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Red Bluff Daily News By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer The Corning Cardinals football team finds itself in a similar position going into the 49th Tehama County Shootout. The Cards dispatched the Las Plumas Thunderbirds and Oroville Tigers with relative ease the past two weeks. It did the same last year. Now 2-0, Corning will host the Red Bluff Spartans, also 2-0, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Last year, the Cards fell in the rivalry game, 35-0. Corning coach John Studer said his team's first two games have been good tune-ups for Friday's cross-county matchup. "It's a nice little progression for us," Studer said. "We've kind of felt that all along. We got a chance to go from Las Plumas to Oroville and I think Red Bluff will replicate a lot of the stuff that Oroville did to us ... And we know that they're (the Spartans) are very fast and very physical. Probably more so than Oroville considering what happened in their game." In Week 1, Red Bluff pounced on the Tigers to the tune of a 41-7 win. "I think it'll be a pretty good early test for us to see exactly where we are," Studer said. "If we can compete with them on a consistent basis I think that with the weapons we have in Thursday, September 19, 2013 the backfield, especially with (David) Edson coming back from injury, we should be able to maybe open some more things up for us and give us some more options on what we're going to do as we attack them offensively and try to get on the scoreboard." The Cards heavily rely on playing a fastpaced ground game. Pass plays are rare, and so far Corning hasn't been forced away from playing to its strength. Corning's backfield has notched 642 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. The Cards have totaled seven receiving yards. Corning High running back Chance Nelson turned in a spectacular performance in his team's 31-6 win against Oroville, scoring three touchdowns and intercepting two passes. Afterward, he credited the team's offensive line. Those linemen will have to prove they can block against the Spartans, a Division I squad, if Corning is to make a mark on the scoreboard. Early in the season, Nelson has been the standout, totaling four touchdowns and 191 total rushing yards in two games. But Corning has shown it's capable of moving the ball around the backfield, as in its 44-7 win against Las Plumas the Cards scored six touchdowns, all coming from as many players. Page 3 Daily News photo by Andre Byik