Few teams are playing a tougher non-league schedule than the defending CIF Central Division champion Colony Titans.
Coach Steve Randall’s team has already played West Covina, Alemany and Bishop Amat with games around the corner against La Habra (Sept. 24) and Riverside Poly (Oct. 2).
The Titans are 1-2 with the losses coming to Alemany 42-0 and Amat 59-20. Those are pretty decisive losses. So does Randall regret scheduling such formidable foes? No, at least not yet.
“I don’t,” he said. “If you want to raise the profile of your program those are the teams you need to go out and play. We’re looking at the bigger picture and our guys are smart enough to know what we’re facing and where we want to be in the end.”
Randall added that the biggest risk is that the physical nature of those opponents could possibly lead to costly injuries. But so far, so good in that department. RB Fred Harrison is out with a nagging shoulder injury but it is one that has lingered.
Senior quarterback Josh Thompson has taken some extra hits but only because he is running the ball a little more often.
Randall thinks the schedule will prepare his team for Mt. Baldy League play which gets underway on Oct. 8 against Montclair. The league looks to be improved with Chaffey, Ontario and Montclair all off to 3-0 starts, Alta Loma sitting at 2-1 and energized by veteran coach Mark Pasquarella.
Don Lugo is 1-2 but was the most improved team in the league a year ago.
Those teams haven’t played the schedule Colony has so the jury is still out on them.
Other coaches get it though.
“If Colony played the teams we have all played they’d be 3-0 too,” Chaffey coach Chris Brown laughs. “I give them a lot of credit for going out and playing that type of schedule. Not everybody an do that.”
