New prep football programs to battle

It's been a long climb for the freshmen who started the football programs at Mojave and Palo Verde high schools in 1996.

Those freshmen will line up against each other as juniors tonight at Palo Verde knowing what their opponents have been through -- playing the big boys of the Sunrise and Sunset divisions for the first time, without the benefit of a senior class.

"With the valley growing so fast the district tried something new with these schools by adding a class every year," Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost said. "We've been with this same group of kids for three years and every year we've taken these kids one step closer to being seniors."

Both schools opened in 1996 with only a freshman class, as opposed to opening with three grades like new Clark County high schools have done in the past.

Rost and Mojave coach Mike Gutowski agreed that the toughest part of opening the new schools is not having a senior class for the younger kids to look up to.

"We have leaders on this team, but they had no one to learn from," Gutowski said. "They didn't have an older group of guys to show them how to work in the weight room, or how to act after a tough loss."

Despite being without seniors, both teams have been competitive against varsity competition. Each has scored a victory over a 4A opponent, the Panthers (2-4) opening the season with a 12-10 win over Rancho and the Rattlers (4-2) taking care of Gorman 13-9 last week.

Now they will face each other in a game that both teams have been looking forward to.

"It's a pretty big rivalry," said Rost, whose Panthers are coming off a 12-10 win over The Meadows. "Both these groups of kids have been playing each other since the ninth grade so it's safe to say that they know each other pretty well."

This group of Mojave players has never beaten the Panthers, losing as freshmen in 1996 and sophomores in 1997.

Gutowski said he is treating the game like any other, but knows his team is confident going in.

"The win against Gorman gave us great confidence for the rest of the season," Gutowski said. "It was the biggest win in school history, but now that is over and we're looking forward to this game."

One more win would assure Mojave of a winning record in its first year at the varsity level. Gutowski said he wants to get that win this week.

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