Football: Dougherty Valley Faces Tough Test in Northgate

When Dougherty Valley High football coach Bob Spain watches film of Northgate, he can't help but be impressed. 

"They play hard and physical football," Spain said. "Playing against them will be like a heavyweight fight against someone you're striving to be like."

The Wildcats get that chance today when they host Northgate (2-0) at 7 p.m.

After coming into the season with elevated expectations, the Broncos have been nothing short of sensational in lopsided wins against Dublin and Tennyson to start the season.

And it all starts with the duo of Cameron Stover and Matt Butler.

Stover has ran through defenses like he was playing Madden on rookie, amassing 427 yards on just 25 carries. Five of those carries went for scores and he found the end zone a sixth time on a 15-yard fumble recovery, but he's not even the Broncos' leading scorer.

That distinction belongs to Butler, who has caught five touchdown passes from quarterback Alex Cost and scored on a pair of runs as well.

How dominant has Butler been at receiver?

In 12 pass attempts, Cost has completed nine passes to Butler for 214 yards and the five touchdowns.

With Stover averaging nearly twice what's needed for a first down (17.1 yards) per carry, defenses have been forced to try to slow him down by stacking the box which has freed up Butler when the time is right.

"They remind us a lot of us using that double-wing offense," Spaid said. "It's a real ground and pound game, but when the opportunity arises they are throwing to kids who are wide open."

And when that kid is Butler, which it has been on nine of Cost's 10 completions, opposing defenders are going to have trouble slowing him down in the open field.

Dougherty's off-season commitment to the weight room has allowed it to transition nicely into a wishbone-offense team, utilizing Lucas Raventos, Michael Spivey and big Edsel Snoddy in the backfield.

"The kids were preparing to be physical and now that they have muscles they are learning to use them," Spain said. "You could see it in the way they were preparing during the summer, they've come out with a whole new attitude."

After knocking off Riordan in its season-opener, Dougherty got by Kennedy-Fremont last week to stay undefeated largely on the strength of its running game.

The Wildcats have rushed for 607 yards in two games while limiting their opponents to 427 yards of total offense.

Tonight's test with Northgate will be a whole lot tougher. 

"We're excited about this game," Spain said. "We may not win and everybody may be picking Northgate to beat us, but at the same time if we play as hard as we've been playing and we don't win, I'll still be proud of them."

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