Bulldogs gunning for 6-0

Adam Candee

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

Seated on a bench adjacent to the Centennial football field, injured Bulldogs running back Devin Patterson tossed around the pigskin, shot a few playful verbal jabs at his teammates and even gave a fashion critique of sneakers strewn on the sidelines.

Centennial's top-notch back, who is nursing an injured left knee, would have preferred lining up in the backfield over any of those activities.

"I just want to get back out there," Patterson said.

Although Centennial misses the offensive threat of Patterson, nothing has slowed the Bulldogs during their 5-0 start. After rallying to beat Cheyenne last week, Centennial faces its biggest test thus far when fellow unbeaten Foothill pays a visit Friday night for a non-league contest.

"We're unbeaten," Centennial coach Greg Murphy said. "And we want to stay unbeaten."

The credit for Centennial's quick start goes in large part to a defense that has allowed just 20 points, as well as to running back Melvin Matlock.

Since Patterson took an awkward hit on his left knee two weeks ago against Bishop Gorman, Matlock took over the lead running back role. He has rushed for more than 300 yards in the past two games.

"He's doing a great job," Patterson said. "We all know he's got the skills to do it. When your number's called, you've got to step up."

Added Murphy with a smile: "I don't think that's too much to expect out of the kid."

Murphy expects to have the recovering Patterson back for next week's game against Mojave. Bulldogs quarterback Cory Gray looks forward to again being able to hand off to both of his strong backs.

"Devin's a big part of our offense," Gray said. "We're waiting for him to come back. Right now, we've got Melvin taking over, but two is better than one."

With injuries piling up for Foothill, Falcons coach Ray Fenton would likely be happy with even one healthy standout. Five offensive starters, including three linemen, will be out of action Friday for the Falcons, who will try to rest up for division play.

"We are banged up to no end," Fenton said. "That doesn't mean we're taking the game any lighter."

Foothill ran its record to 5-0 with a win at Green Valley last week. After relying on the ground game with John Ford a year ago, Foothill now runs the offense through wideout Nate Wederquist. The big senior receiver catches passes, runs reverses and serves as a great decoy as well.

"We use Nate in a lot of different ways," Fenton said.

Case in point: On a first-and-goal from the Green Valley 7-yard line last week, Foothill brought Wederquist in motion from left to right and faked the handoff to him. With the Gators' defense locked in on Wederquist, quarterback Mickey Beljin had his pick of open receivers on the left side for an easy touchdown pass.

"Wederquist is a big factor," Murphy said. "We know we have to slow him down a bit."

Gray feels confident that Centennial will not need to do anything special to stop Foothill's big gun.

"We're just going to contain him," Gray said. "We're just going to do what we've done to everybody else."

Coming off a strong playoff season in 2001 and this year's hot start, Murphy is guarding against overconfidence.

"We're trying to keep them on an even keel each week," Murphy said. "We haven't proved anything yet."

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