Ray Conner
Sports Editor

It doesn’t seem possible, but it’s time again for Kern Valley football.

The Broncs got an early start to their season as they began practice on Aug. 4.

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This will give Kern Valley a little more than four weeks to get ready for their opening game versus the McFarland Cougars at home on Sept. 5.

This marked the earliest time that Kern Valley was able to get on the field and begin practice.

Both the varsity and junior varsity hopefuls came out on Aug. 4 to begin the process of trying to get their bodies in shape to take the rigor and the pounding of the upcoming football season.

After this first week, the Broncs will go into a hell week, where they build up their stamina for the season and to begin to learn the offensive and defensive schemes the coaches will be using this year.

The school year will start this Monday and by that time the Broncs will have two weeks of practice under their belts.

The early start also means that in the middle of their season Kern Valley will have a bye week.

The bye week will be at the end of the non-league portion of their schedule and right before they start High Desert League action.

There are pros and cons as to having a bye week.

The pros include the chance for injured players who might have missed some games to get healthy and it’s also a chance for players to rest their bodies and and take a week break from the pounding the game of football puts on them.

The biggest con of a bye week is if the team is rolling and the break could stop the momentum a team has built up.

On the other hand another pro to the bye week could be if a team is struggling it gives them a chance to re-focus and come out for the league season prepared to do battle.

As this is the first time in a long while that the Broncs will have a bye, only time will tell if it will benefit them or cause them to hit a bump in the road.

After opening the season versus McFarland, the Broncs will then be at home for San Juan Hills on Sept. 12, and then the following week (Sept. 19) will also be a home contest as Kern Valley takes on Boron.

Then the Broncs will play on the road at Mammoth (Sept. 26) and then come home for Homecoming on Oct. 3.

They will close out the non-league with a road game at Whittier Christian (Oct. 10) before settling into the bye week.

On Oct. 24, the Broncs will open up HDL play with a game on the road at Desert.

The following week on Halloween (Oct. 31) Kern Valley will be at home versus Bishop.

The Broncs then travel to Rosamond (Nov. 7) to take on the Roadrunners before ending the regular season with a home game against Frazier Mountain (Nov. 13). This night will also be Senior Night.

Then hopefully it will be on to the CIF playoffs and a shot to advance.