Dad's Club Tournament, Day 1

It's always fun to watch the Cougar football players make the transition to the hardwood. It takes about a month for most players to get re-acquainted with a round ball after dealing with a pigskin every day since the summer. Another transition players must make is to change from smashing their oppenent into the turf to guarding them without hardly touching on the court.

The Cougars lost their first round game in the Dad's Club Tournament 59-49 to Soquel High. The Cougars took an early lead, but could not hold it as Soquel's Sean Lopez got hot from the outside, knocking down five threes on his way to a game high 17 points.

There are a couple of pictures from Lucjan, the paper's expert photographer, with this article.

I was surprised by the play of junior gaurd Ryan Morse. Morse, listed at 5' 10," is a live-wire for the Cougars. Against Soquel, Morse was very active, tipping passes and knocking the ball away from offensive players while playing at the top of the Cougars 2-3 and 3-2 zone defenses. I didn't tally his steals, but Morse must have had at least 4 take-aways that resulted in at least a couple of easy Cougar baskets.

Senior forward Logan Thompson also looks comfortable at the high post and as the season moves along, Thompson's high-arching shot will begin to fall. He was not shy taking the shot which will be there all season if junior forward Robert Mullins can command a double team in the low post.

SLV plays league-favorite Aptos High in a tough matchup for the Cougars, today, Friday at 3:30 p.m.

SLV Homecoming 2008

Cardinals in the clutch

After battling back from a 10-point second-half deficit, the Cougars simply couldn't hold off Santa Cruz which scored the go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds to play to defeat SLV 27-20 on Saturday, Oct. 24.

The loss was disappointing for the Cougars who battled back from 10 down in the second half, only to see Santa Cruz mount a game-winning drive.

A couple of observations:
Sean Conner is developing into a force on short yardage situation. Conner gets low and pumps his legs to blast through hole, even when it's not there.

Fourth down is Trevor Romele time. On fourth and short, a play-action quarterback keeper around one of the ends usually nets the Cougars the first down and much, much more. Romele is fast and seems to be a talented runner.

Zeke Sanders is really fast. On an 85-yard touchdown run, Sanders accelerated down the sideline and left everyone in the dust. The man has wheels. However, despite his size, he's not a tough runner and goes down on the first or second hit almost every time.

Homecoming next week against a scrappy Harbor team!

Shelled by the Falcons

It's in the past now - but it happened. Rival Scotts Valley High School demolished the Cougars 53-14 in a game that was only close in the opening minutes of the first half.

Not all is lost for SLV. In fact, instead of looking at what went wrong (The Falcons might simply be more experienced and more polished), this post will look at what went OK for SLV.

First Quarter: The Falcons recieved the opening kick and drove right down the field for a touchdown. SLV turned right around and mounted its own drive highlighted by a 41-yard over the shoulder grab by Patrick Salibi. Quarterback Trevor Romele delivered the ball in a spot where only Salibi could catch it, and Salibi hauled it in.

Second Quarter: Not much went the Cougars way. The Falcons scored three times in a matter of minutes and the game was decided by the halftime score of 34-7. The only question remaining was how many points SV could score.

Third Quarter: In the middle of the quarter the Cougars reeled off a 14 play drive spanning nearly seven minutes capped by Sean Conner's first touchdown of the year, a 4-yard run. Both teams scored only once and if it wasn't for a blocked punt that set up an 8-yard touchdown pass, Scotts Valley may not have scored in the third.

In the photo, Cameron Bruce prepares to tackle a Scotts Valley reciever. Photo by Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner.

Fourth Quarter: Scotts Valley scored early in the quarter, but the Cougars Robert McKissock came up the middle and blocked the extra point. By the time the fourth quarter came around, both teams nearly emptied their sidelines and players that have not seen the field much of the year saw some live action with a chance to get their uniforms dirty.

Special teams was a mixed bag throughout the game. Kicker Alex Luera boomed two kickoffs and hit both extra points. However, two punts were blocked, including one for a touchdown. Luera was not at fault except he may need to speed up his punts when facing a fierce rush. Kickoff return continued to be a consistent strength for the Cougars as Beau Gregory's returns started the Cougars out past the 20 yard line on almost every possession.

A different animal

It's a clean slate for the 2-2 Cougars as they open Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play with a with home game against the Aptos Mariners on Saturday at 2 p.m.

This game opens a brutal four week stretch for SLV, a stretch that will surely define the Cougars season. On Saturday, Aptos (2-2 nonleague record, but with a two game winning streak) comes to town, followed by games at a very physical Soquel team (3-1) and at Scotts Valley (3-1) in a fierce rivalry game and then a home game against an underachieving Santa Cruz (1-3).

The Cougars match up well with Aptos and will focus on shutting down the Mariners running game.

The Cougars finished the preseason 2-2 and their offense is starting to round into shape (last weeks 26-7 win over Watsonville) after scoring a total of 23 points the teams first three games.

At this point in the season the team is relying on a running game by committee and big plays in the return game along with the occasional long pass play.

