Three dramatically different Kern County football teams seek championship glory Friday
Nov. 23—Thirty-three Kern County schools opened the year striving to play a championship game Thanksgiving weekend. Twenty-three were left when playoffs began. Now, after making it through the postseason gauntlet, just three teams remain: Liberty, Kennedy and Shafter.
In Division I, No. 3 Liberty angles for a second straight section title and another chance at statewide glory in December.
The Division III No. 4 seed Kennedy is no stranger to valley championships either, having taken one home in Mario Millan's first season at the helm in 2018, but that was down in D-V.
And South Sequoia League rival Shafter, which lost to Kennedy in that narrow 2018 final, has waited just a little longer for a section title — 67 years, to be specific. The Generals will try to break that drought in the Division IV championship.
All three finals are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.
Division I
No. 4 Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial at No. 3 Liberty: Between its rigorous non-conference schedule and annual deep playoff runs, Liberty has become well-acquainted with the powerhouses of the Central Section, and particularly Clovis-Buchanan, which it knocked off 28-20 last week to avenge a lightning-shortened September loss.
"Playing in these types of games this late in the season, you have to be able to handle all kinds of adversity and things that go on in a football game," head coach Bryan Nixon said Tuesday. "... We were down early, being able to respond and not panic has really helped, and our very tough preseason has allowed them to see a lot of that as well."
The Patriots' familiarity does not extend to Memorial, which hasn't faced Liberty during Nixon's decade at the school. But the Panthers, in D-I after frequent lower-division title runs over the years, upset top-seeded Clovis West 30-20 to set up this atypical championship matchup.
"We really have to be cognizant of what we're looking at, and study significantly during the weekend and this week and find out what they do," Nixon said.
The Patriots will learn quickly about Brandon Ramirez. The senior running back has developed into perhaps the section's best rusher, with stats that pop off the page: 180 rushes for 1,790 yards and 29 touchdowns, including a season-high 326 yards against Central in the quarterfinals. Not to mention 78 tackles at safety, which is ostensibly his primary position.
For Liberty, receiver/defensive back Kresean Kizzy is a threat to score any time he touches the ball and has 688 receiving yards and nine touchdowns this year. Jalen Hankins has rushed for 938 with 18 scores of his own. Junior quarterback Cole O'Brien has grown into the starting role over the course of the season.
They will play before a home crowd Friday, after having to go on the road for last year's championship win over Fresno-Central.
Division III
No. 11 Fresno-Sunnyside at No. 4 Kennedy: Sunnyside has already ripped out the hearts of two Kern County fan bases this postseason, depriving the region of Cinderella stories in a resurgent Tehachapi and a scrappy 15-seed Independence that seemed to be peaking at the right time.
Sophomore quarterback Tanner Wilson, the section's leading passer with 4,310 yards, was near-flawless in those two games, combining to go 38-of-51 for 581 yards with seven touchdowns and no picks. Fellow sophomores CJ Jones and Malachi Barnes are his primary targets, suggesting these Wildcats could terrorize D-III for years to come.
For now, though, they face a Kennedy defense that has lifted the program to new heights. Since Sept. 9, the Thunderbirds have allowed just over 6 points per game.
"They've really taken ownership of this," Millan said. "They really believe that they're not going to let anyone score."
Millan said that stopping Wilson will require significant pressure upfront to try to force a rare mistake. He added that the Thunderbirds scheduled Fresno-Edison earlier in the year to prepare for countering a potent aerial attack.
Last week, Kennedy knocked off top-seeded San Luis Obispo-Mission Prep 27-14, led once again by an unusual strategy that also fueled their prior win over Kerman: playing wideout Gamiez Helm at running back. Kennedy had tried Helm in the backfield earlier in the year without much success, but before the Kerman game, the senior, already Julian Orozco's favorite target, came back to the coaches wanting to play running back again.
"Initially we took that as kind of a joke and laughed about it," Millan said, "but come Monday he was getting reps."
Pairing him in the backfield with the powerful Jace Demacabalin, called up from the freshman team for the playoffs, has unlocked a new dimension of Kennedy's offense. The Thunderbirds have rushed for 660 yards and six touchdowns in their last two games.
"We kind of look at it from the standpoint of, they're two different kinds of body frames and they bring to the table two different kinds of running abilities," Millan said.
The dominant 33-7 Kerman victory bodes well for Kennedy, as Sunnyside lost 44-18 to Kerman earlier this season.
Division IV
No. 8 Shafter at No. 3 Caruthers: Shafter has played a quantity of one-point games this year more suitable for a soccer team. After a 20-19 win over Arvin, the Generals fell 35-34 to Chavez and 29-28 to Taft in league play. But luck swung their way for a pair of playoff upsets, 14-13 at Madera-Liberty and 42-41 on a return trip to Madera against Torres.
In the quarterfinals, the Generals trailed 7-0 deep into the fourth quarter but were rescued by a pair of deep touchdown passes from freshman Ezekiel Osborne. The following week, more offense was required in a game that went to overtime tied 35-35. Osborne found Jesus Figueroa for their third scoring connection of the game, and on the Toros' ensuing touchdown, the Generals stopped a conversion attempt to clinch a spot in the championship.
"Especially in a young team, confidence is vital," Shafter coach Jerald Pierucci said. "The way we've won the last two games, against teams that were higher seeds ... the thought of 'we're never down,' that our kids find a way, I think there's an inherent belief or faith when you go through trials. And you know that, if I do my job, if I give these kids, our playmakers on the field, an opportunity, that I think they're going to make the play to bring this in our favor."
Osborne has shone early in his high school career, and he's not the only one. With 1,000-yard rusher and "safety blanket" Koa Rhodes out since suffering a moderate MCL tear against Wasco, Shafter has turned to younger players like sophomore Christopher Espinoza (735 rushing yards on the year), freshman Mariyon Sloan (559 receiving yards, six touchdowns) and junior receiving leader Figueroa (963 yards, 13 touchdowns).
This unlikely formula has provided a golden chance to break a championship drought of nearly seven decades. Pierucci said that when Shafter reached the championship in 2018, he felt he imparted added pressure by impressing upon the players the game's historical significance. This time, he's taking a different approach.
"I haven't really talked about it, to be honest with you," he said. "But the fact doesn't escape me, as somebody that lives in the community that graduated from Shafter High, I understand how much it would mean to this community to win one for the town."
The Generals will have to limit another section leader in running back Hunter Babb, the top scorer in the region with 33 touchdowns.
"The thing that we can kind of look at is that we've gone against some pretty good backs in the SSL," Pierucci said. "I think he's a mix between the kid from Chavez, the kid that we saw from Strathmore, even the runner from Delano. They're all cut from that same (cloth)."
Caruthers had a less dramatic season in the Northwest Sequoia League, at one point winning three straight games by a combined 177-0, but needed a swinging-gate 2-point conversion of its own to beat Coalinga in the semifinals.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
