Couple thoughts I've been getting up with lately as we near Friday's kickoffs:

** Can't imagine Edison, for all that talent, running the table and securing the section's No. 1 ranking wire to wire. The schedule's too strong (six losable games, actually) and question marks too glaring at QB and OL.

** Major pressure on Clovis West QB Jeff Tuel for several reasons: Replacing Beau Sweeney; taking over the position without having thrown a varsity pass; the status of having committed to Washington State; and a blistering schedule. Word has it he struggled mightily in the team's scrimmage.

** No surprise that RB/FS Alfonso Jackson's back at Bakersfield. The best athlete on campus -- even last year as a sophomore -- he got into so much trouble following last football season he was actually kicked out of school and placed elsewhere in the district. But he's a Driller once again -- predictably. The good ol' boy system in Kern County protects Bakersfield, the district's golden child. That applies to its attendance area, which winds randomly far away from the urban school and into affluent areas.