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Here's your Week 5 podcast, though there are again changes to what Todd and I are talking about (we often record these on Mondays). Wasco will not be playing Fresno-McLane this weekend, and I just spent a couple of hours on the phone trying to figure out exactly why. I'm still not sure, actually....
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I know it's football season now, but I have to say, there's something about playoff baseball that absolutely captures my attention. These guys play 162 games in a game that's all about repitition and longevitiy and then have their entire seasons come down to one game. That said, the...
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I usually close one week of high school football with some idea of how I'm going to start the next — what game I'll cover, who I'll assign to cover other games, who I like to win some of the big games and how I might arrange the teams in Tuesday's set of Central Section rankings. Things...
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Seems like no matter how much people like me think we know about a group of football teams or a particular season, things get turned on their head at one point and we have to re-examine everything. For the 2009 season, that point came Friday in Week 4.
— First off, the one everyone's...
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UPDATED, 12:36 a.m.: Week 4 turned into a huge statement night for several teams around town. Let's get straight to the nitty-gritty.
Liberty 27, Bakersfield 20: Don't forget about the Patriots just yet, folks. Their offense was all but written off after three poor weeks, but what we forgot...
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Sorry this is late, but I present our Week 4 high school football podcast. Can't wait for Week 4 — and if you can't get enough of football (or of my voice), listen to KRAB Radio's morning show to catch me talking about a few of the matchups and news of the week. Should be on the air...
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THURSDAY OCTOBER 1, 2009
Colorado Buffaloes (1-2) v West Virginia Mountaineers (2-1)
Colorado: 1-2 ATS / Mountaineers: 1-1 ATS
The Buffaloes will be looking for a win on the road to even their record on Thursday when they meet at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers are...
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Week four is packed with some of the most exciting games of the first half. My pick for best game of the week is a three-way tie between the Jets at the Saints, Chargers at the Steelers and the Green Bay Packers at the Minnesota Vikings. Brett Favre had a big week four in 2008; throwing six...
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As you might have read in this morning's Californian, Garces football coach David Fanucchi apparently has told his team he will resign at the end of this season. It's a strange situation at Garces, where no one is allowed to share any personnel information, not even the man who resigned. But a...
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Sorry this is a bit late; I'm working Saturday, so I took a rare Monday off and then have had a few stories to track down/catch up on.
But that doesn't change the fact that Week 4 of football season is upon us. Let's set the scene with some Central Section rankings.
1. Fresno-Bullard (4-0,...
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I'm taking a break from crying over fantasy football (who knew a team with Philip Rivers, DeAngelo Williams, Steve Slaton and TO could be so bad?) to think back on another great high school football Friday. There was only one really big game, but I think we learned more about other teams...
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UPDATED, 1:27 a.m.: It's late, so I'll save most of my thoughts for the Most Important Things post coming Sunday, but here are a few results I'm ruminating on after Week 3:
Clovis-Buchanan 56, Bakersfield 41: Obviously, you can't give up 509 passing yards — and 751 total yards —...
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Here's the latest rumblings and musings from myself and Californian copy editor Todd Camps. I've got kind of a fun story coming out in the paper in the morning, on just what it's like to take a road trip for an important football game, like Bakersfield, Stockdale, Frontier and Wasco all have to...
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Which of the following most efficiently sums up my feelings after my gaudy 2009 predictions record went up in flames last Friday?
(a) Oi vay!
(b) Aye carumba!
(c) C'est la vie
(d) Oh man that was so pathetic
I tend to think in English, so if you guessed (d), you're our big winner!...
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Bigtime high school weeks tend to shake up the rankings, and this one was no exception. Big movers and shakers in both directions set the stage for Week 3, when it's all about a showdown at the top. I don't want to spoil my predictions coming tomorrow or anything, but what the...
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It was a fabulous Week 2 around Kern County high school football (for everything but my predictions, but that's a topic for another day). There were great games, surprising results, wonderful individual performances and everything in between.
So what should we take away from it heading into the...
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UPDATED, 10:46 p.m.: With Derek Carr watching from the sideline, Arend Bos threw for one more touchdown to pull BCHS within 28-19. But there was some confusion on the Eagles' sideline as to whether coaches wanted to go for one or two, and by the time kicker Darian Azemika sprinted out onto the...
