Trojans first game Friday questionable because of heat

How hot is too hot to not be playing a football game? By all accounts, it's been a mild summer in the Sacramento area, reaching 100 degrees just seven days as opposed to a city record 45 days a summer ago. But in Bakersfield, it's topped 100 degrees 25 days and that number will go up before the end of the week is over, as they're calling for more than 100 degrees temperatures Thursday through Tuesday. As of Tuesday, Oak Ridge's football game against Frontier High School in Bakersfield was up in the air as to whether or not it would be played because of the high temperatures. "I don't know how hot is too hot before you don't play football," Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor said. "We're trying to figure out if we're going to play or not because it's a five-hour ride down and another five hours back home and we don't want to waste the money of going down there if we're not going to play. We've got another game down in San Diego next week, so moving the game to Saturday probably isn't going to work. We'll do what's safe for the kids. If we don't play, we've got a bye on Sept. 5 so maybe we could find a game then?" If the Trojans do play Frontier, it will be a stiff test. A year ago Frontier defeated the Trojans in El Dorado Hills, 28-14. "Frontier was state champs last year," Taylor said. "The dominated us up front a year ago. They've got a lot of big players, two good receivers and they're a legit team. We will have our hands full and it will certainly be a challenge to beat them." The Trojans enter the game coming off a high-scoring scrimmage against Lincoln of Stockton on Friday night. The Trojans scored more than 40 points, so it was a good night for the offense. "The scrimmage went well," Taylor said. "Our offense looked really good. Tyler Andujar scored five touchdowns and he looked really good. Troy Taber made a couple of nice catches. Braxton Martinez played well at receiver and I thought tackle Troy Fleming on the offensive line had a good game. Kyle Boeker, our kicker, also had a good night." The Trojans, of course, have a battle between Nick Johnson and Luke Taber to see who will be the starting quarterback; a question that still hasn't been answered. "Luke made some great plays with his feet," Taylor said. "Nick threw a couple of big third-down passes. We probably had 500 yards of offense. Both quarterbacks are playing well right now. We'll make a decision before Friday." Taylor was pleased with how the team played. "We had a bunch of young guys in there and I thought they played well," Taylor said. "Lincoln had a really good offense, but Jonah Cedeno had an interception and played well. We only had one player get hurt. Both sides of the ball were competitive; it's exactly what you want to see in a scrimmage." Taylor said he felt Jasen Womack and Isaac Pierce would be ready to play in the team's opener, though he was not as sure about Javon Joseph.