Frontier's Triton Douglas (42) will be charged with defending D.J. Martin tonight, while Bakersfield High tangles with Centennial.
UPDATED, 12:21 a.m.: Another week in the books. We know it was a good night for the St. Louis Cardinals. Who else will sleep well?
Bakersfield 31, Centennial 0: Point blank: The Drillers defense completely dominated Centennial. The Golden Hawks needed a meaningless 25-yard run on the game's second-to-last play even to get above 100 yards of offense; they had five first downs and three turnovers. That meant the game was essentially over when Derrick Vickers picked off Joe Bresson and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown in the game's first seven minutes. That made it 14-0, and Centennial never drove deeper than the Bakersfield 38. Chris Hannible and Silas Nacita each ended up with 87 rushing yards, but this was a defensive win if there ever was one.
Stockdale 21, Frontier 14: No more questioning the impact of D.J. Martin. He ran for 174 yards, including touchdowns of 51, 24 and 5 yards. The last one broke a 14-14 tie with 1:48 to play and gave the Mustangs their first official victory. You've got to give a lot of credit also to a maligned Stockdale defense that kept Frontier at bay most of the night. As for the Titans, make it four straight losses in overtime or in the last two minutes. That's got to weigh on a team.
Liberty 21, Independence 13: The Falcons had a surprising 13-7 lead at halftime when Liberty called on Corbin Jountti, who didn't play in the first half with an oblique strain. Jountti responded with an 8-yard touchdown run to give the Patriots the lead. Independence had a 46-yard field goal attempt to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but Liberty blocked it, and Darren Adjei returned it 66 yards for a touchdown. The Pats just have a knack in these close games, but they'll likely have to play better to beat Centennial and Bakersfield in the next two weeks.
Garces 31, Foothill 3: Foothill's defense continued to play well for about a half, but Garces eventually wore the Trojans down in a big second half. Foothill led 3-0 and had the ball late in the first quarter when Beau Riley Pearson sacked Ryan Rangle, forcing a fumble that Garces recovered and quickly turned into a 7-3 lead. It was just 10-3 at half, but Philip Anspach (136 rushing yards, 93 passing yards) led a second-half charge that left Foothill in the dust.
Ridgeview 41, West 14: In a bit of a surprise, Kamari Moya started at quarterback for Ridgeview in place of Tyler Ferguson rather than Keanu Ramos. Moya was 5-of-14 for 96 yards, but he also ran for 159 yards. Ridgeview flexed plenty of muscle in other areas, too, with a Brock Martin 71-yard punt return and another strong defensive performance.
Highland 21, East 0: Jacquan Ford's 211 rushing yards and two touchdown runs sparked the offense, and Highland's defense smothered East after standout receiver Tevin Beasley was ejected early in the game. East quarterback Marcus Rojas was 3-of-11 for 38 yards, a shockingly low total for a guy who had been pretty impressive in the past few weeks.
South 20, North 17: The Rebels won their second Civil War Sword in three years in dramatic fashion. Jalen Oats caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from William Lujan to get within 14-13, but South missed the PAT and trailed 17-13 going into the final minutes. That's when Dale Daniel recovered a North fumble at the Stars' 18-yard line. Four plays later, it was fourth-and-goal from the North 1, and Lujan punched in the winner on a quarterback sneak with about a minute remaining.
Tehachapi 35, Bakersfield Christian 7; Wasco 47, Arvin 0: The SSL's game of the year is finally here, with both the Warriors and Tigers coming up with big wins to set up their showdown. Austin Tijerina went 70 yards on Wasco's first play from scrimmage and Wasco remained one of Kern County's four unbeaten teams, along with Bakersfield, Ridgeview and Mojave. Marcus Curiel scored four rushing touchdowns for Tehachapi.
UPDATED, 11:27 p.m.: Checking in from a busy office with some finals: Stockdale hung on to beat Frontier 21-14, a huge one for the Mustangs — players after the game were saying they've been told they'll be in the playoffs if they win out (gotta beat Bakersfield next week to do that) — and a fourth straight heartbreaker for Frontier, which lost one in overtime and three in a row in the final two minutes.
