Only the Nor Cal Lawmen stand in the way of title game in
Gilroy
The Central Coast Barnstormers have burned their way through the
Northern California Amateur Football Federation playoffs this year
and are now just one win away from hosting the state title game for
the first time ever at Gilroy High.
Only the Nor Cal Lawmen stand in the way of title game in Gilroy
The Central Coast Barnstormers have burned their way through the Northern California Amateur Football Federation playoffs this year and are now just one win away from hosting the state title game for the first time ever at Gilroy High.
But first the amateur football team that is made up of many local high school alumni must get past the Golden State Amateur Football League’s Nor Cal Lawmen in tonight’s Northern California Championship game, which takes place at 7 p.m. at Diablo Valley College in Concord.
Although both teams compete in different leagues they both know each other well as up until last season both squads were in the same league.
In their last meeting, the Barnstormers dropped a 14-0 contest to the Lawmen that took place in the regular season, which wasn’t a cause for much concern at the time, since Bryan Smith, the Barnstormers starting quarterback, missed the game to attend his wedding.
The year before that, the Barnstormers picked up a victory by a two-touchdown margin. This time, it’s for much bigger stakes.
“It’s kind of a rivalry now. It usually comes down to the last quarter,” said Barnstormers starting running back Derrick “D-Train” Morrison. “They have a good defense – tops in their league, and a good offense too. We match up well on both sides of the ball.”
Heading into the contest, the Barnstormers will be slight underdogs as Lawmen are ranked No. 1 in Northern California, while the Gilroy-based team is ranked No. 2. This season the Barnstormers are a perfect 10-0 while the Lawmen are 10-1.
Morrison believes that tonight’s showdown is going to come down to turnovers. And, with that said, he also knows that this is the best Barnstormers squad ever assembled.
“It’s definitely one of the best teams I’ve been on,” said Morrison, who has 11 touchdowns this season. “We’ve got good chemistry and we’re pretty much like an all-star team. We have 60-man roster and depth at every position. That’s the difference this year. We have fresh legs to go in at any time at every position.”
Although the game is huge for both squads, the Barnstormers are no strangers to big games. Prior to this season, the Barnstormers had participated in the league’s AFC (Conference) Championship game four years in a row only to see themselves come up a buck short each time.
Last year, they were the only team to beat the national champion Daley City Renegades. Now they feel like they have the tools to keep the momentum going all the way to the state title and beyond, which ultimately could culminate with a national championship.
To get to the Northern California Championship game the Barnstormers had to win the NCAFF league title first. They accomplished that in June in a 35-33 barnburner over Sacramento’s North Valley Lions, which took place at Foothill College.
“We were excited to get that game past us,” Morrison said. “Now we can work on bigger an better things.”
The Lawmen reached tonight’s showdown by defeating Sacramento’s Capitol City Fury 8-6.
The winner of the Nor Cal game will play the winner of the So Cal game for the state championship. If the Barnstormers win, they would host the game no matter what as hosting privileges rotate each year from north to south.
Both remaining Southern California teams are from the Los Angles area.
