Some say that the sign of a good coach is being able to innovate and adapt his ideas to his team’s personnel.  By that standard, and most others, mark a gold star next to Los Al head coach John Barnes’ name.  Last year, Los Al was known for having one of America’s best passing attacks, led by Clark Evans—this year, the Griffins have thrown just 20 balls in two games, shifting instead to a power running attack.

On the other side of this matchup, Wilson head coach Mario Morales and his staff are being sorely tested by a rash of injuries to key players that is making their task in playing a tough program like Los Al even tougher.  Missing for the Bruins are standouts Ezell Ruffin and starting center Josh Kocher, along with starting corner Ronnie Yat and defensive end Nick Haynes.  Without their best offensive player in Ruffin and a captain in Kocher, it will be hard to put up points against a Los Al team that has scored 86 points and allowed a grand total of zero through two weeks.  If the Bruins can protect sophomore quarterback Brett Harper, that may be a victory in itself.

On defense, this will be a good test for Wilson, as they’ll be playing a lot of run-heavy teams once the league season rolls around, as Millikan, Poly, Compton, and Jordan will all try them on the ground.  The Griffins are averaging over seven yards per-carry as a team, with the bulk of the work coming from junior running back Nick Richardson, who has five touchdowns in two games so far.

With the injuries, it may be a victory just for Wilson to stay within a score of a Los Al team they nearly beat last year—if they can pull off the upset, expect a lot of local attention to their matchup next week against a Millikan Rams team that’s currently 3-0. 

The Bruins will kick off against Los Al at Gahr High tonight at 7pm—see you there!  If you don’t want to make the drive, you can expect a video, photos, and story back here after the game.