Liberty hung on to beat Independence 21-13 — can't beat the Patriots in a close game — and Ridgeview clobbered West 41-14 even without quarterback Tyler Ferguson. Highland, Ridgeview's next opponent, beat East 21-0 in a game marred by an on-field melee in the final minutes.
Elsewhere, Delano beat Mission Oak 30-25 in a battle of top-tier EYL teams. That became an even bigger result when word came out that Granite Hills had stunned Porterville 22-21. That is the shocker of the year to me, and it means Delano has sole possession of second place headed into its showdown with Porterville next week.
UPDATED, 9:41 p.m.: Bakersfield goes three-and-out, again declinging to for it on a fourth-and-short, and why not? Centennial is helpless on offense. Bresson sacked again on first down. This is normally a high-flying offense, folks, and it hasn't completed a pass after halftime. Two more incompletions make Bresson 5-of-17 for 15 yards on the night, and Centennial will punt again.
3:22 on the clock. No reason to take it play-by-play from here, though I should mention that Asauni Rufus just busted a big one up the middle after faking to Nacita on the triple option. Rufus streaked all the way down to the Centennial 19, a gain of 44 yards. The Drillers will run the clock down under a minute, and on fourth-and-6, Rufus takes it himself, breaks a tackle and is into the end zone. 31-0 Drillers, and what an impressive performance this has been. 40 seconds left.
Centennial will run the clock out, and that's that. BHS improves to 8-0 with a dominating defensive performance. 31-0 the final.
In more dramatic action: D.J. Martin just scored his third touchdown of the night, with 1:48 to play, to give Stockdale a 21-14 lead on Frontier.
UPDATED, 9:28 p.m.: I mentioned Chris Hannible's limp a few minutes ago, and it appears Bakersfield doesn't want to take any more chances with whatever was causing it. Asauni Rufus, a sophomore, is in at quarterback. All he'll do is hand off, though.Three straight to Silas Nacita net 9 yards, and the Drillers are content to punt on fourth-and-really short.
Bresson is sacked on first down, but he keeps on the read option this time and has a lot of room to run. Up to the 38, which will make it third-and-2. Zubia gets the call, but he moved too early. False start on the running back, and it's third-and-7. Under seven minutes to go. Bresson throws for Martens in the flat, and it's low. Incomplete, and Centennial will punt. This one's all but over.
Both teams have scored at Stockdale, but Frontier's two-point conversion made it 14-14 with 9:52 to play there. Liberty has scored to take a 14-13 lead on Independence after three quarters. Falcons hoping for an upset and their first SWYL win all-time.
UPDATED, 9:21 p.m.: Enger in the shotgun on third-and-4 to start the fourth quarter. Read option. He'll keep, and that was the right decision. First down out to the 20. Enger keeps again and picks up about 4. This might have been a good plan a bit earlier, but the Hawks need to move it quickly. To that end, Enger will throw. Nearly picked off, another drop by the Bakersfield defense. Could have been a pick-six. Enger will throw for Colby Minnie. There was contact, but I'm guessing the officials are calling that uncatchable. It was low and to Minnie's right.
Daughtery's punt dies at the Drillers 45. 10:25 left in the game, and Bakersfield would love to soak up much of that with a long drive here.
It's now Stockdale ahead of Frontier 7-6 after three quarters. Mustangs' defense is Mr. Hyde this week.
UPDATED, 9:15 p.m.: Second-and-9 for Centennial, and Centennial nearly threw its third interception. Nacita knocked it down but couldn't come up with it. Bresson too long for Martens on third down, and that's another three-and-out. Centennial looks as bad as I've ever seen it on offense, but credit Bakersfield for much of that.
Drillers get it back at their 43. Nacita hit after a couple of yards, then somehow emerges from the pile, balances on his hand and is still going! What a run, and Nacita is all the way down to the 18. Hannible has it now and he spurts over left tackle inside the 10. Just shy of a first down. Second-and-1 from the 9. Hannible rolls right, now reverses field and is under heavy pressure. He's clobbered as he lets it go. Incomplete in the end zone. He tries to keep on third down and is stopped short of the first down. Fourth-and-1 now. Instead of a field goal that would make it a four-possession game, the Drillers will go for it. Pitch to Vickers. It bounced into his arms but he had nowhere to go anyway. Centennial with a big-time stop there, and they get it back with a faint pulse. 1:05 left in the quarter.
