, it appears that Frontier and Garces will meet for the championship — if they can each get past a West Yosemite League underdog tomorrow night at home. Top-seeded Frontier plays No. 4 Lemoore while No. 2 Garces gets a visit from No. 3 Visalia-El Diamante.

The only all-local semifinal is in D-III, where No. 4 Golden Valley travels to No. 1 Tehachapi. The section's lowest remaining seed is No. 6 Ridgeview, which beat No. 3 Madera South in five sets in the quarterfinals and now tries to continue its Cinderella run at No. 2 Exeter.

No. 5 Bakersfield Christian gave No. 4 McFarland its only loss of the season in the quarterfinals, but now the Eagles must travel to No. 1 Visalia-Central Valley Christian, which swept BCHS in the teams' first meeting. No. 3 Chowchilla, the only public school left in the bracket, at No. 2 Reedley-Immanuel is the other D-IV semifinal.

I'll be updating all night from the Garces-El D match on Twitter, so sign up to follow me @zewing if you haven't already. We'll also have a full report on all of the semifinal matches in Wednesday's Californian.

Football? Don't worry, I'll have Central Section rankings up tomorrow afternoon as usual, and full playoff coverage throughout the week.

Week 10, most important things

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:08:21 PST

Sorry this is so late on a Sunday, but I got a bit carried away with the playoff brackets yesterday and forgot to recap Week 10's games, which were quite thrilling in some cases and very important in almost all cases.

— Liberty stumbled a bit on offense in the first half, turning the ball over a couple of times, but the Patriots' execution got better as the game went on, starting with a perfect two-minute drill for a touchdown to end the first half. In the end, Liberty had a very impressive 35-6 victory and the outright SEYL championship. I know the Pats don't have a very good history of big games against northern schools, but this is not a team you want to play right now. It's finally scoring some points and absolutely still playing great D. Look out, Fresno-Central.

— There was more riding on Frontier's trip to Centennial than second place in the SWYL and playoff seeding, as important as that last point was. Before this game, what was the Titans' best win? At Division III Tehachapi? Against 4-5 (now 4-6) West? As great of a season it had been — and few doubted how good the Titans were — the best thing Frontier had going for it was a close loss to Stockdale. Now the Titans have their signature win, thanks to a 30-22 result to close the season. Like Liberty, Frontier wasn't without its mistakes, but it jumped out to a lead, continued to score as Centennial tried to play catch-up and forced four crucial turnovers. That's a winning formula in the playoffs, which open for Frontier in two weeks against either Garces or Reedley. As for Centennial, it's back to work against Clovis East while the rest of Division I rests.

— No problems for either Stockdale — which beat West 42-13 — or Bakersfield, which dismantled Highland 48-7, as they closed the regular season on long winning streaks. Only one will keep things going for another game, because, as you've surely heard by now, the Mustangs and Drillers have been paired for a rematch in the quarterfinals in two weeks. The first meeting was a 32-31 thriller for the Drillers. This time? Might be too close to call, considering that both teams were playing such complete games down the stretch.

— One of the reasons Division III is going to be so fun to follow is that almost all of its teams have been somewhat schizophrenic. Teahchapi beat Taft but lost to Wasco. Delano played well all year but had a mysterious loss to Porterville. Ridgeview was 4-0, then fell out of everyone's good graces, then turned it around with a win against South, which was in line for a 7-3 season and a top-five seed before it lost 34-18 to the Wolf Pack in the regular-season finale Friday. Then there's Golden Valley, which blew out Ridgeview in Week 9 but lost to Foothill, 20-10, this week. The win was the Trojan's own requirement for getting into the bracket. Seeding those teams must have been hard enough; trying to predict what will happen next is all but impossible.

— Two more Division III teams are Independence and Mira Monte, who as the Nos. 14 and 15 seeds might not play a huge role in the playoff picture but can still count their first varsity seasons as successes. Both finished at .500 (Mira Monte) or above (Independence at 6-4) and both won a share of the only South Central Sequoia League title there ever will be because of the Falcons' 31-14 victory Friday. Good things ahead for those two infant programs.

— As expected, the South Sequoia League ended in that three-way tie for first place at 4-1, and another three-way tie for last place at 1-4. Taft whomped Bakersfield Christian 54-15, Tehachapi handled Arvin 34-7 and Wasco blitzed Shafter 27-0 on the final week of the regular season. The league title is a big deal for all three schools and communities, but you've got to feel good for Wasco especially. The Tigers brought their town its first league championship in football since 1961 — before most coaches in the county were born, much less the players.

— Speaking of feeling good, North High ended what's been a trying season with a comeback victory against East, 28-20. Down 20-0 after East's Ryan Salinas took the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, North responded patiently, with a long drive ending with David Maciel's 12-yard TD run, and then impatiently, with a surprise onside kick and recovery and Nathan Vlach's 30-yard TD run 18 seconds later. That made it 20-14, and North added two touchdowns from Nathan Tsosie to complete the comeback. Doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it's got to be important for North, which hadn't won since Week 0 after sharing the SWYL championship a year ago.

— Before we forget the Southern Section, I wanted to add some congratulations to Kern Valley, which had a shockingly easy time at Frazier Mountain in a 50-6 victory Thursday, to Boron, which won a non-league game to finish 8-2, and to Burroughs, which beat Victor Valley in a win-or-go-home scenario. All four of those schools, along with Mojave, will be going to the Southern Section playoffs. Brackets were unveiled Sunday, with Kern Valley (against Hesperia-Oak Hills), Boron (vs. Burbank-Bellarmine-Jefferson) and Mojave (vs. Calvary Murrieta) at home, and Frazier Mountain (against Pasadena-Maranatha) and Burroughs (at La Quinta) on the road next week.

Speaking of that, let's touch on next week. Obviously every game in the playoffs is cruical, but here are five to especially keep an eye on:

Clovis East at Centennial: Either team would love a crack at Buchanan
Foothill at South: How much have teams changed since Rebels' easy victory early?
Reedley at Garces: Pirates could have been seeded much higher, so Garces will have a battle
Hanford West at Ridgeview: If you're ooking for a sleeper, Ridgeview might be it
Bakersfield Christian at SLO-Mission Prep: Here's another Rip Van Winkle: BCHS didn't have a great record, but it faced teams all year that were better than Division V level

Football playoff seedings (UPDATED with predictions)

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:52:31 PST

UPDATED, 5:36 p.m.:
Division VI — Quarterfinals: (5) Orange Cove at (4) Farmersville
(6) McFarland at (3) Mendota
BYES: (1) Tranquillity, (2) Strathmore

Off-the-cuff predictions: Semifinals, Tranquillity d. Orange Cove, Strathmore d. Mendota. Final, Tranquillity d. Strathmore.

UPDATED, 5:34 p.m.:
Division V — First round: (9) Bakersfield Christian at (8) SLO-Mission Prep
(11) Fresno Christian at (6) Lindsay
(10) Firebaugh at (7) Parlier
Quarterfinals: BCHS/Mission Prep winner at (1) Corcoran
(5) Caruthers at (4) Woodlake
Fresno Ch/Lindsay winner at (3) Madera Ranchos-Liberty
Parlier/Firebaugh winner at (2) Fowler

Not much to talk about with the locals here, other than Bakersfield Christian drew the dreaded first-round trip to San Luis Obispo. That's a long trip to make for a first-round loss, so maybe the Eagles will make the most of it.
Off-the-cuff predictions: Semifinals, Corcoran d. Woodlake, Fowler d. Lindsay. Final, Corcoran d. Fowler.

UPDATED, 5:32 p.m.:
Division IV — First round: (9) Fresno-Roosevelt at (8) Kerman
(11) Visalia-CVC at (6) Dos Palos
(10) Reedley-Immanuel at (7) Tollhouse-Sierra
Quarterfinals: Roosevelt/Kerman winner at (1) Kingsburg
(5) Exeter at (4) Wasco
CVC/Dos Palos winner at (3) Taft
Sierra/Immanuel winner at (2) Fresno-Washington Union

Four distinct categories here, to me: One is Kingsburg alone, which is the prohibitive favorite and probably the most likely team to win any given division. The second category is Washington Union and Taft, which are the challengers and heavy favorites to reach the semifinals against each other. Third category is Wasco and Exeter, quality teams that face each other and are just dangerous enough to worry Kingsburg in the semis. The fourth category is everyone else, teams that are just there to fill out the bracket.
Off-the-cuff predictions: Semifinals, Kingsburg d. Exeter, Taft d. Washington Union. Final, Kingsburg d. Taft

UPDATED, 5:27 p.m.:
Division III — First round: (9) Clovis North at (8) Cesar Chavez
(12) Golden Valley at (5) Hanford
(13) Highland at (4) Delano
(14) Independence at (3) Porterville
(11) Hanford West at (6) Ridgeview
(10) Foothill at (7) South
(15) Mira Monte at (2) Tehachapi
BYE: (1) Dinuba

So Tehachapi obviously was hurt by its Week 9 loss to Wasco. You'd have to think the Warriors would be the top seed here if they had won the SSL outright. Likewise, Delano cost itself a top-two or top-three seed by losing at Porterville. The Tigers did catch a break by getting a top-four seed and being put on the opposite side of the bracket from Tehachapi.
This is a very local bracket — 10 of the 15 teams are from Kern County — and it's a wide-open one. I could see as many as three or four home teams going down in the first round, but it's very hard to say which ones. Many of the teams are mercurial and many are dangerous — remember, South beat Golden Valley badly, which beat Ridgeview badly, which beat South handily. Figure that one out. Throw Foothill in there, which lost to South and Ridgeview but beat Golden Valley, and your head starts to hurt.
Off-the-cuff predictions: Semifinals, Delano d. Dinuba, Tehachapi d. Ridgeview. Final, Tehachapi d. Delano.

UPDATED, 5:21 p.m.:
Division II — First round: (9) West at (8) Sanger
(12) Fresno-Sunnyside at (5) Fresno-Edison
(13) Visalia-Mt. Whitney at (4) Fresno-SJ Memorial
(11) Reedley at (6) Garces
(10) Visalia-Redwood at (7) Fresno-Hoover
BYES: No. 1 Tulare Union, No. 2 Visalia-El Diamante, No. 3 Frontier

It feels like there's quite a split between the top half of the teams in this very deep division and the bottom half. Specifically, the top five seem light years ahead of everyone else. That means there will be some blowouts in the first two weekends and then some great games in the semifinals and final. I do think Garces will have its hands full with Reedley in the first round, and Redwood-Hoover might be a good game as well. West got a tough draw, going on the road to a Sanger team that started slow but is playing very well of late.
Off-the-cuff predicitons: Semifinals, Tulare Union d. Edison and Frontier d. El Diamante. Final, Tulare Union d. Frontier.

UPDATED, 5:04 p.m.: Back from Visalia, where Garces went down 5-2 in the Division III girls water polo final.

Here are some thoughts on seedings and playoff matchups:

Division I — First round: (9) Clovis East at (8) Centennial
Quarterfinals: CE/Centennial winner at (1) Clovis-Buchanan
(5) Liberty at (4) Fresno-Central
(6) Bakersfield at (3) Stockdale
(7) Clovis West at (2) Fresno-Bullard

So, the two quarterfinals on the bottom half of the draw will be rematches. BHS-Stockdale was a classic the first time around. I remember thinking at different times that night that both teams deserved to win the game, and then changing my mind five minutes later. Bullard had some trouble with Clovis West before beating them 28-21, and that was when the Knights were fully healthy and playing well. Very interesting game there, and I'm not so sure that either Bakersfield or Stockdale would be licking its chops playing one of those Fresno-area teams. For Stockdale, though, this is a bad matchup. The Mustangs probably would have rather played any of the other D-I teams in the quarters besides BHS, and that might even include the top two teams. Then again, it's a chance for them to avenge their only loss.
As for the top? Centennial was fortunate to get that home game in the first round, but they'll still have a fight with Clovis East. Buchanan will wait as a heavy favorite against either of those teams. Liberty-Central is intriguing; the Patriots will try to make a mud-wrestling match out of a track meet, and I think they just might do it.
Off the cuff predictions (I reserve the right to change these for my weekly predictions): In the semis, Buchanan beats Liberty and Stockdale beats Bullard; Stockdale takes out Buchanan for the championship.

Back with D-II in a minute.

ORIGINAL POST: I'm in Visalia for Garces' Division III girls water polo section final, and I just lost a long post detailing football seedings. Not happy about that. Instead, I'll post some links to the brackets now and give you some off-the-cuff analysis a bit later, when I get done with the water polo.

For now, here are the Division I, Division II, Division III, Division IV, Division V and Division VI brackets.

The most important things to note right away are that Stockdale got the No. 3 seed but gets a quarterfinal rematch with Bakersfield, the only team to beat the Mustangs. Liberty won its league but gets the No. 5 and is on the road at No. 4 Fresno-Central. Centennial got the No. 8 and plays at home Friday against Clovis East in the only first-round game in Division I. Frontier gets the No. 3 behind Tulare Union and Visalia-El Diamante, getting a bye and avoiding Edison in the quarterfinals. Garces gets a surprise No. 6 and could set up an all-Bako quarterfinal with Frontier. Tehachapi misses out on the No. 1 seed in D-III; it goes to Dinuba instead. Tehachapi is the 2, Porterville the 3 and Delano the 4. South drops all the way to 7, after its loss last night to Ridgeview, which is the 6. Taft and Wasco are the 3 and 4 in D-IV.

More coming in an hour or so.

Week 10 HS football running thread and scoreboard

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:44:24 PST

UPDATED, 12:40 a.m.: One more important score to report, and that's Burroughs 49, Victor Valley 20. The Burros get into the playoffs in emphatic fashion.

OK, as for the Central Section, here are my best guesses as to playoff seedings that will be unveiled tomorrow (probably late morning, maybe around noon). I'll post the real ones as soon as possible tomorrow, though I'll be in Visalia for Garces' water polo section championship at 12:15.

Promise not to laugh when these projections are way off. We learned last year that you can't really figure what the section's seeding committee does sometimes.

