It all comes down to Friday night. Two rivals, St. Joseph and Righetti, are getting set to square off in the Battle for the Shield. And for the second straight year, the battle will also feature Mountain League title implications.
For the Knights, a win over the Warriors on Friday would make them the outright league champ in consecutive seasons.
St. Joseph has played its best football over the last few weeks. The Knights are winners of four-straight, most recently spoiling Arroyo Grande's home-opener last week to improve to 6-3 overall on the year.
And when it comes to the shield, St. Joseph is looking for its fifth straight victory over Righetti. They currently lead the series, 5-4.
In just two days, you can throw all records out the window because it's a brand new ballgame.
"A win on Friday night would obviously be exciting and it does mean a lot to our community and our program," St. Joseph head coach Pepe Villasenor said. "It would set us in a good position to have a very good seeding going into the playoffs, so it is important."
"It definitely is in the back of our mind, you know. We definitely want that outright league title, second year in a row, you know, but we're just going to take it one play at a time," St. Joseph senior captain Michael Madrigal added. "We can't change anything, and we just have to do our job. That's a big thing we preach at St. Joe's, just do your job, every play."
St. Joseph and Righetti will kickoff at Jay Will Stadium at 7 P.M.
