Huskies face "Bus Disadvantage" on the road at Boron

October 8, 2010

The Mammoth Huskies go on the road tonight in their first serious road game of the season.

The opponent, Boron (4-1), is one thing. But the biggest adjustment the Huskies (2-2) might face is the bus.

“You can’t put a kid on a bus and expect him to ride for five hours,” said Coach Tom Gault after a mid-week practice this week. “It’s especially hard for the junior varsity,” he said. “They have to ride the bus, jump off and be ready to play (at 4 o’clock).”

So how much is the “bus advantage?”

“When somebody has to come to Mammoth to play, we figure we have a touchdown-and-a-half advantage. And it works the other way, too.

‘When we go down to the desert and are on the bus for four or five hours, we have a touchdown and a half deficit that we have to make up before the game even starts.”

For Mammoth, that adds up to trouble.

The Huskies are coming off a horrific 59-6 loss at Bishop last week, and statistically, the Boron Bobcats look tough as nails.

Running with Reggie Heard (72.8 yards a game) and riding the arm of Josh Core (99 yards a game), Boron is unbeaten at home this season and has averaged more than 51 points a game.

Mammoth has utilized the rushing of Jorge “Coco” Galvan (76 yards a game) but the Huskies’ passing game has been all but invisible.

On the other hand, Mammoth may take some comfort knowing that the Bobcats play a spread offense, and the Huskies have had some success against the spread this season.

“Their offense is a lot of run-and-gun,” Gault said, “and we have, earlier in the season, played pretty well against that style of offense.

“With the exception of the Bishop game, our defense has kept us in the game all season. So our game plan is that we’re going to play tough defense against these guys, put a couple of points on the board and hopefully come away with a win.”

And as for the Bishop game?

“I’m sure Coach (Bill) Egan would tell you the same thing, that he and I are both glad to have that game in the books and to be moving on to the rest of our seasons.

“For him, all the pressure’s on his guys. He’s got to put some points on the board and put on a good show. For my guys, we try to keep our heads above water and make something happen.”

“So it goes the way it goes, and we’re both glad to be moving on to our league seasons.”