Varsity Football Team Excited For a Fresh Start Next Season
Varsity football has experienced some less than successful seasons over the last few years. The team has had to face loss after loss with one total win in the last two seasons against teams they used to beat not so long ago. “The season didn’t go like we wanted it to,” said a varsity captain, Henry Kiragu.
Luckily for next year’s varsity players the Las Lomas football team has reacquired Doug Longero as head coach. “Our goal this season is to get everyone involved and try to get every student athlete to have a good time playing football and just try to win game one,” said Longero.
He previously filled the role of offensive coordinator at DVC after stepping down as the Las Lomas head Coach after the 2012 season where the Varsity team had a record of 8-11(including league).
After the departure of Longero as head coach the team improved to 11-7 and 14-4 the next year but once the final players under Longero graduated, the team lost leadership and plummeted in success.
“It was tough going out there and not performing like my brother used to,” said Kiragu. After going 1-30 in 2015 and 2016 season the team struggled with team chemistry issues.
“We didn’t gel as a team as much as the football program used to,” said middle linebacker Nate Schulte. “Nothing was really easy for us but with our new mentality and new coach, I think that we’re prepared for anything.”
The Varsity team had a tough time the last few years. “The blame was on us, but also on the coaching staff. I think that we’ll improve as a whole program with Longe onboard,” said Schulte.
A struggling team always rebuilds, and Doug Longero is looking to pull the team back to success. “This is my second time rebuilding a team with room to improve, the last time I did this was with a 1-9 team about 20 years ago. I just wanna build the excitement back up and let the coaching and instruction take its course,” said Longero.
Since January the team has been preparing for the new season with morning workouts, adjusting to the new coaching and learning to work with the new players planning to play for the team. “Longe has us working hard in the morning workouts, we’ve been working to find success,” said Schulte.
It looks like Friday nights are about to get a lot more exciting at Las Lomas. “We have the exact same schedule as last year, our opponents are just going to go out there and week 1 and think ‘oh this is an 0 and 10 team’ and they’re gonna underestimate us. Our goal coming into the season is to just go and win that first game,” said Schulte.
