One isn't a lot.  To Yuma Catholic's football team, it's probably  worth a million figuratively and at least two literally.

Yuma Catholic, the 2A bridesmaid to Northwest Christian last year, looks for one (win) Saturday  that would cover four recent losses to NWC and bring the border town its first-ever outright football championship. Game time is 11:30 a.m. at Northern Arizona University's Walkup Skydome.

Yuma is bereft of an outright football title in part because of the expansion from a one-high school town to six over the last 25 years has sliced the talent pool in many directions. Yuma Catholic's gradual rise as a contender in the small-school ranks has the community uniting in its support of a second-title bid in as many years.

"We heard well-wishing from other schools in town last year, that's continued this year," Yuma Catholic coach Rhett Stallworth said. "We've even had people that from the 1959 Yuma (High) team wish us well. There's a little more excitement this year after we were close last year."

Yuma Catholic has a combined record of 55-9 since Stallworth took over the program in 2007. The Shamrocks only blemishes the last two years have come at the hands of NWC. Each of the four games has been tight.

NWC (13-0), which relies on solid defense, standout running back Casey Jahn and an improved passing game,  has posted  26-21, 14-10, 30-27 and 13-6 wins over  Yuma Catholic since October 2009. In two of those contests NWC had large leads heading to the final period and held off late YC rallies. In the other two, Yuma Catholic was tied or ahead in the final period, only to give up long TD plays that denied them victory.

The most recent defeat was back on Aug. 27 when the teams opened the 2011 season in Yuma. Jahn rambled 87 yards in the fourth quarter of that one for the game winner to break a 6-6 tie. Jahn has amassed 7,100 yards rushing in his career and counting. In their October 2010 meeting, Yuma Catholic led 10-7 with less than two minutes left, but watched stunned as NWC prevailed on an 80-yard TD pass from current quarterback Orbi Gonzales to James Mossbrucker for the final tally.

"The big plays were costly in those games, especially the one at their place (14-10)," Stallworth said. "We've been right there with them. They won all of those . We have no excuses. The better team won each time."

Both Stallworth and NWC coach Dave Inness believe the team that plays the best defense will hoist a trophy on Saturday. Inness expects more scoring, but wouldn't mind limiting  Yuma Catholic to six points again.

"When we played this year it was the first game of the season," Inness said. "The offenses weren't as good as the are now. The hitting in that one was at a game 5 level. We're looking to play whatever kind of game it takes. Low scoring. More scoring than the first time."

Leading the way for Yuma Catholic is third-year starting quarterback Tommy Pistone. Pistone had a decent half-season in 2009 (he missed the final six games), a better year last year and improved significantly this year.

"Tommy's played smarter, made a lot better decisions overall," Stallworth said. "That's the biggest improvement for him. We played a tougher schedule this year. His numbers are much better and given the competition, it's been a good year for him."

Pistone has passed for 3,374 yards and 39 TDs. His TD to interception ratio is 3.5 to 1 this year compared to 2 to 1 last year. The Shamrocks will need a solid game from Pistone to turn the tables on NWC. In the four previous games Pistone has played against NWC, he's averaged 101 yards passing a game and two picks. He's thrown for only one TD.

Pistone has four primary targets led by Evan McKinney (55 catches for 1,155 yards and 14 TDs), Tyler Moreno (35-510), Rocky Rutherford (32-482) and Ricky Hampton (18-541). The Shamrocks have a 1,000-yard rusher in Kody Hazlett (1,154 yards and 20 TDs).

"We need to come out and play better than we did early in the (championship) game last year," Stallworth said. "We didn't do a good job the first three quarters, and let them get too far ahead. I think we'll have a better idea what to expect from the conditions (stadium and altitude)."