Washington High's Tee Shepard, who was prohibiting from playing football last fall per CIF transfer rules after playing at Central as a junior, is attending Notre Dame and is included in the school's published 2012 recruiting class.

But Washington athletic director Jeff Cardoza said he's not sure Shepard has actually signed while his case works through the NCAA Clearinghouse.

"He finished all the requirements for us," Cardoza said of the semester graduate, "but some things have come up. [The NCAA] wants to verify everything."

Bullard receiver Rex Hudler is believed to be the last Central Section football player to sign with Notre Dame, in 1978. Only he never made it to South Bend, Ind., after being drafted

** Former Clovis East coach Tim Murphy has left Hunter High (Utah) without coaching a game and returned to where it all began for him at Ygnacio Valley in Concord. He says it was a family-driven decision (his daughter lives nearby in Clayton) and where he wanted to be all along. We'll elaborate in upcoming column.

** Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly, the winningest football programs in state history, have signed a two-year contract. The Drillers, defending section D-I champions, will go to Poly in Week 3 this fall before the Jackrabbits come to Bakersfield in 2013. That's a big-time series and an ambitious call by Bakersfield coach Paul Golla in his pursuit of a state bowl.

** Tough gig for Fresno Unified athletic director Doug Semmen, helping place football coaches at Sunnyside, Edison and Fresno at the same time. Major losses in particular

** Don't hold it against coaches Paul Golla of Bakersfield and Donnie Arax of Bullard that they're opposed to the idea of housing all the Central Section football championships at Bulldog Stadium. Typically, the strongest programs stand to lose the most in single-site finals while sacrificing home-field advantage and concession/parking revenue more often. Remember, the strongest opposition seven years ago in moving the basketball finals to Selland Arena came out of the Tri-River Athletic Conference -- specifically, Clovis West. In fact, that was virtually the only opposition to the concept, which has proven to be a resounding success.

** While I favor the idea of playing the football finals at Bulldog Stadium because of the benefits for fans, players and media, there's also the argument of losing intimacy at a large venue like that. The difference: put 6,000 or 7,000 fans in 10,000-seat Selland Arena and it appears almost full. Conversely, put 10,000 fans in 42,000-seat Bulldog Stadium and

Consider the whopping changes in Immanuel football:

** The Eagles went 13-0 while capturing the Central Section Division IV title in 2005, then 7-5 the following season before plunging to a 9-43 record in the past years. Included has been a 2-27 mark in the Central Sequoia League.

** They've now named Matt Armstring, a Clovis West assistant, to replace Ryan Wood as the football coach. Wood, the school's superintendent and principal, had stepped in as coach the past three seasons "Just to kind of hold the program together."

** Wood says school enrollment is 228 -- down 100 from five years ago.

State record-setter Deontay Greenberry, right, of Washington High was listed Tuesday as one of five players in the running for Cal-Hi Sports' Mr. Football award, which recognizes California's player of the year. Greenberry was also selected Tuesday as a second-team All-America receiver by Sports Illustrated.

Greenberry, a senior receiver/defensive has has given an oral commitment to Notre Dame, helped lead the Panthers to the state Division III championship on Saturday, making four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception and a fumble recovery on defense in a 21-16 win over Campolindo-Moraga.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder finished with 2,165 yards receiving and 33 touchdowns (both state records) on 109 catches.

Other nominees for state player of the year include: Michael Barton of De La Salle-Concord, Su'a Cravens of Vista Murrieta-Murrieta, Johnny Stanton of Santa Margarita-Rancho Santa Margarita and Tanner Trosin of Folsom. The winner is expected to be named in the next two weeks.

Cal-Hi Sports also announced De La Salle (13-1) as its state team of the year for the 15th time in the past 20 years. De La Salle was a 35-0 winner over Westlake in Saturday's Open Division final, billed as the state championship game for schools of any size.

** It's 64 with a light rain for CIF State D-III Championship. Washington coach Jeff Freitas preferred a dry track, even if it's on the Home Depot Center's new artificial surface.

** Says here Washington RB/LB Donald Phelps is the team's X factor and, ultimately, the Game MVP.

** Easton turnout loud, proud, purple and in good numbers on the 27,000-seat stadium's east side.

** Washington no doubt has something to prove -- for a lot of people -- after the Central Section was deemed not worthy for an invitation in the bowls' 1st 5 years.

It has been a quick -- and not very surprising -- rise to the top for the Clovis North High football program.

In the Bronco's third varsity season, they have reached a Central Section final, where the third seeds will face No. 1 Garces for the Division II title tonight in Bakersfield.

Clovis Unified's fifth high school launched under the direction of former Clovis High coach Tim Simons, who stepped down as head coach this season for health reasons, although he is still heavily involved in the program that went 10-14 with two playoff wins in it's first two seasons.

But the breakout has come this year under interim coach Cory Hall, the former Fresno State standout. The Broncos are 9-3 entering tonight's game, which is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. Clovis North seeks to join its district brothers as a section football champion (Clovis, Clovis West, Buchanan and Clovis East all have Division I crowns, a level the Broncos won't join until next season.)

Clovis North faces a stiff test tonight in tradition-rich Garces, which is 11-1.

They have one common opponent: Memorial. The Rams lost to Memorial 35-28 on Sept. 24, and the Broncos fell to Memorial a 28-21 a week later then last week, ousted the Panthers from the playoffs 35-20.

Follow live scoring updates at www.blitz.fresnobeehive.com or on Twitter: @NickG_FB.

Had a fascinating 70-minute conversation today with Nick Ellis, who was the head referee in Bakersfield's controversial 31-14 football win over Clovis last Friday at the Drillers' Griffith Stadium.

Ellis talked about not only fans perceptions of officials in the Central Section, but officials perceptions of themselves. For example: The Kern County Officials Association considers itself the "stepchild" in comparision to the "brother" associations from Tulare and Fresno/Clovis.

I was startled to hear him say the Bakersfield-area officials actually follow a different mechanics manual than those officials to the section's north.

I'm just told by a section athletic director that there's a movement toward following the basketball routine and having "mixed" officiating crews in football next year. That means a mix of North, Central and South area officials working on the same team.

But there's an apparent roadblock in Kern County.

Interesting, if true, huh?

After further consideration following the latest in a series of controversial nights for an opponent (in this case, Clovis) playing a football game at Bakersfield High with Kern County officials, why not do this:

Use neutral officials in the semis and finals -- if not throughout -- thereby removing any perception of bias for all in the section. I fully understand Bakersfield fans anger over the years in games play at Fresno and Clovis schools, too. So why not be fair for all?

Added fuel costs and time, of course, would be the first consideration for section commissioner Jim Crichlow and his boys. But the section has made some pretty good bucks in playoffs in recent years, so maybe there's some cash to burn.