2016 recap from Championship Friday, December 2nd

Division 1-Bakersfield 21 Central 14

• The Drillers have won more Valley Championships than anybody with 37!
• Bakersfield lost to Del Oro 57-16 in the North Division 1-AA state playoff game

Division 2-Sanger 20 Ridgeview 10

• Sanger lost to Serra 49-36 in the North Division 2-A  state playoff game

Division 3-Bakersfield Christian 53 Tulare Western 19

• BC beat Selma 28-27 in the South Division 4-AA state playoff game
• Lost to Campolindo 31-7 in the Division 4 AA state championship game

Division 4- Selma 39 Chowchilla 7

• Selma lost to Bakersfield Christian 28-27 in the South Division 4-AA state playoff game

Division 5- Mendota 50 Firebaugh 22

• Mendota lost to Amador 21-14 in the North Division 6 AA state playoff game

Division 6- Strathmore 46 Sierra Pacific 20

• Beat Horizon 62-22 in the South Division 6 A state playoff game
• Lost to St Patrick in the Division 6 A state championship game

Pag Meter Notes

• 2016 was the year of the Quarterback. There has never has been sooooo many good QB’s in the same year in a long long time. Usually it’s the year of the running Back.
• Check out this 2016 list of special Quarterbacks and this list is in no particular order but just a beautiful summary of some of 2016 signal callers..
  • Sean Chambers, Kerman; Junior Cardenas,  Mendota; Branden Wingle, Bakersfield Christian; Jeremiah Galaviz, Farmersville; JJ Lino,CVC; Trent Tompkins, Central; Adrian Martinez, Clovis West; Will Springer, Sierra Pacific; Aries Harris, South; Victor Nava, Washington Union; Jacob Tijerina, Sanger; Jack Taylor, Bullard; Zach Bushling, Kern Valley; Cameron Williams, Bakersfield; Anthony Sierra, Kingsburg; Isaiah Hill, Liberty Bakersfield; Jonah Johnson, Madera South; Joseph Tobias, Garces; Ryan Graves, Bishop Union; Hugo Santana, Foothill; Nick Salas Jr, Strathmore; Richard Lara, East Bakersfield; Zeke Arambula, Highland; Jacob Cullen, Minarets; Greg Youngblood, Frontier; Skylar Miller, Exeter; Alec Trujillo, Memorial; Theron Dutra, Hanford; Junior Ramirez, Selma; Wll Alexander, Centennial; Nolan Leforge, Buchanan; Alex Aguilar, Shafter; Nate Hughes, Sunnyside; Frankie Ayon, Redwood; Trey Lake, Clovis; Gustavo Villarreal, Dinuba; Andre Aguilar, Tulare Western, Nathan Lamb, Tulare Union; Noey Garcia, Firebaugh, Josh Maran, Bakersfield; Nick Southern, Fresno High; Cody Woosley, Chowchilla; Michael Ynclan, Mt Whitney; Payton Allen, Golden West; Jacob Ruley, Stockdale; Robbie Stevenson, Woodlake; Caden Hinton, Desert; Tristan Eames, Yosemite.

How ’bout that list of the year of the Quarterbacks!!

Let’s give some love to…

 A big shout out goes to Garces Rams senior quarterback Conor Bruce who broke his leg on the 1st play of the Edison game. Conor will be playing at Cal Poly in the fall because he is so good. Good luck Conor!

Also a big shout out goes to Hanford Bullpups QB Ryan Johnson who received an ACL tear on the 6th play of the year against Buchanan. Ryan was the leader in the clubhouse for Pag Meter player of the year. Next stop will be San Jose State.

Also last year’s Pag Meter defensive player of the year Kurtis Brown is a 6-3, 260-pound Defensive Tackle from the Liberty Patriots who went down after 6 games with a leg injury. Brown will be playing for the Arizona University Wildcats.

PAG METER/940 ESPN Special awards for 2016

Pag Meter/940 ESPN Player of the Year: Adrian Martinez, Junior, Clovis West Golden Eagle

• The most dangerous and best QB in the valley. Outstanding year throwing for 2,562 yards with 25 touchdowns and rushed for 1,462 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. The Golden Eagles will be the team to beat and Adrian will have them ready for a valley championship run his senior year. What’s scary is he dabbles in basketball but his best sport might just be baseball and he doesn’t even play any longer to focus on basketball and football.  Would have been drafted..(Heck of an athlete)  The football offers started real early and can’t wait to see what his senior year will look like. By the time Adrian is done at Clovis West, he will go down as one of the best to ever play at Clovis West. He has already verbally committed to play for the Cal Bears.

