High school football: Three county teams get top seed
By CALIFORNIAN STAFF REPORT
Kern County football teams earned the top seed in three of the Central Section's six playoff divisions when section commissioners determined seeds Saturday morning in Porterville.
Garces (9-1) got the nod -- and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs -- in Division II, Ridgeview (8-2) in Division III and Wasco, the section's only 10-0 team, in Division IV.
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First round, Friday, 7 p.m.
Division I — No. 13 Tulare Union at No. 4 Fresno-Central; No. 12 Clovis East at No. 5 Bakersfield; No. 11 Clovis West at No. 6 Fresno-Edison; No. 10 Fresno-Bullard at No. 7 Stockdale; No. 9 Clovis-Buchanan at No. 8 Liberty. Byes: No. 1 Clovis; No. 2 Clovis North; No. 3 Frontier.
Division II — No. 11 West at No. 6 Tehachapi; No. 10 Fresno-Hoover at No. 7 Visalia-Redwood; No. 9 Porterville-Monache at No. 8 Kingsburg. Byes: No. 1 Garces; No. 2 Sanger; No. 3 Lemoore; No. 4 Visalia-El-Diamante; No. 5 Fresno-Sunnyside.
Division III — No. 10 Fresno at No. 7 Madera; No. 9 Washington Union at No. 8 Delano. Byes: No. 1 Ridgeview; No. 2 Dinuba; No. 3 Visalia-Mt. Whitney; No. 4 Independence; No. 5 South; No. 6 Porterville.
Division IV — No. 13 Fresno-McLane at Coalinga; No. 12 Fresno-Roosevelt at Chowchilla; No. 11 Dos Palos at No. 6 Fowler; No. 10 Hanford West at No. 7 Exeter; No. 9 Chavez at No. 8 Arvin. Byes: No. 1 Wasco; No. 2 Tulare-Mission Oak; No. 3 Bakersfield Christian.
Division V — No. 10 Orosi at No. 7 Woodlake; No. 9 Reedley-Immanuel at No. 8 Caruthers. Byes: No. 1 Liberty Madera-Ranchos; No. 2 Oakhurst-Sierra; No. 3 Shafter; No. 4 Lindsay; No. 5 Firebaugh; No. 6 Corcoran.
Division VI (Quarterfinals) — No. 6 Kennedy at No. 3 Strathmore; No. 5 McFarland at No. 4 Avenal. Byes: No. 1 Mendota; No. 2 Farmersville.
All three teams have byes in Friday's first round, in which all games will start at 7 p.m. The quarterfinals will be Nov. 16, with semifinals Nov. 23 and section championships Nov. 30.
Only one local team will have a bye in Division I -- that's Southwest Yosemite League champion Frontier, which is seeded third behind No. 1 Clovis and No. 2 Clovis North. The Titans (7-3) will play either No. 6 Fresno-Edison or No. 11 Clovis West in the quarterfinals.
Bakersfield (8-2) is the No. 5 seed and opens Friday at home against No. 12 Clovis East. Also at home are No. 7 Stockdale (5-5) against No. 10 Fresno-Bullard, and No. 8 Liberty (6-4) against No. 9 Clovis-Buchanan.
Tehachapi seemingly was in the running for the top seed in Division II until it lost 21-7 to Garces on Friday night. Instead, the Warriors (8-2) fell to the No. 6 seed and will open against No. 11 West, which lost 34-29 to the Warriors during the regular season.
Independence (5-5) and South (7-3) drew the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in Division III and will face each other in the quarterfinals after both have bye weeks.
In Division IV, Wasco, ranked No. 4 in Cal Hi Sports' Southern California Division III poll, will open with a familiar foe: South Sequoia League compatriots Chavez and Arvin play in the first round for the right to face the Tigers.
Two more SSL teams, Bakersfield Christian (8-2) and Shafter (6-4), are the No. 3 seeds in Divisions IV and V, respectively. Both teams have first-round byes.
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