The regular season in any sport is always the building of the foundation. It provides the opportunity to experience so many things and shows strengths to keep utilizing and weaknesses that need to be cleaned up. It is what a team needs to go through to be ready for anything the postseason has to offer.

The second week of the high school playoffs, thanks to their respective victories this past week, will present a specific challenge for a few Division VI teams — the league rematch game.

High Desert League rivals Kern Valley and Boron will meet again, as will South Yosemite Horizon League rivals Mira Monte and Foothill.

The first time around, Kern Valley was the home team and lost 46-38. In the playoffs, the No. 5 Broncs will play at No. 4 Boron in the rematch. In the SYHL game, Mira Monte lost 36-33 at home. In the playoffs, the No. 3 seed and SYHL champion Trojans will host the No. 6 seed Lions, the SYHL runner-up.

All four teams look different than when they met in their league games — both games were the league openers in early October — due to personnel changes, injuries and effectiveness. Location could be a factor, too.

Mira Monte changed Nate Gonzales from the one receiving the handoffs at running back to being the one who gets the snap as a quarterback. Foothill won the SYHL title outright with a solid running game and but there’s a chance that the key to that strength, Andrew Trevino, could miss the game with an ankle injury, Foothill Coach Chris Wedel said.

Both Wedel and Mira Monte coach Christian Johnson felt their teams struggled at times in their playoff-opening wins. The teams play for an annual Highway 58 Rivalry trophy each season. It’s not on the line in this game, but the stakes are high with a semifinal berth going to the winner.

“No trophy up for grabs, just survive and advance,” Johnson said.

Wedel agreed. “The battle of the 58, round two, should be a good one, just like the first matchup.”

Capsule look at last Friday’s local first-round playoff games:

DIVISION I-A

No. 3 Liberty 49, No. 6 San Joaquin Memorial 14: Elmo Whitten ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns, Carter Hanson ran a punt back for a TD and had 103 yards rushing and two more scores and Dennis Perry and Brodie Beaulieu each ran for a score for a 49-0 halftime lead that was more than enough for Liberty to win and advance.

DIVISION I-AA

No. 2 Clovis 27, No. 7 Frontier 25: All points are crucial in a playoff game and Frontier learned that with two missed extra points on its first two touchdowns and a failed two-point conversion late in the game kept last year’s section champion from continuing in this year’s playoffs. Frontier, which beat Clovis 27-26 earlier in the season, knew it would be close. “Penalties and missed extra points doomed us,” Frontier coach Chris Bandy said. “We had over 400 yards of offense, but left points out there by not converting in the red zone on a couple of drives.”

DIVISION III

No. 1 Shafter 38, No. 16 SLO-Mission College Prep 17: Without Mariyon Sloan, Generals QB Ezekiel Osborne threw for 226 yards, with one touchdown pass to Luis Santana, and ran for another and Cash Gutierrez ran for 143 yards and three scores to lift Shafter past the Royals, who only trailed 21-14 at halftime.

No. 5 R.F. Kennedy 63, No. 12 Paso Robles 28: The Thunderbirds ran for 407 yards and seven touchdowns but it was also the points provided by Espn Cantu on a pair of interceptions for two scores that showed a complete game on both offense and defense. Jamison Membreve ran for 147 yards and three scores, Jace Demacabalin had 135 and one score and Cristian Hernandez had 93 yards and two scores. Naheer Dozer added a rushing TD, too, as Kennedy routed the Bearcats.

No. 3 Porterville 42, No. 14 Ridgeview 14: It was 21-0 before the Wolf Pack got on the scoreboard and Ridgeview got it as close as 28-14 in the third quarter, but Porterville was able to control this first-round game en route to victory. Ridgeview’s 4-7 season record was a marked improvement under coach Nathan Claunch from a 1-9 and league winless season in 2024.

