Field Report

Antelope Valley opens the Division III football playoffs against Hawthorne tonight as the No. 3-seeded team.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for the Antelopes, who fell on hard times with a combined 6-14-1 record in 1998 and 1999.

The Antelopes have nine consecutive victories, winning the Golden League championship, since a 45-13 season-opening loss to Bakersfield.

“The kids are walking down the halls with their chins held high again,” Coach Brent Newcomb said. “There’s a good feeling around here.”

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Frazier Mountain (7-3), under first-year Coach Jason Fayter, rebounded from a 0-9 season in 1999 to claim its first playoff berth. The Falcons enter the Division XII playoffs seeded No. 4.

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Temperatures have dipped into the 20s this week in the Antelope Valley, but Coach Brian Stiman of Valencia (8-2), which plays at Palmdale (7-2-1) tonight in a Division III opener, says his team won’t be affected by the chill.

“They might think that’s a home-field advantage,” Stiman said. “But we have the coldest practice field on the planet. We’ll be ready.”

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If there were any doubts quarterback Terry Furlow would be in the Palmdale lineup, he answered them Thursday.

“I’ll be playing [tonight],” said Furlow, who sat out last week’s game against Littlerock after suffering a mild shoulder separation the previous week.

“They were just holding me out so I could get stronger. I’m fine.”