CBC Sports: Week 10
2 November 2007

Bullard Falls on Hard Time as Regular Season Ends and the CIF Playoffs Begin

Then it happened. There was a little day after Halloween horror show that the Knights and their fans certainly weren't expecting. When the rumors of misconduct by a band of Bullard players turned out to be real news, there was some real bad news to deal with. At least five, and as many as nine Bullard players, were in trouble and were not going to be suiting up for the Battle of Barstow, and possibly might not be able to suit up for any playoff games. We're not going to go into what are the rumors and what is the real news here because we don't want to say what we don't know as far as specifics go. What is for real, that we do know, is that senior quarterback Philip Brandt, senior running back, Clifton Rogers, wide receiver Evan Caldwell, and at least four other Knights, did not play in the game. By now, as you read this, perhaps the details have been out in the public eye. It's a sad thing indeed when a lack of discipline, hurts the team, and for those of us who have been watching the Bullard High Knights over the last five years, as we have on KJEO TV and Cocola Broadcasting and cable stations, it's a sad thing indeed that such an outstanding high school program, whose coaches work so very hard, every one of them, that have made Bullard football such a power in this Valley. Sometimes life just isn't fair, and the Knights will get through this, no doubt. The players involved made a mistake and I'm sure they are saddened by their actions in this matter. We hope that they will learn from this and wish them good wishes as they take responsibility for what happened. Meanwhile, back to the gutty part. No, it wasn't a great game, although there was an exciting ending as the Knights defense held the Pats as they were surging toward a winning touchdown or a game tying field goal. As it turned out, the 34 yard field goal that Blake Dunn drilled for the Knights, were the only points put up on the scoreboard all evening. Nice crowd on hand, senior night, parent night, the bands played well, and the fans yelled and supported their teams. It was going to be a nice night, but there was this invisible cloud directly over the field.