Counting down to kickoff of state Division I bowl game

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Corona Centennial and De La Salle have taken the field for pregame warm-ups before the state Division I bowl game at Home Depot Center.

Centennial Coach Matt Logan was the first Husky on the field. I’m still looking for De La Salle Coach Bob Ladouceur. He’s probably still in the locker room, trying to figure out how to stop Centennial’s no-huddle, spread offense.

I spoke with Logan briefly. He confirmed that outside linebacker Brandon Magee will miss his second straight game because he violated a school rule last week. K.J. Vaifale will move from strong safety to Magee’s spot and sophomore Michael Aguon will start at strong safety.

Logan said the atmosphere leading up to the game made it feel more like the Rose Bowl than a winner-take-all championship. I guess what that means is, it’s easier to get fired up for a cross-town rival like Corona Santiago than for a team from Concord. I bet most of the Huskies couldn’t even find Concord on a map.

I mistakingly asked Logan how he would attack De La Salle’s defense, but I should have known that the whole design of the Centennial offense is to wait and see how the defenders line up, then call the appropriate audible.

So far, the crowd isn’t much bigger than it was for the earlier games. I’ll be turning the blog over the Austin Knoblauch from here on out. This game deserves my full attention.

-- Dan Arritt

-- Image from www.homedepotcentertickets.com