Sports

Football

Head Coach Dave Poetzinger returns for another season of leading the Cougars’ football team. For 20 years, Poetzinger was the right-hand man of retired coach Doug Morris. During that era, the Cougars won the numerous Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s football titles and made high rounds of CCS tournament. Some refer to that time as the ‘glory years’ for the Cougars. Last year, SLVHS returned to the CCS playoffs for the first time since 2010, with 8-3 overall, 4-1 league record and Poetzinger was voted league's Coach of the Year.

When the 2015-16 academic year started, so did the sport competitions for our local High School teams. For Football, Girl’s Volleyball, Water Polo and Girl’s Golf, here is a ‘snapshot’ description of what has happened so far.

Al’s Pals wins Bocce Ball’s Grand Championship in both A Division and B Division of the City of Scotts Valley Parks and Recreation Department.

San Lorenzo Valley High School English teacher, Shane Sutcliffe, is in his 10th year of coaching girl’s golf. He has also been the Cougars' baseball coach for the past 15 years. While he only played baseball in college, his dad was a PGA Professional. “I picked [up] a lot from him,” said Sutcliffe last week at the Pasatiempo Golf Course. Coach Sutcliffe was there to attend a pro-golf workshop with the Lady Cougars.

After a disappointing 2014 campaign, hopes are high among Scotts Valley High School football fans of a strong rebound in 2015. Head coach Louie Walters, the only coach the school has had since its opening in 1999, promises an experienced squad this year, long on athleticism, big enough where they need to be, and with a dedication to sacrifice that’s unusually strong. He also expects Scotts Valley will contend for the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship.This is a cohesive group,” Walters says. “They like to hang out together. They’re buddies on and off the field, which is huge in football.”“There’s no down in our practices,” Walters continued. “They’re all about picking each other up when somebody makes a mistake.”Walters expects a stingy defense to once again be a hallmark for the Scotts Valley squad, where the team’s large number of returning seniors is especially strong (nine of the 11 likely starters, including all four defensive backs.) But big things are expected from the offense this year, both from the offensive line and skill position players.Quarterback BattleTwo seniors are jockeying to call signals for the Falcon this year: returning 2014 quarterback Nick Reyes, who also started as a defensive back last year and is a three-time wrestling champion, and Dawson Danner, who is generally acknowledged to be the team’s best wide receiver.As of this writing, Walters said the top slot was up for grabs, praising both for their high football IQ as well as quick feet. Junior Tyler Stow figures to backup the winner as he gets ready to helm the Falcon offense in 2016.Returning all-league running back Troy Menna, who Walters says is one of the strongest players the school has ever had, figures to start at halfback. He will be rested or complemented by two situational runners: last year’s JV MVP Tanner Gilton, known for his great cuts and good field vision, along with the speedy Liam Rapoza.Fullback will likely be handled by a committee approach, including Tristan Leonetti, Tyler Stone and Josh Eskew (Leonetti is one of three team captains, along with Reyes and Menna.) All three are tough, hard-nosed football players who will be playing lots of defense as well, so they’ll be rotated to keep them fresh on both sides of the ball.If he’s not the starting quarterback, Dawson will see plenty of time again at wide receiver along with three-sport Star Tim Wagner and 6 foot- two inch Dalton Locke, a third year varsity player.Walters has historically relied heavily on one or two tight ends in his offensive schemes, and this year will be no different, especially with six foot-seven inch tall 230 pound senior standout Tanner Spence holding down the position. Despite tearing his meniscus in last year’s pre-season, Spence immediately proved to be a force upon his return, and is certain to dominate the thinking of opposing defensive coordinators throughout the season. The NCAA Division I prospect will be complemented in double tight end formations by six foot-four inch tall Matt Murray, who started ably for Spence while he recovered last year. Ethan Emanuelson, recognized as one of the team’s hardest workers in the offseason, will also see playing time at end.Walters expects the offensive line to be a clear strength of the team this year, boasting two league championship wrestlers. Cooper McElrone will start at center, and be flanked much of the time by guards Patrick Conte and Matthew Boe, a junior voted the most valuable offensive lineman on last year’s JV squad. Both McElrone and Conte didn’t play football last year to focus on their IB studies, but Walters says they’re strong and ready for 2015. Tyler Bogner and Bradley Mead will also be in the mix at guard. Tackle will be handled by Thomas Williamson, Chris Wright and Frankie Graves.Defense: Experience and athleticismDefensive Coordinator Jeff Metter, who like Walters began his SVHS coaching career at in 1999, expects to have a well-conditioned, speedy squad again this year, which is perfect for the aggressive, blitzing style he prefers.The team’s front will consist of defensive end Stone, who started ten games for the varsity team last year as a sophomore. Mead will anchor the line as nose guard, while the JV team’s most valuable defensive lineman last year, Jason Bucio, holds down the other defensive line slot. Graves and Bogner will also see plenty of playing time on the defensive line.Walters called three-year starter Leonetti, who was an all-league standout as a sophomore and holds the school’s record for the bench press, the heart and sole of the team’s defense. He’ll be one starter at inside linebacker, Menna the other and they’re backed by Kyle Marriner and Gilton. Spence will star at outside linebacker, with his outsized wingspan, along with Conte, while Emanuelson, Eskew and Evan Carvalheria will rotate in and out regularly. The secondary is led by all-league free safety and track star Kyle Giguiere. Strong safety features Coll Sitton, Ryan Johnston and Trevor Ponos all fighting for the starting slot while all figure to see plenty of action. Returning cornerbacks Jordan Tuck and Rapoza will head that group.Emanuelson will handle both kicking and punting duties, while Danner and Ponos are expected to return kickoffs and punts.His strength on both sides of the ball has Walters feeling optimistic that this year’s team could return to Scotts Valley’s glory days, when the team won four straight SCCAL titles from 2006-2009.“We worked this team harder than any of our previous teams in the off-season because they bought in,” Walters said. “There’s a lot of parity in our league, and if we stay healthy, I love our chances.”

