Steamboat Springs — To the Steamboat Springs High School football team, Friday is the beginning of the season. The first three games don’t count for much moving forward. If the Sailors are serious about a playoff push, they’re going to have to prove it with league play getting underway this week.

“Winning is always good, but those are in the past,” SSHS football coach Lonn Clementson said. “Just like we lost our first game of the year, we want to put that in the rearview. The games we have played to this point don’t mean anything, and Delta is coming up here to win. And we are playing to win as well.”

SSHS (2-1) is hosting Delta (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Gardner Field, the first game of Western Slope league play for both teams. It also happens to be homecoming for the Sailors.

Delta’s lone loss came in their second game, a 28-7 defeat to Montrose. The Panthers’ wins came over Classical Academy (38-35) and Pagosa Springs (48-13) two weeks ago. Delta comes to the Yampa Valley fresh off a bye week.

“I’m looking forward to a great game,” Clementson said. “We are going to have to play virtually mistake-free, and we know we have to cut down on mistakes, and we’ve worked on that this week.”

After a shutout loss to Moffat County in Zero Week, the Sailors have won back-to-back games to get above .500. After a gritty 7-6 win at Aspen two weeks ago, Steamboat held off Battle Mountain in its home opener last week, 14-10.

When SSHS and Delta met last year, the Panthers rolled to a 55-0 win, part of an 8-4 season.

“We feel like we are in a great spot. We got a really tough opponent coming up that is really well-coached,” Clementson said. “This is our first league game … every game matters.”

Sailor soccer returns from long layoff

When the Steamboat boys’ soccer team gets back on the field Thursday night after a nine-day break, it’s either going to be well-rested or incredibly rusty. The last time the Sailors played was Sept. 15, a 2-1 win over Summit County, and, SSHS soccer coach Rob Bohlmann thinks the team has put the time to good use.

“We’ve really made the most of this opportunity to kind of regenerate, kind of re-look at everything we do,” he said. “So it’s been good. And that’s really built a hunger to get back in and play.”

SSHS (5-1) has two difficult and important matchups this week, beginning with league foe Eagle Valley at 6 p.m. Thursday on Gardner Field. Both teams sit with only one loss in Western Slope play, and as the season approaches the halfway mark, it could be a game that separates the teams going forward.

“We are not quite to the midway point, but we are at a really important stretch,” Bohlmann said. “A really big league game followed up by a great opportunity for a non-league game. And those non-league games really, in the end, can be very beneficial for us as you look toward places in the state tournament.”

On Saturday, the Sailors will step out of conference play for only the second time this season against perennial 4A power Palmer Ridge. Game time is 11 a.m. on Gardner Field in Steamboat.

Volleyball continues home stretch

The Sailor volleyball team has hardly been tested since a 3-0 loss to Montrose to open the season. With a 9-1 record — making that nine straight wins — SSHS will host Eagle Valley on Thursday and Glenwood Springs on Saturday, the final two games in a three-game home swing that began Tuesday in a 3-0 win over Moffat County.

Eagle Valley is currently 5-4, having won five games in a row after a 0-4 start to the season. Glenwood Springs is 4-3 and plays at Palisade Thursday night. Steamboat vs. Eagle Valley on Thursday will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Kelly Meek gymnasium, with Saturday’s match vs. Glenwood Springs starting at 1 p.m.

SSHS tennis to host defending state champions

Steamboat boys’ tennis is having an impressive season. The Sailors are fresh off a team win at the Longmont tournament last weekend, with the top doubles team of Joe Borgerding and Matthew White taking first in their division. Both Teague Burger and Charlie Smith, the top two singles players, each finished second.

Now, the Sailors will try their hand at defending 4A state champion Kent Denver at The Tennis Center at Steamboat Springs for a match Saturday morning. Start time is 9 a.m.

To reach Austin Colbert, call 970-871-4204, email acolbert@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @Austin_Colbert