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UPDATED, 12:30 a.m.: As advertised, it was a great night of high school football. Bakersfield's heart-thumping comeback against Stockdale probably tops the list, but there's plenty of action to recap. The complete scorelist is below (and it will continue to be updated as I get scores), but let's...
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A quick note on this podcast — Todd and I mention that Shafter will visit Independence on Saturday because the Falcons don't yet have lights. I've since found out that instead, the game will be moved to Stockdale and played Friday night. So make that mental correction. I've also...
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I had an interesting breaking news story to do Tuesday night. The Porterville Recorder ran a story in its Tuesday edition based on a letter it received from Rick McIntire, who's the father of Porterville senior Jordan McIntire.
You can read the Recorder's initial report here, and my full report...
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One of the difficult things about doing these rankings early in the season is that many Central Section teams are playing out-of-section games. Should a win against the Central Coast, Sac-Joaquin or Southern Section be worth as much as a win against another top Central Section team? Should a...
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Another weekend of high school football in the books, and another weekend of blowouts. It seems like the good teams are really asserting themselves early this season — is that a mirage, or do we really already know the haves and have-nots?
Here's what I took from Week 1:
— You...
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UPDATED, 12:31 a.m.: It was statement night in high school football around Kern County tonight. Check out the list below for the scores we've compiled for Week 1 (and a note, especially to you South/Golden Valley folks: If you have a score we're missing, please drop a comment below. We had a...
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Sorry about the delay; here's your Week 1 high school football podcast. One note: Early on, Todd and I are talking about the new Garces quarterback and I spit out the name Byron Campbell. That ain't right. Byron graduated from Liberty two years ago; it's his brother Blake who will start at...
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A quick note on the local girls tennis scene, seeing as I was out at my first dual match of the year last night. The best teams in town might be Bakersfield Christian and Garces. The Eagles are typically loaded, but this year's team is especially so, with the Cooke sisters at the top. Garces...
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Are you ready for some football? The 2009-10 NFL season kicks off on Thursday night, Sept. 10 with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Tennessee Titans and ends on Sunday night when Jay Cutler makes his Chicago Bears debut at the rival Green Bay Packers.
Thursday...
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So between watching my alma mater, Missouri, destroy a rival in its first game and spending an evening figuring out how good Fresno State is — it's impossible to tell, by the way, with a 51-0 beatdown of a clearly overmatched UC Davis team — I spent Sunday with my wife and Monday...
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We don’t have to tell you that football season has arrived. We’re less than a week away from the start of the NFL regular season, so it’s prime time to launch our new Pigskin Pick’em contest.
This year, our contest will focus on NFL games. The game is simple: Register,...
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This is the final feature we'll post on the blog each week, a sort of recap of what you should take away from that week of action, plus a brief look-ahead to next week.
Before we get started, I'll post one more update on Fresno State's game against UC Davis last night: Bakersfield Christian...
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UPDATE, 9:29 p.m.: Forget the redshirt idea. It was far-fetched anyway, and Carr comes out for the second series of the second half. He immediately completed two swing passes that totaled 37 yards, then handed a ball off to Robbie Rouse and gave way to Feathers for the next play. Now Carr's...
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UPDATE, 11:39 p.m.: Back in teh hotel room here in Fresno, now gearing up for Fresno State's home game against UC Davis tomorrow night, the return of a healthy Ryan Mathews and possibly Derek Carr's collegiate debut. But in the meantime, let's rehash what we saw on the first high school football...
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TWO QUICK UPDATES: One, if you haven't done so already, pick up a Thursday Californian. It has the 2009 High School Football Preview magazine inside. Pick up a Friday and Saturday edition for all the weekend's high school football coverage. Or you could, you know, just subscribe. Save newspapers!...
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It's that time of year again, football fans. Time for me to put my pride on the line and be wrong about multiple game results each week!
Seriously, though, these predictions are meant more like brief game previews than betting advice or anything. Any prediction I give, especially early in...
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I've got quite the exciting week planned here, not only waiting for the football season to start but also catching some early-season Kern County volleyball. Tonight, it'll be the first varsity event in Independence's gym — and the Falcons get to welcome volleyball power Bakersfield in. It's...
