It’s almost that time. Time for the over-capacitated stadium bustling in the cool September air. Time for the city of Rocklin to be divided into maroon and blue. Time for the ninth annual Quarry Bowl.

Neither team can be too heavily favored coming in to the game this year, as both teams’ stats stack up fairly evenly. Rocklin comes into the game with a 1-3 record, and Whitney comes in 0-3.

Led by senior quarterback Cade Wyant, the Thunder have had the more impressive air attack this year. Rocklin has compiled up more total passing and receiving yards per game than Whitney.

However, the Wildcats have proven to be more dangerous on the ground. With 72.7 yards per game, Whitney’s Nick Miller leads Whitney’s rushing unit to earn more rushing yards per game than Rocklin.

As far as scoring goes, Rocklin has outscored their cross town rivals by over double. Whitney has completed a meager five touchdowns this year, compared to Rocklin’s 13.

Josh Pitts, a junior on the team, says “there’s a lot of pride on the line for us, it’s a big game so we need to win.”

Big game is an understatement, as there will be over 6,000 tickets sold to watch the event. And not only that, for the first year, Whitney is in the same league as Rocklin. This means that along with being crowned winner of the Quarry Bowl, the winning school will earn a league win. This could be a vital game to determine final playoff rankings.

Whitney student Jack Silva says, “The Quarry Bowl is like the biggest event of the year, because I feel like it really unites the city. It gives a lot of people bragging rights for the rest of the year, and I think it’s a really impactful game for both schools.”

Rocklin junior and running back Cole Douglas puts the game into perspective, as he says, “even though we might get competitive, it’s all about the fun and the game.”

Fun and games aside, however, Cole says “I believe we will win by a sizeable margin.”

Jack, as a Whitney student, disagrees. “I always like to think Whitney has the best chances. Whitney always looks like the underdogs, but the underdogs should win.”

History sides with Whitney being the underdog. Rocklin has won six out of the last eight quarry bowls, with the last Wildcat victory in 2015.

Players and fans are getting ready to show their school spirit this week. It’s a battle for the Rock, and stay tuned on Friday to see who will win.