Redlands football team preps for Oxy

Now that the Los Angeles Angels are about to rid themselves of the demon that is the Boston Red Sox, let's hope the University of Redlands can do the same with what has been its kryptonite - the Occidental Tigers.

The two teams square off at Oxy's Patterson Field at 7 p.m., on Saturday. The Bulldogs go in ranked No. 22 by D3football.com while the Tigers are No. 24.

Redlands has lost five straight games to the Tigers. Last year plain old bad luck made a difference as quarterback Dan Selway was out with a broken foot. He threw for more than 400 yards against the Tigers the previous year so his loss was huge.

The Bulldogs will have to play a near perfect game. Not only is Oxy good, it is playing at home and strange things seem to happen there. Two years ago the Bulldogs had 17 penalties for 111 yards while the Tigers were called for just three for 24 yards. One team might traditionally draw more penalties but there should NEVER be that much of a discrepancy in that category.

The Occidental stadium is a disaster too. It's a nice facility, but there is seating on just one side. So yes you have fans from the two teams way too close to each other. There were several near fights the last time the teams played there. It is such a competitive game and there is so much on the line, tempers are going to flare.

Redlands should also bring its own security guard to watch its lockerroom. Two years ago the Bulldog players lost as much as $10,000 in personnel belongings to a thief - latops, cell phones, iPods.

The Bulldogs appear to have the edge in most statistical categories. But sometimes you can want something too bad. If they relax, focus and play their own game and don't get caught up in all the hoopla, they can come away victorious.