More on the line than just SWYL title
| Thursday, Nov 05 2009 11:17 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Nov 05 2009 11:17 PM
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Frontier football coach Rich Cornford has been sick this week, so he's been careful not to spend too much unnecessary time around his players in advance of their Southwest Yosemite League showdown at Stockdale at 7:30 tonight.
It's not like they needed the pep talk anyway.
"We don't try to hide it," Cornford said. "It's a game that's been marked on everybody's calendar for the last month or so. The kids are practicing great, they understand the importance of it, and we're eager to go against great competition."
At stake is Frontier's unbeaten record -- the Division II Titans are 8-0 and 4-0 in the SWYL -- playoff seedings for both teams (Stockdale is 7-1, 4-0, one of just three Division I teams with a record that good) and likely the outright league championship.
Like the Titans, Stockdale's players knows what's at stake.
"They're well-informed," Stockdale coach Mike Snow said. "... You can't lie to them. They know if you win this game, you're a league champion. We told them they have to be in playoff mode, because that's what it's like right now."
Also at stake, Cornford said, is Frontier's reputation. A win here could catapult them into the serious running for a No. 1 seed in D-II.
"People would put us as being legitimate if we can pull out a win here," Cornford said. "Some people see us as being the 10th-best team in the Valley (that'd be The Californian's Central Section rankings), others say 13th (The Fresno Bee). Stockdale cleary is one of the top three or four, so we have a chance to enlighten the masses."
Both teams' average margin of victory is more than 29. Both teams gain more than 300 yards a game on offense and allow considerably less than that on defense. Both boast standout kickers, USC commit Matt Darr for Frontier and steady Tyler Schleicher and powerful Andre Heidari for Stockdale, who make offenses work for points.
Stockdale fullback Malik Henderson practiced this week but will be a game-time decision, Snow said, after he missed three games with a deep bone bruise in his knee.
Frontier, meanwhile, is healthy other than its under-the-weather coach. And that means there will be a true Kern County power struggle tonight at Stockdale.
No one knows that better than Snow, who coached Frontier for the school's first two years of existence in 2006-07.
"I was talking about the league before the season started, and I said this is going to be the best team Frontier's had," Snow said. "I'm not in the least bit surprised they're having success. It's going to be a great test."