On August 26, the annual workshop was held at the Pasatiempo Golf Club for the benefit of all of the girl golfers from the north county high schools. This year marked the 14th workshop. Girl golfers from Aptos, Harbor, Santa Cruz and San Lorenzo Valley high schools can attend for free.PGC donates the facility and The Nine Holes Ladies raise the money for other expenses.Funds will also include the proceeds from the sales of the Pasatiempo Art Show at the Hollins House on Sunday, August 30. 

Levi Stadium started the tradition of Friday Night Lights high school football games at the 49-ers home-field last year, with the double-header at the end of August, 2014.It grew up to be a triple-header this year, with six local schools participating in the Sept 18 event.The middle, 6 p.m. game, will square-off Scotts Valley High School vs. Watsonville High School. The last time these two played was in 2005, when both schools were still in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, and the Falcons won, 21-0. WHS was realigned in 2006, and play now in the Monterey Bay League.Except perhaps in Texas, it's hard to fill an over 60,000 seat stadium for a high-school football game. The fact that it's a triple-header might help a bit, but reportedly each team guaranteed the Levi Stadium organization to sell at least 500 tickets or 1,000 total tickets. However, WHS has 3,000 tickets for adults and 2,000 for students according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, while SVHS has 1,000 student tickets and 500 adult tickets. If WHS sells 5,000 tickets and SVHS sells only 1,500 tickets then the two teams would have moved 6,500 tickets. That would leave 53,500 seats for other people.In interviews with the Watsonville-Pajaronian newspaper, WHS players spoke about their entire extended families coming, including some flying in from the east coast. Scotts Valley's community has such capability, too.The tickets for the game went on sale Wednesday, August 19, at three locations in Scotts Valley and at least one in Watsonville:Rita’s Italian Ice in Scotts Valley, located at 222 Mount Hermon Road in the Nob Hill shopping centerSVHS main officeSVHS students storeCarmona’s BBQ Deli at 1040 East Lake Avenue in the East Lake Village Shopping Center in WatsonvilleThe adult tickets are $20, students $5, but the best deal is a trip on a rooter-bus. It's for students only, and for $20 includes a round-trip on one of two buses going to Santa Clara, a ticket to the game and a souvenir t-shirt [see image of t-shirt logo above]. A ticket for one of the High School games is good for the entire triple-header. Parking won’t be free, but as of press time, the 49-ers office could not quote a price except to say “it’ll be less than an NFL game parking fee.”

