Cedar Valley Christian plays first football game tonight against tough West Central

His name is Eric Gustafson.

He's a freshman at Cedar Valley Christian. And he's the only member of his football team who has played in an organized game, tackle-style.

Gustafson played two years at Roosevelt Middle School. As a ninth-grader, he's one of the youngest Huskies.

In football terms, he's the most experienced veteran.

Cedar Valley takes its first step into state-sanctioned athletics Friday with an eight-man game against West Central. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Maynard.

The Huskies are excited, but realistic.

"We know this is going to be an eye-opener," said Coach Ed Betsworth. "We're not going to be worried about the score. We're talking about being competitive.

"We know we're walking into a game against a team that will be in the playoffs. Win, lose or draw, we want to be able to look in the mirror afterward and tell ourselves we did our best."

This is the first of four varsity games the Huskies will play this season. Undoubtedly, it will be the toughest.

West Central was 7-3 last year and opens the season ranked No. 8 in eight-man by The Gazette. Michael Lincoln rushed for 1,225 yards and 17 touchdowns last year as a sophomore. Joey Chartrand accounted for 11 rushing TDs. He's a senior now.

Steve Milder said the Blue Devils "might be the quickest defensive team I've had here."

West Central has a roster of 28 players. Cedar Valley will dress 13. Two players are ineligible due to the Iowa High School Athletic Association transfer rule; they can play in any JV games the Huskies may add, but won't play in varsity competition.

"I really don't know what to expect (Friday)," Milder said. "I expect them to spread the field and try to take advantage of their speed. I know they've had success in soccer, so they'll have athletes -- they just haven't played any football."

Senior Joe Spina is a prime example. Betsworth said he has "seen the lightbulb click on, about a week ago. He's become a great tackler on the defensive line."

Spina weighs 150 pounds.

"I've never played football; I don't even really watch it much," Spina said. "It doesn't really matter if we win or lose Friday. I just hope we're ready."

At the Huskies' first day of camp about two weeks ago, Betsworth began with teaching the team how to properly get into a three-point stance.

"I'd have said then that we were at a fifth-grade level in terms of knowledge and experience," Betsworth said.

And now?

"It's coming," he said. "We know we have to be patient. There's not going to be instant gratification. We're going to get better, but it's going to take time."

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