With school starting up again comes a new season of football. Of course with the new season comes new team goals they plan to accomplish. Varsity Football have been working hard since the spring, transitioning into the summer with hard work and sweat to kick off the season right. With the season on the way the Spartans have moved to a 3-2 record which was a complete turn around from last season’s beginning.
A significant goal they have this season is to make it pass the first round of CIF division 1 playoffs, which is the highest division of football they have faced. Ever since Head Coach Saul Jimenez has been here for the past 5 years they have yet to make it pass the first round, but this time he believes they have what it takes to make a run in the playoffs, with such strong aspects in their run game and eventually their pass story.
With such a large goal in mind it obviously takes hard work. In addition with the new gym and new weight room they have used the facility to strengthen their physical abilities on the field.
“This past summer we got a new weight room, also introduced a new weight/strength program along with new coaches that specialize in strength and conditioning,” stated Head Coach Jimenez.
With already having 5 coaches including head, Coach Jimenez they added new coaches weight/ strength coaches.The program has allowed them to successfully improve on their run aspect of their game such as being able to successfully move bigger opponents out the way and being explosive.
When asked about the success of the team so far in the season coach Jimenez stated that ”Im not satisfied with how we look, as we look one dimensional as we have a strong ability to run and not pass the ball as well. We don’t have the chemistry yet to be able successfully pass the ball how we would like to and feel more confident with either running or passing the ball”
Christian Romero, Captain, Senior, Middle Linebacker, and outside linebacker says he feels that they have the keys to make a good run this year in playoffs and is excited for the future of the season.
“This year we have all 3 trophies and we know we have to defend them all against the league, but with the way we have been playing we know we will be able to make a stand against them and hold them off from trying to take back the trophy”
With the 3 trophies in our hands we face the disadvantage of some games being away which switches the mindset going into facing Bell, South Gate, Legacy, and Lincoln High School. 2 of the 3 trophy games are going to be away which are Bell and Legacy.
When asked about how he feels about the team this year he felt they are way better than last season as they have gotten better personally which allows them to have confidence going into games.
“We are definitely better than last year despite losing seniors but we also gained amazing players as well, but kinda sad as we are about half way through the season and it’s my final game with them.”
The team consists of 25 returning players from the 23-24 season, and 28 seniors returners so this year they are very eager to enjoy their final season together, as this could be their final year playing together on field under the Friday night lights.
By Julian Avalos, Staff Writer