Agape League Football Preview: Excelsior aims high again

VICTORVILLE ? The Excelsior football team is 18-7 the past two seasons and coming off back-to-back appearances in the CIF-Southern Section 8-man Division 1 championship game.

They lost their leading rusher from the last three seasons ? who racked up 6,450 yards and 720 points during that time ? as well as their leading receiver, their kicker and several other key pieces.

Time for a drop-off? Not quite.

Eagles head coach Bill Rivera said he believes this year?s team is better. The expectations just keep rising, or at least staying at the same extraordinarily high level, at Excelsior. The goal this season is to get back to the title game.

The Eagles are smaller this year, but what they lost in size they?ve gained in speed and depth.

?Last year we had a great eight,? Rivera said. ?There?s no doubt about it. But once we got past that eight, nine kids, there was a big drop-off. This year, we?ve got seriously 16 to 17 kids that can play.?

Despite losing leading rusher Joe Harrison, the Eagles still return senior Kyle Washington, who had 1,918 yards and scored 32 touchdowns of his own last season. Washington, who added about 15 pounds working out in the offseason, said he doesn?t worry about the added pressure with Harrison gone and has set a goal of running for 3,400 yards.

?I?ve gotten a lot faster and I?ve gotten a lot bigger,? Washington said. ?I just hope that I?m still as good and that my size won?t hold me back.?

He?ll be joined in the backfield with junior Matt Marable and senior Ejan O?Rea among others. Marable rushed for 173 yards and six touchdowns in limited varsity action last year, and Rivera said he gained 3,200 yards on junior varsity.

?I?m very confident with myself,? Marable said. ?I?m going to do what I was told to do, and I?m going to work my way up.?

The Eagles also return quarterback Darren Corbin, who completed 60 percent of his passes and averaged 21.8 yards per completion but threw the ball fewer than 70 all season times.

That could change this year.

Excelsior has been a double-wing team during Rivera?s five seasons as head coach and that has served them well. But they have the ability to do more this year. The Eagles have packages for wildcat and spread formations ready to go.

The additions of Obie Galindo, who was the head coach at Granite Hills last year, and Chris Fore, who coached previously at Capistrano Valley Christian and is the Eagles new athletic director, to the coaching staff and the Eagles? new-found athleticism has created an offense with a new flare for creativity.

?It?s fun to coach because you really don?t know what the possibilities are yet,? Rivera said. ?We have only just scratched the surface.

?You take an offense that has been run by me for so many years as a double-wing-type coach and then you add it to the best that Obie (Galindo) brings from Granite (Hills) and Victor (Valley Christian). Then you bring Chris Fore?s offense from Capo Valley. I guess you?d call it an Irish stew. Throw everything in there and see what happens.?

Senior lineman Lido Lynn, who?s getting some Division 1 looks and is making the switch to center, said at first he wasn?t so sure about the Eagles? offensive transition but has since been sold.

?It was kind of sketchy, but after seeing them and what they can do and how fast they are, I?d rather have a fast, strong team than just a big team,? Lynn said.

Lynn is listed at 6-6, 310 pounds and is easily Excelsior?s biggest player. If you can sell him on a speed game perhaps the possibilities are truly limitless.

Lucerne Valley
Facing declining student enrollment, Lucerne Valley had no choice but to make a move to 8-man football.

The Mustangs have struggled in recent seasons, and one of the key reasons is a lack of depth. After a few injuries or a few cases of academic ineligibility, the team had a hard time just putting a team on the field.

Last season, with only 17 active players on the roster, the Mustangs made the decision to join the Agape League.

?It?s a lot different, the field size, but the intensity?s the same,? said junior quarterback Daniel Stratton. ?It?s different how many people are on the field, obviously, but it?s quicker, it?s faster. There?s more open space. It?s more high-scoring.?

Lucerne Valley head coach Chris Klinger said the Mustangs now have no issues with turnout.

?Today we?re out here with 28 guys, which is perfect to have a varsity team and a (junior varsity) team, each with 14 or so guys,? Klinger said. ?So we?re not hurting in terms of having players out. And I think part of that is because of a little renewed pride and enthusiasm to do something new and different. We had success in our couple of 8-man games last year, so that?s also going to bring out a couple new guys.?

Victor Valley Christian
Victor Valley Christian has a football team again.

That?s something it couldn?t say toward the end of last season when injuries left the Royals so short handed that they had to forfeit the final three games. VVCS won one game last season, and that was due to a forfeit.

?It hurt,? senior running back/linebacker Caleb Rowling said. ?It doesn?t feel good wanting to play, and you can?t play games because everybody?s getting hurt from trying so hard on the field.?

What happened last year motivated those returning this season, and the players said the postseason is a goal for them.

?We did have a lot of injuries last year, but the guys that are returning actually got themselves into the weight room,? said head coach David Lindsay, who was the co-head coach last year with Mike Rainwater. ?They got a little more serious about their game. I don?t think we?re going to see the injuries we had last year.?

Six of the 15 players on the roster are freshmen. But Lindsay said most of them have played together on the junior high team since they were sixth graders.

?They know the program. They know what we?re doing and we will have a better season than we did last year,? Lindsay said.

Josh Bankston, the Royals? leading returning rusher from last season, will move from wide receiver/running back to the starting quarterback position. Working mainly out of an I-formation, Rowling ? the team?s second leading returning rusher ? is expected to get the majority of the carries with Ben Mettias starting at fullback. Freshman Reece Griffith is expected to rotate in and spot Rowling, and senior defensive lineman Kyle Wilson will also see some action in the backfield.

Source: http://www.vvdailypress.com/sports/aims-36369-excelsior-high.html

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