Stockdale-BHS matchup highlights high school football playoff seedings
| Saturday, Nov 14 2009 11:17 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 14 2009 11:19 PM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian BHS' Alfonso Jackson turns the corner as Stockdale High's #28 Jeremy Bispo slows him down
It seems revenge will be a factor on many minds as the Central Section high school football playoffs start Friday.
That obviously will be the case for Stockdale, which went 9-1 and drew the No. 3 seed in Division I when brackets were released Saturday. The Mustangs' opponent in the quarterfinals Nov. 27? None other than Bakersfield (8-2), which handed Stockdale its only loss, 32-31 back in Week 2.
"Motivationally, it's a good thing for us," Stockdale coach Mike Snow said. "Had we won that game, we probably wouldn't want to play, because it's tough to beat the same team twice."
That's the task Bakersfield faces, so Drillers coach Paul Golla is looking for revenge in another way: Against the section, which he feels under-seeded his team and Liberty, which drew the No. 5 seed and a trip to No. 4 Fresno-Central in the quarterfinals.
"I guess Central is just better than us and Liberty," Golla said. "You look at Central, they got blown out by (Clovis-Buchanan in Week 10), they're a non-league champion. Liberty is. Everybody asks my prediction on seeding every year, and I say there is none."
Liberty's 31-21 loss at Clovis West way back in Week 0 surely hurt the Patriots, who went 6-0 in the Southeast Yosemite League but are on the road anyway. Central beat Clovis West in Week 7.
"Even though it was Week 0 instead of Week 7 and we're two different teams, they took care of business against a common opponent," Liberty coach Tony Mills said. "But as long as we play our 'A' game, we'll compete with anybody."
The first round in Division I consists of just one game, No. 9 Clovis East at No. 8 Centennial. The winner faces top-seeded Buchanan (10-0) in the quarters. In the final quarterfinal, No. 2 Fresno-Bullard (10-0) will play No. 7 Clovis West.
Frontier (9-1) drew the No. 3 seed in Division II behind unbeaten defending champion Tulare Union and 2007 champion Visalia-El Diamante (9-1). A third 9-1 team, Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, is No. 4.
Frontier has a bye into the quarterfinals, where it will play host to either No. 6 Garces or No. 11 Reedley.
"I definitely think it's fair," Frontier coach Rich Cornford said. "I thought we'd be anywhere from 2 to 4. Three 9-1 teams, and they had to decide how to order us."
Two-time defending Division III champion Tehachapi (8-2) was passed up for the top seed this year by Dinuba (8-2). Porterville is No. 3 and Delano (8-2) is No. 4. There are 10 local teams in the bracket, also including No. 6 Ridgeview (6-5) and the all-Kern first-round matchup of No. 7 South (6-4) vs. No. 10 Foothill (3-7).
Taft (8-2) and Wasco (8-2), who split the South Sequoia League title along with Tehachapi, are the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds in Division IV, behind Kingsburg (10-0) and Fresno-Washington Union (8-2). Both have byes; Taft faces the winner of Dos Palos and Visalia-Central Valley Christian in the first round, and Wasco plays host to No. 5 Exeter (6-4).
Only 11 Kern County teams play in the first round next weekend; the rest wait for opponents in the quarterfinals. Or, in the case of Stockdale and Bakersfield, they'll just count down the days until they meet again.
"It's fun," Golla said. "It's a plus for both schools. It comes down to fixing things that broke down or adding things or whatever. But you're going to have two of the top teams in the Valley, and we've both gotten better."
For the winner? Another tough game the following week.
"It's nine teams," Snow said. "You know who's in your bracket. Nine teams, take it one game at a time. We can't even worry about the second one."
