Top-ranked Liberty to play first game in town since 2022 section title game
Aug. 23—Area high school football fans will have plenty of variety when choosing which game to attend starting Thursday with seven Kern County games on the schedule and another seven slated for Friday night.
Liberty will play its first game in town since capturing its first CIF State championship with a 48-20 victory over Pittsburg for the 1-A title at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.
It's been 272 days since the Patriots played a game in Bakersfield, a streak they will snap when they travel to play Ridgeview on Thursday night. Their last game in town was on Nov. 25, a 29-13 victory over Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial in the section D-I title game at Liberty.
Fresh off a 34-7 victory at Palmdale-Highland last week, Liberty is currently the top ranked team in the Central Section and No. 19 in the state.
The Wolf Pack (0-1) hung tough in a 28-14 loss at Canyon Country-Canyon last week, in a game that was tied at 14-14 at the half.
Garces will also be playing its first game in town when it hosts Lancaster-Paraclete on Thursday.
The Rams (0-1) are looking for its first win of the season after losing to Clovis 35-21 last week.
Another intriguing matchup features Bakersfield High at Frontier, two teams expected to among the top 10 in the area.
Senior Malakhi Statler threw for 361 yards and six touchdowns in the Titans' 45-14 victory at North High last week.
The Drillers (1-0) won a defensive battle last week in defeating host Santa Maria-Righetti 14-13, in a game the Warriors botched the potential tying PAT with 45 seconds left.
A pair of defending league champions will also be in action.
Golden Valley (0-1), which won the South Yosemite Horizon League last year, will play at East (0-1), with both teams looking for their first win. The Bulldogs lost 36-20 at Fresno-Sunnyside last week, while the Blades dropped a 31-7 decision at Santa Maria.
Tehachapi (1-0), the 2022 South Yosemite Mountain League champion, is looking to stay perfect when it plays at Highland (1-0), which won its opener 20-15 over Stockdale last week.
The Warriors, which finished 10-2 last year, had 391 total yards in a 42-14 home victory over Burroughs last week.
In other Thursday games, Foothill will host Desert and Delano is at West.
On Friday, Bakersfield Christian will host Santa Maria-St. Joseph in a battle of two of the top teams in the section.
No. 7 St. Joseph (0-1), which lost at Palos Verdes 37-13, will be looking for its first win of the season, while the Eagles (1-0) can 2-0 for the first time since 2019, the same year BCHS won the CIF State 3-A championship.
Bakersfield Christian won a hard-fought 13-8 game at San Luis Obispo-Mission Prep last week.
Arvin will be hosting Shafter on a special night that will include the dedication of the school's library to former longtime teacher and coach Larry Hallum, who was killed in a car accident earlier this year.
The night will get started with opening remarks and guest speakers at 5:30 in the auditorium, followed by a dedication and unveiling in the library at 6:35 and a celebration of life on the football field at 7:15 just prior to kickoff against the Generals.
The Bears (0-1) lost a high-scoring 48-32 contest at Chavez last week with both teams combining for 920 total yards.
Shafter (1-0) rolled to a 55-7 victory over West, with sophomore quarterback Ezekiel Osborne throwing for 402 yards and seven touchdowns, including three to sophomore Mariyon Sloan.
Other county home games include Kennedy at Stockdale, Atascadero a North, Los Angeles-Sotomayor at Independence, Tulare-Mission Oak at Taft and Porterville at South. All games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.