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Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs High School football team’s much-discussed offense surely will be a factor in today’s quarterfinal showdown against Windsor, a game set to kick off at 1 p.m. at Gardner Field in Steamboat.

The team’s stout defensive line will be an important factor, and its interception-magnet defensive backfield will, as well.

But if the Sailors are to prevail and live to play another day, no unit may be as important as the team’s linebackers.

Steamboat’s linebackers help form the backbone of what has been a strong defense.

In part, that’s simply because there are so many of them.

The Sailors run the 3-5 defense, also known as the 30 stack. Basically, five linebackers stretch behind three defensive linemen and in front of three defensive backs.

It’s a scheme Aaron Finch brought to Steamboat when he stepped in as the program’s head coach six years ago.

“When we started running it, no one else had been,” Finch said. “Now, there are teams running it throughout the state. It has become the standard.”

Steamboat’s a team with plenty of speed and talent but not much size.

Even the team’s offensive and defensive linemen often find themselves playing in the shadows of much larger opponents. That certainly will be the case today. Windsor’s offensive line outweighs Steamboat’s by more than 20 pounds per player.

On offense, Steamboat has made up for that difference all season with an effective passing game and a fast running attack.

On defense, the team tries to make up the difference with the 3-5.

“We don’t tend to get really big, really fast, really strong young men,” Steamboat defensive coordinator Lonn Clem­entson said. “We get really fast, really athletic, really smart, really great kids, and so with that, we try to send as many people at you as we can to confuse and disrupt the timing of the offense.”

Triple dose of danger

Being fast may not be enough against Windsor, which will employ a powerful triple-option attack.

“They’re very athletic,” said Mountain View High School coach Bart Mayes, who led his team to a 21-7 victory against the Wizards on Oct. 23. “They have a number of good athletes, especially at the quarterback and running back positions. They’re big and aggressive. You have to play real sound football against them.”

The option can be three plays in one — a dive up the middle, which Mayes said is a Windsor favorite, or a quarterback run to the outside, where he’ll either keep it or pitch it to a running back.

The most difficult part is always being prepared to stop all three.

“We have to have people at three different points of attack,” Clementson said. “That spreads the defense out. And if you’re not patient and disciplined and don’t get good reads, it makes for a long day.”

Mayes said Windsor quarterback Trevor Okamoto and running back Conner Glenn are speedy and difficult to contain if they opt to dive through the middle of the line or swing outside.

Okamoto also wowed Moun­­tain View with his arm.

Still, that may not be the key to a semifinal berth.

“If you can stop that running game, teams will have a shot against Windsor,” Mayes said.

The right parts

It’s no secret in the Steamboat locker room what the key to slowing the Wizards will be.

Stopping the option is all about discipline, and Steamboat hopes its quintet of linebackers can handle the responsibility.

“We haven’t seen too many options teams, and it takes more discipline,” senior Cody Harris said. “We can’t bite on the option, and we have to do our assignments or it will be a long, hard game.”

It starts with Mitch Lekar­czyk, the team’s middle, or “mike,” linebacker. The second-year starter is one of four seniors who regularly see action on the unit.

“The mike linebacker is always going to be your key guy to making that defense work,” Finch said. “Mitch has really become a force in there. We’re expecting him to take on guards every play and still make the tackles. He’s done a great job of that.”

Harris, a three-year starter, plays on the strong side. Senior Bryce Mayo, meanwhile, is the weak-side linebacker.

All three regularly get assigned to blitz the quarterback, a tool Steamboat has relied on all season to confuse and frustrate opponents. Today, the three will bear the brunt of the responsibility when it comes to slowing the option, especially the dive aspect.

“Your three primary run stoppers are those guys inside,” Clementson said.

Outside of those three, senior Jack Verploeg and junior Michael Savory play roles more similar to strong safeties than traditional linebackers. Savory’s position, on the strong side, is called the “tiger shark,” and Verploeg plays the “shark.”

Junior Connor Landusky is scheduled to return from an injury to play today. He has served as a backup for the entire unit all season and is expected to see time there today, as well.

“The tiger shark, he often has a lot more field to cover than the shark on the other side. Their responsibility is to force the play back inside to the inside linebackers who are hopefully scraping and getting downhill,” Clementson said. “But all five of our linebackers, what they do starts with the defensive line. Those guys have been great up there all season long, too.

“We’ve prepared very hard, and we have a great challenge and a fun challenge ahead of us. Whoever does a better job will win this game.”