No. 6 Independence 34, No. 11 Madera 27: The Falcons had a 14-0 lead at halftime, but Madera had two fumble recoveries for scores to tie it. Down 20-14, Gunter Golla threw a touchdown pass to Bricen Gutierrez to tie it back at 20. The teams exchanged another touchdown for a 27-27 battle late in the final quarter, but Rayland Denweed scored his second touchdown of the quarter to lift Independence. “It feels good,” Falcons Coach Paul Golla said about getting his first playoff win at the school. “I’m excited about us moving forward.”

No. 2 Wasco 57, No. 15 Santa Maria Righetti 6: Hammie Lopez had 128 yards and two scores, Aiden Hulsey had 100 yards and two TDs, QB Jayven Hernandez threw two touchdown passes to Moroni Carranza and ran for another to provide the offense. Simon Granados was a defensive highlight with an interception and he ran a fumble recovery back for a TD. “I’m proud of our players and coaches,” Wasco coach Kyle Wedel said. “After last week (overtime loss to Shafter) we were motivated and hungry to respond the right way.”

DIVISION V

No. 9 Morro Bay 52, No. 8 Delano 28: Sands Dougherty threw for 458 yards and six touchdowns as the Pirates soundly defeated Delano, a team reeling with its sixth straight loss, including losses in all five South Sequoia League games.

No. 4 Bishop Union 49, No. 13 Golden Valley 21: High Desert League co-champion Bishop Union got out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Golden Valley battled back and cut the lead to 21-14, but Bishop Union stayed comfortably ahead. Golden Valley’s final TD got it to 35-21, but the Broncos pulled away with 14 points in the fourth quarter to advance in the playoffs.

No. 3 West 47, No. 14 Taft 20: Solomon Harris ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns and Jamarr Price had a 63-yard TD reception and a rushing TD as the Vikings took out the Wildcats. Chris Bethel threw for one touchdown and Joe Weber ran for one to lead Taft. West scored 26 points in the second quarter to take charge, win and advance.

DIVISION VI

No. 5 Kern Valley 47, No. 12 Granite Hills 37: Quarterback Jackson Price took part in all seven touchdowns scored by the host Broncs. Jeffrey Clark and Daniel Hinkey each caught two touchdown passes and Aiden Madden caught one from Price. The QB also had two rushing TDs.

No. 4 Boron 19, No. 13 Corcoran 14: Running back Andrew Gartica ran for 142 yards and two scores and Geordyn Rundblade caught a TD pass from Boron QB Karter Ecklind as the Bobcats won and advanced.

No. 3 Foothill 34, No. 14 Rosamond 13: The Trojans got 113 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Andrew Trevino and Anthony Perez forced a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown in a victory over the Roadrunners. Martin Velasquez and Nathan Arevalo also ran for a TD for Foothill. Rosamond QB Marvin Alvarado threw three interceptions, but also had a TD run and a TD pass to Robert Evans.

No. 6 Mira Monte 27, No. 11 McFarland 21: Nate Gonzales had 181 rushing yards for Mira Monte, but Cordae Fulmer had an 80-yard kickoff return for one score and ran for another, and Angel Zarate faked a punt and ran 82 yards for yet another Lions touchdown to edge the Cougars. Malachi Davis, McFarland’s top offensive weapon, threw for 250 yards and ran for 85 yards and a score in defeat.

8-MAN CENTRAL SECTION

No. 2 Ridgecrest-Immanuel Christian 30, No. 7 Frazier Mountain 22: Immanuel Christian remains undefeated after a first-round home playoff win over Frazier Mountain (5-5). The Crusaders (11-0) advance to play and host Mammoth, the No. 3 seed and a 60-16 winner over Trona, on Friday.

8-MAN SOUTHERN SECTION (D-II)

California Lutheran 52, Maricopa 22: Playing in a CIF Southern Section Division II playoff bracket, the visiting Indians fell in a first-round game in Wildomar to the C-Hawks.

Teams with a first-round bye: Bakersfield Christian (Division I-AA), Bakersfield (Division II) and North (Division IV).