Kolte Paxson picks up a yard, and Reagan Enger, back in at QB, keeps it out to the 15. Third-and-4 as the third quarter comes to an end. Ugly game, at least if you're Centennial.
UPDATED, 9:05 p.m.: Bakersfield to work with the ground game. On third-and-6, it's Jeremiah Reddick with a big hole up the middle. Twenty-one yards on that one, down to the Centennial 35. No-huddle offense. Hannible will keep this one and pick up 9. Nacita gets the first down, then 11 more on the next carry. Now Hannible will roll out. Centennial backed up to defend the pass, and that was that. Hannible too fast, and when he hit the hole, no defender could recover in time to stop him. Touchdown Hannible from 13 yards out. Campbell's PAT is good, and it's 24-0 Bakersfield. 4:02 left in the third.
UPDATED, 9:00 p.m.: Centennial really needs to cash in on this field position, but Bresson's first pass is too low for Michael Martens, and Paxson is stuffed on a read option play. Bresson had room if he kept that one. So third-and-11. Now a delay of game on Centennial, and now a false start on top of it. Suddenly third-and-21 all the way back at the 49. Bakersfield's defense is really, really good, but a normally sharp Centennial team is not impressive tonight.
And so the Hawks have to punt again on fourth-and-long. Andrew Daughtery hits it just right, and that thing is bouncing down inside the 5. Pinned at the 1.
So can Centennial's D come up big again? Nacita will get 2 on first down to give the Drillers a bit of breathing room. Another dive play on secdond won gets nothing. And it's third down. Hannible will keep it, but he's only out to the 5. Hannible limping after that play, and BHS will have to punt out of its own end zone.
Nacita gets it off, a line drive to Zac Clayton. He muffed it. I think it was Vickers who got that back again. Centennial cannot stay out of its own way.
UPDATED, 8:53 p.m.: Bakersfield will get the ball to start the second half. Derrick Vickers' kickoff return goes out to the 18. Centennial could really use a big play on defense. Hannible gets 5 and Nacita 4 to set up a third-and-1. Hannible will throw, looking for Campbell, but it was thrown before he even turned around, and Campbell was well-covered anyway. Fourth down, and a huge three-and-out for Centennial.
Nacita will punt. Grimes has a shot to return this one. Reverses field, gets a cracking block on Campbell and Grimes is sprung down the right sideline. Finally forced out upa the BHS 38. Just what the doctor ordered for Centennial.
UPDATED, 8:39 p.m.: Couple of surprising halftime scores elsewhere in the SWYL: Independence leads Liberty 13-7 at the break, and Stockdale is up 7-6 on Frontier. Stockdale got a 51-yard touchdown run from D.J. Martin for its score, and Martin had another 40-yarder negated by penalty.
Garces had a strong second quarter and leads Foothill 10-3 at the break.
Here, it's a bigtime defensive struggle. Bakersfield has a meager 78-68 edge in total yards. The Drillers have attempted just one pass, and it was incomplete. The big play, of course, was Derrick Vickers' 29-yard interception-return TD.
PASSING: C, Joe Bresson 5-10, 15 yds, 2 INT; Reagan Enger, 1-1, 7 yds. B, Chris Hannible 0-1
RUSHING: C, Kolte Paxson 5-29, Reagan Enger 6-19. B: Chris Hannible, 6-49, Silas Nacita 5-16, Derrick Vickers 2-15, Jeremiah Reddick 1-2, TD
RECEIVING: C, Thomas Grimes 3-8, Andrew Daughtery 1-7, Alex Zubia 1-6.
UPDATED, 8:25 p.m.: Regan Enger manufactured a first down for Centennial, but on the next series, Bresson comes in and throws a post to Andrew Daughtery, and Jermaine Ervin made a brilliant, diving interception. What a play.
Centennial's defense has looked a lot better, though, and they're going to force a three-and-out here with the help of a dropped snap on third down. So Nacita will punt again, and again he makes sure to keep it away from Grimes."
