It seems like every prestigious high school football program has their own football family. If you are a school like Vista high school, the Altieris and Faraimos come to mind. If you're a Maverick fan, there's not doubt that one family takes the cake, the Witzmanns.

The Witzmanns don't bleed red, they bleed green and gold. The family is all about football and is in the process of sending their 3rd son, Adam Witzmann, through the La Costa Canyon football program.

Their two older sons, Nick and Justin, were fantastic players at La Costa Canyon and eventually played in the collegiate ranks. Their father, Dwayne Witzmann, played football at the University of Nevada, and is currently a freshman football coach. Annie Witzmann, the mother of the family, is a Maverick football evangelist, and could possibly be considered the ultimate team Mom. Over the years, even the two daughters, Molly and Abby have gotten in on the action, continually helping out on the sidelines.

I was able to catch up with Adam Witzmann, the 215 pound Junior defensive tackle for the Mavericks, who recently stormed back from an ankle injury and has made an immediate impact for the Gangrene defense. Witzmann insists the Mavericks are ready for the division I championship game against the Escondido Cougars. Check out our question and answer session below:

Q: How does it feel to get the opportunity to play at Qualcomm stadium for the Division I CIF championship?

Adam: It will be crazy, playing in front of a huge crowd and all that noise. I'm excited to see what its like. We're going down (Thursday) to Qualcomm to get the jitters out and take pictures.

Q: What has Coach Brown been telling the team all week in preparation for the big game?

Adam: He's been telling the team not to overlook Escondido. Don't look past them. We beat them once before but they are a good team.

Q: What are the keys to the game against Escondido?

Adam: Our Offense needs to sustain drives and keep Seale and Zier (Escondido runningbacks) off the field. They've rushed for over 2000 and 1000 yards each. We gotta keep giving Seth the ball. Matt Williams needs some catches too.

Q: What's your main individual focus this week coming into the game?

Adam: I need to get off the ball, blow up the center and disrupt. We watched film and Knuckles (Mission Hills defensive tackle) was messing up the center pretty good.

Q: How's the offense doing in practice this week?

Answer: Seth Hanson is running hard and has been getting confidence over the past 2 weeks. The O-line is getting better. Frausto's a play maker. He escapes sacks and can throw to Matt S. Williams. Kenny is Kenny.

Q: You've been to a lot of football game at La Costa before. What differentiates this year's team from La Costa teams of the past?

Answer: One this thing is that everybody is fast... speed at every position. The defense is flying to ball all the time. Jacob is a good leader. He gets everybody going.

Q: What'd you guys do differently over the summer to prepare for the season?

Adam: We ran more bleachers, every Friday, six sets of six bleachers.

Q: How many years have you been playing football?

Adam: I've been playing since second grade.

Q: What is the best team you've ever played on in your football career besides this year?

Adam: My Pee Wee team. The one with Jose (Muller). We won the Palomar conference championship and beat oceanside.

Q: Who is on your team from your Pop Warner Seahawk team?

Adam: Driver, Buhr, Kaiser, Driver, Garrett, Dutch Hapgood, Matt Williams, Frausto, and some others.

(When reading this post, my brother Tyler who played on the team with Adam also noted that they hit so hard that they sent two guys to the hospital in the same game; one guy broke his leg and another finger tip got ripped off -- ouch! Seahawk players will remember this).

Q: How does it feel being the only player out of your family to go the the Q?

Adam: It feels really good to have some bragging rights on them. They've accomplished a lot but this is something they haven't done. They are jealous

Q: Unfortunately you were out for many regular season games due to injury. What was going through your mind during this time?

Answer: It was really hard standing on the sideline watching everybody have fun, but I was patient and worked hard. A couple times I came back a little too early. Coming back to play (for the Fallbrook game) was a really good feeling. I'm glad the coaches gave me an opportunity to play when I came back.

Q: How would you describe your defense in one word?

Answer: Fast

Q: Where did "gangrene" defense come from?

Answer: Coach Scott Brown thought about it. He got it from the idea of a fast defense, like the blackshirts (of Vista). Even since when you played, La Costa has had a defensive reputation. Kids that play the best in practice get a gangrene jersey.