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Our countdown to Week 0 games continues below, but this is officially the week that high school football in the Central Section starts. It's finally here, so let's have a look at the divisions most fans will be talking about.
Remember, Central Section rankings up tomorrow. And don't forget to...
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Now done with all of our team previews (you can find a complete index below), it's time to widen the view a little bit and look at the Central Section as a whole and where some Kern County teams fit in.
Today we'll take a look at the smaller divisions. Tomorrow will be a look at the top three...
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UPDATE: By the way, Bakersfield High grad Bhavik Patel lost his semifinal match at the U.S. Amateur this morning, ending his dream of winning one of golf's most prestigious events — at least for this year.
ORIGINAL POST: Here it is, ladies and gents, boys and girls: The final...
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A quick respite from football coverage to let you in on what Californian assistant sports editor Ross Priest says could turn into (and I tend to agree with him) the biggest sports story of the year in Kern County.
Bakersfield High graduate Bhavik Patel, now a Fresno State sophomore, is in...
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I have a fantasy football draft Saturday, which seems really early. I guess football season has snuck up on me a little bit, which is strange because I've been doing a countdown to high school football on the blog for the past two weeks.
What I mean to say is that I'm about tired of...
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About to go on the radio, 1230 AM, if you read this in time. It'll run from about 3:10 till about 4. Otherwise, enjoy today's preview.
Countdown to Week 0 in famous jersey numbers: The late Sonny Jurgensen or the late Steve McNair
SOUTH REBELS
Coach: John Wren (fourth year)
2008 record:...
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Don't mean to divert too much attention from football, but I ran across a great track note the other day: As you may know, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, i.e. the fastest man on Earth, re-broke the world record by running 100 meters in 9.58 seconds a couple of weekends ago at the world...
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Happy first day of (public) school, everybody! Not as exciting for the students and teachers out there, probably, though the first day is always fresh and new even if it means more work to do.
Speaking of fresh and new, I'm going to add another layer to our multimedia coverage of high school...
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Went to the Dodgers game today, which was fine until we started to head back and were stuck on the grapevine for two hours. Drive carefully up there, people.
We move into the SWYL in the previews today.
Countdown to Week 0, in famous jersey numbers: Roger Staubach
RIDGEVIEW WOLF PACK...
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Since it is now exactly two weeks until the start of college football season (in California, high schools reached that point yesterday), I thought I'd pass along what I know about the college football team of primary interest here, Fresno State. Not only are the Bulldogs the most local...
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This is the first team preview of a Division I team in the Central Section, and it's one that was closer than you think to winning a Valley title last year. The Patriots gave Clovis West more of a battle than any of the Golden Eagles' other playoff opponents. But, as you'll see, they'll have to...
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Hello. My name's Zach. This is my blog.
No need for introductions, I guess, but it feels like I've been gone for more than just two weeks. I had a fabulous vacation/wedding/honeymoon and am now excited to be back and talking high school football again. Thanks to Californian assistant sports...
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The air is bad enough yesterday and today to cancel football and cross country practice. It is over 100 degrees and the ground level ozone levels are on the line between unhealthy and very unhealthy. If there were school flags indicating air quality in Kern County they would be either...
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Countdown to Week 0: 16 days
GOLDEN VALLEY BULLDOGS
Coach: Erich Smith (third year)
2008 record: 6-5 (3-3 Southeast Yosemite League, 4-2 home)
Average points: 25.6
Average points allowed: 28.8
*Average rush yards: 180.5
*Average rush yards allowed: 232.2
*Average pass yards:...
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Countdown to Week 0: 17 days
FOOTHILL TROJANS
Coach: Mike Gregg (first year)
2008 record: 6-6 (2-4 Southeast Yosemite League, 3-3 home)
Average points: 23.5
Average points allowed: 23.3
*Average rush yards: 183.8
*Average rush yards allowed: 186.3
*Average pass yards: 147.3...
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Countdown to Week 0: 18 days
HIGHLAND SCOTS
Coach: Tim Hartnett (third year)
2008 record: 6-5 (2-4 Southeast Yosemite League, 2-3 home)
Average points: 14.2
Average points allowed: 15.5
*Average rush yards: 143.1
*Average rush yards allowed: 142.9
*Average pass yards: 75.1...
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