Gladiators will try to dethrone the hated Eagles

Everything will be on the line as two rival antagonists will battle for the football league championship and a playoff berth.

The game will be decided on Saturday at Chabot College. The Gladiators will go up against their rival school the Laney College Eagles for the Golden Gate Conference title. Laney is ranked No. 7 in Northern California with a record of (7-2, 4-0) and Laney is the defending conference champion.

The Gladiators will go into the game being a huge underdog but having come back from what looked to be a terrible season.

The Gladiators started the season 1-3 and at one point were 2-4 after being blown out by Merced 42-20. Chabot finds itself in a position that many fans and students did not think it would be in. The Gladiators are now ranked No. 19 and have a record of (5-4, 3-1).

The Gladiators kept on fighting and went on a three-game winning streak to put themselves in a position to make the playoffs. “We never gave up,” said head coach Danny Calcagno. “The coaching staff kept on believing in them. We also had some players suspended and had other issues and that threw us off. A lot of injuries and having guys banged up made us thin with players.”

There is no bigger game for both teams than this.

Both teams have been rivals since 1962.

According to Calcagno there reason for the rivalry is because both teams recruit in the same area.

Chabot has six players that went to school in the Oakland area but Laney has a remarkable 22 players from and around the Hayward area. A lot of these players have been former teammates or played against each other in high school. Laney running back Brandon Williams played last year for Chabot and transferred to play at Laney. The last time the Gladiators beat Laney was in 2004, Calcagno’s first year. Since this game is a big rivalry, players will be excited, hyped up, and emotional.

Calcagno  will tell his players to stay focused and try to calm his players down. He also says that, “Once the whistle blows, all the hype goes out the window. Everyone is ready to play football.”

The biggest key for a Gladiator victory will be how they take care of the football.

The Gladiators have been a team that tends to turn the ball over in key situations on offensive. Defensively, Chabot will have to be able to attack the quarterback and stop the run. Laney has only averaged 26 sacks this year but they have only allowed their opponents nine.

The Gladiators have averaged 32 sacks this year compared to allowing only 20 by the opposing team.

Laney runs a pro style offense and have a very good quarterback in Jeff Murphy. Murphy has thrown for 1,584 yards along with 15 TD’s and a quarterback rating of 127.8.

On the flip slide, the Gladiators have a strong running game with Tyler Mason and Brandon Thompson. Mason who does almost everything involving the offense, leads the team in all-purpose yards with 1,598.

“We are excited to be here when no one thought that we would be. We will scrap along and do our very best, and we’ll try to pull of an upset,” said Calcagno.

The game will be Saturday at 6 p.m. at Chabot College.