Southwest Sierra League title on the line as unbeatens clash

Fowler and Strathmore, both unbeaten and largely untested, toss all their chips on the table Friday night at Spartan Stadium in a game likely to decide the 2007 Southwest Sierra League title.

In what shapes up as a slugfest, the affair showcases teams that thrive on no-frills football: Relentless running attacks, constant pressure on defense and opportunistic special teams play.

So far both the Redcats and Spartans have overcome their opposition without appearing to draw a deep breath.

Fowler, the defending SSL champion, has outscored the enemy 238-36 en route to a 6-0 record while Strathmore, also 6-0, had a 259-102 edge.

“If anything, I believe our offense has played above expectations so far,” Strathmore head coach Jeromy Blackwell said. “What may be overlooked is that our defense has improved with every game and probably doesn’t get the credit it deserves.”

That’s not the case at Fowler where head coach Jim O’Brien’s defense, by far the most miserly in Division V play, has turned heads by pitching three shutouts and yielding just 36 total points.

“Our results on defense don’t come cheap,” said O’Brien, now in his second year. “The price is a lot of hard work, the kind of effort it takes to play team defense. Our team chemistry is very good this year.”

It may need to be at its best if the Redcats hope to muzzle what Spartans quarterback Jake Duffin described as “a lot of different weapons” in the Strathmore arsenal.

On the way to a league-leading 259 points scored, the most potent weapon in the arsenal has been senior running back A. J. Knight operating behind a big, mobile and experienced offensive line.

Knight, who has accounted for 852 yards of real estate on 106 carries, credited his line for “working harder than anyone else and improving on both sides of the ball with every game”

O’Brien expects “a heavy dose of A.J. Knight and a need to be aware of Duffin who’s an accurate passer and good scrambler. I look for the kind of tough, close game we always seem to get from Strathmore,” he said.

Blackwell approached the game with respect for Fowler’s overall team balance.

“Their defense has been so outstanding that people may not appreciate how good they are at moving the football,” he said.

Sparked by quarterback Josh Poytress and running back Jose Mendez, the Redcats have averaged almost 40 points a game behind a veteran line anchored by Damian DeLeon, a 250-lb. All-league selection in 2006.

“The running game is Fowler’s bread and butter,” Blackwell said. “Poytress is fast and a real threat on the option, and Mendez is very fast and a threat to get outside. We’ll have to contain them to win.”

Poytress, an outstanding left-handed pitcher who has a baseball scholarship awaiting at Fresno State, sees quarterback as a much more demanding position than pitcher.

“No contest,” he said. “At QB you have to make sure everybody’s on the same page, you have to read defenses and you have to manage the clock in addition to carrying out your own assignments.”

Friday night’s game will mark the final home appearances for eight Spartans, including three-year starters Knight, Duffin, tight end Hector Gomez and lineman Robert Hanger.

“We’ll be emotional but under control,” Duffin said. “We’ll remember that our goal is one win at a time, play hard and have fun. For us, football is the ‘funnest’ game there is.”

Knight looked forward to sharing the final home game with fans he described as “super loyal, dedicated, the best. They’re a big part of any success we have,” he said.