The Pomona-Pitzer football team will undertake the greatest challenge of their season so far this Saturday when they face-off against the SCIAC powerhouse La Verne Leos in what promises to be an exciting and competitive game. La Verne is undefeated this season, beating its opponents by a total of 111 points to 31.

Their record speaks for itself, but the Leos even more daunting when one looks at the size and athleticism of some of the players on their team. Pomon-Pitzer coach Roger Caron said, "They are bigger, stronger and faster than us…We’ll give it a go."

While these facts are painfully realistic, Caron’s confidence is equally understated. With an unbeaten Sagehen squad that has managed to dominate all of their opponents this season, the Hens are arguably the superior team. The Sagehens are 4-0 for the first time since 1970 and they are ready for a big game against La Verne.

While watching La Verne struggle to beat the CMS Stags last weekend, the Sagehen players radiated self-assurance: "They’re bigger but we can beat them in other ways," said offensive lineman Matt Campbell ’00, who will likely match up against La Verne’s giant 6’4", 310 pound defensive lineman Clarence Martin ’00.

Because of Martin and the rest of La Verne’s formidable defensive line, the Sagehen running attack will be hard pressed to go up the middle. Instead, the Sagehens will have to rely on a more crafty offensive approach, which probably means a lot more passing and a little bit of creativity.

Coach Caron does not underestimate La Verne’s proven capability to dominate a game. He said: "They don’t have any weak links."

Although the Leos do not have very many weaknesses for the Sagehens to exploit, the Hens do have some uncommon strengths that they can capitalize on. What could prove to be most valuable to them is their edge in overall endurance and physical conditioning. Although players like Clarence Martin are extremely effective while in the game, the Sagehens will work on tiring him out by playing an up-tempo game. They have considered using a no-huddle offense to tire out the Leos’ defense force them to stay alert. La Verne’s Martin made it through less than half the game against the Stags, and many other players looked spent by the final quarter.

Quarterback Brian Ferrette ’01, who hopes to be fully recovered from a nagging injury for the La Verne game, said, "We’re not going to try to be tougher than them, we’re going to be smarter than them and tire them out. We’ll attack the perimeters." Both Sagehen quarterbacks, Ferrette and Teohua Sanchez ’01, should be ready to play against LaVerne, a fact that will likely be crucial against the Leos’ strong, bruising pass-rush.

When asked about the prospect of Sanchez starting the game, Caron said, "Teohua [Sanchez] is a very talented quarterback and he is starting to master the offense…He will be fine." Sanchez, although new to the Pomona-Pitzer program, played quarterback for two years at Cal Lutheran before transferring to Pitzer.

Among other injured stars whose status remains questionable for the La Verne game is tailback Ryan Hattersley ’01, who sat out of practice all week with an injured hamstring. He also has a positive outlook about his possible return to the offense. "I’ll be ready to play," he said. "I feel a lot better already." Hattersley is looking forward to his first game appearance in three weeks.

On defense, the Sagehen strategy is fairly simple: make the Leos work on every down. That means not allowing La Verne to break open the game. "They have some big-play weapons," said Caron, "we have to try to take those receivers out of the game." One of those weapons is receiver Kenny Fredieu ’00, a 5’7", 165 pound live-wire, who, according to Pomona-Pitzer defensive back Ronnie Tamale ’00, "has a lot of moves." It will be on Tamale, and the rest of the Hens secondary, to make sure Fredieu does not have a big game this weekend. Last week the Stags’ secondary got torn apart by Fredieu, who refused to be contained by the CMS defenders.

Although Coach Caron said, "we try to present every game as the same," it is clear to the players that the Leos will be their greatest trial so far this season. Caron admits, "La Verne is a very good team. It will be added pressure."

The question then becomes this: Will the as yet untested Sagehens thrive under this pressure, which they seem to have been awaiting all season, or will the over-powering Leos be too much for them to handle?

Regardless of the outcome, this game pits two of the top Southern Californian Division-III teams against each other at our own Merrit Field in what promises to be one hell of a game of football. The Sagehens will try to outwit and outrun a stronger and more athletic La Verne squad.

Dr. G’s prediction: Pomona-Pitzer 35 — La Verne 28. See you there this Saturday at 1:00!