Section football rankings virtually stand pat

A week that had half of The Bee’s Top 20 with byes produced but one change in the overall Central Section football rankings.

That has Golden West (4-1) breaking into the Top 20 after actually being rewarded for a loss – a 24-21 West Yosemite League decision to No. 12 Redwood (6-0) in a game the Trailblazers led entering the fourth quarter.

Divisional shake-ups have Bakersfield Christian (5-1) and South (4-2) assume the Nos. 2-3 slots behind No. 1 Hanford (4-2) in D-III and Strathmore (5-0) and Orosi (3-2) take over Nos. 1-2 ahead of former No. 1 Kennedy (3-3) in D-VI.

Meanwhile, league play in the section goes full throttle this week, featuring five matchups of ranked teams.

The marquee topper can be found in the Tri-River Athletic Conference, which will send No. 4 Buchanan (4-1) to No. 2 Central (4-1) Friday night at Koligian Stadium.

The same league will also have No. 5 Clovis West (3-2) and No. 13 Clovis North (3-2) duel at Veterans Memorial Stadium while No. 1 Clovis (5-0) plays at home against Clovis East (0-5).

If Buchanan/Central isn’t the marquee topper, Bullard/Sanger is.

Routinely anticipated highly in the County/Metro Athletic Conference, this one will match No. 7 Bullard (2-3) and the No. 8 Apaches (5-0) at Tom Flores Stadium.

The Knights’ losses have been to Buchanan (28-17), Clovis (35-28) and Clovis West (31-27).

A West Yosemite League stage at Neighbor Bowl in Hanford will be well illuminated with the No. 15 Bullpups (4-2, 2-0) opposing No. 12 Redwood (6-0, 2-0).

Hanford is one of three leading programs in the section to have lost its top quarterback for the season.

The misfortune has befallen Ryan Johnson (ACL) of the D-III Bullpups in Week 1, Josh Maran (broken collarbone) of D-I Bakersfield in Week 5 and Conor Bruce (broken leg) of D-II Garces in Week 6.

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Section football rankings virtually stand pat."