Division I
(1) Clovis-Buchanan, (2) Fresno-Bullard, (3) Stockdale, (4) Fresno-Central, (5) Liberty,
(6) Bakersfield, (7) Clovis West, (8) Clovis East, (9) Centennial, (10) Clovis
In most sports, the TRAC receives the benefit of the doubt, so I gave Buchanan the 1 over Bullard, Central the 4 over Liberty and the 8 to Clovis East over Centennial. We'll see if that's how it works. In any case, how about a Stockdale-BHS rematch in the 3-6 game and a contrast of offensive speed against defensive strength in the Central-Liberty game? Would be a whole lot of fun. Madera, by the way, will not compete, but Clovis will. So we should see a 10-team bracket with two first-round tilts next week.

Division II
(1) Tulare Union, (2) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, (3) Frontier, (4) Visalia-El Diamante, (5) Fresno-Edison, (6) Sanger, (7) Reedley, (8) Garces, (9) Visalia-Redwood, (10) West
There will probably be a full 16 teams in this bracket, but it gets hard to separate teams at the bottom. The hardest choice here is Memorial against Frontier at the 2 spot. Both went 9-1 with a loss to a top-three Division I team. Frontier has a Division I win and Memorial doesn't, but the Panthers have better Division II wins. In the end, it might come down to Memorial winning its league, even though the North Yosemite League can't hold a candle to the SWYL. Either way, this will be a heck of a fun division.

Division III
(1) Tehachapi, (2) Dinuba, (3) South, (4) Porterville, (5) Delano, (6) Ridgeview, (7) Hanford, (8) Clovis North, (9) Chavez, (10) Foothill, (11) Golden Valley
Grasping at straws at the bottom there, but I think the Trojans' win against Golden Valley will give them seeding preference. Delano fans aren't going to like this after an 8-2 season, but that loss to Porterville I think will really hurt. South's loss to Ridgeview could put a wrench in the whole thing. Do you move Ridgeview up higher? All of its losses were to Division I and II teams except to Golden Valley. Do you move South down and make Porterville and Delano the 3 and 4? If I've guessed it right, the Tigers would get a chance to travel to Porterville and make amends for a close loss.

Division IV
(1) Kingsburg, (2) Fresno-Washington Union, (3) Taft, (4) Wasco, (5) Exeter, (6) Tollhouse-Sierra, (7) Dos Palos, (8) Fresno-Roosevelt, (9) Kerman, (10) Visalia-CVC
Taft could have had the No. 2 seed here if it had found a way to beat Tehachapi. That will cost them a home game in the semifinals, assuming both they and Washington Union get there. The Wildcats' loss is Wasco's gain, though, because I think an SSL title share will get the Tigers a No. 4 seed and a home quarterfinal. Quentin Cheatham left tonight's game at Shafter with an undisclosed injury, however, so his health is a big concern. Chowchilla, if you're wondering, was a competitor in this division for much of the year but had said it would not compete unless it won in Week 10. It lost to Dos Palos.

Division V
(1) Corcoran, (2) Fowler, (3) Caruthers, (4) Lindsay, (5) SLO-Mission Prep, (6) Madera Ranchos-Liberty, (7) Woodlake, (8) Firebaugh, (9) Bakersfield Christian, (10) Parlier
Not much to report locally here. We do know BCHS will compete in the playoffs, but one win might be the Eagles' ceiling here.

UPDATED, 12:05 a.m.: Back with some updated scores below in the list. Here's the highlights:

Frontier 30, Centennial 22: It was a back-and-forth game, but Frontier forced Centennial into four turnovers and cashed in on them for a huge victory against a Division I team. In my mind, this makes the Titans a No. 2 or 3 seed in the Division II bracket, but we'll see what the section thinks tomorrow morning. The Titans pulled away late in the third quarter when Matt Darr picked off Cody Kessler to set up a touchdown pass that made it 24-15.

Liberty 35, Garces 6: This is the most complete game I've seen the Patriots play in two years, and it means they're riding high into the playoffs. A seed for dangerous Dillon Meadows and that stout defense? Maybe a 5 or a 6. I don't think the Pats can break the top four and get a home quarterfinal, but I've been wrong before. Anyway, that's an outright SEYL championship.

Stockdale 42, West 13: The Mustangs roll to the SWYL title behind Hank Hobson's interception-return touchdown and — get this — 116 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Efren Venegas in the Wing T. The Mustangs should earn at worst the No. 3 seed in Division I.

Ridgeview 34, South 18: I swear there are some teams out there that I just can't figure out. The Wolf Pack couldn't score at all against Golden Valley last week, and they roll up 34 here. The Rebels had an impressive win against West, and now they lose to a struggling Ridgeview team. What's going on?

Foothill 20, Golden Valley 10: Here's Exhibit B of that, with Foothill shutting down the GV attack that was so productive last week. Props to the Trojans, who are now going to enter the Division III playoff bracket.

Independence 31, Mira Monte 14: The Falcons get their revenge for a 1-point loss earlier in the season and split the first (and probably only) South Central Sequoia League title with the Lions.

Wasco 27, Shafter 0; Taft 54, Bakersfield Christian 15; Tehachapi 34, Arvin 7: As expected, three easy wins for the SSL leaders, and they split the title three ways. It's the first SSL title of any kind for Wasco since 1961, so it might mean more to them than anyone. Arvin and Shafter are now the only SSL teams who haven't won a title in the past two seasons.

Check back in a few minutes; I'm going to try to predict the top eight seeds or so for each of the divisions.

UPDATED, 9:54 p.m.: It'll be a 35-6 final, Liberty victorious behind Dillon Meadows' big night. Be back with an update in a bit.

UPDATED, 9:50 p.m.: Make it four touchdown passes for Meadows, who finds Tyler Gellinck streaking across the middle for a 50-yard catch-and-run. It's 35-6 Liberty.
Meanwhile, Matt Darr picked off Cody Kessler at Centennial to set up a TD pass from Jose Legorreta to Ian Driskill late in the third quarter. Frontier holds a 24-15 lead as they head to the fourth.

UPDATED, 9:46 p.m.: Garces is on the board courtesy of Jalen Sykes, who picks up a Darius Jones fumble and takes it 49 yard to the end zone. PAT was no good, and it's 28-6 Liberty. Still well out of reach for the Rams, but Sykes, who has been held to 35 rushing yards, got a chance to flash his considerable speed.

UPDATED, 9:39 p.m.: Dillon Meadows has now completed seven passes, and three of them have been touchdowns. The latest was a 15-yarder to Beau Hashim, and Liberty's rout is on, 28-0 with 7:17 to play.
Meadows has 102 passing yards and 123 rushing yards. Pretty nice night.
Meanwhile, Ridgeview led South 7-6 at halftime.

UPDATED, 9:30 p.m.: A field goal for Centennial to answer from Hallum. It's 17-15, same score Frontier lost by last week.
Buchanan has pulled away from Central with two quick TDs. It's 35-20, and Bullard has scored to lead Hoover 28-13. Those teams have looked vulnerable, but they keep winning, and that's probably your top two seeds. Stockdale 3?

UPDATED, 9:23 p.m.: Dillon Meadows rips off 23 more yards on a third-and-3 keeper to give Liberty first-and-goal, and really, at this point, first-and-the game. Meadows is up to 110 yards rushing, a real dual-threat weapon for a Patriots offense that really makes every point worth it.
And here we go. A pass to the right flat from Meadows to Tyler Gellinck goes for a 5-yard touchdown, and it's 21-0 Patriots. They can surely taste the league title now with 11:15 to play.

UPDATED, 9:20 p.m.: A Matt Darr field goal has given Frontier a 17-12 lead at Centennial. That's the game to watch right now, with Liberty coolly grinding its way to a win here. Still 14-0 as the fourth quarter begins.

UPDATED, 9:17 p.m.: A couple of scores up north, where the top two teams in the section are struggling but winning. Fresno-Bullard leads Fresno-Hoover 21-13, and Clovis-Buchanan leads Fresno-Central 21-20. Two to keep an eye on the rest of the night. If they both lose, who gets the No. 1 seed tomorrow morning? Central? Stockdale?
Another defensive stop by each team here, and time is quickly running out on the third quarter, and really on the Rams. Garces is not a team that can score very quickly when it has to. Liberty ball again, 42 seconds left in the third.

UPDATED, 9:09 p.m.: Garces holds though, and gets the ball back in good field position. They've got to find a way to move the ball, though. And forget that. Phillip Anspach is intercepted by one of the county's best defensive backs, Zach Vasquez, who out-jumped a receiver for the ball. Tough to move the ball against the mighty Pats D.

UPDATED, 9:03 p.m.: A couple of other scores, a surprising 13-3 lead for Foothill on the same Golden Valley team that beat Ridgeview badly last week, and a 13-0 lead for East on North. It's also 14-0 Wasco on Shafter in an old, bitter rivalry game.
Garces collects a couple of first downs and then pins Liberty deep. If the Patriots can respond again with a long drive, this thing might be over. But that's a tall order.

UPDATED, 8:57 p.m.: One more score, and no surprise: Bakersfield is up 41-0 on Highland at the half. But unless Garces comes back here, the Drillers will settle for second place.

UPDATED, 8:47 p.m.: What an enormous drive put together by Liberty in the final 3:10 of that first half. The Pats went 94 yards in 12 plays, even backing up a couple of times on penalties. When Meadows is scrambling well and flipping the ball downfield, he can be a handful. The touchdown pass to Ross Hough makes it 14-0 instead of 7-0, and this game is in the hands of the Patriots defense. That's a good place for it to be for Liberty.
Some first-half stats:
LIBERTY — Meadows 4-10 passing, 69 yards, TD, INT; 9 carries, 64 yards; Carson Moyer, 8 carries, 41 yards
GARCES — Phillip Anspach 2-4 passing, 16 yards; Grant Campbell 9 carries, 41 yards.
Total yardage is 188-95 in favor of Liberty, almost the entire difference coming courtesy of that last drive.
Elsewhere, Stockdale's Hank Hobson made another big play, intercepting West's first pass and returning it to the house. The Mustangs lead 28-7 at the half, well on their way to the SWYL championship.
At Centennial, things have tightened up late in the first half. The Golden Hawks blocked a Matt Darr field goal to set up a last-minute drive, and Kessler found Hallum for another TD with 9 seconds left in the half. The two-point conversion was no good, though, so it's 14-12 Titans at halftime.

UPDATED, 8:34 p.m.: Dillon Meadows works some more third-and-long magic, picking up 16 on third-and-8 and holding onto the ball this time. Liberty will have to hurry to get anyhthing out of this drive, but at the least they've kept Garces from getting another crack before halftime.
The first completed pass of the day from Meadows goes to Tyler Gellinck for 21 yards and a first down across midfield. Less than a minute left, though. An incompletion and a Gellinck run make it third-and-5, and the Pats use their final timeout with 37 seconds to go. Bet they miss Colton Schmidt, last year's kicker, who could almost make a field goal from here.
But no matter: Meadows gets his left arm going, completing a couple of passes to get Liberty in striking position and then finding Ross Hough for a 21 yard touchdown on a post pattern with 8 seconds left. Huge score before halftime makes it 14-0 at the break.
Meanwhile, beg your pardon, the score at Centennial is 14-6 Frontier. The Titans blocked the PAT on Centennial's touchdown.

UPDATED, 8:21 p.m.: Another big third-down play by the Liberty defense forces the Rams to punt from the Pats 35. They do manage to pin Liberty at its own 6. We'll see if the Garces defense can make a big play here before the half.
Centennial has scored on Frontier, 20 yards from Cody Kessler to Cole Hallum. We've got a ballgame over there.

UPDATED, 8:18 p.m.: Frontier's defense is controlling Centennial in the first quarter, allowing just 35 yards as they head to the second there, still 14-0 Titans.
Here we had a play that had to frustrate both coaches. Dillon Meadows scrambled for a first down on third-and-11, but then lost the ball some 20 yards downfield. Garces recovers and gets the stop. About six minutes to go in the first half, with the Rams trying to even things up.

UPDATED, 8:11 p.m.: Liberty's defense responds, as it usually does, and Brady Burk takes down Grant Campbell in the backfield on a fourth-and-3 from the Liberty 28. Garces is moving the ball, but it's not in chunks. A penalty or any kind of a mistake is killing drives for the Rams. Now Liberty has made a couple of penalties on offense, though, and the Pats are backed up deep in their own end. Still 7-0.

UPDATED, 8:04 p.m.: A score from Centennial: Frontier has jumped on the Golden Hawks early, leading 14-0 just nine minutes into the game. Josh Legorreta is 5-of-5 for 105 yards and a TD in the early-going.
Here, Garces gets a huge stop on third and fourth-and-short to take over here, down 7-0 early in the second quarter. The Rams are still in this, and the longer we go in a close game, the better chance for an upset we'll have.

UPDATED, 7:58 p.m.: The Patriots are threatening to take control of this game early. Another three-and-out and good field position again, this time right at midfield. When you're starting your possessions at the 45, 33 and 50, you're going to be in good shape.
Liberty is driving, third-and-2 at the Garces 42, as the first quarter comes to an end.

UPDATED, 7:52 p.m.: Two consecutive three-and-outs, but Liberty gains a bunch of field position thanks to a great punt from Dillon Meadows and then a good punt return on the Rams' kick. Garces isn't having as big of a problem running as you might think, but Liberty is now driving in the red zone. A couple of counter runs by Carson Moyer, and the job is done. 7-0 Patriots, 3:26 left in the first quarter.

UPDATED, 7:42 p.m.: Garces ends Liberty's first possession with a Nick Sakowski interception and then pops off a couple of nice runs to move the ball to midfield. Pretty nice start for an underdog.
And then the Rams, just when I'm starting to see how much their offensive line has improved, turn it back over. Phillip Anspach and Jalen Sykes mishandled a handoff there, and Tyler Gellinck recovered for the Pats. Still scoreless early.

UPDATED, 7:18 p.m.: The first really chilly night of the season (other than my trip to Tehachapi a couple of weeks back, but I think it's still colder here tonight) brings me to Garces, where the home team will try to upset Liberty and force a tie atop the Southeast Yosemite League.
It's tempting to make this one Liberty's defense against Garces' offense, and while that will be a great matchup, the other side of the ball will tell a lot too. At times, the Rams have been a bit porous on defense, and if Liberty starts piling on any sort of points, the Pats' defense isn't going to give up the lead. Period.
At the end of the night, I'll do some seeding predictions for the top three or four divisions, projections that will probably be terribly off and make me look dumb when the real seedings come out in the morning. But looking dumb sometimes is part of my job, so I'll gladly do it.
Game kicks here in about 12 minutes.

