The youth shall inherit the team.
At Santa Barbara High, football coach Jamie Melgoza laid things out plain and simple to his squad: “This year we’ve got sophomores who are ready to play. We’ll play the sophomores if you don’t want to step up.”
From what he’s seen during the offseason and practice, Melgoza said he may use as many 10 first-year varsity players as starters this season.
“They really have a passion for the game,” he said.
The Dons took their lumps in Melgoza’s first season, going 1-9, with the one victory a forfeit by St. Bonaventure.
This year, he got a spring practice going and the skilled players participated in numerous passing league game over the summer. That helped in the development of quarterback Shawn Ramos, who started on the junior varsity last season and got in a few snaps for the varsity.
“We had a good freshman class last year, that’s why we have a lot of sophomores on the varsity level,” said Melgoza.
He noted that while his team is young, the guys love playing football and are competitive.
Senior linebacker/fullback Beto Lopez, one of the team leaders, has been impressed by the young players.
“Some guys look pretty good, they look like seniors out there,” he said.
Melgoza said Lopez is the heart and soul of the team.
Lopez is using last year’s winless season on the field as a motivation to play harder.
“It’s been building up. Everybody keeps saying, ‘When are you going to win a game,’ ” he said. “I’m frustrated with it. We have to do it for our city and our pride.”
The Dons will be bolstered by the return of linemen Taylor Dawson and Jose Carrera, running back Brad Gellison and receiver/defensive back Jason Jimenez.
But it’s going to be the rapid growth of the newcomers that will help Santa Barbara get back on the winning track.
