Willows High is ready for ‘Little Big Game’
By Katie Taylor
of The Valley Mirror

The Honker Football season is off to a running start.

The 41-person varsity team is 2-0 going into their rivalry game, the “Little Big Game” against Orland High on Friday night. A high school version of the Stanford-Cal face-off, with a rivalry that is just as fierce, the two teams play for ownership of an axe, which currently Willows possesses.

Coached by seasoned head coach and athletic director Curtis Parks and Willows ’01 alum Jason Romano, the Honkers are facing a challenging up-coming line-up.

“Everyone we play is going to be competitive,” says Mr. Romano, taking the reigns for Coach Parks on Monday. “We don’t schedule any easy ones.” Orland, Wheatland, Durham and Trinity, he says, will all be tough teams to beat.

Assistant coach Romano says that the team is improving with every game.

“We made a few little mistakes each game,” he says “We learn from our mistakes, and move on.”

He says he is focusing, quite simply, on all-around improvement. His goals for the team are “just getting better every week and playing better at every game.”

Keep an eye out for senior runningback/linebacker Kent Thayer, varsity-returner junior runningback/linebacker Tyler Kormos, senior quarterback Brandon Boyd, junior receiver and defensive back Cody Pastorino and senior offensive guard Nathan Michaud. Varsity-returner junior offensive line/linebacker Matt Candaleria is out with an injured knee. He was leading the team in tackles before his injury and will hopefully rejoin the line-up soon.

The Little Big Game is this Friday in Orland. JV starts at 5:30 p.m, followed by the varsity game at around 7:30 p.m..

Homecoming is scheduled for Friday, October 5, against Durham.