Football: Encinal Faces Familiar Playoff Foe

The game: Encinal Jets at Marin Catholic Wildcats

Where: Marin Catholic High, Kentfield

When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Records: Encinal 11-1, Marin Catholic 12-0

The key to the game: Marin Catholic is ranked No. 1 in the NorCal Cal-Hi Sports state bowl rankings for a reason, the Wildcats are flat out good. But so is Encinal, which checks in at No. 2 in the latest rankings. For Encinal to move up from No. 5 and possibly earn a bowl berth the Jets must control the game on both sides of the ball. Encinal needs to run the ball and keep Marin Catholic's offense on the sideline.

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It is starting to become an annual postseason game as the Encinal High football team prepares to face Marin Catholic for the third-straight year on Saturday at 1 p.m. on the Wildcats home field in Kentfield. The winner will advance to the North Coast Section Division III championship game next week against the winner of Miramonte-Cardinal Newman.

 "We're looking forward to it," Tenorio said on Thursday prior to practice. "They shut us down last year."

That would be the 27-0 loss the Jets suffered in the NCS championship game last year, a loss the Jets (11-1) very much want to avenge this weekend. Encinal defeated the Wildcats (12-0) in a 2008 section semifinal game by a 19-13 score before going on to defeat Novato for the 2008 section championship.

Both teams rolled up plenty of points on offense in last week's quarterfinals and a shootout is the last thing Tenorio wants to see this week anymore than he has any week this year.

"We hope that is not the case (a high scoring game) is not to favor us," Tenorio said. "We want to keep the number of plays for us on offense to just 45 for the game."

Which means the Jets will likely rely on their running game and with a deep stable of backs easily capable of carrying the ball for long gains it could be a winning formula on Saturday. Thousand-yard rusher Jonathan Allen leads the pack but gets quality backup from Paul Okamura (667 yards), Jon Trodder (661 yards) and Nahim Paschal (582 yards). Jets quarterback Andrew Ve'e will also run the ball when the opportunity presents itself and comes into the game having thrown for over 1100 yards as well.

But the Wildcats' defense has not been a pushover this year as they have rolled to an undefeated season so far.

"Their defense is their strength," Tenorio said. "They make it very difficult to move the ball."

So how does Tenorio plan on getting points on the board this time around?

"We'll probably try every play in our playbook," Tenorio quipped. "But we'll likely just stay with what we have done all year."