Central no longer atop The Bee’s prep football Top 10. See how rankings shuffled
Buchanan High is the new No. 1 high school football team in The Bee’s Top 10, replacing Central which held the top spot for several seasons.
Buchanan beat Central 31-28 in March 26’s marquee game, handing the Grizzlies their first defeat at the hands of a section team since the 2016 Division I final won by Bakersfield.
Central entered the 2020-21 season — pushed into a spring start because of the coronavirus pandemic — having won three straight section titles while compiling a 40-3 record, capped by an undefeated 2019 championship run.
The Grizzlies had beaten Tri-River Athletic Conference rival Buchanan alone six straight times, including two playoff games.
During the Central reign, however, the Bears have established themselves as the area’s No. 2 program. It took a last-second play to decide things last week between the teams.
Buchanan’s Austin Arroyo kicked a winning 20-yard field goal as time expired.
Central Section Football Top 10
1. Buchanan (2-0)
2. Central (1-1)
3. Liberty-Bakersfield (1-0)
4. Bullard (1-0)
5. Clovis (1-1)
6. Bakersfield (1-0)
7. San Joaquin Memorial (1–0)
8. Garces (1-1)
9. Clovis East (2-0)
10. Edison (0-0)
Week 3
Wednesday
Ocean
Mission Prep at Pioneer Valley
Thursday, April 1
Tri-RIver
Clovis at Buchanan, 6:30 p.m.
Clovis East vs. Central (Lamonica), 6:30 p.m.
Southwest Yosemite
Bakersfield at Stockdale, 7:30 p.m.
Centennial at Liberty-Bakersfield, 7:30 p.m.
Frontier at Ridgeview, 7:30 p.m.
East Sequoia
Corcoran at Lindsay, 7 p.m.
Ocean
Morro Bay at Nipomo, 7 p.m.
Southeast Yosemite
South at East, 7:30 p.m.
West Sequoia
Fowler at Orosi, 6:30 p.m.
Caruthers at Riverdale, 7:30 p.m.
Nonleague
San Joaquin Memorial at Lemoore, 7 p.m.
Wasco at Tulare Western, 5 p.m.
Arvin at Foothill, 7:30 p.m.
Independence at North, 7:30 p.m.
Kern Valley at Shafter, 7:30 p.m.
Mira Monte at Golden Valley, 7 p.m.
West at Highland, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
County/Metro
Bullard at Sanger, 7:30 p.m.
Edison vs. Madera, TBA
North Yosemite
Fresno vs. Reedley (McLane), 4:30 p.m.
Hoover vs. Sunnyside (McLane ), 7:45 p.m.
Central Sequoia
Kingsburg at Dinuba, 7:30 p.m.
East Yosemite
Mission Oak at Tulare Union, 7 p.m.
Mountain
Arroyo Grande at Templeton, 7 p.m.
Paso Robles at Righetti, 7 p.m.
St. Joseph at San Luis Obispo, 7 p.m.
North Sequoia
Washington Union at Liberty-Madera Ranchos, 7 p.m.
Yosemite at Chowchilla, 7 p.m.
Ocean
Atascadero at Santa Maria, 6 p.m..
West Sierra
Avenal at Firebaugh, 6 p.m.
Coalinga at Mendota, 6 p.m.
Dos Palos at Tranquillity, 6 p.m.
Nonleague
Hanford West vs. Farmersville (at Hanford ), 6 p.m.
Kerman at Selma, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Intersectional
Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth at Garces (Bakersfield, CA), 5 p.m.