ORIGINAL POST: As we take a look at this week's slate of games, I want to bring up some interesting news from Fresno that I heard yesterday while covering the Central Section cross country meet. I mentioned it in the podcast I posted last night, but it's worth a couple of more breaths: Fresno-Bullard and Clovis-Buchanan, the consensus top two teams in the section all year long, have both been hit hard by the injury bug. For the Knights, that's a starting quarterback and running back, and for Buchanan, it's a top receiver (Kyle Novak) and a couple of linemen.

Both teams struggled to put away their ninth wins last week, and though both will still be a factor (and possibly still the top two seeds in Division I), the door seems more open than ever for teams like Stockdale, Bakersfield and Liberty out of Kern County and a team like Fresno-Central out of the north. Central plays Buchanan tonight with the Tri-River Athletic Conference on the line, so we'll get a glimpse of what the Bears will be like minus the injured starters.

Down this-a-way, there will be league titles handed out en masse as well, starting last night with Kern Valley's easy victory at Frazier Mountain to secure the outright High Desert League title. As we mentinoed last week, it's the Broncs' first HDL championship since 1995.

Tonight, Liberty claims the outright SEYL title with a win at Garces. A Rams win probably means a three-way tie with these two teams and Bakersfield. I'll be perched at Garces tonight doing a live blog. Elsewhere, Stockdale can win the SWYL outright by winning at West. If they don't, the door is opened for Frontier, which plays the week's other big game at Centennial. HUGE playoff seeding implications in that one.

Independence and Mira Monte will also stage a senior-less battle for a league title at Foothill tonight.

I'll update everything I can here and on Twitter (@zewing) as the weekend goes on, tonight with the games and tomorrow as playoff seedings are unveiled. In the meantime, don't forget about that podcast or my Week 10 predictions. Scoreboard is below.

By the way, I forgot to make a prediction again. I'll take Tulare-Mission Oak over Kennedy tonight, say 44-20.

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

Kern County scoreboard
(3) Stockdale 42, West 13
6) Bakersfield 48, Highland 7
(8) Frontier 30, (14) Centennial 22
(9) Liberty 35, Garces 6
Ridgeview 34, South 18
Independence 31, Mira Monte 14
Foothill 20, Golden Valley 10
North 28, East 20
Taft 54, Bakersfield Christian 15
Wasco 27, Shafter 0
Tehachapi 34, Arvin 7
Delano 21, Chavez 6
Tulare-Mission Oak 20, Kennedy 0
Farmersville 13, McFarland 8
Kern Valley 50, Frazier Mountain 6 (Thursday)
Rosamond 37, California City 7 (Thursday)
Bishop 28, Desert 7 (Thursday)
Burroughs 49, Victorville-Victor Valley 20
Boron 14, Redlands-Arrowhead Christian 13
Mojave 48, Lucerne Valley 7
Trona 48, Maricopa 0 (8-man playoffs)
Yucca Valley-Joshua Springs 72, Immanuel Christian 36 (8-man playoffs)
Lighthouse Christian at Madera-Lighthouse Academy, 1 p.m. Saturday

Other Central Section scores
(11) Fresno-Edison 32, Clovis North 0 (Thursday)
(1) Fresno-Bullard 35, Fresno-Hoover 13
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 56, (5) Fresno-Central 20
(4) Tulare Union 47, Tulare Western 0
(7) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 29, Fresno-Sunnyside 3
(10) Clovis West 28, Clovis 13
(12) Kingsburg 43, Selma 14
(13) Visalia-El Diamante 62, Visalia-Golden West 7
(15) Fresno-Washington Union 51, Kerman 0
Madera South 57, Fresno-McLane 12 (Thursday)
Clovis East 35, Madera 28
Sanger 16, Reedley 6
Dinuba 35, Reedley-Immanuel 13
Porterville 41, Porterville-Monache 28
Hanford 20, Lemoore 14
Visalia-Redwood 47, Visalia-Mt. Whitney 6
Exeter 34, Visalia-Central Valley Christian 27
Dos Palos 23, Chowchilla 6
Tranquillity 47, Avenal 0
Corcoran 12, Strathmore 7
Fowler 28, Caruthers 0
Fresno Christian 35, Orosi 8
Laton 55, Lemoore-Kings Christian 18
Madera Ranchos-Liberty 32, Coalinga 13
Woodlake 21, Lindsay 7
Mendota 40, Firebaugh 23
SLO-Mission Prep 49, Orange Cove 26
Parlier at Riverdale
Fresno-Roosevelt 21, Fresno 0
Tollhouse-Sierra 32, Oakhurst-Yosemite 29
Alpaugh at Riverdale Christian, 1 p.m. Saturday
Clovis Christian at Coalinga-Faith Christian, 7 p.m. Saturday

Week 10 HS football podcast

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:04:39 PST

This is late, I know, but I was in Fresno all day for cross country and it fell to the backburner. Lots of good stuff on here, though.

As for the XC, McFarland's boys and girls both won section titles, as did three individuals. Centennial reached the Division I volleyball semifinals by beating Liberty, and Frontier, Garces, Tehachapi, Golden Valley, Ridgeview and Bakersfield Christian are all still alive as well.

Big Week 10 coming up. I'm going to go recharge the batteries for tomorrow.

Week 10 HS football predictions

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:20:35 PST

Down to the final eight in volleyball playoffs. Here are the Division I quarterfinal matchups for Thursday:

(8) Stockdale at (1) Clovis-Buchanan
(5) Fresno-Bullard at (4) Bakersfield
(6) Liberty at (3) Centennial
(10) Clovis East at (2) Clovis West

Other Kern teams still alive: In Division II, Frontier and Garces; In D-III, Tehachapi, Independence and Golden Valley (who play each other) and Ridgeview; In D-IV, McFarland and Bakersfield Christian (play each other) and Taft. Kern County teams went 4-1 in the first round, not counting three games against one another. Some pretty good local representation there.

Cross country section championships are tomorrow in Fresno.

How about the football playoffs? We'll know the seedings in three short days. But first come the next two days and a bunch of big games. First a look back at last week's predictions:

The good: I swept the Southern Section, which always gives me a nice boost to the overall percentage; also called for Stockdale to pull away in the fourth quarter (though Frontier almost made me eat those words) and big wins for the other Division I schools.

The bad: The SSL. Wasco made a huge play to knot up the league standings and beat Tehachapi, which I thought would be the one making big plays. Arvin surprised Bakersfield Christian and me.

The ugly: Not giving respect to South and Golden Valley. I thought West could out-gun the Rebels, but South shut the Vikings down. And the Bulldogs turned the tables on Ridgeview, which lost big instead of winning big.

Thursday, Nov. 12
KERN VALLEY (8-1, 4-0 HDL) AT FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (7-2, 3-1) — To whet your appetite for the final weekend of the regular season, how about a Thursday night tilt that will decide the High Desert League championship? Kern Valley clinched a share of its first title since 1995 last week by beating Rosamond (the key victory came the previous week in overtime at Bishop). Frazier Mountain made that long trip up the 395 to Bishop and was clobbered last week. So can Kern Valley win in the cold and sew up the perfect league season? I think so, considering the Broncs have been living a somewhat charmed life this year — three OT wins — and that sort of thing is contagious. Also, any bad weather, which Thursday might bring, wouldn't be good for the Falcons' passing attack.
Prediction: Kern Valley 27, Frazier Mountain 16

CALIFORNIA CITY (0-8, 0-4 HDL) AT ROSAMOND (2-7, 1-3) — This might well develop into a nice little geographical rivalry in the years to come, but for now, it'll be all Rosamond. The Roadrunners have had a nice season under new coach George Esquer, improving from a dreary beginning and even more dreary middle to beat Desert a couple of weeks ago and at least hang with Kern Valley. A win here would give them two in their last three and give Esquer something to build on for next year.
Prediction: Rosamond 41, California City 17

BISHOP (4-4, 3-1 HDL) AT DESERT (2-7, 1-3) — For Bishop, this one's about taking care of business and hoping Frazier Mountain can beat Kern Valley and force a three-way tie for the league title. They shouldn't have much trouble doing that and getting into the playoffs (along with the two Kern County teams above) against Desert, whose season ran off the tracks in October. That month is when a 1-2 team became a 1-7 team and fell out of the playoff picture after two straight years in the bracket.
Prediction: Bishop 39, Desert 9

Friday, Nov. 13
LIBERTY (6-3, 5-0 SEYL) AT GARCES (6-3, 4-1) — When Liberty knocked off Bakersfield back in the first week of October, everyone kind of sat back and congratulated the Patriots on winning another Southeast Yosemite League title. They went about their merry business, blistering through league opponents left and right until they have indeed clinched a share of that championship. But now comes this nasty little game on the back end of all of that, against a Garces team that would get serious consideration for Most Improved Team if such an award was handed out. The Rams lost early games to Tehachapi and Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial by scoring a combined six points, and while both of those losses are still quality, I think it's safe to say that Garces would score a few more points if they played again. It's been a long time since a team has rolled up yardage and points like Garces has during its current 5-1 stretch. But Liberty's defense is a different animal, and if the Pats offense has improved as well, they'll pull away here.
Prediction: Liberty 28, Garces 14

FRONTIER (8-1, 4-1 SWYL) AT CENTENNIAL (6-3, 3-2) — Seems to me a lot of people are discrediting Centennial in this matchup, partly because of the Golden Hawks' inconsistency and partly because Frontier looked so competitive, even in a losing effort, last week at Stockdale. And I do think the Titans have a more complete team than just about anyone — they've got a dangerous passing game with Josh Legorreta and Jacob Adelman, a servicable running game led by DeShaunte Webber, awesome special teams and, probably best of all, a front seven on defense that is one of the county's top two with Liberty, But Centennial has many of those elements as well. Will Frontier win? Probably. But is Centennial the second-best team they've played? Yes. And the Titans had better keep their guards up in a huge matchup for playoff seeding.
Prediction: Frontier 28, Centennial 20

SOUTH (6-3, 2-3 SWYL) AT RIDGEVIEW (5-5, 1-4) — The Wolf Pack's season has changed faster than Sammy Sosa on skin cream (sorry, low blow, I know). After rolling to a 4-0 start, Ridgeview lost a few games that didn't concern anyone because they were to Stockdale, Centennial, Frontier. Even a shootout loss to West didn't seem too far out of character. Then came last week, when the Pack was pummeled 28-2 by Golden Valley. That doesn't inspire a lot of confidence against a South team that had its victory of the year last week in pulling away from West — and, keep in mind, the Rebels hammered GV to start the season, too.
Prediction: South 34, Ridgeview 21

STOCKDALE (8-1, 5-0 SWYL) AT WEST (4-5, 3-2) — It's hard to figure what to make of West, which beats Centennial and then two weeks later loses badly to South, a team that Centennial blew out. The Vikings hung with El Diamante but were blasted by Frontier, out-gunned Ridgeview but couldn't stop or score on Garces. Does that mean that against all odds, the Vikings will have a stiff challenge for Stockdale? I'm not feeling it. The Mustangs had their close call last week and should roll into the playoffs and a welcomed bye week.
Prediction: Stockdale 42, West 13

INDEPENDENCE (5-4, 4-1 SCSL) VS. MIRA MONTE (5-4, 5-0) AT FOOTHILL — So much for these teams will come down to this game, and that's going to make it really, really fun. If Mira Monte wins, it gets the outright league title and bragging rights over its fellow new school after the Lions stopped the Falcons' late two-point conversion in their first meeting. If Independence wins, it gets a piece of that league title and some revenge. The winner also gets to put down a winning record for its first varsity season. So who will it be? Independence has been repeatedly banged up this year, and that's not good for a team with little depth, but I still see this as a toss-up. And since toss-up games should come out 50/50, I'll go with the team that lost the first meeting.
Prediction: Independence 27, Mira Monte 24

HIGHLAND (2-8, 0-5 SEYL) AT BAKERSFIELD (7-2, 4-1) — Last year, only eight Division I teams entered the playoffs, which made for a nice, neat, competitive quarterfinal bracket. This year, I don't think that'll be the case — all 11 D-I teams have had their moments this year, with the possible exception of Madera, and so you'd figure there will be more than eight teams and some will have the advantage of a bye. If 10 teams enter, the top six get byes; if all 11 enter, only the top five get byes. What does that have to do with this game? BHS is right on that 5/6/7 cusp of seeds, and any kind of a slip-up here will cost the Drillers. But Highland is badly reeling, and I don't see much chance of that happening here. The rest will be in the hands of the seeding committee.
Prediction: Bakersfield 56, Highland 14

FOOTHILL (2-7, 1-4 SEYL) AT GOLDEN VALLEY (3-6, 1-4) — We talked a little bit earlier this week about how losing teams can make playoff runs with the way the Central Section is set up. That tends to happen more in Division III than anywhere else, because that's where some lower schools from bigger leagues end up. Here are two prime examples. The winner of this game is going to give itself a decent seed and likely at least one home game in the D-III playoffs. Golden Valley is rolling and should be able to keep Foothill's offense at bay for most of the night. Hit one or two big passing plays — and Darrik Martin had four TD passes last week, three of them long ones — and that'll be enough.
Prediction: Golden Valley 23, Foothill 13

EAST (3-6) AT NORTH (1-8) — In probably the shortest-named matchup of the year, East gets to try its passing attack against somebody else after stumbling through the Garces-Liberty-Bakersfield gauntlet of the past three weeks. And it should be with great success. Joe Pearson can really wing it, he's got a couple of receivers in Malachi Jackson and Akkeli Holley who can go get it, and North, even when it was winning last year, has had trouble defending the pass. Both teams will make their share of mistakes, but East will pull away sooner or later — and likely play its way into the playoffs.
Prediction: East 37, North 28

