BCHS claims solo SYVL league title with 35-14 win over Independence
New league, no problem for Bakersfield Christian. The Eagles completed an unbeaten run through their inaugural South Yosemite Valley League campaign Friday night with a conclusive 35-14 win over Independence, clinching sole possession of the league title and making a final statement entering next week’s CIF Central Section playoffs.
“It means a lot, man ... it just means these guys work hard and these coaches work hard, so I’m very proud of these guys,” BCHS coach Darren Carr said. “It’s a stepping stone, it’s not the end, but I’m very, very pleased.”
The victory was right in line with the rest of the Eagles’ SYVL games. In total, they beat Bakersfield, Ridgeview, Highland and Independence by an average of nearly 26 points.
This week, though, they did so without playmakers Bryson Waterman and Nathan Perez, relying on backup running backs Colton Thorsen and Kaileb Cadena. Thorsen rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries and added a 24-yard catch, though he did lose a fumble. Cadena had a 22-yard run to set himself up for a 7-yard touchdown to conclude the scoring.
“These guys are the guys that kind of get short on reps in practice, because these other guys are playing in front of them,” Carr said. “But it’s nice to see these guys step up and kind of handle the pressure, and I think our running backs really did a good job.”
Jose Saldana and quarterback Jordan Delgado also chipped in short-yardage
touchdowns. The Falcons limited Delgado’s deep passing opportunities, but he found Dylan Johnson for a 2-yard score in the fourth quarter. Chase Furtado had six catches for 43 yards.
Independence showed some promise on offense early, leaning heavily on running back Richard Gooden, but squandered three of its first four drives on two turnovers on downs, a punt and a Shaine Heriford interception. That prevented the Falcons from taking advantage of Thorsen’s fumble.
Outside of one 80-yard touchdown drive that featured runs of 52 and 20 yards by Anthony Rico, giving Independence its first points late in the third quarter, the Falcons only totaled 76 yards of offense. They have started multiple quarterbacks this season and sophomore Diego Hernandez was limited in
the passing game Friday, although he and Rico each ran for 6-yard scores.
A big part of why Independence generated so little offense was BCHS’s control of time of possession throughout. The Eagles went up 14-0 on a 13-play drive in the second quarter and 21-0 on a backbreaking 17-play series in the third. They could have been up by more, but a long Dylan Johnson run right before halftime was nullified by offsetting penalties.
“We were very undisciplined last week; today we fixed that a lot,” Carr said. “I think we got to cut down on penalties — I think our offensive line kinda gets their hands outside and kind of cost us some holding calls, some big plays — so those are things that we gotta work on.”
The teams traded touchdowns before BCHS gifted Independence excellent
field position late in the fourth. The Eagles went backwards on a bad snap and a sack and had to punt from their own 9-yard line, but the kick only went a net of six yards.
Even so, the Falcons needed Rico to cut outside twice on fourth-and-1 and go around right end for their final score.
After recovering an onside kick, BCHS added the Cadena touchdown just three plays later.
Even if the Eagles had lost Friday, they were in no jeopardy of sharing the title with Highland, as the Scots lost 56-28 to Ridgeview and finished 2-2 in league play.
Brackets for the section playoffs are expected to be released Saturday.