At a glance

• WHAT: Patterson High football vs. Livingston

• WHEN: 5:30 (JV) and 7:30 p.m. (varsity) Friday, Oct. 30.

• WHERE: Patterson Community Stadium, Ward and Salado avenues.

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It’s homecoming week, and amid the ongoing festivities across the Patterson High campus, the football coaching staff is hard at work to delight the hundreds of Tigers fans from near and far who will convene Friday, Oct. 30, when Patterson takes on Livingston.

Patterson is coming off an impressive 35-7 victory over Gustine a week ago. But seeking to play the role of homecoming spoilers are the visiting Wolves, who will enter with an overall record of 5-2 and are 1-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. Patterson enters the contest 4-3 overall and 2-0 in league play.

“It’s exciting to come back after a win and it being the homecoming game,” Patterson running back Nathan Shelton said. “(Livingston) is really a very good football team, and their record shows it. We’re going to have our hands full, but it’s a lot easier to prepare after a win.”

Patterson coach Rob Cozart and his staff have made it clear to the players that this game will be no cakewalk. In fact, the Wolves would like nothing more than to ruin homecoming.

“The mood of the team is good,” Cozart said. “We’re probably the healthiest we’ve been in a long time right now.

“It’s homecoming week, and the kids are feeling (prepared) and motivated.”

The game promises to be intense from the outset, as both teams are competing for spots in the postseason.

“We understand that our next three games — and moving on into playoffs — are not going to be the same type of weeks and games that we’ve had recently,” Cozart said. “We’ve played some tough opponents this season. That’s provided us some experience for these types of games.”

Cozart said Patterson must put last week’s win in perspective and move on. It’s a new week, and the Tigers face a different challenge on both sides of the ball.

“All of the (homecoming) events that happen during the week don’t mean anything if you don’t get the win on Friday,” Cozart said. “The task at hand is keeping these guys focused. It’s a tough one at times, but if you prepare the team early on in the season, it’ll take care of itself.”

Livingston is one of those dangerous teams with a league record that lends itself to deceit. The Wolves feature junior quarterback Brian Alvarez, who led his team to a 39-14 win over Orestimba a week ago.

Alvarez directs Livingston coach Chris Lacey’s fly offense.

A large part of the Wolves’ success with the fly has come from the inside run game. Back Charles Brown heads a solid Livingston ground attack — Livingston will try to get the Tigers’ linebackers flowing horizontally instead of up-field, which opens lanes for runners.

The disadvantage of many passing attacks is that they can be complex and difficult to remember. The Wolves’ passing game does not fit into that category — Lacey uses a simplified three- and five-step drop, play-action and bootlegs to be effective. With Alvarez and his receivers making the same reads, there is often little confusion.

Still, Cozart said the Tigers are up to the challenge.

“We’ve been able to match up with Livingston for a while now,” he added. “We have some familiarity with their offense and defense.

“Livingston wants to use speed, motion and misdirection to get to the edge. They want to be able to run underneath you.”

Patterson, meanwhile, hopes to extend its modest two-game winning streak heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

“Livingston is playing well right now and doing good things,” Cozart said. “We have to be prepared on both sides of the ball. That’s how we’ll go about it (on Friday).”

• Contact Marc Aceves at 892-6187 or marc@pattersonirrigator.com.