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Friday Football — Corning at Las Plumas, 7:30 p.m. Football — Los Molinos at Portola, 7:30 p.m. Football — Red Bluff at Pleasant Valley, 7:30 p.m. Volleyball — Corning at Hamilton City Tournament Volleyball — Red Bluff at Reno Tournament MLB— 7 p.m.; Angels at A’s, CSNC; Giants at Dodgers, MNT-21 Sports 1B Friday September 3, 2010 Fall Sports Preview Red Bluff Spartans football QUICK FACTS Division: I League: Eastern Athletic — South 2009 record: 3-7 Head coach: John Miller Top returners: Ian Hill, Cory Lyon, Zak Stroing Switching coaches isn’t going to magi- cally put the Spartans into the playoffs. Hard work, a new attitude and an aggres- OUTLOOK sive defense, well that just might do it. Still, coach John Miller faces an uphill battle in his first year leading the Spartans. Red Bluff has arguably one of the tough- est schedules in the Northern Section, huge losses to graduation and have been bitten by the injury bug leading up to today’s season opener against Pleasant Valley. At least four starters were set back by injuries in recent weeks, including would- be starting quarterback Cory Lyon. Those issues have many seeing the Spar- tans sitting out of postseason play once again. “I’m okay with that,” Miller said. “We have to prove ourselves before people pick us — we’ll see. I’d love to see a Game 11, Game 12 for us — that’s what were striving for.” If the Spartans are going to earn respect in 2010 it’s likely to come with their new aggressive attitude on defense. Red Bluff will use a five-man defensive line and three linebackers, one being a mon- ster, with the plan of putting plenty of pres- sure on opposing quarterbacks. “It makes a high school quarterback make a split second decision, which a lot of times may not be the best decision,” Miller said. Wrestling standout Dillon Reid will play nose guard. Reid may be undersized for the position, but he has already shown a knack with his wrestling skill-set to disrupt an offensive line. Alex Frank will flank Reid at one of the defensive tackle positions and Pierce McClelland and Jeff Skaggs will see time at the other. At the ends Jared Foley, Giovanni Romi- ti and Mekel Dove will see playing time. Miller said it took awhile for his line to adjust to a five-man system, but they have started to grasp their new alignment and assignment responsibilities. The Spartans will set up with three line- backers. The monster will align anywhere from a safety position to sometimes creeping up on the line. Gabe Grabfelder won that role and Miller likes his ability to read plays as well as his size and aggressiveness. The secondary will be anchored by Ian Hill, who the coaches believe is pound-for- pound their toughest player. Red Bluff’s offense is likely to evolve as the season progresses. With Lyon out, Miller said the Spartans will likely run the ball more in the early part of the season. Ian Hill and the Spartans want to open their new era with tough defense Reid, Jeff Foster and Tyler Demerath will see carries from the tailback position. Reid has shown great vision and the abil- ity to make the proper cuts in practice. Fos- ter, a 200-meter star on the track team, is a speedster and Demerath has impressed coaches with his work ethic. Grabfelder will lead the way as fullback at a position where Miller said his great vision should be an asset. Lyon’s injury caused a shuffling of play- ers between the receiving core and quarter- back. Cody Case will take over under center in Lyon’s absence and Ty Smith was moved to receiver to replace Case and will join Anthony Ragone as a passing target. Miller said he’s becoming comfortable with his offensive line. Left tackle Dearek Webster has stepped up and assumed a leadership role on the offensive line. Skaggs was moved from fullback to guard and has found a home. Dustyn Clayton will handle the other guard position. Zak Stroing, one of the smartest students in the school — not just the team — will also play on the line. Miller said he likes Foley at tight end. On special teams, kicking duties will be handled by Hill and Stroing will be the punter. All five of the Spartans’ home games come in a six-week span and the schedule ends with what should be a pair of winnable road games in Oroville. Miller said his goal for the season isn’t about his own personal win-loss record — in the end, it’s about the kids enjoying the year and having fun. If the injury bug gets righted a new and SCHEDULE F Sept. 3 — at Pleasant Valley, 7:30 p.m. F Sept. 10 — at Shasta, 7:30 p.m. F Sept. 17 — vs Corning, 7:30 p.m. F Sept. 24 — at Chico, 7:30 p.m. F Oct. 1 — vs