Week 4 Football Preview: Kern County Looks to Stay Perfect Against Fresno Powers
Three weeks into the season, some of Kern County’s top football programs have already made a statement against the Fresno and Clovis area.
Using Paul Meadors’ latest CIF Central Section Top 15 as the measuring stick, Kern County teams are 3-0 in ranked matchups against Fresno and Clovis-area opponents.
No. 8 Bakersfield opened the season with a 17-14 comeback win at No. 10 Clovis. No. 7 Liberty followed with a 30-23 overtime victory over No. 12 Clovis East. Then last week, No. 3 Bakersfield Christian delivered perhaps the biggest statement yet, beating No. 5 Clovis West 28-7.
Week 4 brings two more opportunities.
No. 7 Liberty hosts No. 2 Buchanan on Thursday night, then No. 8 Bakersfield welcomes No. 5 Clovis West on Friday.
Kern County has a chance to turn 3-0 into 5-0.
Those two ranked matchups headline a Week 4 slate that also includes the 60th Holy Bowl between Garces and San Joaquin Memorial, another undefeated test for Ridgeview and a Shafter defense chasing its third straight shutout.
No. 2 Buchanan at No. 7 Liberty
Thursday, 7 p.m.
BSN Prediction: Liberty 31, Buchanan 28
This is the game of the week.
Liberty has already beaten Clovis East, Menlo-Atherton and Oaks Christian to start 3-0. The Patriots’ latest win may have been their most impressive, going to Southern California and holding off Oaks Christian 20-17. Now they have a short week to prepare for the No. 2 team in the Central Section rankings.
Buchanan comes to Bakersfield with an offense that has exploded over the last two weeks, scoring 55 against Central Valley Christian and 56 against Manteca. The Bears are averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game, so this feels like a matchup where Liberty’s defense will have to be at its best.
That starts with Pierce Buckey.
Buckey has three sacks through three games and recorded two in Liberty’s Week 1 victory over Clovis East. He is one of the young players in this area we expect to eventually play on Saturdays, and this is exactly the type of matchup where we want him to prove why those expectations are there.
Against the No. 2 team in the section, we would love to see Buckey deliver a monster performance for the Patriots. Be disruptive. Get into the backfield. Affect the quarterback. Make plays that change possessions.
Brody Stevens is another name to watch. Stevens has been one of Liberty’s most consistent defenders through three weeks and leads the Patriots at nine tackles per game. Liberty will need that consistency at the second level Thursday night against a Buchanan offense capable of moving the football on the ground.
There is plenty to like offensively with Luke Valverde, Gavin Williams and Leon Denweed, but this feels like a game where Liberty’s defense could determine the outcome.
Liberty has already shown it can win close games against quality opponents.
We’re taking the Patriots at home.
Liberty 31, Buchanan 28.
No. 5 Clovis West at No. 8 Bakersfield
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
BSN Prediction: Bakersfield 31, Clovis West 20
Bakersfield has already taken down one Clovis powerhouse.
Why not another?
The Drillers opened the season by overcoming a 14-point deficit to beat Clovis 17-14 on the road. They followed that with their best offensive performance of the young season, beating Paraclete 42-17 behind four touchdowns from Damir Lomax.
That performance helped Lomax earn BSN Player of the Month honors for August.
Then came the bye.
Bakersfield has had two weeks to recover, make adjustments and prepare for another major Central Section opponent. The last time we saw the Driller offense, it was rolling.
We expect them to come out firing Friday night.
Clovis West, meanwhile, is coming off a difficult trip to Bakersfield Christian. The Golden Eagles took a 7-0 lead before BCHS flipped the game late in the second quarter and eventually pulled away for a convincing 28-7 victory.
That does not suddenly make Clovis West an easy opponent. They remain No. 5 in Paul Meadors’ rankings and have one of the section’s most dangerous running backs in Major Lee.
