By Stu Bownes

The Mammoth Football Huskies take on arch nemisis the Boron Bobcats tonight, Oct. 4,  at home startng at 7 p.m. with the JV’s kicking off at 4 p.m. Tonight’s game marks the 25th anniversary of Head Coach Marty Thompson’s Husky 1988 victory over Boron when he was playing. Coaches Greene and Kaylor have quarterbacked the Huskies against Boron. There’s a lot of history when it comes to the rivalry between the Huskies and Bobcats over the years with many games and outcomes still passionately discussed. The Huskies and the Bobcats appear evenly matched for the game tonight.

The Mammoth Huskies are coming off a big win last week against Riverside Prep just in time to get ready for tonight’s big game. The Boron Bobcats are coming off a win over Vasquez who is 0-2 in DML play and one of the weaker teams in the League this season. It’s still early in the season but the results of tonight’s game will have a great deal of impact on the season’s final standings.

The Huskies are 1-1 in DML play this season and are currently ranked #4, while the 1-0 Bobcats are ranked #1 in the League although Silver Valley is 2-0 and Desert is 3-1 already in DML play.

After years of hard work reestablishing football at Mammoth High the Huskies are a competitive team again. The Huskies head into tonight’s game with senior quarterback Lucas Underkoffler at the helm of a balanced offense averaging 125 yards per game in the air. Lucas has had success throwing the ball to several receivers this season including his brother Cody, and Alex Mueller to mention just a few. The Underkofflers hooked-up on a 30 yard touchdown bomb last week that was the first ever brother to brother pass and catch for a touchdown in Huskies history! The Huskies passing game has kept opposing defenses honest this season allowing the Husky’s Orrick Boys, Dennis and Steven, as well as fullback Matt Graef and other to average 202 yards rushing per game.

Mammoth has one of the best defenses in recent memory. The Dawg D is aggressive with 10 sacks to their credit already this season. Boron has 5 sacks coming into tonight’s game. The Huskies defense has their work cut out for them though as they will have to slow down the Bobcats strong running game. The Bobcats are currently averaging 308 yards per game on the ground so far this season. However, Boron does not appear to be nearly as potent as the Huskies in the passing game averaging just 75 yards per game.

Special Teams is where the Huskies have made great gains this season. Ricky Cuellar is doing a great job with kick offs, punts and PATs giving the Huskies back a crucial part of the game that they have been without the last several years. The Huskies have a great return average including a 99 kick-off touchdown return. Coach Thompson is counting on Everest Webber, Liam Carrigon, Justin Wallasch, EJ Banda, Logan DeAngeles and Jose Galvan to step it up a notch tonight and allow Special Teams to make a difference in the outcome of the game.