Spartans host county rival Ventura in opening round
Seven straight wins for RMHS
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

On the surface, it seems like everything is clicking just perfectly for Rio Mesa's football team.

The Spartans have won seven games in a row, earning the Pacific View League title in the process. The offense has been stellar, led by quarterback Shane Austin, wideout Josh Harrison and running back Malachi Lewis.

The defense has done a fine job as well, holding its opponents to 16 points or less six times.

RMHS head coach Bob Gregorchuk, however, said his team is far from where it needs to be and has still not played a perfect all-around game.

"We still have a lot of things to improve on," Gregorchuk said. "Some nights our offense is really getting the job done while the defense isn't so great. And some nights the defense is stellar but our offense isn't getting the job done."

The Spartans will begin the postseason tonight at home against Ventura, who comes in with a 4-6 overall record.

Austin said that nothing that happened during the regular season, including his single-season team record of 1,912 passing yards, matters anymore.

"We've been pretty psyched about playing in the playoffs this week," Austin said. "But the regular-season records don't mean anything now. We can't overlook anyone; we have to play one game at a time. Obviously, these teams are in the playoffs for a reason and we are going to have to play great in order to win."

Gregorchuk said for the Spartans to move on to the second round, the team will have to defend the run better.

"We've played great defense against the pass this year, but not so good against the run," Gregorchuk said.

"My guess is that Ventura is going to watch tape of our last game against Camarillo and decide it wants to run the ball more. Our defense is very fast though, even faster than the quick team we had two years ago. Hopefully that will help us do a better job of stopping their running game," the coach said.

Senior Johnny Cazares agrees with Gregorchuk.

"We are going to have to show a lot of discipline and commitment this week," Cazares said. "We have to play every down at 110 percent. This week we have been watching film and reading their guards to see how they move. They're a good team. We're a good team. Hopefully the best team wins."

Gregorchuk believes the defense, offense and special teams all need to play well for the Spartans to get a win against Ventura.

"I don't care who the key guy is that makes the plays for us as long as both sides of the ball are playing well," Gregorchuk said. "I just want to see a win. It's going to be a fun game between rival schools, and there should be a lot of people at the game watching it."

Tonight's kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.