The Atascadero Greyhounds are one win away from completing their journey to securing a CIF and State championship for the first time ever.
"I've had so many messages from guys on the Central Coast that have been positive and encouraging," said Atascadero Head Football Coach Vic Cooper.
The game will be final the game of the season for the Greyhounds regardless of the result.
"It's such a great time for Central Coast football right now because the head coaches and all the teams, we just get along," said Cooper.
The grind to the title game for the Greyhounds began with conditioning over the summer.
"It means a lot to me, knowing all the work we put in since January 1st of last year, and going through after what happened the year before," said offensive lineman Jackson Cooper. "We really put in a lot of work to get to here."
"It's such a good feeling after all these hard years of just hard work and just like seeing my team get better and better every time," said corner Jack Hathaway.
"It started over summer from seven-on-seven tournaments and then slowly building," said running back Diego Real. "Now, we just find ourselves on a roll."
This game will be the biggest in school history for the Greyhounds.
"That's stuff I've been dreaming about since I was a kid," said Jackson Cooper. "Coming out to watch all these practices as a kid, that's the only thing you can dream about: CIF Champion, State Champion, League Champion."
"It would mean everything," said Hathaway. "It would be the first time we were bringing anything from state."
The Atascadero team has battled through adversity to reach the final game of the season.
"Before playoffs started, after we started getting hot on a six-game win streak, I think we just finally figured out who we were," said Real.
The Greyhounds say they are excited to see their community show up for the game Saturday.
"For the people that have been there all the way through, we love you," said Vic Cooper.
Kickoff between San Gabriel and Atascadero is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday at Atascadero High School.
