It’s been a great year for Dave Poetzinger, head coach of the San Lorenzo Valley High varsity football team.
After finishing with a 1-9 in 2013, the Cougars made a huge comeback this past season, finishing 8-3 (4-1 in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play) and advancing to the CIF Central Coast Section playoffs.
The season got sweeter last week, as Poetzinger was named the SCCAL Coach of the Year, and 19 of his players were named to SCCAL All-League. That included quarterback Isaac Newberry and running back Nate Gentry, both seniors, who were named as Co-Offensive Players of the Year, and junior nose tackle Jake Hampton, who was named as a Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
“It’s a great honor because this is voted on by the coaches in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League,” Poetzinger said, adding that he has a great deal of respect for fellow coaches in the league.
Though Poetzinger has only served as SLV’s varsity head coach for two years, he molded young players for 19 years prior to that as SLV’s assistant coach after starting out coaching the junior varsity team. During all of those years, he has also served as an English teacher at SLV.
The Cougars faced a challenging season during Poetzinger’s first year at the helm with lots of younger athletes and a slew of injuries.
Still, Poetzinger said he felt it was a successful start as he watched a young team grow to become one of the strongest in the SCCAL.
“The kids last year were fantastic,” Poetzinger said. “The record said 1-9, but I didn’t see it that way. It was an inexperienced group that worked really hard. As they say, ‘Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.’”
That tough team dominated throughout most of this past season, losing only to Aptos in the SCCAL last year.
But Poetzinger became far more animated this week when talking about the individual growth he sees in his players than he did about discussing wins and losses.
He said he wants team members to become young men of character who are strong in the classroom just as they are on the field.
“One of the things that we always talk about is: ‘what kind of man do you want to be?’” Poetzinger said. “If football is a metaphor for anything, it’s about how you live your life.”
He noted that his players must learn how to contend with intense situations on the field just as they face challenging situations in other facets of their lives.
The players work exceptionally hard, he said. Although they only play 11 games, they practice 11 months out of the year.
He gave kudos to all of the players who were named to All League and said several players who were not named to list had a good year as well.
“Each and every one of them was a kid who grew,” he said.
Poetzinger described Newberry and Gentry, both co-captains, as “incredible leaders” in addition to being great players.
Newberry regularly proved unstoppable, leading the league with 988 passing yards. He went 103-for-197 throughout the season with 1,786 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Gentry was a reckonable force, with a total of 721 rushing yards and a total of 60 points during the past season, including 13 touchdowns.
Hampton proved vigorous throughout the season as a nose tackle earning 232.5 defensive points and six sacks.
Poetzinger noted that Hampton grew tremendously as one of the junior members on the year’s varsity squad.
In addition to the SLV players, Scotts Valley High tight end Tanner Spence received recognition as the SCCAL Junior of the Year.
For the Falcons, Spence had 13 receptions for 244 yards, and scored four touchdowns. He scored 26 points on the season and had a pair of interceptions, as well.
Other local players who were recognized are as follows:
San Lorenzo Valley High
First Team All-League
Juniors Brighton Hart, RB and Aaron Campello, LB; seniors Brett Bukowski, OL; Jared Trader, TE; Shaden Pias, WR; Tommy Fitzgerald, DL and Ari Solomon, DB.
Second Team All-League
Sophomore Jackson Turner, LB; juniors Mike La Capria, WR and Riley Flores, DL; seniors Thomas Dirck, OL; Cody Lipperd, DB; and Garrett Kustin, punter.
Honorable Mentions
Sophomore Jack Gentry, FB/LB; junior Davon Northcutt, WR and senior Brian Robbins, DB.
Scotts Valley High
First Team All-League
Juniors Tristian Leonetti, LB and Kyle Giguiere, DB. Seniors Ethan Harris, OL and Jonathan Velez, DL.
Second Team All-League
Juniors Troy Menna, RB and Dawson Danner, WR; Seniors Jake Lobo, QB; Brandon VanValer, LB and Logan Sorenson, kicker.
Honorable Mentions
Sophomore Tyler Stone, DL and juniors Tim Wagner, WR and Nick Reyes, DB.
