Imagine Khari McGee and Christian Rossi attending intermediate school together?

Further, imagine one of them not even playing sports at the school?

True story.

It happened four years ago at Granite Ridge -- the Clovis North feeder -- when Rossi was quarterbacking the football team and McGee was playing, instead, for San Joaquin Memorial's Pop Warner team. He would transfer to Edison a year later.

Friday, Rossi and McGee will come together again, as opponents and as two of the Central Section's elite quarterbacks when second-seeded Clovis North (10-1) plays No. 6 Edison (9-3) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in the Division I semifinals.

While Rossi has been remarkably consistent for the Broncos, it's been a roller-coaster season for McGee, a preseason All-State selection by Cal-Hi Sports.

McGee's past four games:

15 for 20 against Frontier, 5 for 12 against Clovis West, 10 for 16 against Bullard and 4 for 16 against Memorial.

But it was showtime at third-seeded Frontier as he passed for 194 yards and a touchdown without an interception.

A 59-yard completion saw McGee get hammered while releasing a pass that traveled 30 yards and was caught one-handed by a leaping Isaiah Runderson, who then advanced it to the Frontier 13 (see a video of the play at sports.fresnobeehive.com).

Edison was a mystery after opening County/Metro Athletic Conference play with a 35-29 loss to Sanger on Oct 5.

Since, the Tigers have averaged 45.3 points in a six-game winning streak and are a mystery no more.

When fate isn't kind

Tough way to go last Friday for Clovis, Mt. Whitney and Coalinga.

And, for Clovis coach Rich Hammond, it's been three years in a row. Can't think of a section coach who's done more, only to receive less -- in November at least.

• In the 2010 semis, three weeks after losing 56-14 to Clovis West, the Cougars outplayed the Golden Eagles for all but a couple minutes, but were betrayed by a late interception and fumble in a 19-14 loss.
• Last year, a late-season injury to its go-to offensive player, running back Yoon Conner, likely cost Clovis a top seed, home-field advantage and ultimately maybe the D-I title as well.
• Last week, the top-seeded Cougars outgained Liberty-Bakersfield 334-238 and had two 100-yard rushers, only to lose 25-23 on two fourth-quarter fumble returns for scores.

For Mt. Whitney, the Pioneers lost wide receiver Darius Armstead -- arguably the section's most consistent playmaker this season -- early in the second quarter to an ankle injury in a 21-20 loss to Porterville.

And at Coalinga, Ryan Vasquez didn't play because of a broken rib -- denying the Horned Toads a running back with 1,368 yards and 21 TDs, and also a standout defensive lineman -- in a 34-19 D-IV loss to Chowchilla.