|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [3] - Views [832]
|
|
|
|
We're getting into crunch time in the regular season. Three games left for every team in the Central Section, many of them huge league tilts that will alter seeding for the playoffs. Still, the pecking order right now is pretty well established.
1. Fresno-Bullard (7-0, Division I, last week: 1)...
|
Comments [9] - Views [793]
|
|
|
|
I'm headed up to Wasco for some interviews on a story I'm working on for Friday in a few minutes, so I'll make this a bit brief.
The biggest shake-up of the week comes from the northern part of the Central Section, where Fresno-Central got a breakthrough win for its program, 24-3 over defending...
|
Comments [8] - Views [806]
|
|
|
|
Went out to Frontier at noon today for an announcement that Matt Darr has been named to the West roster for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl as a punter. Darr is a USC commit who punts, kicks and plays linebacker for 5-0 Frontier.
This is a pretty big deal for Darr — it's most of the...
|
Comments [2] - Views [709]
|
|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [1] - Views [635]
|
|
|
|
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,...
|
Comments [13] - Views [639]
|
|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [5] - Views [745]
|
|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [2] - Views [447]
|
|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [2] - Views [511]
|
|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [8] - Views [379]
|
|
|
|
PREFACE: Yes, this is late. I should have posted three days ago, and then probably again since then. Feel free to call me lazy and worthless. Both of those would accurately describe my weekend (and it was wonderful, I might add).
Anyway...
You had to be there, at Stan Bledsoe Field on Clovis...
|
Comments [3] - Views [367]
|
|
|
|
Stockdale haters, turn away: This is another Mustang-heavy post. Can't help it when the same school keeps coming up with the goods.
The Central Section golf champion will be decided right here in Kern County on Thursday at Seven Oaks. That also happens to be the home course of Stockdale...
|
Comments [0] - Views [83]
|
|
|
|
In case you missed the baseball rankings posted yesterday, here's a link.
Remember, I haven't listed out each team's schedule for this week and next week because the tournaments have been so crazy this week with travel and rain and some teams playing games that haven't yet been reported. That...
|
Comments [1] - Views [124]
|
|
|
|
Spring break brings to mind images of sun, sand, flip-flops, cold drinks (but we keep those margaritas virgin here at the school house), swimming pools, waves, and .... me sitting at my computer with nothing to do.
Not so surprisingly, the company didn't pay for me to accompany Liberty or...
|
Comments [0] - Views [96]
|
|
|
|
I've been so caught up in wrestling this weekend that I haven't had much of a chance to mention basketball. That's not acceptable, so let's get right down to business:
— Congratulations are in order to three Central Section champion hoops teams. Stockdale's girls won the Division I...
|
Comments [5] - Views [188]
|
|
|
|
We've just completed boys semifinal day in Central Section basketball, and it sounds like there was a batch of great games around the Valley tonight.
One of them I saw firsthand. Liberty started sloppy, played flawlessly in the middle and then got sloppy again in holding off...
|
Comments [1] - Views [141]
|
|
|
|
UPDATE, 4:57 p.m.: Since this one is ridiculously long, I'll start a new post for the championship matches, which are slated to begin at 6 p.m. Here are your top 10 in team standings heading to the finals. The consolation bracket was good to Selma, but not good enough. It's a three-horse race...
|
Comments [4] - Views [1177]
|
|
|
|
It's no secret I'm a wrestling fan. If you've followed the blog for long, you've seen my fervor.
So this, then, is the best time of year for those of us former wrestlers lucky enough to stay in the sport in some capacity. The state meet is in two weeks at Rabobank Arena. It's a spectacle worth...
|
Comments [3] - Views [261]
|
|
|
|
Girls rankings below or at this link.
One more week of rankings next week, then we'll let the playoff results speak for themselves.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (23-4, 8-0 TRAC, Division I, last week: 1) — For all the talk about how wide-open boys hoops was in the section this year, and...
|
Comments [2] - Views [139]
|
|
|
|
Welcome to the last week of the regular season, which in girls basketball is going to decide very little in the respective Kern County league races: Stockdale and Garces have clinched the two big leagues (and really, we knew that was coming a month or more ago) and Arvin has control over the...
|
Comments [0] - Views [88]
|
|
|
|
Girls rankings below or at this link.
