BCHS' move to Division I-A pays off, Eagles defeat Liberty in title game

The Bakersfield Christian High football team’s rise to the top of the Kern County football mountain continued with the first-ever meeting between BCHS and Liberty on Friday night.

It took a CIF Central Section playoff bracket and winning games within it to bring the schools, whose campuses are less than two miles apart, together. When it did, the No. 1 seeded Eagles soared to a 38-16 Division I-A championship victory over the No. 3 Patriots.

“We’re excited to win another division title, we’re fired up,” BCHS head football coach Darren Carr said. He gave full appreciation of the accomplishment to his players, coaching staff and also to God.

“I want to thank the Lord. Over this past year, he’s been showing us some things as our journey has gone on. There are struggles no one else sees. The (players) came to Bible study, sat in front, grinded when nobody was watching. I want to thank Jesus for this win, it’s just an incredible feeling. It’s fun to watch all these faces smile and have fun (postgame) with their families.”

It was a solid win, top to bottom, for the Eagles who collected their second straight section title — this time a higher division to go with last year’s Division II championship — improved to a 12-0 record and gained some validation for those who felt BCHS wasn’t ready for the biggest stage.

“I feel like we’ve been doubted by others since people found out that we were going to play Division I,” senior quarterback Lincoln Adame said. “People pushed us off because we’ve never been here before. But we came through tonight and won like we knew we could.”

BCHS junior running back Darriyon Page ran 30 times for 186 yards and three touchdowns.

“Big shout out to God and my O-Line,” Page said. “I was able to do everything because of them. I just followed the leaders.”

Adame didn’t have any gaudy passing stats due to an effective running game, but his 7-for-12, 100-yard effort included a perfect 38-yard TD strike to receiver Michael Smith. Fullback Arnez Lee bullied his way in for a 1-yard TD run and kicker Cohen Peters drilled a 30-yard field goal to account for the Eagles’ offense. Defensively, the Eagles had two interceptions — both thrown by backup Gavin Parham — and Liberty only had nine yards passing in the entire game.

“That’s a really good football team,” Patriots coach Richie Bolin said. “They’ve shown it all season and they showed tonight that they’re a good squad. They are undefeated for a reason. Tonight they did a good job and executed and we didn’t on our side.”

Liberty (6-7) trailed 17-0 after Peters’ field goal with 10:08 left in the second quarter, but was able to make a surge with a 28-yard field goal from Julian Struzyna, followed two minutes later by a 27-yard quarterback keeper for Brogan Witcher to cut the lead to 17-10 with 3:15 left in the first half.

The Patriots’ defense kept the momentum going. On the first play of the ensuing drive, safety Elmo Whitten blitzed and sacked Adame for a six-yard loss to BCHS’ 14. It wound up being a three-and-out for BCHS.

“We were trying to get our players in position to make some plays and we liked what we were doing,” Bolin said.

The Patriots were unable to capitalize and get to Adame, who was fed several bad snaps due to the weather elements that forced him to fall on the ball for multiple double-digit yard losses and stalled a few drives.

While Page’s first touchdown came late in the first quarter, he also ran for 54 yards on six carries before Lee’s touchdown. After a Liberty punt, Page had a 30-yard run to set up his 5-yard TD run to make it 14-0. He had 110 yards rushing at halftime.

On the game’s initial drive of the second half, Page ran the ball nine times and scored on a 1-yard run. He also scored BCHS’ last touchdown of the game from three yards out.

“The best part of his game is that he’s hard to see,” Carr said. “He’s got a massive offensive line in front of him. He’s not blessed with the tallest of genes but he hides behind the line really well and he doesn’t stop. His legs don’t quit running. It’s a good recipe to have a big line and guy who doesn’t stop playing for you.”

Page wasn’t the only effective runner for the Eagles. Richlyn Gooden, a sophomore, had 86 yards on only nine carries and had a 43-yard burst on the final touchdown drive.

Liberty’s version of that style of runner, that no-quit attitude, was Whitten. The senior running back, was most effective when running on consecutive carries. He had 11 carries for 142 yards, largely gained on an 84-yard touchdown run for Liberty’s final points with just under six minutes left in the game.

“That shows you his character,” Bolin said of Whitten. “Elmo just keeps playing hard no matter what. He’s a great kid and he’s been a great player to coach.”

The Eagles, meanwhile, will move forward. The early playoff title win gives the team a bye next week. The CIF State regional playoff bracket won’t be set until after next Friday’s other division finals are played.

BCHS players, while enjoying the section title win, understand what’s still at stake. Last year’s team lost in the state regional final.

“The job is not finished at all,” Page said. “We need to keep working.”