BUTTE VALLEY — Despite what Internet comment boards and riled-up fans might say, today’s State Center Bowl between No. 3 Butte College and No. 7 Fresno City College is not, in fact, the “real” Northern California title game. Further investigation into the matchup, however, shows that it very well might deserve to be.
The Roadrunners (9-1) spent some of the last week doing some head-scratching, trying to figure how the top-ranked team in the region won’t be playing for the regional title after beating City College of San Francisco, but in typical hard-nosed Butte style have eschewed complaining for preparation.
“I just hope we’re able to bounce back from the highs we experienced last week, beating San Francisco, and then the immediate lows when we found out we won’t get to play in that (state playoff) game,” Butte head coach Jeff Jordan said. “It’s been a different week of practice, and honestly I’m still trying to read our team a little bit to see if we’re ready to go. I hope we can muster the spirit one more time.”
Certainly, it would behoove the Roadrunners to do so. The Valley Conference co-champion Rams (8-2) are definitely worthy opponents, in their own stadium, as will be the case today, or otherwise. Fresno’s only losses came to CCSF and American River, the two sides battling in the North’s playoff bowl.
“I’m sure they’re sitting down there feeling like they should be playing in the postseason as well,” Jordan said of Fresno. “They’re a good ball club. Their staff does a great job. A lot of people think they deserved to be in that game, too.”
The Rams, in more ways than just that one, are strangely similar to the Roadrunners, particularly on offense. While Butte relies on a powerful rushing attack, there is still a committee approach in place and Fresno operates in much the same way — three running backs have cleared 445 yards but none has eclipsed 600, and three quarterbacks have gotten significant snaps for the Rams this year. The production is even more spread out at receiver, much like Butte, with nobody a clear-cut No. 1 target but a laundry list of potential playmakers.
“It was interesting preparing for them, especially for our defense, because of how similar they are to us,” Jordan said. “They’re the same style as us. They’re going to motion and shift like we do, they’re going to be physical and use their line like we do. We have to make sure we play physical right back with them.”
Butte, meanwhile, discovered yet another gem in its backfield with the emergence of Armand Bokitch, the 5-foot-5 tailback who erupted in the second half against San Francisco to lead the charge to victory. With Bokitch behind Cameron Mikell and Derick Seward, who have combined for 1,871 rushing yards, the Roadrunners’ plans might be even more evident than they have been all season. Of course, it didn’t seem to matter against another Rams team a week ago.
That said, Jordan is still treating this one as his team’s toughest test, and though it doesn’t have postseason significance beyond Saturday, it does represent a special opportunity. Just five times in Butte’s history has a 10-win season been accomplished, with the most recent instance coming just a year ago. Jordan is 5-0 all-time in postseason games since becoming the Roadrunners’ head coach in 2006.
“Any time, no matter what level you’re at, if you win 10 games it’s quite an accomplishment. This team has an opportunity to put itself up there with the best we’ve ever had here,” Jordan said. “But it’s another game for us, and that’s the main thing. You don’t want to take any of them for granted. We get to go out and put the helmet and shoulder pads on and compete one last time, and I hope that sinks in with our guys.
“We want to finish what we started.”
Connect with Sports Writer Travis Souders on Twitter @travissouders.
