Friday's Suddenly and Surprisingly Winnable Game

After losing the first two games of the season by a combined score of 114-0, few would have given Shafter a chance against Bakersfield Christian. The Eagles were fearsome last year and the first two games of the season went their way by a combined score 101-0. Things have changed. Bakersfield Christian has not won a game since their first two games and Shafter has managed to win a couple, putting both teams at 2 and 5 on the year. The one common opponent so far has been Tehachapi. Shafter can take comfort in the fact that they were only down to the Warriors by 14 at the half on their way to a 28-0 loss. BCHS was down 34-0 at the half, but managed to score 12 points and also lost by 28. We'll call it a wash. The oddsmakers will probably make Shafter slight underdogs in this one. Even this once seemed wildly optimistic.

UPDATE:
Calpreps.com Prediction: BCHS 24, Shafter 17
At this point in the season, the Calpreps computer is pretty accurate, picking the right winner around 85% of the time nation wide.

Zach Ewing Prediction: BCHS 34, Shafter 24
Here is Ewing's write-up:

BAKERSFIELD CHRISTIAN (2-5, 0-2 SSL) AT SHAFTER (2-5, 1-1) — Hard to believe that it was just a year ago that BCHS was coming off of a scintillating shootout win against Tehachapi and blazing its way to an SSL title. Now the Eagles simply have to be worried about snapping out of this five-game losing streak. The good news is that Shafter, despite its own thrilling victory last week at Arvin, is more like the two teams Bakersfield Christian beat (Avenal and Kennedy) than it's like the five teams it lost to. Shafter will hang around, and a win here would really be huge for the program, but I think Arend Bos and the Eagles receivers hit enough big plays to give BCHS a much-needed victory.

We will see. It is true that BCHS has had a tough schedule in the last five games, but Avenal and Kennedy? Those are two very, very bad teams. Coast Union would be a three touchdown underdog to Shafter and they beat Avenal by three touchdowns. Kennedy is worse. A bit of a low blow.