WASCO (7-2, 3-1 SSL) AT SHAFTER (2-7, 1-3) — The county's best rivalry has its next chapter at Shafter, and this could get interesting. For one thing, this series is rarely going to be a blowout. For another, Shafter is another one of those most improved teams. And finally, Wasco is coming off its win of the year (probably the decade), a home win against Tehachapi in which former Shafter standout Rene Medina made the big play, a 97-yard fourth-quarter strip, scoop and score in a 27-21 victory. So, with those intangibles going for them, can the Generals get a huge win and deny Wasco a share of its first league title since 1961? Nah. Shafter will hang in there for a while, but the Tigers' big-play ability will be too much in the end.
Prediction: Wasco 41, Shafter 16

TAFT (7-2, 3-1 SSL) AT BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (3-6, 1-3) — Way back in Week 3, covering a Saturday game between BCHS and Visalia-Central Valley Christian, I remember thinking that the Eagles were going to have a tough time against Wasco, Tehachapi and Taft in SSL play if they couldn't come up with a better way to stop the run. And this is when I thought Bakersfield Christian hadn't dropped off too much from last year's elite team. Turns out the Eagles have dropped off considerably, and they never did find a way to stop the run. Wasco and Tehachapi had their field days, and now it'll be Taft's turn to avenge last year's loss.
Prediction: Taft 51, Bakersfield Christian 12

TEHACHAPI (7-2, 3-1 SSL) AT ARVIN (2-7, 1-3) — All three teams that need to win to get that SSL title share are on the road that week, so it seems risky expecting all three to take care of business. But I just see such a split in the teams in the league right now that that's what we're going to have. Tehachapi is too solid to come to Arvin and play poorly after a stunner at Wasco last week, and the Bears don't have enough to win if Tehachapi is playing well.
Prediction: Tehachapi 38, Arvin 7

DELANO (7-2, 3-2 EYL) AT CHAVEZ (5-5, 2-3) — It would be quite the coup for the Titans if they could muster a home win here to get a winning season and to knock crosstown rival Delano down a few pegs in the Division III seeding process. But Chavez had most of its success early, when it was shutting teams down on defense. Now they've started to give up points, and even though the scoring has improved a bit too, I don't think they can keep up with the Tigers. Delano gets it done and then looks forward to a nice seed on Saturday.
Prediction: Delano 26, Chavez 17

FARMERSVILLE (5-4, 3-1 ESL) AT McFARLAND (5-5, 2-2) — After a 4-3 start to the season mostly against much bigger schools, the Cougars have fallen on some hard times, with two lopsided losses and a squeaker over lowly Laton in the past three weeks. Much of that, it's a safe bet, is due to the loss of running back Frankie Gonzalez. This Week 10 game could go a long way toward determining how McFarland feels about the season, but I just don't see a lot of momentum in that camp.
Prediction: Farmersville 33, McFarland 21

BURROUGHS (4-5, 1-2 DSL) AT VICTORVILLE-VICTOR VALLEY (7-2, 1-2) — Looking for a playoff atmosphere a week early? You can go to an 8-man game (see below) or you can check out the Burros, who are in desperation mode against Victor Valley. Burroughs needs a win here to nab one of the two playoff spots that remain for four teams that are 1-2 (the other two are Barstow and Apple Valley-Granite Hills, who also play each other). It's pretty simple, actually: The playoffs are starting a week early. Can Burroughs get itself together? It'll be tough, but I sense something fiesty about coach Matt Gracey in the few short conversations I've had with him. Chalk up a slight road upset and a berth in a Southern Section playoff bracket.
Prediction: Burroughs 31, Victor Valley 26

BORON (7-2) AT REDLANDS-ARROWHEAD CHRISTIAN (5-4) — A nice little tune-up test for the Bobcats, who safely wrapped up the Desert Mountain League title and a playoff berth with last week's win against Mojave. The goal here, then, will be to stay healthy and to come out with a win of some kind, maintaing status going into playoff seeding. That status? Right now, Boron is ranked No. 4 in the Southern Section's Northeast Division. They lost to the No. 1 team, Arcadia-Rio Hondo Prep, by a touchdown early in the season.
Prediction: Boron 47, Arrowhead Christian 21

MOJAVE (6-3, 2-1 DML) AT LUCERNE VALLEY (3-5, 1-2) — The Mustangs are not quite safely in the playoffs after a surprise trip to the championship game last year. They're the No. 6-ranked team in the division, though, and heavy favorites here to beat Lucerne Valley, which hasn't scored more than eight points in any of its five losses, including none in a 76-0 loss to Boron a couple of weeks back.
Prediction: Mojave 30, Lucerne Valley 3

MARICOPA (6-3) AT TRONA (7-2) — It's playoff time already in Southern Section 8-man ball, and the first test for the Indians is a stiff one. They play the Trona team that won Immanuel Christian's Hi-Lo League with a perfect 5-0 mark. I think Maricopa played in a better league, but I don't it beat anyone as good as Trona, and certainly not after the four-hour bus ride they'll need to get there.
Prediction: Trona 31, Maricopa 13

IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (6-3) AT YUCCA VALLEY-JOSHUA SPRINGS (6-3) — Speaking of long drives, the Crusaders will have to crusade well into the Inland Empire for this one, and for what? To play the league champion from the small but super-tough Agape League, a Joshua Springs team that scored at least 30 points in each of its past five victories. Immanuel can score some points too, but a road win here is a very tall order.
Prediction: Joshua Springs 44, Immanuel Christian 17

Saturday, Nov. 14
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (4-5, 1-1 CVSSL) AT MADERA-LIGHTHOUSE ACADEMY (0-5, 0-2) — The Guardians finally get a chance to play their namesakes, and with it comes a great shot at getting to the .500 mark for the year. Another milestone to look out for is Julian Garza's quest for 1,000 yards; there are no 8-man playoffs in the Central Section, so he'd need a big 192-yard day against Lighthouse the Academy to get there.
Prediction: Lighthouse Christian 49, Lighthouse Academy 14

Last week: 19-4 (.826)
This year: 171-51 (.770)

Central Section football rankings, Week 10

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:33:33 PST

I really thought I had this ranking thing figured out, especially at the top, and then Week 9 happened. Tulare Union, the team I was thinking about dropping despite its season-long dominance against a weak schedule, went out and rolled another overmatched foe. The other three top teams — Fresno-Bullard, Clovis-Buchanan and Stockdale — all struggled to slip past opponents that were very good but figured to be a rung below those teams.

So what now? And what about those teams that barely lost to the top squads? Do they get rewarded even though they lost? I'll try to sort it all out below.

1. Fresno-Bullard (9-0, Division I, last week: 1) — They've been called cocky, lucky, smoke and mirrors and all of that, but the Knights keep winning against a very tough schedule. And they do it no matter what kind of injuries, sickness or suspensions they've been facing. This team might not win the section in the end, but it has been the best team through nine weeks.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 11 Fresno-Edison, 17-14 (2OT). THIS WEEK: vs. Fresno-Hoover

2. Clovis-Buchanan (9-0, Division I, last week: 2) — The Bears' close call in Week 9 concerns me a bit more because it came against a Clovis East them that has been blown away by some other quality teams. But the Timberwolves have a pedigree, and so that they've improved quite a bit doesn't surprise me. But the cause for concern with Buchanan is that since that shootout win against Bakersfield, the supposedly unstoppable offense has been pretty hit-or-miss. It needs to be better than that this week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis East, 20-17. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 5 Fresno-Central

3. Stockdale (8-1, Division I, last week: 4) — A win against another top-10 team is enough for me to bump the Mustangs into the top three: Tulare Union just doesn't come close to matching the strength of victory Stockdale has. And it has to be encouraging that without playing nearly their best game, the Mustangs still knocked off a section contender.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 10 Frontier, 17-15. THIS WEEK: at West

4. Tulare Union (9-0, Division II, last week: 3) — Last year, the Redskins were able to gear it up for the playoffs after a snoozefest of a regular season. Even though they hadn't played anyone of semifinal caliber all year long, they routed Sanger in the semis and then beat El Diamante convincingly in the championship. Can they pull that trick again? I wouldn't put it past them, but Division II is much, much deeper this year than last.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Porterville-Monache, 69-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Tulare Western

5. Fresno-Central (7-2, Division I, last week: 5) — Since starting the year 1-2, the Grizzlies haven't beat a team by fewer than 13 points, and they've done that against a pretty impressive slate of foes. It's all been building to this offensive showdown with Buchanan. And I'm willing to go out on a limb: I think Central takes down Buchanan and wins the Tri-River Athletic Conference.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis, 49-14. THIS WEEK: at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan

6. Bakersfield (7-2, Division I, last week: 6) — Drillers coach Paul Golla sounded positively effervescent after his team's latest SEYL thumping, this time of East. It's hard to tell exactly how well BHS is playing against the weak back half of its schedule, but Golla makes it sound like the Drillers are leaps and bounds ahead of where they were when they were 4-2 against the tough front half.
LAST WEEK: won at East, 61-15. THIS WEEK: vs. Highland

7. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (8-1, Division II, last week: 7) — The final game for the Panthers is the only one against a fellow North Yosemite League team with a pulse. And while Memorial still shouldn't have any problems, a bit of a test might be a nice stepping stone heading into the D-II playoffs, where the Panthers almost knocked off Edison last year but come into this version as one of the favorites, not the underdogs.
LAST WEEK: won at Fresno-McLane, 69-6. THIS WEEK: at Fresno-Sunnyside

8. Frontier (8-1, Division II, last week: 10) — Yes, the Titans lost last week. And yes, the two teams I've moved them past both posted easy wins. But it comes down to this: Do I think Frontier would beat Liberty more times than not on a neutral field? Yes I do. Clovis West. Yep. The Titans showed me more in that loss than they have in plenty of wins.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 4 Stockdale, 17-15. THIS WEEK: at No. 14 Centennial

9. Liberty (6-3, Division I, last week: 8) — Kind of like BHS, it's hard to tell exactly how much better the Patriots have gotten as the year has gone on. They're finally putting up some offensive numbers with regularity, but who knows how much that will slow when they get back to playing the big boys. Garces might not quite be at that level, but the Rams still provide an interesting test in a de facto league-title game.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Highland, 49-6. THIS WEEK: at Garces

10. Clovis West (4-5, Division I, last week: 9) — On Saturday, the Central Section playoff seedings come out. And you can bet that there will be a coach somewhere with a home game in the quarterfinals who is happy to see that — and then will put his hand to his forehead because he sees "Clovis West" on the line next to his team. This will be a 5-5 team that won't get a good seed. And no one will want to play them anyway.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Madera, 48-0. THIS WEEK: at Clovis

11. Fresno-Edison (5-4, Division II, last week: 11) — What to do, what to do with Edison, which is yet another team that seems like it can beat or lose to just about anyone. But consider: The Tigers' five losses have come by 29 points, including a two-point defeat and this week's double-overtime affair. Close losses are usually the mark of a team that's better than its record.
LAST WEEK: lost vs. No. 1 Fresno-Bullard, 20-17 (2OT). THIS WEEK: at Clovis North (Thursday)

12. Kingsburg (9-0, Division IV, last week: 12) — Don't overlook one of Week 9's more impressive wins around the section: The Vikings took on a very good D-IV team, one that gave Frontier fits, and pounded Exeter 50-13. I think Division IV is better than III this year, and I think no division has a more clear-cut favorite than Kingsburg.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Exeter 50-13. THIS WEEK: at Selma

13. Visalia-El Diamante (8-1, Division II, last week: 13) — The Miners' West Yosemite League meeting with Hanford didn't carry the oomph of last year's, when the teams entered with one loss between them and ended up as top two seeds in Divisions II and III. Things are different this year, but El D's 27-0 first half and easy victory keeps the Miners in position for another good seed.
LAST WEEK: won at Hanford, 48-20. THIS WEEK: at Visalia-Golden West

14. Centennial (6-3, Division I, last week: 15) — I hear and see a lot of people assuming that Frontier will hand the Golden Hawks a loss to end the season this week. That may well be the case, but let's not forget that with Cody Kessler, Centennial has a very well-rounded team also. This is a team that beat Liberty, scored some points on Stockdale and held Bakersfield to one of its second-lowest point total of the season.
LAST WEEK: won at North, 49-13. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 8 Frontier

15. Fresno-Washington Union (7-2, Division IV, last week: NR) — As good of a team as Taft has, it likely will end up just the No. 3 seed down in Division IV, thanks to the prowess of Kingsburg and Washington, which has reeled off seven straight wins after opening the season with a one-point loss to Dinuba and a one-touchdown loss against Kingsburg. Included in the winning streak are impressive victories against D-II Fresno-Sunnyside, D-III contender Oakhurst-Yosemite and defending D-IV champ Chowchilla.
LAST WEEK: won at Dos Palos, 42-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Kerman

Dropped out: No. 14 Tehachapi
Waiting: Clovis East, Taft, Tehachapi, Reedley, Garces, Wasco, Sanger, Fresno-Hoover, Dinuba, South, Porterville, Delano, Clovis

Week 9, most important things

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:22:59 PST

Before we get to football, I wanted to mention a couple of other sports that are getting down to the postseason. In girls tennis, after Garces and Bakersfield Christian won team section titles earlier in the week, the season ended with a showdown between sisters Lyndsay and Chelby Cooke of BCHS for the Central Section singles championship. Chelby beat two-time defending champion Gabrielle Gatewood of Visalia-Redwood, who retired in the second set, but it was Lyndsay who knocked off her little sister 6-4, 7-5 to end her career with a title after finishing second two years in a row.

Also, in volleyball, playoff seedings have been announced. Centennial gets the No. 3, Bakersfield the No. 4 and Liberty gets to gripe. The Patriots were knocked down to the No. 6 seed in D-I despite beating BHS on the last day of the regular season. Frontier and Garces are Nos. 1 and 2 in D-II, and Tehachapi is No. 1 in Division III.

Now to the gridiron. Lots to talk about after a Week 9 that turned a lot of our expectations on their head.

— Stockdale certainly came up with big plays when it had to to beat Frontier 17-15, and the Mustangs will go down as Kern County's best team heading into the playoffs. But are they that much better than the Titans? Clearly not. Frontier had more to prove going into this game than Stockdale, and the new kids on the block clearly showed a whole lot. They're disappointed with the loss, but Frontier clearly belongs with the top teams in the section. Now, the trick will be beating Centennial next week to clinch a high seed and get at least a couple of games at home.

