Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 10:14 a.m.
Three weeks into the season, only seven teams in the south are undefeated.
There are the teams that expect to be undefeated three weeks in -- Las Vegas, Foothill and Palo Verde. There are the two 1-0 teams that started play Friday after serving a one-game suspension for their brawl in last season's playoffs. There are the well-rounded Silverado team and the high-flying Shadow Ridge Mustangs ... and then there's that Green Valley team that won one game last season.
The Gators have rolled to a 3-0 record to start the season, shutting out Durango 20-0 Friday to continue what has been this season's biggest turnaround.
Granted, Green Valley hasn't been playing the cream of the crop. The Gators opened with Rancho, a team that hadn't seen a real-life sideline since the year before. Week 2 brought Bonanza, a decent team from a weak Southwest division. Friday, the buses rolled out to Spring Valley to take on a depleted Durango team that the week before gave up 27 points in the fourth quarter to Chaparral.
Nonetheless, Green Valley coach Greg Murphy said this weekend that he'll take a 3-0 record no matter how his team gets it. So far, the Gators' ground game has been taking a bite out of opponents, with Jairus Howard and Jeff Garcia both running for more than 250 yards this year.
"It feels good," Murphy said. "We can definitely be a lot more critical when we're 3-0 and try to get better. We still have plenty of work to do."
The Gators' first real test will be this week, when they host an upstart Sierra Vista team. Murphy said he knows that Green Valley still has some work to do to be ready for the 2-1 Mountain Lions.
"We haven't started a game with the kind of energy that we need," Murphy said. "We had way too many penalties in the last two weeks."
Once around town
The Wildcats' junior running back totaled 250 yards in the first half, with three touchdowns, against an otherwise stout Bengals defense.
Jordan opened up the second half with a 25-yard touchdown run, then had 25 more yards on three more carries before sitting for the rest of the evening.
"Defensively, we did what we could," Bonanza coach Jay Weinman said afterward. "We just weren't fast enough."
With Jordan nearing 800 yards in just three games, Wildcats coach Chris Faircloth sees no need to press his star.
"We have to be careful with him," Faircloth said. "In some games he gets 30 carries, but we try to limit it."
Saturday, coach Ray Fenton and company flew to Los Angeles, then drove three hours to San Luis Obispo to scout Lynwood against Arroyo Grande. Today, the coaching staff met to discuss how to spruce up a team that is 3-0, but barely edged Sierra Vista last week 26-20.
"I just really think defensively, we've made some mental mistakes that cost us, plus Sierra Vista did some very good things against us," Fenton said.
Still, Fenton isn't too worried.
"We're playing good teams," he said. "I don't think it has anything to do with Foothill, and everything to do with the three opponents we played."
Durango's sophomores, the key to the Trailblazers' success this season after the opening of two new high schools depleted Durango's roster, have turned out a little better than coach John Mausbach expected.
Sure, they're 0-2, but they were close both times, leading Chaparral 10-0 in the fourth quarter before the Cowboys went on a 27-7 run two weeks ago, then losing Friday to Green Valley 20-0.
"I think they're stepping up to the challenge," he said. "We're competing, we're flying around and hitting."
Despite skipping first-week games, the Panthers and Mustangs both put up more than 60 points two weeks ago, and more than 40 Friday. The Panthers are no surprise, but Shadow Ridge is a second-year school that had two wins all of last season.
Last week, the Mustangs traveled to Cedar City, Utah, for Canyon View High's homecoming. Shadow Ridge ended the party early, winning 41-6.
Running back Ricky Snodgrass is closing in on 400 yards with six touchdowns, and quarterback Chris Berkeley is 24-for-30 passing with 421 yards.
"We're still not playing where we need to be playing, but our kids are progressing well," coach J.D. Johnson said. "We need to get more mental with the game as far as having less penalties."
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