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Coach of the Year: Check Shidan, Sanger Apaches

• This was so close with Selma Bears, Matt Logue, Beto Mejia from the Mendota Aztecs and Jeromy Blackwell from the Strathmore Spartans, Darren Carr from  Bakersfield Christian and Paul Golla from the Valley Champion Bakersfield Drillers. All of them did such a GREAT job with their staff but the Pag Meter went with the Sanger legend Chuck Shidan.
  • Chuck Shidan retires after coaching 27 years and went 203-110. Won 8 league titles and 4 section championships. (1998, 2001, 2003, 2016)
  • I can’t to see the Chuck  Shidan Field big sign up at Tom Flores stadium.

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Team of the Year: Sanger Apaches

•  Another tough call with 4 teams that went 13-0 before the state playoffs with Selma, Mendota, Strathmore and Sanger. The central section has never had 4 undefeated teams in the same year.   
• The Pag Meter went with the Sanger Apaches, the division 2 section champions who went 13-1 . After it is all said and done, the Sanger Apaches might just be the best team in the valley! Tom Flores stadium/Chuck Shidan field is the greatest place in the state to watch a game. This was truly a special team and maybe the best in school history.

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Lineman of the Year: Daniel Schoene, senior, Bakersfield Drillers

•  Daniel is 6-6, 325 lbs and a man beast for the Drillers. Daniel has great feet at playing guard and a big part of the dangerous Drillers offense. The Runnin Rebels are getting a good one.

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Offensive Player of the Year: Trent Tompkins, sophomore, Central Grizzlies

• Trent has a couple of things you can’t teach and that is guts and heart. He is not afraid to make that tough throw under pressure. He will stay in the pocket and take a hit for his team. 
  • Trent stats were fantastic in his 1st year for the Grizzlies throwing for 3,118 yards with 36 touchdown passes. Rushed for 305 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.  The Grizzlies are in good hands for the next 2 years with Trent at QB.

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Defensive Player of the Year: Miguel Garcia, Senior Sanger Apaches

•  A huge part of the greatest Apaches defense in school history. Miguel was a force at middle linebacker and made it tough to run against and finished with 130 tackles, 3 sacks. At fullback he rushed for 417 yards and scored 5 touchdowns. He also has the school-record with 369 career tackles. Next stop will be Sacramento State

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Underclassman of the year: Jalen Cropper, sophomore, Sanger Apaches

•  If you youtube Raiders legend Marcus Allen, it will look just like Jalen Cropper and the same explosive running style! He was so dangerous for the division 2 champions. Cropper averaged 17 yards per carry.  AMAZING! One of the best defensive backs in the valley and will be recruited by many starting with Oregon State. With Sanger losing so many for next year….the big part of the Apaches will be Jalen Cropper.

Pag Meter-940 ESPN  Comeback Player of the Year: Josh Maran, Senior, Bakersfield Drillers

•  Josh broke his collarbone and 6 weeks later he comes back and was better than ever in leading the Drillers to a valley championship. Who does that? I have never seen any QB come back and play better in the return so quickly. He wasn’t shy at all.  Against Liberty in the semi finals, Josh went 16-18 for 307 yards and 3 TD passes. WOW!

Pag Meter-940 ESPN Kicker of the Year: Tiago Paim, senior, Central Grizzlies

•  He was absolutely dangerous for the Grizzlies punting and kicking. Kicking, he was nails with touchbacks that made offenses have to go 80 yards to score. He was 59-60 in extra points and also had 2 fake punts that went for huge yards. Next stop will be Adam State University. 

 Pag Meter-940 ESPN Punter of the Year: Zach Bushling, senior, Kern Valley Broncs

•  He averaged 44.6 yards per punt for the Broncs, with a season-best punt of 65 yarder.. He was the master at dropping it inside the 20 yard line. The Broncs defense was loving it with team’s pinned inside the 20. Zach was an outstanding QB and fantastic in basketball and baseball.