— Apparently, the South Sequoia League is destined to bunch itself up this year. Three weeks ago, Taft routs Wasco and seems ready to take control of the league race. Two weeks ago, Tehachapi finds a way to nip the Wildcats and seems primed for another league title. This week, Wasco gets Rene Medina's clutch 97-yard fumble force, recovery and return to beat Tehachapi 27-21 and bring everybody back even. With expected wins next week, it's league championships for everybody! Seriously, what are you going to do, point differential? I think Taft would have it at this point if you did that. But those three teams are essentially even, and all three are sticking around for a while in the playoffs.

— It wasn't that Golden Valley beat Ridgeview that surprised me so much; it was the way the Bulldogs did it, 28-2. They held Tyler Dogins to 58 rushing yards on 24 carries and kept him out of the end zone all night. Meanwhile, Darrik Martin threw four TD passes, covering 4, 46, 61 and 25 yards until the rout was on. I'm having a hard time figuring out this Ridgeview team, which now needs a win against surging South just to stay above the .500 mark after a 4-0 start. Golden Valley, meanwhile, can get to 4-6 and actually end up with a decent Division III playoff seed by beating rival Foothill next week.

— Speaking of the Rebels, it's winning-season time for the first time in a generation. South blew out West in the second half to win 38-14, getting 149 rushing yards and three TDs from Lee West, plus a 60-yard blocked-punt return. For South, the rewards of a win next week against Ridgeview would be enormous, starting with a 7-win season, the program's second straight 3-3 season in the SWYL and at least one home game in the Division III playoffs (they probably have that already). West is reeling now, a couple of weeks after losing Moose Cobb to academics and upsetting Centennial. And though Lee West is a senior, South is a fairly young team; who do you think the favorite might be in the new league next year that consists of the Rebels, Mira Monte, West, Ridgeview and Golden Valley?

— After a three-week absence, Cody Kessler is back for Centennial, and he looked sharp in a 49-13 victory at North. Now the true tests begin for Kessler's tender ankle and the up-and-down Golden Hawks. Next week brings Frontier to campus, and then a first-round playoff game the week after, possibly on the road. This still is a dangerous team, one with one of Kern County's most balanced offenses. If they get on a roll, they'll be tough to bring down.

— Same goes for Bakersfield, which might be on its roll already. The Drillers drilled East 61-15 behind a huge first half. Alfonso Jackson touched the ball eight times and scored five touchdowns, including a 53-yard catch and a 51-yard run. He finished with 170 yards on those eight touches. Brian Burrell had perhaps his most efficient day as BHS quarterback, going 8-of-10 for 147 yards in limited duty. Meanwhile, the Drillers defense shut down a dangerous East attack until the game was out of reach. Some perspective? The link above contains a quote that was left here in the comments earlier in the weekend: Paul Golla says his staff "doesn't sell Buchanan or Liberty or Stockdale. It's all about Week 11." That's in two weeks, folks.

— A couple of league titles handed out in Kern's Southern Section leagues, with Kern Valley blanking Rosamond 28-0 to clinch a share of the High Desert League title (the Broncs go for the outright championship next week at Frazier Mountain) and Boron beating Mojave 38-22 to win yet another Desert Mountain League title. Stockdale and Liberty, which beat Highland 49-6, clinched shares of titles in the city leagues, as did Mira Monte in the South Central Sequoia League, with wins next week giving all of those teams outright championships.

That brings us to a preliminary look at the week ahead, the regular season's last. Here are your five games to watch, with a bonus sixth because I'm feeling generous (or maybe just couldn't decide which one to use):

Liberty at Garces: Just how good has the Rams' attack become? We'll find out with an SEYL title on the line
Frontier at Centennial: Enormous game for seeding implications in Divisions I and II
Stockdale at West: Mustangs can clinch second straight SWYL title before likely playoff bye
Independence vs. Mira Monte (at Foothill): Came down to a two-point conversion three weeks ago
Wasco at Shafter: Always a big game, but it'd be bigger if improving Generals could shock title-hungry Tigers
South at Ridgeview: The Rebels can supplant the Wolf Pack as city's biggest D-III threat

Week 9 running thread and scoreboard

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:06:32 PST

UPDATED, 12:20 a.m.: What a showdown at Stockdale and what a shocker of a week in other places around the county. As always, a complete score list is below, but it's time to get to to some major results:

Stockdale 17, Frontier 15: Stockdale won the game with a blocked-punt touchdown courtesy of Hank Hobson and Isaiah Turner that made it 17-7 with 5:08 left, but Frontier battled back, and the Titans won a bunch of respect from me even as they lost the game. Tulare Union will get the No. 1 seed in Division II with its 10-0 record, but they'd better be careful if they run into a battle-tested Frontier team. As for Stockdale, it has back-to-back league titles and can win it outright against West next week. Then it's time for a top-three seed in Division I. Defenses were big in this one, and that's what wins playoff football.

Wasco 27, Tehachapi 21: Another week in the SSL, another turn atop the standings. Wasco's Rene Medina stripped a Tehachapi runner and went 97 yards the other way for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, giving the Tigers a share of the league lead with Tehachapi and Taft. All three teams are 3-1, and all three will be favorites next week. Jesse Olofson ran for 210 yards for Tehachapi and Quentin Cheatham had 166 for Wasco.

Golden Valley 28, Ridgeview 2: What? That was my reaction when I saw this score for the first time. It's not that the Bulldogs were able to pull an upset — Erich Smith does a great job, and GV seems to come up with a surprise win every year — but it was the margin. Darrik Martin threw for 199 yards and four touchdowns and the Bulldogs defense held Tyler Dogins to just 58 yards on 24 carries. Add Golden Valley to the list of teams you've got to consider sleepers in Division III.

Centennial 49, North 13: Cody Kessler is back for the Golden Hawks, who had no trouble with the Stars whether Kessler, who missed three games with a high ankle sprain, or Mark Ritchie, who started the game, was playing. The Golden Hawks started the scoring with Thomas Grimes' 67-yard punt return touchdown. Kessler finished 12-of-21 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns, including one to an end an impressive two-minute drill at the end of first half.

South 38, West 14: Win of the season thus far for the Rebels, who clinch a winning season for the first time in I don't know when (I'll find out, but it wasn't in this decade). John Wren really has that program on the upswing, and this is just the latest example of that. Lee West ran for 149 yards for the Rebels, who pulled away after a 7-7 first half.

Arvin 28, Bakersfield Christian 21: Another SSL surprise, and now we've got an odd situation in the league where you've got three 3-1 teams playing three 1-3 teams next week. Has a league ever consisted solely of two three-way ties?

Boron 38, Mojave 22: The champ beats the challenger, and the Bobcats win another Desert Mountain League title.

Kern Valley 28, Rosamond 0: No surprise here, but it is noteworthy because the Broncs clinched at least a share of the school's first High Desert League title since 1995.

UPDATED, 10:08 p.m.; A holding call and a sack force Frontier back 14 yards and to use its last timeout. Stockdale defenders pumping up the crowd on second-and-24. Pass thrown short to Adelman, incomplete, third down. The Titans were really only about 15 yards out of field-goal range when they started this drive, but it's more like 30 now. And Legorreta finds Adelman for 22 yards, but he's short of the first down, so there can be no spike. Frontier hurries to the line. Gets a play off,. Short pass to Webber, but he's tackled immediately, and the game's over. Stockdale wins a thriller 17-15. More later.

UPDATED, 10:03 p.m.: And Ian Driskill recovers the onside kick for Frontier! Looked like Ryan Barnett had the first look at it for Stockdale, but as he went down, Driskill hit him and took the ball. He wasn't called down, but it was close. Frontier ball at the 43.

UPDATED, 10:00 p.m.: Frontier goes from the left hash. Legorreta rolls to his right, looking for Webber. Thrown low and incomplete! Stockdale holds on to a 17-15 lead with 59 seconds left. Frontier has just one timeout left, so I think they need an onside kick to have a chance here.

UPDATED, 9:58 p.m.: A huge kickoff from Andre Heidari on that safety kick keeps Frontier from having great field position. They're starting at their 26 with 2:57 to play. Seventy-four yards to go, and then of course the two-point conversion would be needed for a tie. Still a longshot, probably, but a better chance than the Titans had a few minutes ago.
And though he hasn't really had to do it this season, Josh Legorreta apparently knows how to run a two-minute drill. He goes 4-of-5 for 51 yards to get the Titans down to the Stockdale 23 without using a timeout. Penalty pushes Frontier back five yards. Now incomplete, a throw behind the receiver. 1:17 on the clock, still two TOs. A draw to DeShaunte Webber, but Corey Childs makes a big play and stops him for just a yard. Third-and-14 now, and Frontier will call timeout No. 2. 1:07 left. And as he's hit, Legorreta lofts a ball to Jake Adelman in the end zone. Touchdown with 59 ticks left!
Now for the 2-point try. They've thrown into the flat with some success tonight. Will they try that again? Stockdale calls timeout.

UPDATED, 9:49 p.m.: Oh boy. Reports of Frontier's demise were greatly exaggerated. A host of Titans takes Malik Henderson down in the end zone for a safety, and it's a one-possession game at 17-9. Frontier will get the ball back with 3:07 left and two timeouts. Got to knock that fourth-down pass down, boys.

UPDATED, 9:46 p.m.: Really, Frontier can blame its first-half missed opportunities for being all but out of this one. The Titans out-played Stockdale for most of the first half and had just a halftime tie to show for it. When Stockdale got going in the second half, specifically on defense and special teams, it was too much for the Titans to handle.
The Titans do show some life again with the passing game here to get inside the Stockdale 40, and Josh Legorreta threw a perfect strike to BJ Nard in the end zone, but Nard couldn't come up with it. Instead of a touchdown, it's fourth-and-10. Legorreta is intercepted back at the Stockdale 2. Got to bat that ball down, but Stockdale will take over with just 3:23 left. If the Mustangs can get out from their goalpost's shadow, they can ice this game.

UPDATED, 9:35 p.m.: Three-and-out again. Frontier has run just 11 plays in the second half.
And now the back-breaker from Stockdale! Hank Hobsen smothers Matt Darr's punt, blocking it as soon as it got off his foot. Isaiah Turner picks up the bouncing ball and rumbles 27 yards for the touchdown. The baseball teammates are going to give Stockdale an SWYL championship in football barring a miracle from Frontier. It's 17-7 with 5:08 left.

UPDATED, 9:28 p.m.: Stockdale gets the ball back on an interception back at its own 10, and a penalty backs it up to the five. Josh Legorreta is now 0-for-his last 6 with two interceptions after a hot start.
Now an enormous risk taken by Mike Snow and Stockdale from their own 14-yard line, going for it on fourth-and-inches. Spenser Prince had it easily, but man oh man, that's trust in your offensive line. Now the Mustangs can really start chewing up clock, which is under 10 minutes. But the Titans hold on the next series, and they'll get the ball back. Win or lose, it's pretty safe to say the Frontier defense is for real.

UPDATED, 9:20 p.m.: End of the third quarter. Frontier ran just five offensive plays in the fourth quarter, but they've got the ball second-and-2 at midfield as we start the fourth, thanks to a big kickoff return by Kevin Schindler. He might have taken it all the way, but the last man to beat, the kicker Andre Heidari, laid a huge hit on him at the Frontier 42.

UPDATED, 9:16 p.m.: It's Henderson with the big play again, this time spinning away from a tackle to convert a third-and-15 with what turned into a 45-yard sprint up the middle. Stockdale set up again in Frontier territory, but they've got to stay out of these negative-play situations or they'll stall sooner or later.
And after a couple of more first downs, that's what happens. Matt Darr makes a couple of impressive tackles for loss there, and it'll force Stockdale into a 37-yard field-goal try. Tyler Schleicher gets it inside the right upright with room and plenty of distance to spare. 10-7 Stockdale, final minute of the third.

UPDATED, 9:06 p.m.: Stockdale's D yields only four yards, and that brings on Matt Darr. This time it's a real field-goal try, and Darr had to rush it because of some pressure, and he missed badly to the right. Another bullet dodged by the Mustangs, who are finding ways to stay in this game. Now let's see if they can come up with a drive against this rock-hard Frontier defense. 6:33 to go in the third.

UPDATED, 9:03 p.m.: Such huge implications for this game, both in the SWYL and in Division I and II section playoff seedings, and it's down to a second half now, with the game tied 7-7. Pretty fun stuff.
There aren't many offenses that can run the ball on third-and-13 against this Frontier defense, but that's what Stockdale did there, and Malik Henderson picks up 15 for a first down. But Nic Shannon is dragged down on the next play for another Frontier tackle for loss. Third-and-10 this time. Stockdale can't make a living that way, and Efren Venegas' pass is tipped and picked off by BJ Nard. That's Nard's second INT of the night and it sets Frontier up at the Mustangs 33.

UPDATED, 8:48 p.m.: Frontier leads 161-103 at halftime in total yards and has forced two turnovers to Stockdale's one, but that one was an interception with a retun and a huge penalty that eventually allowed the Mustangs to get into the locker room tied. Now they start the third quarter with the ball and can really change this game in a hurry. Then again, Frontier has mostly out-played the home team to this point and has to feel good about itself, too.
In some other action, Bakersfield and Centennial both have huge leads on East and North approaching halftime at those games, but there are some good games out there. West and South are locked in a 7-7 tie at the half, and Foothill is hanging with Garces, down just 14-7 at the break. All the scores I get are updated below.