But Bakersfield has already shown an ability to win when things are not going perfectly, and now the Drillers get this matchup at home with an extra week of preparation.
If Liberty wins Thursday, Bakersfield would take the field Friday with an opportunity to push Kern County to 5-0 in ranked matchups against Fresno and Clovis-area teams.
We’re rolling with the Drillers
Bakersfield 31, Clovis West 20.
Holy Bowl LX: No. 6 Garces at San Joaquin Memorial
Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
BSN Prediction: Garces 42, San Joaquin Memorial 17
The Holy Bowl is always one of the biggest games on the Garces schedule.
This year, we expect the Rams to win it convincingly.
Garces has responded extremely well since its season-opening loss to St. Joseph. The Rams beat Wasco 42-13 in Week 2 before completely overwhelming Tehachapi 47-0 last week. Mark Gomez completed 15 of 17 passes for 237 yards and four touchdowns in that win and now sits at 722 passing yards through three games.
San Joaquin Memorial enters the Holy Bowl at 0-3. The Panthers did show improvement last week in a 35-28 loss at Hanford, but they have already lost 30-7 to Kennedy and 42-27 to Lemoore.
Garces has the talent advantage.
Now we want to see some of that talent produce the type of individual performances people are talking about all weekend.
Carter Hanson is at the top of that list.
Hanson has four touchdowns through three games and leads Garces in rushing. We have viewed him as one of the area's top players since before the season started, and the Holy Bowl feels like an opportunity for him to put together a complete breakout performance.
Give us the game that has Bakersfield talking about Carter Hanson all weekend long.
Defensively, Jackson Parker is another player we will be watching closely. At 6-foot-5 in the secondary, Parker brings a rare physical profile, and this would be a pretty good stage for his first interception of the season.
Garces won last year’s Holy Bowl 35-10, ending a drought in the rivalry that dated back to 2016. Now the Rams head to Fresno looking to keep the trophy.
We think they do.
Garces 42, San Joaquin Memorial 17.
Can Shafter make it three straight shutouts?
Porterville at Shafter
BSN Prediction: Shafter 35, Porterville 0
At this point, the question almost writes itself.
Can anybody score on Shafter?
The Generals allowed 14 points in their opener against South.
Since then: nothing.
Shafter shut out Tehachapi 29-0 in Week 2 and followed it by shutting out a previously undefeated Highland team 31-0. Through three games, Shafter has outscored opponents 108-14.
Isaiah Monreal helped set the tone last week with three sacks against Highland, while the Generals continued to make life difficult for nearly everything the Scots tried offensively.
Now Shafter finally gets its home opener against Porterville.
The Panthers are 1-2 and coming off a 55-20 loss to Tulare Western.
We're calling for the streak to continue.
Three straight shutouts.
Shafter 35, Porterville 0.
Big Football Weekend
Thursday, Sept. 10
Buchanan at Liberty - 7 p.m.
Tehachapi at Kennedy - 7:30 p.m.
Arvin at Taft - 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 11
Northgate at North - 7 p.m.
Ridgeview at Mission College Prep - 7 p.m.
Mira Monte at Boron - 7 p.m.
Granite Hills at McFarland - 7:15 p.m.
Clovis West at Bakersfield - 7:30 p.m.
Chavez at Golden Valley - 7:30 p.m.
Stockdale at Independence - 7:30 p.m.
Porterville at Shafter - 7:30 p.m.
South at Monache - 7:30 p.m.
Wasco at Roosevelt - 7:30 p.m.
Del Oro at Santa Maria - 7:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Bakersfield Christian - 7:30 p.m.
Frontier at Hanford - 7:30 p.m.
Foothill at Delano - 7:30 p.m.
East Bakersfield at West - 7:30 p.m.
Paso Robles at Highland - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12
Garces Memorial at San Joaquin Memorial, Holy Bowl LX
Ventura College at Bakersfield College - 6 p.m., Memorial Stadium
