No. 10 seed Redwood leads No. 7 Hoover 7-0 at halftime of this Central Section Division 2 football playoff game at McLane Stadium, but it wasn't because of the Rangers' offense.

Redwood defensive back Matt Ramos stepped in front of a Shane Martinez pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown with 8:41 remaining in the second quarter for the game's only score.

When the dog runs off beforehand, you know it's probably a bad idea.

I do not follow many rules in life -- don't make the last out at third base, don't sit in the shade at Wrigley in April, don't date redheads on the rebound -- but I'm adding one to the list. If a dog doesn't want to be involved in something, it's probably not something you should be doing.

9:17 p.m: Let's play the comparitive score game in D-II. Memorial, which has rushed for nearly 400 yards, is leading Mt. Whitney 40-7. The Pioneers lost 69-33 to D-II top seed Tulare two months ago.

7:50 p.m: Key numbers in a 28-0 Memorial laugher -- The Panthers have two 99-yard touchdown drives and Mt. Whitey quarterback Tanner Mendonca, the section's leading passer with 3,016 yards, is 12 of 24 for 106 yards and two interceptions. And Jordan Stallworth returned one of them 39 yards for a score.

7:40 p.m: The rain has stopped, but Memorial has just started. The Panthers lead 21-0 early in the second quarter as sophomore sensation Chris Brown has carried seven times for 108 yards and a touchdown.

A big reason Central Section commissioner Jim Crichlow's reserve fund in Porterville is fat is because of dry weather in the football playoffs for the past three years.

And both are closing in on the end of their careers at this point.

Yavasile told The Bee in September that he plans to coach at least through next season, and then reevaluate his plans. Yavasile said he would retire from teaching after the 2010-11 school year.

And word here in the press box says Plummer wil go two more seasons.

If there were any doubts about Whited's credentials as interim coach, that should take care of them. The Tigers also tied for first and will represent the conference in the Northern California championship against San Mateo Saturday in the Bulldog Bowl.

Reedley has to make a national search for a coach at the end of the season and former coach, Michael White, has a clause in his contract that would allow him to return. So it should be interesting to see how things shake out.

Whited (pictured at right) was White's long-time defensive guru and he'd probably feel

True, to win championships, you've got to have talent. But let's not fool ourselves here. Coaching separates programs.

Consider girls volleyball on the D-I level in the Central Section:

Buchanan won 7 titles in 11 seasons from 1997-2007. Why? Talent, dedication, athletes from homes with resources and, oh, let's not forget -- coach Marian Battles.

Why, then, did neighbor Clovis West -- with virtually identical demographics and resources -- not win a section title in 29 years until the past two? Simple: Rhonda DeRuiter.

Sophomore forward Paul George and freshman center Greg Smith of Edison each had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (2-1). Mike Ladd, a former high school star from the Seattle area, missed 6 of 7 shots and finished with just two points in 32 minutes in his homecoming.

It was a combination of Seattle's full-court press and Fresno State turnovers that decided the game. The Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers, including the last by guard Steven Shepp as he drove the lane for a potential winning shot in the final seconds.

But what the Bulldogs really need is a couple good bigs.

They might have one in 6-2 junior Veronica Wilson, a transfer from Boston College who's sitting out this season. The next tallest is freshman Jeanna, a project that might take three years to develop. After that, Fresno State has no one taller than 6-1 Hayley Munro, who has one season left after this one.

What's become obvious is Fresno State's height handicap against the good teams from the better conferences -- like USC, Cal, Stanford, TCU.

Sierra, who placed sixth at the state tournament last season at 140 pounds, joins Clovis West's Zach Zimmer as early signees. Zimmer, fourth in the state at 112 pounds last season, is headed to nationally ranked Indiana of the Big Ten Conference.

The section playoff format allows everyone to compete in the postseason. The weakest of the weak generally choose not to, avoiding not only a rout, but one also on the road.

Clovis (3-7) and Madera (4-6) don't qualify as the weakest of the weak. Weakest in the Tri-River Athletic Conference? Yes. But that's no embarrassment, given the league's No. 1 status in the section.

Had they joined the postseason pool, Clovis, as a No. 10 seed, would have played at No. 9 Clovis East, and Madera, as a No. 11 seed, would have visited No. 8 Centennial.

The former assistant to Adrian Wiggins is in her first year there and Bond's Bulldogs are mimicking Fresno State's Bulldogs at the offensive end -- firing 3-pointers from the hip and running up the score.

SWOS made 17 of 31 treys in its opener and scored 90 points. Too bad the defense isn't there yet. Oklahoma Panhandle scored 100 in the win.

Bond brought in former Fresno State guard Cophie Moore (2001-05) as an assistant coach and current junior guard Natasha Brown, a standout from Central and Fresno

Then Old Dominion's Nancy Lieberman came along in the '70s, followed by USC's Cheryl Miller and Texas Tech's Sheryl Swoopes (as in Hoops) in the '80s, Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw in the '90s and UConn's Diana Taurasi at the turn of the Century along with Candice Wiggins out of Stanford and Candace Parker from Tennessee.

What set Parker apart was this: she could dunk.

But you ain't seen nothing yet.

On the play, which occurred close to the 13-minute mark of the third quarter with the Bulldogs leading 13-10, Boyd leapt into LSU receiver Terrance Toliver and appeared to lead with his helmet.

The play made YouTube, but went undetected by the game officials.

"A flagrant personal foul should have been called by the game officials, and Boyd should have been ejected from the game at that time," said Benson.

"By NCAA rules, I am required to review these types of situations and it was determined that the player clearly committed a flagrant foul, and thus will be suspended. Protecting a defenseless player from a hit to the head has been a point of emphasis for two years and cannot be tolerated even if it goes undetected by the game officials."

The suspension should hurt Tech, who is already suffering from a number of injuries, including the loss of senior All-WAC safety Antonio Baker for the season.

Never mind that we have no idea if Hill will get a contract extension at Fresno State. We don't even know if he wants a contract extension at Fresno State. We have no real idea if UNLV is even interested in Hill, or whether Hill would be interested in UNLV, or whether his name has been brought up only because he's waiting on an extension, is perceived as disgruntled, or simply has UNLV connections since he was an assistant there once upon a football season.

Some say he has a high ankle sprain and is questionable for the Golden Eagles' quarterfinal game against unbeaten Bullard Nov. 27 at McLane.

But his own coach, Coby Lindsey, says he's fine, that he ran with the team today and that "nothing" will keep him out against the second-seeded Knights.

What's not in question is this: I've had several sources not associated with Clovis West, including Bullard coach Donnie Arax, who say Brock is the finest running back in the Central Section.