Centennial has it back at its 35. Paxson picks up 5 and then 4, so it's third-and-1. Zubia gets the call. He's stood up at the line of scrimmage. Pushes forward. It's close. They'll measure. It's right in front of me, and I'm telling you it's no more than four inches short. Fourth down. Decision time for Bryan Nixon and the Hawks. They'll go. Bresson sneaks, and he has it easily. Up to the 47. Two minutes left in the ahlf, so Centennial needs to hurry now. Bubble screen to Grimes, and he had room until Silas Nacita made a brilliant play. Got off his block and took Grimes down before he could get loose. Lost a yard on the play. Now an incomplete pass deep. Third down. Screen to Zubia. Has some room, but not enough. It's fourth-and-5. Neither team is going to stop the clock. It's going to run out, and that's halftime. 17-0 Bakersfield, which is dominating with defense.
Elsewhere, D.J. Martin is on the scoreboard, and Stockdale has a 7-0 lead on Frontier. That's a different team with No. 25 back there.
UPDATED, 8:11 p.m.: Important third down for Centennial to start the second quarter, and they'll go to Thomas Grimes. He makes the catch 4 yards downfield and makes one man miss. First down at the 30. First one of the game for the Hawks. Now trips left for Centennial. Bresson has Michael Martens, but Martens starting running before he had the ball. Oh my goodness. Would have been at least 7 or 8 yards and one broken tackle away from more. So second-and-10 instead. Screen set up to Martens. BHS defense is sooo fast. They ran past Martens and then had two turn around when they saw the screen and take him down after just a yard gain. Now a quick out to Grimes, but this time he's hit immmdiately, well short of the first down. Centennial will punt again. Oof.
Punt rolls down to the Bakersfield 33, where the Drillers will take over, armed with a 17-0 lead. Hannible keeps, reverses field, gets to the left sideline, cuts back again and picks up about 11 yards. He needed to run 30 yards to get it. That was impressive. Hannible will keep again. He's hit immediately and then pushed back by a cadre of Golden Hawks. No gain on the play, which you don't see very often with this offense. Pitch to Vickers. Looked like he had room, but Zac Clayton comes up from his safety spot and lays a big hit on him. He only got 2 out of that. Actually just a yard. Clayton had a great game against Clovis, and that was a really nice play. Now Hannible will pass on third down. Looking for Kevin Elijah. Khaliel Shegog had really nice coverage. Big stand for the Centennial defense, and BHS will punt for the first time. Nacita punts it out of bounds. They want no part of Grimes, and it's Hawks' ball at their 28.
UPDATED, 8:02 p.m.: Enger back at quarterback for Centennial. Maybe the Hawks feel they can't win with Bresson sitting back in the pocket against Bakersfield's defense. It's a risk, but it's also a wrinkle the Drillers haven't seen on film. But it's not really working. Zubia is stuffed on first down, and Enger gets maybe 2 yards on an option keeper to set up third0-anbd-8. Enger will keep again, and he has a bit of room but is down 3 yards shy of the line to gain. Hawks will punt again.
A late hit on the punt return, too. Centennial is doing everything it can't do if it wants to stay in this thing. The extra 15 yards set Bakersfield up at the Centennial 40. On second-and-8, Hannible gets a well-timed pitch to Kyle Pope. He picks up about 5 out of a play that looked like a lost cause. Third-and-3. Wheel route, Hannible looking for Pope. It falls incomplete, overthrown. He was covered anyway, and there was an illegal-motion penalty on BHS, anyway. Centennial will take the penalty? Maybe the Hawks had no choice. Whatever the case, it's third-and-8 from the 38. It'll be the option again. Hannible pitches to Vickers. First down. Drillers run that so well, and it picks up 14 on third-and-8.
So now first down. Nacita stuffed on first down by Alex Zubia. Hannible will look for Parker Campbell. He dove for it, but the offficals will rule that it hit the ground. Third down, and BHS will call timeout with 1:11 on the first-quarter clock. Hannible will run another option, but this time Centennial swarms him before he can even think about pitching. Loss of 2. It'll set up a 43-yard field goal try for Parker Campbell. It's got plenty of leg. It sneaks inside the left upright. Would have been good from 53, I think, because it was tailing back inside. He's among the best in town, and he's put BHS up 17-0 with 27 seconds left in the first. I'll keep it here till the end of the quarter.
