Q&A WITH ST. ANTHONY COACH RAUL LARA
“We're going to be very young so we'll see if we're going to have any kind of identity, but obviously we always want to play power football and control and be smart on the field, so for us executing will be the main issue and getting our guys experience. If we get our guys' experience, I really want to be a physical team.”
What do you want to improve upon from last season?
“It's going to be pretty tough to improve on last season. We ended up turning our season around and playing in the Division 10championship game. To improve, it's going to be tough, but at least to maintain what we just established last year. We're going to be young and that's going to be tough for our kids.”
Who are some standout players on offense and defense?
“On offense, our quarterback is going to be Adrian Perez. AP has done a pretty good job of working hard in the offseason and improving so he'll be our starter for our first game. We're looking forward to seeing
to win it.”
Lara, who won five CIF-SS Division 1 championships at Poly and later coached at Warren, is glad to be back home in Long Beach.
In addition to being the school's football head coach, he was recently hired as the school's dean.
“It's a private school and it's a different environment and I'm excited about the new facilities that they're building here,” Lara said, a reference to the school's
Elijah Lolesio-Pua be our running back, or one of our running backs. Last year, he had an injury that took him out of the season and now we have him back and we know he's a phenomenal football player. He's actually a phenomenal rugby player, too, so we're looking forward to him doing some stuff.
Then we have Alexander Cobbs, who is probably our No. 1 recruit. He's a receiver, tight end and defensive end. He does it all for us.”
What do you think your team's ceiling is?
“It just depends on how quickly we gain experience. I might literally start 12-15sophomores, so they're going to be very young. Last year, they were playing on the freshman team. If these guys can grow up real quick, hopefully, the ceiling is sky high.”
Ultimately, what will make this a successful season?
“Just take it a game at a time and hopefully we can come up with W's, but if anything it's getting these kids to understand how to play this game right.” new multi-million dollar football field, track and athletic complex along Clark Avenue in Lakewood Village. “With that coming pretty soon, we're looking for things to become a lot better here.”
Lara believes once community members see what's happening at St. Anthony, the new facilities and a small-school environment will be selling points when it comes to keeping Long Beach student-athletes in Long Beach.