Sports
Spring Football Preview: San Juan Hills' Youth Takes Over
After seniors lead Stallions to their first playoff appearance last season, it will be up to underclassmen and their new coach to carry on tradition in 2011.
The 2010 San Juan Hills football team qualified for the program's first postseason ever, now it's up to a young, and relatively inexperienced group of newcomers to carry on the tradition at San Juan Capistrano's newest high school.
With former head coach Greg Gibson now coaching in Virginia, San Juan Hills looks to former All-American college quarterback Aaron Flowers, who steps into the role vacated by Gibson with a long and impressive coaching resume of his own.
Flowers has coached at both Cal State Northridge and Montana State at the collegiate level, as well as JSerra and Dana Hills on the high school level, and is well aware of what it takes to build a successful football program in Orange County.
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San Juan Hills Stallions
Head Coach: Aaron Flowers (first season).
2010 Record: 7-4 overall, 2-2 in Sea View League (third place). Lost in first round of playoffs.
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Key Departures: Wil Acromite, QB; Michael Perryman, WR (Montana State); Connor O'Modhrain, WR (Wingate); Ari Uzo-Okereke, LT (Air Force). Defenders Rocky Bragg, Jordan Gardner and Jarred Gaisford, and many others.
Flowers: "That senior group played a lot of football in their four years here. So we have a lot of kids that will play next year that don't have a lot of varsity game experience. That's where we have to gain experience in a hurry."
Standout Seniors: Caleb Roush, TE, LB; Kyle Bauer, RB, DB; Tony Resta, OL; Dean Standberg, OL; Jacob Zawoysky, LB.
Flowers: "Caleb Roush is a great kid. He carries a 4.0 grade-point average and will be highly recruited."
Returning Starters: Two on offense. Three on defense.
Offense: Multiple Sets.
Flowers: "We're going to try and use a lot of personnel groups and get our kids on the field."
Defense: Four-man front, Multiple Sets.
Reason for Optimism: Senior quarterback Ryan Crowe, speed on defense and a big and heady O-Line.
Flowers: "I like the way we're playing at quarterback. We have a kid who's going to be a senior, Ryan Crowe, who's a smart kid. On defense, we have speed and intensity. I like the way our kids are running around, they're trying to play as fast as they can, and that's a really good sign. Up front along the offensive line, they've done great, they've done a really good job of picking up a new system."
Biggest Question Mark: Inexperience.
Flowers: "Youth and inexperience. We have five total returning starters at 22 positions. They have to grow up in a hurry and understand that it's not always going to be easy. There's going to be some adversity and the quicker that they get tested early, the better off, because they have to learn how to handle it. We have to have guys who haven't made plays on the varsity level before make plays."
San Juan Hills' 2011 Varsity Football Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 1 vs. Villa Park, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 9 at Dana Hills, 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 15 at El Modena, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 23 vs. Foothill, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30 at University, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7 vs. Trabuco Hills, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14 vs. El Toro (homecoming), 7:30 p.m.*
Friday, Oct. 21 at Laguna Hills, 7:00 p.m.*
Friday, Nov. 4 at Aliso Niguel, 7:00 p.m.*
Friday, Nov. 10 vs. Capistrano Valley, 7:30 p.m.*
* Indicates a Sea View League game