West Valley, 7:30 p.m. F Oct. 8 — vs Lassen, 7:30 p.m. F Oct. 15 — vs Paradise, 7:30 p.m. F Oct. 22 — vs Foothill, 7:30 p.m. F Oct. 29 — at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. F Nov.5 —at Las Plumas, 7:30 p.m. overlooked Spartans team might surprise some teams with their aggressiveness. Then the fun might get coupled with its share of wins. ROSTER 4 Jeff Foster 6 Dakota Bearquiver 55 Josh Villareal 7 Cory Lyon 8 Tige O’Bar 9 Ian Hill 57 Eddie Spidle 10 Austin Wobbe 11 Dillon Reid 12 Cody Case 13 Ty Smith 14 Ryan Walker 54 Benny Goodman 56 Giovanni Romiti 58 Pierce McClelland 59 Justin Gallegher 60 Ryan Hassel 62 Roy Aaron 63 Roman Olivo 64 Mitchell Correia 17 Casen Carpenter 65 Alex Frank 19 Trenton Bilodeaux 66 Jordan Padilla 20 Tyler Demerath 67 Zak Brinkhaus 21 James Correia 22 Brad Raines 24 Anthony Ragone 72 Josh O’Coy 27 Mario Barrira 29 Taylor Figgs 68 Tyler Phillips 70 Angel Ramirez 74 Dearek Webster 76 Patrick Froome 30 Gabe Grabfelder 77 Dustyn Clayton 33 Brandon Croy 34 Jeff Skaggs 36 Tyler Reed 42 Sean Brazzi 43 Andrew Reedy 44 Mekel Dove 78 Brandon Barragan 79 Mike Carpenter 80 Erik Vidal 82 Garrett Spangler 83 Tanner Martinez 85 Cody Lehman 46 Pedro Figueroa 87 Dominic Lightfoot 51 Zak Stroing 88 Michael Catona 53 Jeremy Norman 89 Jared Foley Relays open up swim season SWIMMING Red Bluff Relays By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor The 2010 prep swim sea- son kicked off Thursday with the annual Red Bluff Relays. The Lady Spartans team of Laura Schreter, Mayson Trujillo, Alynda Ellis and Samara Robinson took sec- ond place in the 200 back- stroke and third in the 200 freestyle. Shasta and West Valley each won three girls events. The Lady Wolves placed in the Top 3 in all six varsity events. Enterprise, Foothill, Durham and Winters also had Top 3 performances. In the boys events Foothill and Winters each won two events and Shasta and West Valley also picked up wins. Foothill added a pair of second place finishes and Winters had a second and two thirds. Shasta placed in five of the six events. Durham and Enteprise each had a Top 3 finish. ROSTER Red Bluff Spartans Larsen Dahl Brad Dufour Andrew Eastridge Bryce Eggert Paul Hendricks Chase Horton Joshua Jackson Alxander Jacobs Jordan Johnson Kameron Kaveh Aaron Latourell Egan Meagher Owen Ritter Eddie Samay Curtis Twitchell Greg Wilson Red Bluff Lady Spartans Madelyn Angulo Julia Bellon Megan Brunello Amber Degraw Brittany DeWitt Joelene Donaldson Alynda Ellis Lindsey Fletcher Mariah Hawkins Briann Holt Jane Kinner Erin Kordzikowski Cheyene LaBorde Selena Marino Juanita Marple Katlin McKee Kristina Murdock Samara Robinson Laura Schreter Amy Shoff Elizabeth Smith Bethany Strom Mayson Trujillo Brittany Villa MLB National League Thursday’s results New York 4, Atlanta 2 Philadelphia 12, Colorado 11 Today’s games San Francisco (Zito 8-10) at L.A.(Billingsley 10-8),7:10 p.m.,MNT-21 New York (Dickey 9-5) at Chicago (R.Wells 6-12), 11:20 a.m. Milwaukee (Capuano 2-2) at Philadelphia (Hamels 8-10), 4:05 p.m. Washington (Li.Hernandez 9-9) at Pittsburgh (Duke 6-12), 4:05 p.m. Atlanta (Kawakami 1-9) at Florida (A.Miller 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Cincinnati (Arroyo 14-8) at St. Louis (J.Garcia 12-6), 5:15 p.m. Houston (Myers 10-7) at Arizona (D.Hudson 4-1), 6:40 p.m. Colorado (Cook 4-8) at San Diego (Luebke 0-0), 7:05 p.m. SCHEDULE Red Bluff W Sept.8 — vs Paradise, 3:30 p.m. W Sept.15 — Home, 3:30 p.m. W Sept.22 — vs CV,WV, 3:30 p.m. F Oct.1 —NORCALInvite, 10 a.m. W Oct. 6 — at Enterprise, 3:30 p.m. W Oct. 13 — vs Orland, 3:30 p.m. W Oct.20 —EAL Champ, Noon W Oct. 27 — D-I Champ, Noon S Oct. 30 — Masters, Noon NCAA Daily News phot by Rich Greene Larsen Dahl dives into the water, Thursday, as Curtis Twitchell finishes his leg of the 200-meter relay with teammates Greg Wilson and Bryce Eggert looking on. Thursday’s Top 25 results No. 2 Ohio State 45, Marshall 7 No. 13 Miami 45, Florida A&M 0 No. 14 Southern Cal at Hawaii, late Utah 27, No. 15 Pittsburgh 24, OT MLB American League Thursday’s results New York 5, Oakland 0 Boston 6, Baltimore 4 Cleveland at Seattle, late Detroit at Minnesota, late Today’s games Los Angeles (Kazmir 8-12) at Oak.(G.Gonzalez 12-8),7:05 p.m.,CSNC Toronto (Morrow 10-6) at New York (Nova 1-0), 10:05 a.m. Tampa Bay (Garza 13-7) at Baltimore (Millwood 3-14), 4:05 p.m. Chicago (Danks 12-9) at Boston (C.Buchholz 15-5), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Bonderman 7-9) at Kansas City (Greinke 8-11), 5:10 p.m. Texas (D.Holland 2-2) at Minnesota (Blackburn 8-8), 5:10 p.m. Cleveland (Carmona 11-13) at Seattle (French 3-4), 7:10 p.m.