UPDATED, 8:40 p.m.: A crazy end to the first half. Stockdale completes a bomb from Efren Venegas to Cory Dillard for 40 yards with 31 seconds left. But on the next play, Venegas mishandles the snap, and Josh Davis recovered for Frontier.
Still with some time, the Titans tried to push for more points, but Josh Legorreta was picked off the next play after the fumble by Jeremy Bispo, who returned the ball to the Frontier 30. A personal-foul penalty put it on the 15 with 10 seconds left, and Venegas found Spenser Prince over the middle for a TD with 9 seconds left (yeah, I don't get how that was only one second, either, but...). Anyway, a couple of huge turnarounds there, and Stockdale has evened things up, 7-7 at halftime.
Legorreta, after his hot start, has missed on five straight passes, including the interception.
Here are some other first-half stats, with Frontier up 7-0:
FRONTIER — Legorreta 5-of-11, 127 yards, TD, INT; DeShaunte Webber, 9 carries, 25 yards; Jacob Adelman 2 catches, 60 yards, TD; Ian Driskill 2 catches, 62 yards.
STOCKDALE — Venegas 3-of-5, 61 yards, TD, INT; Nic Shannon 5 carries, 25 yards; Malik Henderson, 7 carries, 26 yards; Cory Dillard, 1 catch, 40 yards; Spenser Prince 4 carries, -4 yards and 1 catch, 15 yards, TD

UPDATED, 8:26 p.m.: And this is why Matt Darr will be punting for the USC Trojans next year. Darr booms one 58 yards that isn't returnable, sticking Stockdale back at its own 11. The 'Stangs go three-and-out, and their punter, Andre Heidari, has a rare shank, giving Frontier the game's best field position at the Stockdale 25.
The Mustangs defense holds, but that brings Darr back out. And Frontier fakes it — don't get thiis, when Darr is capable of making that field goal. Darr is pressured and throws a jump-ball to the end zone that falls incomplete. Stockdale dodges a major bullet there and is still within 7-0 with 3:16 to play in the half.

UPDATED, 8:18 p.m.: Another big third-down play from Frontier's defense, this time from BJ Nard, a safety who's having himself a nice game. Stockdale was moving it a bit, but the Mustangs are forced to punt again.
So is Frontier, three-and-out. Big plays. Frontier has one, Stockdale doesn't. 7:09 to go in the second.

UPDATED, 8:11 p.m.: Efren Venegas stumbles on the fourth down play and then launches a pass that's off the mark and intercepted by Frontier's BJ Nard. He had a return set up, but as it turned out the Titans would have been better off if Nard had just batted that ball down.
Anyway, defense is the story so far. Another personal foul called against Frontier pins the Titans back at their 14, but Ian Driskill bails em out again, catching a strike from Legorreta for 40 yards and the ball on Stockdale's 46. Just looked like a seam route where Driskill beat a linebacker.
And speaking of beating defenders, a play later, Jacob Adelman torches a DB down the right sideline, collects a bomb from Legorreta and waltzes in for a 43-yard touchdown! I talked about big plays in my predictions column, and right now it's Frontier's passing game, not Stockdale's running game, that's providing them. Legorreta is already 5-of-7 for 127 yards, and it's 7-0 Titans with 10:14 left in the half.

UPDATED, 8:03 p.m.: Malik Henderson checks into the game for the Mustangs on their second drive, but the big blow early in the drive was a horse-collar penalty on Frontier that got Stockdale going.
Frontier's run defense has really been impressive, though, and Stockdale has a fourth-and-3 at the Titan 34 as the first quarter comes to an end in a scoreless game.

UPDATED, 7:55 p.m.: Stockdale immediately faced with its own fourth-and-short, and Spenser Prince gets the first down just past midfield with a yard to go. Nic Shannon broke a tackle on the play before to get the Mustangs close.
No Malik Henderson out there, by the way, though he is suited up on the sideline. It's been Jeremy Bispo and even Isaiah Turner at fullback instead for Stockdale.
Huge third-down play by Frontier linebacker Ian Driskill, who drags Prince down in the backfield to force a punt. Titans ball at their 24, still no score.

UPDATED, 7:49 p.m.: In front of a standing-room-only crowd (and really, there aren't many places left to stand, either), Frontier starts jumpy, false-starting twice before they can even get a snap off on offense. That obviously has to change, but the Titans make up for the lost yardage right away, with a 17-yard pass from Josh Legorreta to Jacob Adelman. Two plays later, Legorreta keeps on an option and gets barely the yard he needs for a first down. So penalty disaster averted on the game's first series.
From there, the Titans drive to the Stockdale 40 before running up to fourth-and-2. After a fruitless attempt to draw the Mustangs offside, Frontier calls timeout. Clearly, the Titans are willing to throw the ball; Legorreta is already 3-for-3 for 44 yards. But an interesting call here: Try to pin Stockdale deep, or go for the first down? They'll go for it. It's a long two yards, and DeShaunte Webber carries very close to the first-down marker. They'll need a measurement, but I think he's just short. He is, by about a football and a half. Stockdale takes over at its own 39, 8:07 to play in the first quarter.

UPDATED, 7:36 p.m.: For the record, Frontier is decked out in all-white uniforms with black helmets decorated with their dark blue logo. Stockdale is in all-blacks, with their silver helmet with a black stripe down the middle. Five minutes from kickoff.

UPDATED, 7:10 p.m.: We might be getting a sign of things to come in the Southwest Yosemite League here. Frontier holds on to beat Stockdale 28-27 in the JV game with the help of a couple of interceptions in the last four minutes. This after the Titans won last night's freshman game 6-2 (no, there were no home runs hit).
Now time for senior-night ceremonies for the Mustangs and 30 minutes on the clock until the varsity game gets going. The crowd is JACKED up already.

UPDATED, 6:54 p.m.: If you're planning on coming out to Stockdale for tonight's big game and haven't left yet, I wouldn't bother. Both of the school's parking lots are packed, all of the surrounding streets are filling up. I'm thinking they might actually have to turn people away at the gates, because there's not much room left in the stands, either. So stay at home, keep it here and follow the blog instead of battling the traffic and the crowds.
That's not to say I'm not geeked about being here. The atmosphere is already electric just for the junior varsity game, which Frontier just tied up with passing touchdown with 3:54 to play. The extra point could put the Titans ahead, 28-27. And it is good.
The varsity game is coming up. 7-1 Stockdale against 8-0 Frontier. Hold tight.

ORIGINAL POST: It's been a crazy, crazy week for high school sports — playoffs here, regular seasons wrapping up there, tournaments over yonder — and what a way to end it with Frontier at Stockdale tonight and a bunch of other key league football games.

(Actually, the week doesn't end tonight. The week ends tomorrow, when the individual tennis section championships conclude and when playoff volleyball seeding is announced. But it sounded better to say it ended with Frontier-Stockdale. So there.)

If you missed it, I posted a podcast yesterday after getting back late from Visalia and Garces' Division II girls tennis section-final victory against Redwood. And then the podcast I posted didn't work. So I posted another one and got it done around 11 p.m. or so. So most of you probably didn't even see it, so you should click this link and listen at your leisure.

Also, if you're into making fun of me or getting some sort of handicap on tonight's action, check out my Week 9 predictions. Then get ready for tonight. Someone asked me this morning what the second-best game is tonight if they didn't feel like driving to Stockdale or dealing with the parking and the crowds. And — without trying to offend anyone — I said that there isn't a second-best game. There are some other interesting matchups, to be sure: Bakersfield-East is perhaps the last time the county's oldest rivalry will be played in some time, and West-South is a key SWYL battle. But your second-best option just might be to stay home on the couch with some popcorn and your finger on the refresh button on this blog. Because I'll be updating from Stockdale like a madman all night, starting at about 6:30 p.m.

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

Kern County scoreboard
(4) Stockdale 17, (10) Frontier 15
(6) Bakersfield 61, East 15
(8) Liberty 49, Highland 6
Wasco 27, (14) Tehachapi 21
(15) Centennial 49, North 13
Garces 48, Foothill 7
South 38, West 14
Golden Valley 28, Ridgeview 2
Arvin 28, Bakersfield Christian 21
Taft 42, Shafter 7
Mira Monte 35, Tulare-Mission Oak 15
Independence 44, Kennedy 0
Delano 48, Tulare Western 14
Visalia-Mt. Whitney 34, Chavez 15
Orange Cove 49, McFarland 0
Boron 38, Mojave 22
Bishop 38, Frazier Mountain 13
Kern Valley 28, Rosamond 0
Desert 55, California City 33
Phelan-Serrano 29, Burroughs 12
Maricopa 26, Cuyama Valley 20
Trona 28, Immanuel Christian 0
Riverdale Christian 44, Lighthouse Christian 0 (Saturday)

Other Central Section scores
(7) Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial 69, Fresno-McLane 6 (Thursday)
Visalia-Redwood 24, Hanford West 0 (Thursday)
(1) Fresno-Bullard 17, (11) Fresno-Edison 14
(2) Clovis-Buchanan 20, Clovis East 17
(3) Tulare Union 69, Porterville-Monache 0
(5) Fresno-Central 49, Clovis 14
(9) Clovis West 48, Madera 0
(12) Kingsburg 50, Exeter 13
(13) Visalia-El Diamante 48, Hanford 20
Fresno-Washington Union 42, Dos Palos 14
Reedley 26, Fresno-Hoover 13
Sanger 28, Clovis North 14
Dinuba 30, Oakhurst-Yosemite 27
Porterville 62, Porterville-Granite Hills 0
Lemoore 24, Visalia-Golden West 0
Coalinga 28, Reedley-Immanuel 21
Visalia-Central Valley Christian 40, Selma 0
Madera Ranchos-Liberty 22, Chowchilla 7
Tollhouse-Sierra 10, Kerman 3
Firebaugh 22, Cambria-Coast Union 21
Caruthers 48, Fresno Christian 21
Farmersville 19, Laton 18
Fresno-Roosevelt 21, Madera South 7
SLO-Mission Prep 42, Lemoore-Kings Christian 0
Lindsay 40, Orosi 19
Fowler 68, Riverdale 0
Strathmore 42, Parlier 17
Fresno-Sunnyside 34, Fresno 13
Tranquillity 19, Mendota 15
Corcoran 14, Woodlake 13
Clovis Christian 71, Visalia Christian 6 (Saturday)
Coalinga-Faith Christian 2, Madera-Lighthouse Academy 0, forfeit
Atascadero-North County Christian 66, Alpaugh 6 (Saturday)

Week 9 HS football podcast (this one actually works!)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:10:41 PST

UPDATE: Apparently the first version of the podcast was derailed by my less-than-stellar technological skills. Bummer. This one works, though!

ORIGINAL POST: Sorry this is so late into the evening, but I was out at Garces' girls tennis victory over Visalia-Redwood to give the Rams the Division II Central Section championship, and the match took longer than I — or about anybody else — thought it would.

Lots of Frontier-Stockdale talk on the podcast this week, as you'd expect, but we hit on plenty of other teams as well. Enjoy. A Week 9 thread will be up tomorrow morning.

Week 9 HS football predictions (finally here!)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:52 PST

A quick note relating the World Series to Bakersfield on this, the night of Game 6: I ran into K.C. and Butch Hobson today at Stockdale while working on a story about this weekend's big football game. Butch said he's organizing Northwest and Southwest youth baseball camps in December and that as instructors, he'll have several college players, some players from the independent pro team he manages, the South Maryland Blue Crabs. And — here's the WS connection — he might get the Phillies' Chase Utley to come in, too. Utley, as you probably know, has tied a World Series record with five home runs this year and easiy could win the series MVP award if Philadelphia comes back and wins. The Hobsons are family friends of the Utleys, hence the connection. But since Utley is a little busy right now, we probably won't know for a while. I'll keep you updated.

Anyway, enough baseball for a brilliant November evening. Time to look back at last week's football predictions:

The good: Rolling up 20 out of 24 is always good, but in particular, I almost naied the Liberty-East final and also got toss-ups with Porterville over Chavez, Kern Valley over Bishop, Centennial over Ridgeview and Garces over West.

The bad: I predicted a one-point Taft victory, and the Wildcats were four minutes away from delivering. But the risk didn't pay off when Tehachapi made the big plays down the stretch. I also took Highland over Foothill, and the Trojans made me look bad.

The ugly: Not sure why I thought Desert had enough firepower to beat Rosamond, when in fact the Roadrunners had no troubles in a 30-8 victory. Ouch.

Now on to Week 9:

Friday, Nov. 6
FRONTIER (8-0, 4-0 SWYL) AT STOCKDALE (7-1, 4-0) — Quite simply, this is the one we've been waiting for since about Week 4, when it became apparent that these two — apologies to Bakersfield, Liberty and maybe Centennial or Garces — were the most complete teams in Kern County and two of the best in the Central Section. That last distinction will be decided later, but first we'll see how the Titans and Mustangs shake out against each other. Both have terrific, constantly improving defenses that are led by homing-missile linebackers like Isaiah Turner and Max Goosen for Stockdale and Ian Driskill, Will Harvey and Matt Darr for Frontier. Both teams also sport the best special teams in town, both in the kicking game and with the ability to make a big play on a return. Both have offensive playmakers, though here's where I think the difference might come: Even if Frontier can shut down Malik Henderson and Spenser Prince, Stockdale has proven it has no shortage of playmakers, whether they be other running backs like Eddie Gutierrez and Nic Shannon or quarterback Efren Venegas and receiver Kyle Desimone. Frontier's offense is efficient, but if Stockdale is on top of its game, the Titans will have trouble making big plays with either running back DeShaunte Webber or receiver Jake Adelman. Take those away, and the Frontier offense will have trouble keeping up. Add to that what should be a rocking home crowd, and I think Stockdale wins the game by winning the fourth quarter.
Prediction: Stockdale 27, Frontier 17

TEHACHAPI (7-1, 3-0 SSL) AT WASCO (6-2, 2-1) — The last piece of the SSL puzzle will be fit in after this game, and all signs point to a Tehachapi victory en route to another league championship, what would be the Warriors' ninth since joining the league 17 years ago. Any reason to believe the Tigers can spoil the party and create a three-way tie with Taft atop the league standings? Well, a few. Taft did a great job of not letting Quentin Cheatham and Jacob Salinas bust the big plays that have hurt every other team on Wasco's schedule; Tehachapi has the goods to do the same, but if it doesn't execute on D, those guys will be gone in the blink of an eye. But even if Wasco throws the first punch or two, Tehachapi has shown its resiliency and, maybe more important, its ability to score in different ways. In a game closer than they'd like, the Warriors come through.
Prediction: Tehachapi 26, Wasco 15

WEST (4-4, 3-1 SWYL) AT SOUTH (5-3, 1-3) — Perhaps the toss-up game of the week here, with a team that's done well in the league but not elsewhere against a team that's struggled in the league but dominated elsewhere. Garces ran wild on the Vikings last week, but (a) Garces has been doing that to everyone lately, and (b) South doesn't run a Wing T like the Rams do. Still, I think Lee West ought to be able to make some plays against West for the Rebels, and that will be enough to turn this one into a shootout. In the end, though, I trust West's defense more than I trust South's, and that will give West an edge in a close game and allow it to somewhat improbably stay in the league-championship hunt with a home game against Stockdale looming next week.
Prediction: West 38, South 30