These rankings and records do not reflect Tuesday night's games.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (20-4, 5-0 TRAC, Division I, last week: 1) — Remember when we thought the race for No. 1 in the section was wide-open? Maybe it still is, but the...
|
Comments [0] - Views [116]
|
|
|
|
I swear I don't mean for this blog to become a ranking service, so I'm going to apologize in advance for four posts in a row — and six out of seven — being rankings.
That said, I don't want to cut out on basketball rankings in the middle of the season. I do promise to have some...
|
Comments [0] - Views [72]
|
|
|
|
Girls rankings below or at this link.
1. Fresno-Bullard (16-3-2, 6-0-1 CMAC, Division I) — After a head-scratcher of an opening loss to Visalia-Redwood, the Knights haven't lost to Central Section competition. Are they vulnerable? A bunch of close games says yes.
2....
|
Comments [0] - Views [136]
|
|
|
|
A big drumroll for you fans of the beautiful game ... here is the School House Zach debut of Central Section soccer rankings!
A quick disclaimer before we begin: Soccer coaches seem to be the worst of any at updating MaxPreps, so some of these records will be off, and some don't even have...
|
Comments [6] - Views [198]
|
|
|
|
Girls rankings below or at this link. Again, I promise some soccer rankings by the end of the week.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (19-4, 4-0 TRAC, Division I, last week: 1) — Who would have thought the Timberwolves would be tested more by Buchanan than Clovis West? Goes to show...
|
Comments [0] - Views [136]
|
|
|
|
So I was partly right on my Super Bowl pick: Arizona couldn't run the ball, and that did make their offense one-dimensional. But Kurt Warner didn't throw for two or three interceptions. He threw one, though it was enormous turning point in the game just before the half. Warner and his...
|
Comments [0] - Views [74]
|
|
|
|
Girls rankings below, or click here.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (17-4, 2-0 TRAC, Division I, last week: 1) — Friday's game with Central became much more important after the Grizzlies knocked off Clovis West in the first round of TRAC play. Clovis East knew how to respond.
LAST...
|
Comments [3] - Views [157]
|
|
|
|
Another week gone by, another week closer to the high school version of March Madness, a little time for the playoffs I like to call ... February Frenzy.
OK, so that was really dorky. Sorry about that. Really. But I do have another set of Central Section rankings. Girls are below (with a...
|
Comments [10] - Views [147]
|
|
|
|
I was excited to see an e-mail in my inbox this morning with the three proposals the Central Section came up with for the new league alignment. I hurriedly printed off the proposals, went over to the printer and started looking them over on my way back.
Turns out, there was no need. The...
|
Comments [9] - Views [286]
|
|
|
|
Girls rankings below or at this link.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (14-4, 0-0 TRAC, Division I, last week: 1) — Of all the impressive things on the Timberwolves' resumé — some tough out-of-section wins and some routs of Valley teams — the best so far might have been its...
|
Comments [0] - Views [113]
|
|
|
|
Lots of folks talking inauguration this week, and since there was a nice story on Barack Obama's basketball days in last week's Sports Illustrated, it's time to celebrate with a basketball-themed week.
Today will be power rankings. The rest of the week, I'd like to discuss big games left on the...
|
Comments [0] - Views [72]
|
|
|
|
It's no secret that there are some problems with the way things are organized in the Central Section. Some of these problems are the section's own fault — seriously, do we need six watered-down playoff divisions and a universal open invitation to the playoffs?
But that is (and was) an...
|
Comments [2] - Views [159]
|
|
|
|
It was kind of an up-and-down weekend for Kern County up at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in Clovis.
There is a lot to look forward to from local wrestlers — Greg Kapler was downright dominant through four rounds — as he had been all season — before being tripped up in the...
|
Comments [1] - Views [56]
|
|
|
|
See girls rankings below or at this link.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (13-4, 0-0 TRAC, Division I, last week: 1) — The Timberwolves solidified their spot at the top with a rout of Fresno-Edison last week. They have enough tests sprinkled into the rest of the schedule to keep things...
|
Comments [7] - Views [111]
|
|
|
|
My apologies for posts being so few and far between. I'm still getting settled back into the flow of things in the office, and that includes coming up with content again when during football season, the blog was on a very tight schedule. I'm going to do better, I promise.
To that end, I...
|
Comments [2] - Views [58]
|
|
|
|
See girls rankings below or at this link.