At this point in the season its all about perfecting what they do best, and the next three weeks will prove the Cougars mettle.

Line 'em up

The San Lorenzo Valley offensive and defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage in the Cougars 26-7 win at Watsonville on Sept. 26. Not only did the offensive line sustain scoring drives of 14 plays and 9 plays, the defensive line only allowed Watsonville to score once and that was on a 9 play, 32-yard drive after the 'Catz had recovered a fumble.

In the photo Beau Gregory finds a hole that you could drive a Volkwagon through.

The 14 play drive was probably the best of the young season as the Cougars pounded the ball relentlessly, taking nearly 8 1/2 minutes to score. Thank you line.

Hit of the night: Outside linebacker Bryce Harbert sniffed out a screen pass to a Watsonville wide reciever and came flying up from his postion to make the tackle for a three-yard loss in the first quarter.

Sharing the rock: Beau Gregory led the way with 80 yards rushing on nine carries, but his mates Bradley Hill (15 carries, 65 yards), Kyle Todd (11 carries, 45 yards) and QB Trevor Romele (6 carries, 45 yards) all averaged over four yards per carry.

Knocked his socks off: Quarterbacks are not know for their big hits, but on a bootleg, Romele leveled the defensive back trying to tackle him on the sideline before falling out of bounds after a 12-yard gain in the third quarter.

Special teams? Watsonville excelled at one thing in this contest. Blocking extra points. Two chip shots off the foot of kicker Alex Luera were blocked after Cougar touchdowns. If SLV wants to win tight games, every point will count, even the extra ones.

Photo: Courtesy of Paul Firenzi.

Grass Attack!

The Cougars fell to 1-2 after being shutout 21-0 by Spanish Springs High School in Nevada last Friday.

Talking with players and coaches at practice the week after the game was interesting, as it turns out playing on an organic surface was a surprise.

Approaching the game, the 5,200 foot elevation difference between SLV (300 feet above sea level) and Spanish Springs High (5,500 feet above sea level) seemed like the natural stumbling point for the Cougars. But they literally stumbled on something else.

"It was grass more than the altitude," said one Cougar.

Why the grass? Because it was tall, green and REAL.

The Cougars practice and play on their state-of-the art rubberized turf field completed at the start of 2007. In fact, every contest before their trip to Nevada was played on a turf field: The Jamboree at Cabrillo College, at Alisal High in Salinas and at home against Hayward High.

In fact, Coach Morris said that every Cougar practice had been on turf up until the day before the game.

While it is great that many of the high schools have turf fields (Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz and Harbor are the exception in the SCCAL), the tall cut of a grassy field is different than turf. There is a little more give and it's possible to slip on grass for no good reason. It's also a little less consistent across the entire 5,000 square feet on a football field (not counting the endzone). There is usually a rough patch between both 35 yard lines at mid-field and if the lawn mower has missed a spot, watch out.

In the photo, you can see the Cougars old grassy field in 2006.

No one knows if playing on turf would have made a difference, but for all the old-timer football types, this seems like a "boohoo, deal with it" kind of thing. The Cougars did deal with it and came out on the losing end...was it the grass?

Photo: courtesy of http://www.mvp-photography.photoreflect.com/.

Extra points are overrated

The Cougars didn't need extra points, or two point conversions for that matter, as they snuck by Hayward High 12-8 on Saturday, Sept. 13 in front of a hometown crowd.

They might have though, if it wasn't for the fact that their defense, penalties and tired legs slowed the big play potential of star halfback Dominique Jackson who doubled as an outside linebacker for the entire game.

Coach Morris said after the game that this game justified all the extra wind sprints because the Cougars were in better shape than their Hayward counterparts who huffed and puffed much of the second half.

The Hayward Band was something special though. After a shaky national anthem, the full band including a big brass tuba made every break in the action fun for the fans.

Strength in numbers: After breaking off an early 17-yard run, sturdy fullback Niuatoa Eleasaro was continually gang-tackled on most of his next 10 carries as the Cougars decided that strength in numbers was the way to bring down the big fella'. Eleasaro finished with 55 yards on the ground.

Linebacker on the loose: Robert McKissock drilled the Hayward quarterback Mike Fragaso twice before he was ejected midway through the second quarter. On the first, McKissock forced a fumble. The second hit from the 230-pound McKissock on the 155-pound Fragaso was so violent, the crowd let out a collective *ouch*. More later on the SCCAL's ruling on the personal foul that got McKissock ejected.

Punt this: The Cougars punting game looked good as Alex Luera boomed a number of kicks and the coverage team easily made it down the field in time to make the quick tackle on the speedy Hayward punt returners. Both teams let too many balls bounce on the turf and one SLV punt even drilled one of the officials (drawing a boo from the home team crowd) who apparently didn't see it coming.

Play of the Day: It's actually back to back plays. On a second down and nine, linebacker Bryce Harbert played perfect outside position, riding a blocker on a sweep to Jackson and exploded up to make the tackle for no gain on the elusive back. On the following play, Harbert came flying in on a play action pass and dropped the quarterback for a 9-yard loss igniting the Cougar sideline early in the third quarter.

