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ByRichGreene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter RED BLUFF It's been awhile since the Red Bluff Spartans were near the top of the East- ern Athletic League hierarchy. The perennial success of Par- adise, an Enterprise team that reached a state bowl game last year are just the cream of the crop. Foothill and Shasta, Chico and Pleasant Valley, none of those schools are about to slide into irrelevancy and give up their spot in the pecking order. It's made the road back to the top for Red Bluff all the more difficult. But if you listen closely, it appears the Spartans might be knocking on that door this year and it's not the usual beginning of the season optimism that is starting to form around Red Bluff's program. This team has talent and it comes in all forms from size and strength to speed and smarts. "All of us, we're like broth- ers," wide receiver and defensive back Aaron Lyon said. "We've been playing (together) since we were little. This is our last year together we want to make a dif- ference. We want to change this program around." If this is to be the year Red Bluff crashes through with not just making the playoffs, but doing something when they get there it will start in the mid- dle with 6-foot, 5-inch Justin Nunez, all 320 pounds of him. Nunez isn't just a big man. He has athleticism, hands and in- stinct, which is why he's draw- ing interest form Division I col- lege football programs. Having one player like Nunez can help lead to a good year, but he's not the only player the Spar- tans have with a big frame and skills to match. Wyatt Clement is drawing college looks as well. He's also 6 feet, 5 inches tall and will join Nunez on a defensive line that will anchor what should be a tough defense to crack. Head coach Corey Hein says it could be the best defensive front Red Bluff has had in a decade. Hein said the key is a triangle of talent with Nunez and Clem- ent set to create havoc on the line and with Travis Jensen fill- ing in behind them as the emo- tional team leader at middle linebacker. The quality of play and at- tention that triangle should re- ceive should open up plenty of play making abilities for Walker Dodero and K.J. Hinkston at the linebacker spots. Daniel Koenig, Lyon, Joey Skaggs and Sam Hendricks will man the secondary. On paper the defense looks to be strong, but Jensen said he ex- pects even more. "It's going to be better than what people think it's going to be," he said. Starting quarterback Kade Lewis has firsthand knowledge of how good it is from going up against the defense in practice. "They're really good. I don't get much time to throw the ball or even hand it off," he said. Lewis, who played defense last year, will give up that side of the ball this season to focus PREP FOOTBALL Spartanssearching forbreakoutsuccess RedBluffshouldproduceplentyofmismatchesonbothsidesoftheball JustinNunezgivesRedBluffanintimidatingpresenceonbothsidesoftheball. By Rich Greene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter CORNING The Red Bluff Lady Spartans rolled over county ri- val Corning 8-1 Wednesday in a matchup between two defending league champions. Red Bluff No. 1 Ginger Shaf- fer, who won the individual Sac River League title last year and led her team to an unbeaten league record, cruised past Re- becca Juels 6-0, 6-1. Aislyn Lair dispatched Re- becca Skousen 6-1, 6-1. Newcomer Caitlyn Igarta beat Hannah Hood 6-3, 6-1. The Lady Cardinals got their lone win in No. 4 singles where Sophie Oliverez battled back to beat Tina Ortega 4-6, 6-2, 11-9. The bottom of Red Bluff's lad- der was perfect with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins as Rylee Du Frain beat Natalie Martinez and Shelby Humphrey beat Loren Price. The Lady Spartans swept the three doubles matches. Shaffer and Lair beat Juels and Skousen 10-2. Igarta and Ortega beat Hood and Oliverez 8-2. Du Frain and Humphrey won 10-1 over Martinez and Price. Red Bluff (1-0) hosts Chico at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the re- formed Eastern Athletic League. PREP ROUNDUP RedBluffbestsrivalCorningintennis Spartans take all but one singles match; West Valley sweeps Lady Spartans in volleyball Red Bluff's Ginger Shaffer fires a backhand during her singles match Wednesday at Corning Union High School. Yusmeiro Petit set a major league record when he retired his 46th batter in a row, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 4-1on Thursday for their third straight win. BASEBALL Record-settingPetit li s Giants to victory FULLSTORYONPAGEB3 Red Bluff (0-1) will take part in the High Sierra Invitational Friday and Saturday in Reno hosted by Galena High School. Red Bluff's home opener is Sept. 16against Central Val- ley. VOLLEYBALL Lady Spartans traveling to Reno for tournament The prep football season begins tonight as Red Bluff travels to take on Central Val- ley at 7:30p.m.. The Falcons reached the Division 2title game last year, losing to West Valley. FOOTBALL WEEK 0 Spartans opening season at Central Valley Good as she is, even Serena Williams can find it tough to deal with swirling wind, so much so that she double- faulted three times in her first service game Thursday at the U.S. Open. U.S. OPEN TENNIS Williams shakes off 3 early double-faults FULL STORY ON PAGE B3 By Travis Souders tsouders@chicoer.com @TravisSouders on Twitter CORNING Sixth-year head coach John Studer didn't mince words when conveying his expectations for the Corning High football team this season. "I feel that we have the ability to make the playoffs again, and I think our whole staff and team in general would be disappointed if we didn't," Studer said. "We have the talent to win enough games to be a playoff team and I think if we stay healthy, which every team is worried about, and get a little bit of momentum and finish strong, I feel like we're a team that can win in the playoffs." With five seniors starting on the offensive line, he's got good reason to feel that way, even with Division III still littered with quality teams. A year ago, Corn- ing went 7-4, falling to Orland 13-6 in the opening round of the postseason before powerhouse West Valley went on the win the section title. Studer isn't expect- ing the return to the playoffs to be easy, but he is expecting it to happen. "It will definitely be a chal- lenge. We're not going to roll over (Division III) by any stretch of the imagination," he said, "but we're good enough to win in the play- offs." It will help Corning's cause to have had a glut of sophomores who got playing time last year, as it means a senior-heavy squad will be bolstered by varsity-expe- rienced juniors on both sides of the ball. The Cardinals never do seem to be big up front, but they do have games under their belts, and that matters in Corning's moving-parts wing-T offense. The anchors of the system are the Car- dinal guards, Quincy Jones and PREP FOOTBALL It's playoffs or bust for Cardinals this season Nelson, Davila lead Corning's football hopes By Rich Greene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter RED BLUFF Every team wants to get better as the season pro- gresses. Whether they do or not often determines whether the season was deemed successful or not. The Mercy Warriors will be one of the teams that gets bet- ter, that's already a given consid- ering how they'll start their sea- son Saturday. Not only is the defending sec- tion champion Redding Chris- tian visiting Sacred Heart, but the Warriors themselves won't be the same team as Mercy fans will get to see as the weeks go by. Mercy boasts a roster of 15, but because of a lack of practice time and grades only 10 players will be suited up for the season opener. That includes two freshman. First-year coach Marvin Bene- field said basically Mercy needs to just survive the first few weeks. But he's not conceding the season's ultimate goal, he wants Mercy to host a first-round play- off game. "I want to win. I'm not a poor sport, but I definitely want to win," Benefield said. 8-MAN FOOTBALL New coach at Mercy hopes for steady improvement CARDINALS PAGE 2 ROUNDUP PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPARTANS PAGE 2 SPORTS ยป redbluffdailynews.com Friday, August 29, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1