Sunday, August 16 marked the 47th running of Felton’s own ‘Race Thru the Redwoods.’ The race starts in the day-use picnic area of Henry Cowell Redwood State Park and is actually two races: the 10k and the kids’ mile.This year’s 10k had 403 pre-registered runners, plus 40 to 50 people who signed up on race day. The mile had about 100 kids signed up, many of whom had parents running as well.“This is sponsored by the Felton Business Association so many of the people on the board of directors are involved.” says Felton Feed’s own Judy Brown, “This is one of the ways that we raise money to contribute to the community.”This year was Brown’s fourth year volunteering at the race; some of the proceeds from which go back to sports teams at the local high schools including San Lorenzo Valley High School’s track team and Scotts Valley’s High School’s Volleyball team.Although not as well known as the ‘Wharf to Wharf, which draws more than 16,000 runners annually, the ‘Race Thru the Redwoods’ has drawn some international talent.“In the past we’ve had runners from as far away as New York, Mexico and South America, “said Brown. “However they were not just in the area to race.”Sue Sutton has run the race twice before with a best time of 54:23, “I live here in Boulder Creek and I hike here [at Henry Cowell] all the time; it’s beautiful and cool,” says Sutton, “Everywhere in Boulder Creek there’s a hill, so this is nothing.”The community as a whole is very involved in supporting the race. Santa Cruz County ARES ham Radio volunteers, like Mikail Barron, could be found all over the trail on race day. “It’s a pure safety thing; we can communicate better with them here,” says member of the ‘Race Thru the Redwoods’ team Valoree Mills.“This [race] is made possible by our major sponsors: Granite Contruction, the Sereno Group, Union Bank and Liberty Bank,” said Mills. Many of the raffle prizes were also donated by local businesses, like the grand prize of the kid’s raffle: a specialized bike was donated by Scotts Valley Cycle Sport.Scott Rasmann, who has run the race twice, says, “I really like trail runs; trail races are great and there are a couple of challenging hills, plus I support the local high schools which is very important.”Rob Collins, coach of SLVHS’s track and cross country teams could be found at the starting line of the kid’s mile, helping the kids to line up successfully for the 8:10 start time.“Me and my wife are the ones who started the kids’ race,” says Collins, who was inspired by the lack of opportunity for kids to compete in the Santa Cruz Mountains, “One of the biggest enjoyments for me was — [when] my son wanted to run his first race.”The old record, from when the [10k] race began in the New Leaf Market Parking lot, was around 33:20, according to Collins. “The winning time is in the 34 to 36 minute range each year,” now.This year’s winner of the 10k, Jacob Smith, finished with a time of 39:13, but many of the runners finished after about an hour.Up-and-coming runner Ava Mehlenblocher, 6, says she planned to run the kids’ mile, “As fast as the flash.”The winner of the kids’ mile, Cory Nounnan finished with a time of 6:33 with Kai Groleau coming in a close second with the same time. However, both races gave awards by age-group with groups from 6 and under all the way up to 12 for the kids’ mile, and runners from ages 10 to 71 in the 10k.Many runners fueled up for the race with breakfast in the park catered by the Cowboy Bar & Grill in Felton, and the runners’ perks didn’t end there. All pre-registered runners got t-shirts, and all of the kids got ribbons. There were also ‘Race Thru the Redwoods’ water bottles available, and even a face painting table set up in the picnic area.Many of the children running the kids’ mile were so young that parents had to run with them, and some were even carried over the finish line. However, every runner was greeted by a cheering crowd, regardless of their time.

Hell Week language is scary. The drill descriptions are strong enough to put the fear of retribution into any young football player’s heart. Found on the coach’s advisory web site are these Hell Week ‘two-a-days’ drills:Discipline: Up downs, Suicides, Running (a lot, like 2 miles non stop), Death valley bear crawl (bear crawling with someone on your back)Hard hitting: Bull in the ring, Hitting tackling dummyBlocking: Pushing the sled, One-on-ones So the lingo is often scary. If you were in some other location where the coaches might have a ‘drill-sergeant’ like attitude and a ‘what-won't-kill-you-will-make-you-stronger’ mentality, those deadly terms were often prophetic.In 2003, heat-exhaustion deaths made the National Collegiate Athletic Association prohibit ‘two-a-days’ on consecutive days during the first five days of practice. NFL eliminated them all-together.In local high schools, the first few days are without helmets and padding, to ease dehydration.Both San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley high schools started football practices on Monday, August 10. Led by head coaches, respectively, Dave Poetzinger and Louie Walters, both teams prepare for the first competition – Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League's 2015 ‘FOOTBALL JAMBOREE’, to be held on Friday, August 28 at 5:30 pm at the Cabrillo College.Scotts Valley has a really ambitious preseason schedule, highlighted by the September 18 game at the 49’s Levi Stadium vs. Watsonville HS.On a sad note, it seems the Falcons’ new sports complex won't have the stadium lights as planned, due to a threatened lawsuit by the neighboring residents. In the past, Santa Cruz High School faced a similar predicament when their lights were to be installed. They solved their problem by using lower poles and special lighting with modifiers that prevent excessive light-spillage outside of the stadium. Perhaps not all is yet lost for the Falcons.