3A high school football preview: Judge at Delta

Judge (4-6) at Delta (6-4)

3A state tournament first round

Friday, 5 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Judge by 4

All-time series: First meeting

Coach vs. Coach: Judge's James Cordova and Delta's Russ Henrie, first meeting

Last meeting: First meeting

Over the years, Delta and Judge are two of the football programs in Class 3A that, more often than not, have been there in the end.

Both schools have had up-and-down 2009 seasons to this point — Delta finished the regular season with a 6-4 record while breaking in a young team, and Judge finished with a 4-6 record while breaking in a young team — but each knows that they've got reputations to live up to.

Armed with triple-option offenses and hard-nosed defenses, Judge and Delta will look to surprise people in the postseason, beginning on Friday when they collide with one another in a 3A first round playoff game at Delta High.

Delta coach Russ Henrie, for his part, believes the many similarities between the two programs will make Friday's 5 p.m. first-round encounter an entertaining one.

"I have a lot of respect for Judge," said Henrie. "They've got a great football team. They've been around forever. They've got a lot of tradition. We've got a lot of tradition. We both take our football very seriously, and it should be a good game. I hope we can make it a good game."

In breaking down Judge on film, Henrie sees a team that plays an awful lot like his guys do.

"They're big, they're physical, they're more athletic than we are. I don't think there's any question about that," said Henrie. "They run the triple-option. We're one of the few teams that still run the triple-option. Everybody's kind of gone to this new Wing-T garbage where they come around the ends.

"Judge is very fundamentally sound. They run a good offense. They have a very stingy defense. I do think they're a little bit more athletic than us and (are) bigger than us, but they're kind of similar to us — similar circumstances. They're scrapping for their lives, and we're scrapping for our lives."

To have a chance against a Judge team that Henrie believes is more athletic and bigger than his own team, Henrie said his guys will have to outhustle, outwork and be more disciplined.