Pregame thoughts: No. 13 Redlands East Valley v. Miller

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Note: Our Liveblog application had some technical difficulties on my laptop so I’ll provide quarter-by-quarter updates on our regular Varsity Times blog. Stay tuned.

You’d think both Miller and Redlands East Valley talked about the implications of tonight’s game throughout the week. A Citrus Belt League championship is likely at stake. Both the Wildcats and Rebels are 7-0 while Eisenhower trails in third at 5-2. The five remaining teams in the Citrus Belt have losing records.

But that wasn’t the case, says REV Coach Kurt Bruich.

“Nothing out of the usual,” Bruich said about the preparation this week. “We prepare for every single game the same way. We’re not trying to do anything special.”

The Rebels hasn’t beaten the Wildcats since a 54-0 thrashing in 2001. Miller also fell to REV, 28-27, last year in what eventually resulted in a Citrus Belt League title for the Wildcats. Miller Coach Jeff Steinberg acknowledged his players have looked forward to this game all season, but he said the demeanor hadn’t changed this week.

“The players do a good job focusing on us and don’t get caught up with who we’re playing,” Miller said. “They don’t look down the road too far ahead. They treat each game as the biggest game of the year.”

As the Rebels were stretching, they immediately started chanting “Miller” at the top of their lungs. They definitely look pumped up in their drills.

We’ll get to the live blog below once kickoff begins.

-Mark Medina