Stone Ridge Christian stepping into the spotlight

Stone Ridge Christian is a small school stepping onto a big-time stage.

It’s a bit of an adjustment for the Knights, who had television reporters and cameras showing up at practice this week.

“It’s so unusual,” Stone Ridge Christian coach Art De Jager said. “We’re not a big school. We don’t see a lot of media on a consistent basis. It’s something new and our kids kind of have that deer-in-the-headlights look. We’re down in Division VII, nobody usually pays attention to us.”

The Knights (11-1) have turned heads by setting a state record with 10 consecutive shutouts and winning back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section championships. All eyes will be on Stone Ridge Christian today when it faces Mission of San Francisco in a NorCal Regional State Bowl play-in game at Castle Field in Atwater.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

The Knights and Bears (9-3) couldn’t be more different.

It’s a Mission spread offense, looking to air the ball out against Stone Ridge Christian’s ground and pound double-wing offense.

It’s city boys versus country boys.

It’s speed and size against strength and persistence.

“We’re playing the big inner-city football team with lots of talent, lots of athleticism and lots of skill,” De Jager said. “We are like the Valley farm boys. We play tough, blue-collar football. We’re disciplined. If this game turns into a track meet, we don’t have a prayer. Our job is to keep grinding.”

The hope is that the Knights will wear down the Bears with their physical offensive line. Stone Ridge Christian just hopes to pound away three or four yards at a time and wear Mission down late in the game.

The Knights don’t expect to break the long runs that have become routine this season. They don’t expect to shut out an explosive offense that is averaging over 40 points per game.

“We hope to make this a tough, four-quarter football game,” De Jager said. “We hope to dominate the second half just with our toughness. This team is more capable of scoring than any team we’ve faced this season. We just have to score more touchdowns than them. We need to stop them one more time than they stop us. That’s what it’s going to come down to.”

Another win will just bring more attention next week. The winner will advance to a NorCal Regional Bowl Game with an opportunity to advance to a state championship game.

“This is uncharted water for Stone Ridge Christian,” De Jager said. “We won our second section championship, but coming into the state bracket is a whole new thing. We’re playing on a whole new level than we did all season. It’s a whole other level of intensity for us.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Stone Ridge Christian stepping into the spotlight."