Campbell's kickoff goes into the end zone for a second touchback. That's huge, too, from a BHS perspective. Take away one of Centennial's biggest weapons. From the 20, Zubia will get a couple of carries. Third-and-6 as the quarter ends.
Elsewhere, Foothill has struck first against Garces with an early field goal. Trojans lead 3-0 midway through the first.
UPDATED, 7:48 p.m.: Centennial opens its drive with a short run on a sweep from Alex Zubia, but holding is called. That'll push Centennial deep into its own end again. First-and-19 back at the 11. Now Regan Enger is in at quarterback. Kind of a wildcat look, and he takes the direct snap and picks up about 4. Now he'll throw. Complete to Andrew Daughtery on the left sideline. Third-and-8. False start Centennial will make it third-and-13. They can't play this game with BHS' defense. Now Bresson is back in. He's slammed as he throws, and it's a wounded duck. Waiting for it is defensive back Derrick Vickers, and now he's got an entourage. They'll lead him to the end zone. Pick-six. Campbell's PAT is good, and just like that it's 14-0 with 5:48 left in the first quarter. Nightmare start for Centennial.
UPDATED, 7:41 p.m.: I was wrong: BHS went with white pants with blue trim. But blue jerseys and helmets it is. Captains are at midfield for the coin toss to get us started. Bakersfield wins the toss and defers, which means we get to see Centennial's special teams in action early. Can Thomas Grimes bust another long return this week? You've got to think Bakersfield kicker Parker Campbell is thinking touchback here. He boots it, only got it to the 1. It's Michael Martens, who is hit early and then drags a couple of guys out to the 18.
First snap, lots of pressure. Bresson held on to it and took a sack and a big loss. Loss of 10 yards. Now a bubble screen out to Andrew Daughtery. Dropped it, and maybe that's a good thing because he was gonna have trouble getti9ng anything there. Now trips right for Centennial on third-and-20. It's a sweep to Kolte Paxson, and he's got running room. Dragged down from behind at about the 25, and he's going to be about two yards short of the first down
Centennial will punt. It's a good one, sending Kevin Elijah back to his 30. He returns around the left side for a good chunk, all the way up to the 49. Nacita gets first crack, and has about 6, most of it after contact. Now Hannible has the first down with a big hole for about 9 yards. Two plays later, it's third-and-2 from the Centennial 28. Hannible has the first down, and now he slips a tackle and is streaking downfield. Tripped up at the 5 and gets down to the 2. Jeremiah Reddick, the fullback, scores on the next play. Impressive opening drive, and it's 7-0 Bakersfield.
UPDATED, 7:22 p.m.: Nearly a packed house at Griffith Field tonight for homecoming and for a really big game with Centennial. The Golden Hawks are warming up on the field in their white jerseys with red numbers, gold pants with red trim and gold helmets with the red block C. Bakersfield High has yet to emerge from its tunnel underneath the home stands — it's really a classic setup — but when the Drillers do come out, you can bet it'll be with an American flag, a big blue BHS flag and in all blue uniforms with white numbers. You don't mess with tradition on homecoming — but that's exactly what the Golden Hawks will try to do tonight, even without starting running back Brice Royal, who's out with a sprained knee.
We're about 15 minutes from kickoff.
ORIGINAL POST: Sorry this is up later than usual; I've been running errands and generally re-living last night's incredible World Series game. The Cardinals aren't my favorite team, persay, but I do have a soft spot for them from my college years, and even if you didn't have a rooting interest, that game was everything right about baseball.
But tonight, Game 7 will have to share the spotlight with a big, big night of high school football. Centennial-Bakersfield has the spotlight, but don't forget about Foothill-Garces, a battle of SEYL unbeatens, or Frontier-Stockdale, which is D.J. Martin's return from his well-known absence due to academic ineligiblity.
(Central Section ranking in parentheses; games 7:30 p.m. Friday unless noted)
(6) Fresno-Washington Union 41, Liberty-Madera Ranchos 0
Hanford-Sierra Pacific 31, O'Neals-Minarets 6 (Thursday)
Lemoore-Kings Christian 46, Coalinga-Faith Christian 6
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