Pigskin detour on way to Vegas
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Next time you’re heading to Las Vegas, don’t take the I-15 unless you live in the Inland Empire or somewhere out there. Instead, take Highway 14 to Highway 58 in Mojave and, if you’re leaving on a Friday night, stop by Boron for a football game.
There isn’t much in Boron besides the big Borax pit alongside the 58, but watching a football game at Bobcat Stadium is probably the biggest slice of Americana you’ll ever experience (at least if you’ve never been out of SoCal.). The small-town feel coupled with generations of ex-Bobcat football players in the stands gives Boron that “Friday Night Lights” feel without the swearing and Texans. And Boron’s version of “Friday Night Lights” usually involves some strange aircraft flying over nearby Edwards Air Force Base.
Even better, the Bobcats are getting closer to the ways that made them four-time Southern Section champions (1969, 1993-94, 1998). They’re ranked No. 5 in the CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division poll and they beat Rosamond in their season opener, 33-0, in a game postponed one day due to an electrical outage (those pesky 110-degree temperatures were the culprit).
However, a word of warning: If you go to Boron before the middle of October, wear shorts and a T-shirt. If you’re there in November or December, dress like you’re going on an Arctic expedition.
- Austin Knoblauch
