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It was a fast decline for the Sultana football team, as the Sultans went from being the 2005 Mojave River League champions and a 2006 playoff qualifier to having the longest losing streak in the county. The streak, which dates back to Nov. 2, 2007, is something that coach Blake Robbins never saw coming.

"I really don't know why it's happened," Robbins said. "I don't know if it's a combination of a down cycle in talent and tough schedules, but we never anticipated something like this happening. There's no question that we want to get a few wins and be back on the way up."

That task is left for Robbins, who takes over for Zane Sweeney after serving as an assistant at Sultana for several years. Robbins' familiarity with the program has allowed for a smooth transition and has even allowed for him to throw in a few schematic changes for the Sultans.

After last season's 0-10 disaster, the second straight season that Sultana finished last in the Mojave River League, Sultans coach Zane Sweeney has had enough. The last two years have been brutal for the Sultans - who have lost their last 11 games, have lost all eight league games and have fallen twice to crosstown rival Hesperia during that time.

As Sweeney was evaluating what went wrong, he decided that Sultana had gotten a little too diversified and had lost the foundation that led it to an MRL title as recently as 2005. So when evaulating his team in the offseason, Sweeney decided that Sultana needed to pull things back a bit.