BOYS
1. Clovis East (11-4, Division I, last year: D-I champion) — All of the Timberwolves' losses have been out of the section, and they've beaten Liberty, Porterville-Monache and East in winning the Kern Schools Federal Credit Union Lloyd...
|
Comments [0] - Views [148]
|
|
|
|
I'm going to attempt boys and girls basketball rankings in the Central Section, just like we did at School House Zach for football in the fall.
Before I start, I need to admit that this is going to be difficult and probably somewhat controversial among area basketball fans.
Football...
|
Comments [0] - Views [118]
|
|
|
|
We've got the Sacramento-Grant—Long Beach-Poly Open Division state championship football game on TV here in the office, and it's a somewhat surprising 13-7 lead for Grant at the half. Maybe by the time I'm done with this all-encompassing football wrap-up, the game will be close to over....
|
Comments [2] - Views [150]
|
|
|
|
A little late-night blogging for some late-season football rankings, with championship week left:
1. Clovis West (10-3, Division I, last week: 1) — What a culmination for the Golden Eagles in the Division I championship game: A stifling defense shut down a good offense, and CW...
|
Comments [0] - Views [132]
|
|
|
|
The worst fears of Kern County football fans have more or less been confirmed this year, with all but one of the teams thought to be the best around have been eliminated by the playoffs' third week. Most of that carnage happened in Division I a couple of weeks ago, but D-II lost North and West...
|
Comments [5] - Views [178]
|
|
|
|
Sorry for the lack of posts around here lately — I've been busy with a few things, namely working on some non-football stories and proposing to my girlfriend (she said yes, for the record).
But to make up for that, I'm going to do a very abbreviated version of Most Important Things for the...
|
Comments [8] - Views [232]
|
|
|
|
Ladies and gentlemen, you have entered The Twilight Zone.
Courtesy of The Fresno Bee, the Fresno Unified School District finished up its investigation into Edison High School and found ... that the accuser is the guilty party. What?? Yep, that's right. Jeff Powell, the math teacher who said an F...
|
Comments [0] - Views [276]
|
|
|
|
Before we get to the final rankings of football's regular season, it's time to offer a couple of shout-outs from other sports:
— To Deidre Crabtree, a Liberty senior who took home the Central Section's individual golf title Monday by shooting a 1-over-par 73 at The Links at RiverLakes...
|
Comments [2] - Views [328]
|
|
|
|
It's Election Day, and if you haven't voted, go out and do so before you read this. I don't care if you write in your own name, but you owe it to the country and to its people to make your voice heard.
OK, now that that spiel is out of the way, let's get to something decidedly undemocratic...
|
Comments [5] - Views [285]
|
|
|
|
If Bakersfield teams are going to win either the Division I or II Central Section football titles this year, it's going to be an upset. The Fresno area, while perhaps not as deep as Kern County, has a monopoly on the top teams in the section thus far.
That could change, of course, and it...
|
Comments [3] - Views [260]
|
|
|
|
Well, at some point, I've got to quit being so surprised at what happened in Kern County football's Week 2 and start to try to make some sense of the carnage.
That means answering questions like: What does Stockdale's victory against Bakersfield High mean? Is Stockdale better than...
|
Comments [0] - Views [219]
|
|
|
|
One of the best parts about slaving away on The Californian's high school football preseason sections (and there's really no other way to put it; this sucker is a TON of work, though I'm sure everyone will really enjoy the finished product) is discovering smaller schools: Where they're...
|
Comments [0] - Views [184]
|
|
|
|
We're now 10 days and counting till Week 0 kicks off with a slew of great games. We'll talk more about these next week, but here's what fans can look forward to Sept. 5:
*Bakersfield at Canyon
*Westlake Village-Oaks Christian at Bakersfield Christian (A quick aside on the Eagles: The...
|
Comments [5] - Views [252]
|
|
|
|
Ensley Gammel started celebrating Centennial's Division I Central Section softball championship before her final pitch even reached the plate.
It was a strikeout, resulting in the Golden Hawks' 2-1 victory at Madera on Friday in front of an overflow crowd that mostly consisted of blue-clad...
|
Comments [0] - Views [111]
|
|
|
|
Good thing you weren't like the guy sitting next to me at the Stockdale-Clovis section championship baseball game Thursday evening. He got up and headed out with two outs and nobody on base in the seventh inning, with Stockdale down 6-3 and about to become bridesmaids again.
Well, this stinks...
|
Comments [0] - Views [80]
|
|
|
1 2