BAKERSFIELD (6-2, 3-1 SEYL) AT EAST (3-5, 3-2) — It's got to be fun for East to have a solid grasp of Jerald Pierucci's offense in year two of that coaching regime and thus be able to bomb away on some teams that really handed it to the Blades a year ago. Bakersfield was one of those teams, and it won't be so easy this year. But still, East hasn't proven that it can stop anybody — other than a shutout against Highland in which the Blades had turnovers bouncing their way, they've given up 50 points a game. Yep, that's a Barry Switzer half-a-hundred we're talking about. And the scary part is, East might not yet have faced a team with the pure offensive explosiveness that BHS has.
Prediction: Bakersfield 54, East 17

CENTENNIAL (5-3, 2-2 SWYL) AT NORTH (1-7, 0-5) — For the second straight year, Centennial won't win an SWYL title after eight years in which it seemed like that was the Golden Hawks' birthright. But no matter: There are still plenty of things to play for, starting with a revenge game against North for a shootout loss against the Stars last year, the first such loss in Centennial's school history. Also worth keeping an eye on in this one is Cody Kessler's status. If he plays and gets back in the flow of things this week, Centennial suddenly is a very viable threat next week against Frontier and then in the Division I playoffs. If he doesn't, one starts to wonder if he's going to risk coming back at all this year. Either way, Kessler won't be playing in the fourth quarter of this one.
Prediction: Centennial 44, North 10

GARCES (5-3, 3-1 SEYL) AT FOOTHILL (2-6, 1-3) — We thought the Rams were facing a good defense when they went up against Highland, and they rolled up 62 points to really begin this offensive onslaught they've had in the past five weeks. Bakersfield was able to slow the Rams down in the second half of that game, but other than that, Garces has been able to name its score since league season began. That probably changes this week (if not, it will in Week 10 against Liberty) against a Foothill team that has steadily improved, especially on that side of the ball. But the Trojans are going to have a hard time keeping up with this Garces attack even if they can hold it to half of what it's had the past couple of weeks — which would be 30-some points and 300-plus yards.
Prediction: Garces 38, Foothill 7

RIDGEVIEW (5-4) AT GOLDEN VALLEY (2-6) — The Wolf Pack has stumbled through a brutal league schedule, losing to Frontier and Stockdale in blowouts and then last week in a close game to Centennial to bookend the stretch that started with a shootout loss to West. Now Ridgeview goes out of the league and figures to get a breather here. Golden Valley, a year after boasting one of the area's top offensive threats in Byron Newman, has become more of a grind-it-out team. I expect the Wolf Pack defense to force a few mistakes and make enough big plays on offense to keep the Bulldogs at bay for most of the night.
Prediction: Ridgeview 34, Golden Valley 14

HIGHLAND (2-7, 0-4 SEYL) AT LIBERTY (5-3, 4-0) — With how much Highland has struggled, it's got to be daunting to see trips to Liberty and Bakersfield left on the schedule. I bet the Scots would be happy just to get through these two with competitive results. For the Patriots, pencils need to be sharpened for next week's increasingly big trip to Garces and the playoffs after that. Liberty hasn't won back-to-back league titles in school history, and though they're well capable of the two more wins they need to get there this year, just a win here will clinch them a share of that crown.
Prediction: Liberty 38, Highland 0

ARVIN (1-7, 0-3 SSL) AT BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (3-5, 1-2) — James Haupt has taken over for Arend Bos at quarterback for Bakersfield Christian (I think because of an injury problem, though that's no confirmed), and he helped the Eagles snap a five-game losing streak at Shafter with 227 passing yards and three touchdowns. You can expect that kind of production again, I would think, at home against Arvin as BCHS tries to climb its way back towards .500. I don't think this really is a lost season, though, considering that the Eagles still might be good enough to throw a scare into some of Division V's top teams in the playoffs.
Prediction: Bakersfield Christian 28, Arvin 16

SHAFTER (2-6, 1-2 SSL) AT TAFT (6-2, 2-1) — Knowing how fiery Taft coach Steve Sprague can be, I'd expect him to get in his team's ear all this week and make sure that there's a redemptive quality to this game rather than a hungover one after the Wildcats let one get away at Tehachapi last week. Sprague said in the aftermath of that one that Taft probably had given away a home game or two in the playoffs by losing its second game, and that his team "had better win these next two." I think they'll follow through in convincing fashion this week.
Prediction: Taft 51, Shafter 3

TULARE-MISSION OAK (1-7, 1-3 SCSL) AT MIRA MONTE (4-4, 4-0) — I'm looking forward to Mira Monte-Independence Round 2 next week after the teams' first meeting came down to a Falcons two-point conversion, but first the Lions and Falcons have to take care of the other teams in their league again. Neither has had much trouble doing that to this point, and though it gets tougher to beat a team the second time around, I can't imagine the gap closing so much that it makes 30 points' difference.
Prediction: Mira Monte 41, Mission Oak 18

KENNEDY (0-8, 0-4) AT INDEPENDENCE (4-4, 3-1) — Same song, different verse here, as Independence tries to roll up some more South Central Sequoia League offense against a group still looking for its first win as either a JV team or a varsity team. Kennedy changed coaches after just its first season, so it's no surprise things have been tough again. They'll have one more decent shot at a win next week against Mission Oak, but that elusive first victory won't come this week as both new Bakersfield schools clinch .500 seasons.
Prediction: Independence 51, Kennedy 13

TULARE WESTERN (3-5, 2-2 EYL) AT DELANO (6-2, 2-2) — The focus for the Tigers has shifted from the league season to securing a good seed in the Division III playoffs so they can stay at home in The Jungle for as long as possible. What's realistic? Maybe as good as a No. 2-4 seed and home through at least the quarterfinals if Delano wins out. Tulare Western and Chavez, the last two opponents, are both fairly stout defensively, so this isn't going to be a cakewalk. But Delano will shake off the cobwebs from that Tulare Union game and get it done here.
Prediction: Delano 27, Tulare Western 14

CHAVEZ (5-4) AT VISALIA-MT. WHITNEY (5-3) — Two up-and-down teams playing a non-league game late in the season the week before they need to get geeked up for crosstown rivalry games in Week 10 means that literally anything could happen in this one. But wild games with big plays on either side often come down to the last few minutes, and time and again, you see teams used to success and teams at home come through in those situations. Both of those descriptions fit Mt. Whitney in this case.
Prediction: Mt. Whitney 27, Chavez 21

McFARLAND (5-4, 2-1 ESL) AT ORANGE COVE (4-4, 2-1) — If you're interested in how Division VI section playoff seeding will shake down, this game is for you. Didn't pique your interest? How about watching the Cougars try to rebound without running back Frankie Gonzalez, who had racked up 840 yards in the past two weeks but hasn't played since then? Or just some good old-fashioned evenly matched high school football. As for who will win, I'll go with the home team and the comparitive-score theory, which saw McFarland squeak by Laton 23-20 last week and Orange Cove beat the same team 56-6 a few weeks back.
Prediction: Orange Cove 33, McFarland 16

MOJAVE (7-1, 3-0 DML) AT BORON (6-2, 3-0) — The first of a few Southern Section showdowns in the next couple of weeks comes in the Desert Mountain League, where the Mustangs and Bobcats have been the class of the league from the beginning of the season. Boron had a surprising struggle with Lancaster-Desert Christian last week but still got through to this game. So what shakes? It's the newcomer to the league, Mojave, which dropped down from the High Desert League when its enrollment was cut against the DML's perennial powerhouse. It'll be close, but I think it'd be dumb to pick against the champion, especially at home. The Bobcats will need to be better than last week, but I'll say the title stays in Boron.
Prediction: Boron 37, Mojave 33

FRAZIER MOUNTAIN (7-1, 3-0 HDL) AT BISHOP (3-4, 2-1) — Another huge league match-up. Bishop proved it was more than game against Kern Valley last week by taking forcing the Broncs to stage an improbable rally to get to overtime before KV won it. I'd think this will be a simiarly good game, but maybe the ball will roll the other way. One thing is for sure: This has to be the longest bus ride (Google Maps puts it at 5 hours, 44 minutes) for a league opponent that any team in California has to make. If we're going to make teams do this for a league game, tell me again why we can't have a state tournament in football. Travel, schmavel. Anyway, that trip won't help Frazier Mountain this week.
Prediction: Bishop 33, Frazier Mountain 28

ROSAMOND (2-6, 1-2) AT KERN VALLEY (7-1, 3-0) — The Broncs, meanwhile, will be at home waiting for the result of that Frazier-Bishop game after they presumably beat Rosamond, which has shown improvement but doesn't figure to challenge Kern Valley. If the Broncs win, they clinch a share of the league title with a Frazier Mountain loss or travel to Lebec next week an unbeaten showdown with a Frazier Mountain win.
Prediction: Kern Valley 35, Rosamond 13

CALIFORNIA CITY (0-7, 0-3 HDL) AT DESERT (1-7, 0-3) — Meanwhile, the other two High Desert League teams will be battling to stay out of the cellar. It's been quite a fall for Desert just two years after the Scorpions won the league title, but that's the way it goes in high school football. Still, I think they'll have at least one league to hang their hats on after facing another winless new school from the county.
Prediction: Desert 24, California City 10

PHELAN-SERRANO (6-2) AT BURROUGHS (4-4) — A non-league break for the Burros, who are in the midst of a fierce battle for the third playoff spot in the Desert Sky League. This will be a good test that should prepare Burroughs for a must-win against Victor Valley next week. Serrano is tough, though.
Prediction: Serrano 30, Burroughs 20

CUYAMA VALLEY (2-6, 2-1 CVL) AT MARICOPA (5-3, 2-1) — Speaking of getting into the playoffs, a win here would clinch a spot for the Indians in their final game of the season. A loss puts them in jeopardy of falling out of the league's top three. It would also be nice for Maricopa to beat a perennial Coast Valley League power like Cuyama Valley that's having a tough year.
Prediction: Maricopa 29, Cuyama Valley 23

IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN (5-3, 3-1 HLL) AT TRONA (6-2, 4-0) — Being upset by Big Pine last week threw a wrench into the Crusaders' Hi-Lo League title plans, but it would have been a challenge for Immanuel to go on the road and beat Trona, anyway.
Prediction: Trona 51, Immanuel Christian 34

Saturday, Nov. 7
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN (4-4, 1-1 CVSSL) AT RIVERDALE CHRISTIAN (5-0, 1-0) — Seems like Steve Sprague from Taft, in describing his team a year ago, found a pretty good way to talk about this year's Lighthouse team, too: The Guardians are a light heavyweight, and they've been able to dominate against other light heavyweights. But step up a weight class, and they're in trouble. Riverdale Christian is a true heavyweight, maybe even a super heavyweight. Expect a TKO.
Prediction: Riverdale Christian 49, Lighthouse Christian 20

Last week: 20-4 (.833)
This year: 152-47 (.764)

Central Section football rankings, Week 9

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:20:31 PST

I just got back from the Central Section girls golf championships, where Frontier won the Division II section title with a 419, good enough for second overall behind Clovis West's 404. That moves the Titans to the Southern Cal regionals in a couple of weeks. So congrats to the Titans. Stockdale was a distant second in the D-I race and fourth overall with a 463. Individual championships are next week.

Also, Bakersfield Christian took the Division V girls tennis section title, beating Fowler 8-1. No surprise there, but kudos to the Eagles for getting it done.

Now on to football.

Pretty stable week in the rankings, but that's something that's going to change after Week 9, I think. when Stockdale plays Frontier down here and Edison plays Bullard in a crosstown Fresno battle. Could have two new faces in the top three by this time next week. Or none, for that matter.

1. Fresno-Bullard (8-0, Division I, last week: 1) — The Knights' latest wins haven't looked impressive, but they've gotten them despite missing some key players to injuries and discipline. Now if they can do that against Edison and Hoover, their final two opponents, you might be looking at your Division I No. 1 seed. Slip up, and Buchanan and Stockdale are waiting for that spot.
LAST WEEK: won at Sanger, 20-14. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 11 Fresno-Edison

2. Clovis-Buchanan (8-0, Division I, last week: 2) — Meanwhile, the Bears have been getting more impressive each week. Outside of the game I saw, against Bakersfield, the defense has been really good. Is that a measure of how good Buchanan is all-around or a measure of some bad offenses that they've faced? The answers will come next week against speedy Fresno-Central and then again in the playoffs.
LAST WEEK: won at Clovis, 28-7. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis East

3. Tulare Union (8-0, Division II, last week: 3) — There's no such thing as an East Yosemite League showdown with the Redskins. Every time someone tries to create one — Porterville two weeks ago or Delano last week — Tulare Union wins by 35 points or so. That's impressive, but can they get through a deep Division II for the second straight year without being tested in the regular season?
LAST WEEK: won at Delano, 49-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Porterville-Monache

4. Stockdale (7-1, Division I, last week: 4) — I love teams that seem to get better every week, and the Mustangs seem to fit the bill. Every week, they do what you expect them to and then some more, even as those expectations rise. If that theory means Stockdale beats Frontier easily, then you can bet they'll at least be in the three spot next week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. North, 45-0. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 10 Frontier

5. Fresno-Central (6-2, Division I, last week: 5) — Speaking of impressive, Central opened Week 8 with a Thursday night smackdown of Madera. It's the Grizzlies' second game over 70 points and fifth over 40 (they did lose one of those games). Methinks there will be a heck of a shootout in Week 10 when Central goes to Buchanan.
LAST WEEK: won at Madera, 77-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Clovis

6. Bakersfield (6-2, Division I, last week: 6) — I still say no team in the section has more talent than Bakersfield (possibly excepting Buchanan), and when the Drillers put it all together, they have 49-0 first halves like they did last week. Showcased was RB Walter Hunt, who might be the best backup back in Kern County, with apologies to Stockdale's Eddie Gutierrez. Hunt had 105 total yards and four touchdowns last week.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Golden Valley, 56-7. THIS WEEK: at East

7. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (7-1, Division II, last week: 7) — Allowing 14 points to Fresno-Roosevelt doesn't seem like an awful thing, but for Memorial, it represents a bad week (or a couple of garbage-time TDs, maybe). The Panthers have allowed more than 10 points just four times now — and the other three were toYosemite, Buchanan and Hoover.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fresno-Roosevelt, 42-14. THIS WEEK: at Fresno-McLane (Thursday)

8. Liberty (5-3, Division I, last week: 8) — Do these rankings look familiar yet? The Patriots took care of an East team that had the potential to score some points, holding Kern County's leading passer Joe Pearson to 124 yards anda touchdown; the Blades had just 164 total yards.
LAST WEEK: won vs. East, 49-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Highland

9. Clovis West (3-5, Division I, last week: 9) — A good win for the Golden Eagles last week against Clovis East probably gives them third place in the Tri-River Athletic Conference and puts them in a spot to at least salvage a .500 season in their first year under coach No. 4 in four years. Whether that translates into any kind of a playoff run remains to be seen, but this is about the most dangerous 4-6 or 5-5 team you'll ever see in Division I.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Clovis East, 21-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Madera

10. Frontier (8-0, Division Ii, last week: 10) — It's not like the Titans' schedule has been particularly tough to this point, but win or lose, you have to think that playing Stockdale and Centennial in the final two weeks could give Frontier an edge over other principal D-II contenders — Tulare Union, Memorial, El Diamante — that play in leagues that don't challenge them much at all late in the season.
LAST WEEK: won vs. South, 43-19. THIS WEEK: at No. 4 Stockdale

11. Fresno-Edison (5-3, Division II, last week: 11) — Here is a Division II team that sees plenty of tests in its league. Edison has faded at the finish in recent years past, so the onus is on this year's group to finish strong — and a stomping of last week's No. 15, Fresno Hoover is a shining example of how to do that, as would a win against No. 1 Bullard.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 15 Fresno-Hoover, 43-7. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 1 Fresno-Bullard

12. Kingsburg (8-0 Division IV, last week: 12) — The mark of a consistent team is that it does what you expect it to, and the Vikings have fit that bill, being tested by the best teams on their schedule and blowing away the weaklings. Next up is another test: Against Exeter, a team that gave Frontier fits. But it's at home, and if Kingsburg stays consistent, it'll have only minimal problems.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Kerman, 38-14. THIS WEEK: vs. Exeter

13. Visalia-El Diamante (7-1, Division II, last week: 13) — Here's an interesting team. El Diamante has been to the last three Division II section finals, finishing second last year, and while I still don't think the Miners are quite as good as the '07 or '08 versions, they've been rolling lately. This isn't a team you want to play come playoff time, especially if they're disrespected with a low seed.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Visalia-Redwood, 37-21. THIS WEEK: at Hanford

14. Tehachapi (7-1, Division III, last week: 14) — The mountain mystique continued for the Warriors against Taft, and that's enough to put them in the driver's seat for the South Sequoia League title and the No. 1 seed in Division III. Can anyone say three-peat? Though I wonder if Taft's defensive success against Tehachapi's ground game will prove to be the game that showed off the Warriors' weak link.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Taft, 16-7. THIS WEEK: at Wasco

15. Centennial (5-3, Division I, last week: NR) — A lopsided loss from Fresno-Hoover provides Centennial the final spot in the rankings and gives us the only change from last week. The Golden Hawks clearly aren't the same team without Cody Kessler, though, so getting him back at least in time for Frontier in Week 10 will be paramount.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Ridgeview, 31-25. THIS WEEK: at North

Dropped out: No. 15 Fresno-Hoover
Waiting: Fresno-Washington Union, Taft, Fresno-Hoover, Reedley, Clovis East, Garces, Sanger, Dinuba, Porterville, Delano, West, Exeter

Non-football sports update, Nov. 2

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:05:23 PST

We're beginning to hand out the first batch of Central Section titles of the fall, beginning tomorrow with the girls golf team championships in Tulare and then a couple of team tennis finals later in the afternoon. One of those is Division V, where Bakersfield Christian will host Fowler in what will be basically a formality for the Eagles.

Anyway, I thought it would be a fine time for a non-football sports update before we get into regular gridiron coverage with tomorrow's Week 9 rankings.

Girls golf
The section finals set up as a battle of Clovis West from the north and Frontier from the south, but that can't be exactly right because technically, the Titans are Division II. Those are your heavy favorites in each division, then, but all eyes will be on the overall crown as well. Two teams go to the Southern Cal Regional Tournament from all divisions, and those should be your two for the second straight year, though last year we thought that about CW and Garces, and Frontier came in and stole the second bid.
So who will take it? Clovis West lowered its own section record for a round by shooting 378 at last week's North Area tournament, while Frontier also set a school record by shooting 395 at the South Area finals. This tournament is at Tulare Golf Course, so that's neutral ground, so to speak, but Clovis West sure looks like the team to beat. Frontier is very balanced, but so are the Golden Eagles, and they've also got Asia Odell at the top of their lineup to keep scores even lower.
As for individuals, that title will be decided next week at Rio Bravo Country Club east of Bakersfield. Odell is the favorite there, though any of those Frontier girls is capable of going low, as are Stockdale's Abby Marina, Garces' Jasmine Rodriguez and a few other locals.

Volleyball
Still a week to go in the regular season here, with all three major league title in Kern County still up for grabs. Well, technically speaking anyway; Centennial is 10-0 has wrapped up a share of the SWYL crown and can win it outright with a Tuesday victory against Ridgeview or a loss by 8-2 Frontier against West. In the SEYL, Bakersfield is unbeaten and Liberty is 9-1 with only a loss to BHS. The Patriots visit the Drillers on Thursday, and assuming both win Tuesday, the result will determine if Bakersfield will share the title with Liberty or win it outright. That's basically the situation in the SSL, too, where 7-1 Bakersfield Christian needs to win at 7-0 Tehachapi on Tuesday to force a tie atop that league.
The bigger story on the horizon, of course, is the playoffs. Centennial still is line for a No. 3 or maybe even a No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs, with Bakersfield and Liberty looking like pretty good 4 and 5 candidates — meaning, of course, that they could play each other again at BHS just a week after their meeting to decide league. Garces and Frontier will probably be the top Division II seeds, and I'd think Tehachapi would be a prime candidate for the top seed in D-III, especially if it can complete the sweep of BCHS. Centennial, Garces, Bakersfield and Liberty all spent the weekend at tough tournaments on the coast that gave each a pretty good pre-playoffs measuring stick: In Redondo Beach, Centennial went an impressive 5-1 before losing in the tournament semifinals to Placentia-El Dorado, Frontier went 3-3 and Garces went 2-3; and in Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, which had been charging hard late in the year, went 0-2 while Liberty went 0-1 against some primo competition.

Girls tennis
Bakersfield Christian will win that section-title match tomorrow, you can bet the mortgage on that. The Eagles are too deep and too strong at the top of their ladder for any team in the section and almost any in the state, so forget poor Fowler, It'd be ecstatic just to earn a set.
No, the real intrigue tomorrow comes not at the BCHS coronation but in the semifinals of other divisions. Stockdale, seeded fourth, could see its run of six consecutive Division I championships come to an end at top-seeded Buchanan, which beat the Mustangs 8-1 back in the first match of the year. Certainly things have changed since then, but have they changed that much? Garces and Visalia-Redwood in Division II are trying to get to a Thursday title match, where they might duke it out for title of second-best team in the Valley. In Garces' way is third-seeded Frontier, which played the Rams reasonably close in a Lewis Cup match earlier this year. But the playoff format allows Garces to flex even more depth. Tehachapi also will try to keep its year going when it hosts Clovis North in the Division III semis.
As for individuals, all of the upsets came in doubles in the first two rounds of the singles and doubles tournament Saturday. Six seeded singles players — BCHS' Lyndsay and Chelby Cooke, Garces' Gracie Jacobs and Abby Wattenbarger, Frontier's Danisa Hromadkova and East's Nancy Ramirez — are still in it as the round of 16 begins Friday. The semifinals and finals are Saturday. In the doubles bracket, there are four local teams left, two from BCHS and two from Garces. All three of Stockdale's teams, two of them seeded, didn't survive the first day.

Cross country
The Kern County Championships gave us a great glimpse at some local showdowns — Ridgeview beat McFarland in the boys team race after the teams had split two earlier meetings. Robbie Baker and Alex Garcia finished 1-2 individually. For the girls, Ridgeview's Tijerra Lynch won the Wolf Pack another title, holding off Bakersfield's Sarah Baker by five seconds in the first race those two had ran against each other. Stockdale, though, beat the Wolf Pack in the team race after upsetting them in the regular season, too. This was a more dominant victory, aided, I think, by a shorthanded Wolf Pack lineup.
As for league titles, they'll be decided Wednesday (SSL) and Thursday (SEYL and SWYL). The smaller league will run at North Kern Golf Course, and the other two at Hart Park. More showdowns await at Woodward Park in Fresno, where the section meet is held Nov. 12 and the state meet Nov. 28.

Water polo
This is a one-school update, obviously, because Garces is the only Kern school that carries the sport. But it's carrying it mighty well in just the second year for the program. The boys had won nine games in a row before losing to Clovis in the Clovis West Tournament this past weekend. The Rams are 10-8 overall heading into next week's Division III section playoffs.
As for the girls, the news is even better. They're 12-3, with a victory in the Tulare Tournament early in the season and a third-place finish in the Clovis West tourney this past weekend. The Fresno Bee, whose rankings I'll trust because all of the section's teams are out of this area but one, has Garces ranked 10th in the section overall and second in D-III, behind Visalia-Redwood. Could be another Valley title to add to the Rams' list.

Week 8, most important things

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:00:26 PST

Taking a break from doing nothing on a Sunday to look back at Friday night, which was another high school football week to remember. There weren't many upsets or surprises, but there were a couple of good-looking games that didn't disappoint, and the stage really is set for the last two weeks of the season.

— I kept doubting that Taft's 7-6 lead throughout most of the Wildcats' game at Tehachapi was going to hold up: Either Taft was going to have to make a big play to seal the deal, or Tehachapi would. The Wildcats didn't, and the Warriors did, finding a way to hit two big passing plays on the game's decisive drive that showed how valuable the quarterback in a Wing T can be in a 16-7 victory. Lord knows Taft had its chances, twice taking over in Tehachapi territory with a chance to extend the lead and failing to get points out of it. Now the focus for Taft has to be getting confidence back against Bakersfield Christian and Shafter and then focusing on a Division IV section title run; Tehachapi has one more question mark in league, next week at Wasco, but it really should have the No. 1 seed in Division III wrapped up at this point.

— Depending on who you talked to, Ridgeview had a pretty good shot at getting an upset win at Centennial on Friday, hopes that were bolstered when Cody Kessler wasn't cleared to play on his injured ankle for the Golden Hawks. And sure enough, the Wolf Pack had a 17-14 lead at the half. But Tyler Dogins and the Ridgeview running game was stifled in the second half, and Centennial came back to win 31-25, leaving the Wolf Pack 93 yards away from its needed touchdoown on a final drive. Time for a SHZ shout-out to Mark Ritchie, who threw for 160 yards in place of Kessler, just when everybody thought Centennial was going to have wait for Kessler to return to have any success.

— Coaches talk a lot about heart, and it's very important, but sometimes, all the heart in the world isn't going to win you a football game. Delano ran into a fast and strong buzzsaw in Tulare Union on Friday night. The Redskins, showing why they're favorites to repeat as Division II champs, beat the Tigers 49-14.behind Trevor Jones' 259 passing yards and four touchdowns passing. Andy Martin Del Campo had an impressive 156 rushing yards, and I think it best for Delano to chalk this one up to a great effort and a stepping stone on the way to a playoff run in Division III, of which they're well capable.

— There isn't a defensive coordinator in the Central Section who wants to mess with Garces right now. Even without QB Blake Campbell, who broke his collarbone a couple of weeks ago, the Rams are piling on the offense. They rolled up 716 yards in a 56-42 win against West this week, a week after having 562 against East. Against the Blades, that's been done before, but this was a Vikings team that had mostly shut down Centennial and even given Visalia-El Diamante some trouble on defense. Jalen Sykes was a big part of that again, rushing for 268 yards on just 17 carries. How far can Garces go? Well, they'll get Liberty's defense in a couple of weeks, and then will get a chance to show how far they've come in the D-II playoffs, where they'll play teams like Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, which (gasp) shut out the Rams back in Week 2.

— For two drives, East's passing offense kept up in its showdown with Liberty's passing defense. The Patriots led 14-7, but East had one TD and was driving for another when Liberty batted down a fourth-down pass to the end zone. The rout was on from there, and Liberty won 49-14 to stay unbeaten in the SEYL. This East team is undoubtedly better than last year's, but Liberty is on a mission right now to win an outright league title and perhaps making a long-awaited Division I playoff run.

— It was a Friday for home favorites in other places, too, as Bakersfield (56-7 over Golden Valley), Stockdale (45-0 against North) and Frontier (43-19 past South) all easily won to set up bigger games down the road. For the Mustangs and Titans, that means next week — they meet at Stockdale, likely with the SWYL title on the line and maybe mean a top-2 or 3 seed in their respective playoff divisions.

— In a game between two teams desperate to get a win, Foothill was the opportunistic team, and the Trojans took a 21-7 decision at Highland. This feels like the sort of win that officially marks a new coach's arrival, and it's got to feel nice for Mike Gregg and company to get it against a rival. Denzel Givens had 190 yards rushing for Foothill.

— In the Southern Section, it was Kern Valley in a 41-35 overtime thriller against Bishop in the first big game of the year in the High Desert League. Bishop can stay in it by beating Frazier Mountain next week, and the Falcons can win and set up a league championship against Kern Valley in Week 10. But for now, the Broncs have a leg up on the other two. Coach Ben Goffinett has been telling me for two years how great it would be for KV to win a long-awaited football title; he's very close to it now.

Now a look ahead to a Week 9 full of crucial games:

Frontier at Stockdale: It's not hard to argue that this is the county's game of the year
Bakersfield at East: Blades have enough firepower for the Drillers to have to be wary
Tehachapi at Wasco: Taft's rooting for the Tigers, but can they come up with a championship-caliber upset?
West at South: This is a better game than what meets the eye
Frazier Mountain at Bishop: Falcons would like to stick with Kern Valley atop the HDL