Photos: Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner

Trojan's strike fast

The Cougars lost their season opener to Alisal High School (of Salinas) by a count of 37-15 on Friday, Sept. 5. The game was closer than the final score, but it was a costly turnover by the Cougars on a kickoff return that swung the momentum in the Trojans favor early in the third quarter with the score 23-15 Alisal.

Hit of the night: Punter Alex Luera lofted a kick into the Salinas night in the 4th quarter and Cougar defensive back Cameron Bruce made sure the returner, shifty running back Milton Grant, wasn't going anywhere. Bruce drilled Grant at the 12-yard-line as soon as the ball arrived, pinning the Trojans deep in their own territory.

He's got hands too! Linebacker Robert McKissock scored on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Trevor Romele for the Cougars second score. With all the pads and guards McKissock wears on his arms, shoulders and neck, its a wonder he can stretch out his arms to make a catch like the one he made, reaching to his left to corral the ball.

Special teams credit is due: Returner Beau Gregory broke off three long kickoff returns, including two for more than 60 yards, but his speed was not what made it happen. The other 10 guys on the field stuck to their blocks and didn't commit penalties, something so often seen on long kickoff returs.

Alisal showed that speed kills with long runs from speedy running backs all night. SLV will have to take better angles on defense when they know they'll be facing a speedster (or speedsters) at running back in order to limit the long touchdowns.

Photo: Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner

Jambor...D!

The Cougars finished second to Soquel in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League jamboree on August 29. However, after some unkowns coming in, the Cougars came out with some confidence from their strong play, especially on defense. Here a couple of observations from the four scrimages played in the fog.

*The billowing smoke from the BBQ must have been at least a little bit distracting to the players waiting for their next scrimmage. The hot dogs coming off the Cabrillo College BBQ were as good as they smelled.

*Except for his number, junior Patrick Salibi could have been mistaken for his older brother Philip (A 2007 grad) on a 52-yard catch and run touchdown against Aptos. Salibi, at quarterback to start the scrimmages, showed that if he's not the one who wins the QB job will contribute in other ways on offense.

*Hit of the night: Middle linebacker Robert McKissock filled the hole against an Aptos running back and drove him back four yards before de-cleating him and smashing him to the ground.

*Play of the night: One play, especially, got a rousing cheer from the Cougar bench and coaching staff. Outside linebacker Bradley Hill made a perfect break on a short pass pattern in the right flat, knocking the ball away with his left hand and delivered a big hit on the reciever at the same time.

*With the ball in his hands, Beau Gregory always seems to fall forward for an extra two yards.

Jamboree Schedule

Here's a link to the schedule for tonight's Varsity Jamboree at Cabrillo College. Harbor and St. Francis open up the series of 12-minute scrimmages at 6 p.m.

We'll get a first taste of the Cougars defense at 6:39 p.m. against the Pirate offense and then after a 12 minute rest, flip over to offense against Harbor at 7:05 p.m.

The Cougars will defend against Aptos at 7:18 and then, in their final scrimmage of the evening, go up against Aptos' defense.

A quick tip: Bring a jacket and a blanket. Even though it's still August, the bleachers at Cabrillo are made of metal and when the fog rolls in, it gets chilly!

Tics are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for students and $2 for kids 6-12.

It's only potential until the first kickoff

It's easy to define a person by what they do. You count money, you're a banker. You flip burgers at Mickey D's, you're a fast food pro. You milk cows at 4:24 a.m. you're either crazy or you're a farmer.

It's a little harder to define a person by what they're not. If you can't lift 50 pounds, you let Brown do for you. If you can't swim, you won't be rubbing sun tan lotion on your arms from a watch tower at the pool. If you can't type at 70 words a minute, you won't be found within 100 yards of Bill Gates.

The most difficult, and perhaps the most interesting, is to define someone by their potential, or who they could be. How can we predict the future? We can't, that's what makes the concept of potential, or "the might" so intriguing.

So what's the point of this discussion?

Simple. It's that sense of anticipation of the potential of each player before the high school football season.

The players at SLV struggle for three years to prepare themselves for their senior seasons. Then it's upon them - there's no doubt whose time it is to shine - it's time for the seniors to fill their potential and define their high school careers.

Tomorrow, August 29, (at the Varsity Jamboree) will be the first time each senior can turn long hours pumping iron in the weightroom and running wind sprints from the might be, to feats that help the team succeed.

In honor of each's potential this season, here is a list of the seniors on the 2008 Cougar squad, all 27 of them:

Vince Bruni, Ryan Lopez, Bradley Hill, Beau Gregory, Nick Bergeron, Kyle Sherman, Bryce Harbert, Cameron Bruce, Austin Stiles, Nick Brown, Matthias Anderson, Tyler Green, Ian Adams, Robert McKissock, Sean Conner, Alec Gonzales, Nolan Pfyl, Devin Lee, Tucker Brofft, Travis Holm, Kyle Unger, Alex Silverman, Haakon Langmo, Inoke Finau, Luke Lange, Will Mince, and Will Lawton.