The first proved to be the usual long shot. The Matadors have had only two winning seasons since the mid-1980s.

But even in the most disappointing of fall seasons -- both teams are 1-8 -- winning the last game of the year against your neighborhood rival in what was once a battle of behemoths can heal some wounds.

That's why a larger-than-usual crowd is expected tonight at El Camino when the Matadors and Eagles battle to stay out of the Capital Athletic League cellar.

It is one of several Week 10 games involving teams with historic or neighborhood connections, including Saturday's Bell Game at Hughes Stadium between Sacramento and McClatchy, two of the area's oldest Football-playing high schools.

In a few cases, league titles or playoff berths will be decided. But for most, it's all about pride, which is the case for the two Arden-area schools.

"This is the game our kids have been looking forward to all season," Header said. "In some cases, the El Camino kids live right down the street from our school, and we have players on our team who are from El Camino's side of the tracks."

El Camino coach Adam Reinking can sense the anticipation.

"Our kids are definitely fired up," he said. "Our season has been hard to swallow. Our kids have worked too hard to win just one game."

The two schools once won lots of games in their glory days.

Under coach Don Brown and later Gerry Kundert, Mira Loma produced a slew of championship teams through the early 1980s and spawned a wave of future coaches in Del Campo's Mike Dimino, Inderkum's Terry Stark and Nevada Union's Dave Humphers. (Grant's Mike Alberghini also is a Mira Loma graduate, though he didn't play Football in high school.)

If the Matadors didn't win the Capital Valley Conference title, then it was usually El Camino picking up a banner under coaches Jim Dimino and Hal Athon.

"They'd have to bring in portable bleachers, and the game was televised -- in black and white," said Al Hooker, who once coached and taught at Mira Loma. "It was smash-mouth Football. The two teams would line up and see who was toughest. No doubt the playoffs have diminished those type of rivalries."

Mira Loma last played in a section final in 1981 and El Camino in 1985. For teams these days with no hopes of playing in the postseason, the rivalry often becomes The Game.

"When we played Saturdays, our players would religiously watch El Camino on Friday nights," Header said. "And when my kids go to play pickup basketball at Gibbons Park, it's always to play the El Camino kids."

No doubt the rivalry -- on hiatus from 1990 to 2005 when the schools were in different leagues -- intensified last year when Mira Loma beat El Camino 20-14 in Week 9 and avoided the league cellar.

El Camino senior center-linebacker Matt Flure can't wait to go face mask to face mask with the Matadors.

"They used to be a kick-over team, so when they turned the tables on us, there was a lot of pain and anger," said Flure, who lives about a block from Mira Loma. "It's definitely going to be smash-mouth because neither of us wants to be last. I noticed a big change in intensity in our practice this week."

If Flure needs any extra motivation, he only has to talk to his father. Chris Flure played on the 1984 Eagles team that won the school's first section Football title (the Eagles would repeat as Division II winners in 1985).

"It's a source of pride," Chris Flure said of the rivalry. "Even when there wasn't a championship on the line, you always wanted to come out and do your best because you had friends on the other team."

But Football today at the two schools is much different.

Mira Loma is now known for its popular International Baccalaureate program. Only a handful of the 600-plus students enrolled in the rigorous academic program play Football.

Open enrollment and speciality programs at other San Juan Unified School District high schools have eroded what was once El Camino's biggest selling point -- its fundamental school status.

Both schools are in largely built-out neighborhoods and dealing with changing demographics, have no youth feeder Football programs and must share an overused stadium with a third school, Encina. El Camino's muddy grass field pales in comparison with the pristine synthetic all-weather turf surfaces found at a number of area schools.

El Camino will suit up 26 varsity players, and Mira Loma, which dropped its freshman program this season, will have just seven healthy subs tonight.

"It's almost as if they need to combine Mira Loma and El Camino to make a more competitive team," Chris Flure said. "There aren't the turnouts for Football that there used to be ... ."

Mira Loma athletic director Doug Friedman concurred, admitting his school can be a "difficult place to coach."

"It's no secret why Casa Roble, Del Campo, Bella Vista and Rio Americano have competitive Football programs in our district," Friedman said. "They have the youth feeder support and big parental support for sports. Our largest support group is involved in the IB program."

Matt Flure, who had to go to Roseville to play youth Football, agrees that while both schools have a number of hurdles, dedication and positive behavior still count for a lot, despite the tough odds they face each week in the Capital Athletic League.

"We need to play hard, and we need to have fierce attitudes," he said of both programs. "While we're not small armies like Casa Roble and Del Campo, who seem more interested in Football, we still need to love to play the game and not only make a bone-crunching hit but be willing to take a couple of them for the greater good."

It's a rivalry Week 10 usually is set aside for games involving teams that have historic and/or neighborhood connections. In some cases, they also decide league titles or playoff berths; in others, it's all -- or only -- about pride. Here's a list of a few being played this week:

Tonight Mira Loma vs. El Camino

Friday Del Campo vs. Bella Vista (Fair Oaks Bowl) Inderkum vs. Natomas Lindhurst vs. Marysville Mesa Verde vs. San Juan (Citrus Heights Bowl) Pioneer vs. Woodland Ponderosa vs. Oak Ridge River Valley vs. Yuba City Burbank at Grant

Saturday Sacramento vs. McClatchy (the Bell Game)

Call The Bee's Bill Paterson, (916) 326-5506.