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