Local public-safety officials set for gridiron clash
| Thursday, Jun 25 2009 11:23 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jun 25 2009 11:23 PM
When they are not putting out fires, catching crooks or guarding prisoners, nearly 50 law enforcement representatives from Kern County actually don helmets and pads and play tackle football.
And they play it well!
The Bakersfield Falcons, whose ranks include firefighters, police, correctional and highway patrol officers, and parole agents, will take a 3-1 record into the National Public Safety League Division II championship at 3 p.m. Saturday at Taft High School.
The Falcons will face the Charlotte Cobras (3-1).
Bakersfield has averaged 26 points a game this season, beating the California Blue Knights 32-0, Orange County Lawmen 36-7 and Chicago Enforcers 30-21, and losing 16-6 to the Orlando (Fla.) Guardians.
Bakersfield is led by Josh Powell, a wide receiver and defensive back who was a member of the Bakersfield Blitz arenafootball2 team, and now is a Kern County Probation Department junior correction officer. Powell has team highs of 16 catches and 425 yards and four touchdowns, and also has 11 tackles, and four interceptions.
The Falcons' leading rusher is Tommy Abraham, with 215 yards on 30 carries, with four TDs. Abraham is a 45-year-old correction officer at North Kern State Prison in Delano.
Quarterback Andrew Rhoades has completed 28 of 46 passes for 547 yards, with four TDs and one interception.
Bakersfield is coached by Leonard Castaneda, who also is the team's kicker and punter, and team president when he is not doing his duties as a parole service associate at North Kern State Prison.
The team is a non-profit and travel money comes from the players' pockets. Part of Saturday's proceeds will go to the Kern County Sheriff's Activity League, and the American Cancer Society.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 fr high school students with IDs, and $2 for children 12 and younger.
The nationwide league includes 22 teams and divided into divisions I and II. Division I includes teams that won at least three games the previous season. Division II this season had eight teams.
SOFTBALL
Forty-eight youth softball teams from the Central California Region will battle today through Sunday in the ASA (B) National Qualifier tournament at Rosedale North Park, Greenacres Community Center and Centennial High School.
The tournament will feature divisions for teams of players 14 and younger (14U), 12U and 10U. The region extends from Goleta to the south, Madera to the north, and also covers the Central Coast. Up to five teams in each division will qualify for the ASA Western B Nationals in Oregon and Utah.
The host Bakersfield Blast all-stars will have teams in all three divisions.
Games start at 6 p.m. today at North Rosedale Park and Greenacres, continue at 8 a.m. Saturday at all three sites, and resume at 8 a.m. Sunday. The 10U and 14U title games will start at noon Sunday, followed by the 12U final at 2 p.m. All the finals will be at Rosedale North Park on Jewetta Avenue between Meacham and Hageman roads in North Bakersfield.
CYCLING
Bakersfield cyclists Joe Peterson and Kate Glossbremer are among a large group of Team JDRF riders participating in the Race Across America.
Peterson and Glossbremer, riding a tandem bike, are among 17 members of the only Open team participating in the event, which started on June 17 in Oceanside and winds up at Annapolis, Md., a distance of 3,016 miles. They passed through Blanchester, Ohio Thursday afternoon, 563 miles from the finish. They were averaging 20.28 mph.
The annual race consists of solo riders, two-person, four-person and eight-person teams.
