COLTS WERE READY FOR SEASON
Patient coach helped players navigate delayed schedule, down time
The minute AAU football clubs were allowed, Crawford High head coach Matt Marquez formed a team.
As quickly as parks were approved for practice, the Colts were dodging trees instead of blocking dummies.
When the on-campus field was opened, Marquez wasted no time assembling his team, trying to keep them in game shape.
Despite all of his efforts, there were still a half-dozen seniors who simply got so frustrated with the possibility there might not be any season, they got jobs.
Marquez’s persistence paid off, however, when 38 players suited up for the first of what would be three straight wins to open the season at a school that is better known as being the United Nations, with more than 50 languages and dialects spoken, rather than a football power.
Especially in the last couple of decades or so when the demographics in the neighborhood around the school went through massive changes.
That didn’t deter Marquez, who talked up the sport and, as a security guard on campus, had some one-on-ones with individuals he knew were good athletes but had never played football.
“Some of those seniors just got tired of waiting for something to happen,” said the outgoing Marquez, now in his third season as head coach and eighth overall at the school. “I kept telling the others, ‘Stay ready, it’ll happen.’ I told them to think of it like going to work every day.
“Like everyone else, I waited until June last year to see what would happen. Now we’re finally out there and a five-game season just means our goals are to go 5-0 and win the Central League.”
His patience appears to have paid off, but it is still a little — OK, a whole lot — different from coaching at say Helix or Torrey Pines.
“I don’t think I’d be that effective in that kind of program,” said Marquez, who played at Crawford from 1999-2003. “There’s just not as much love. I grew up in this neighborhood and my teammates’ kids are playing for me now.
“I’m not sure I’d know how to relate to a Torrey Pines player. Expectations are so different. I’m just happy to be given what I have; these are great kids.”
Marquez, who is also the head track coach, said he can point to
the thing that started the turnaround at Crawford.
“We went from dirt, dust and wooden bleachers to lights, allweather turf and a rubber track,” said Marquez, of the all-new facility that opened in 2017. “The old field was really a disappointment; it was disrespectful of the kids who came out to play.”
One of those who got the benefits right away was Abdi Ali, a 5-9, 170-pound wide receiver, running back, corner, safety, kick returner — well, you get the idea.
“The thing that makes this different is this really feels like a family more than a team,” said Ali, who will attend Chadron State in Nebraska, one of seven players with DIII or NAIA scholarships. “My family are alumni and we stuck around. I’m glad we did — it was like God’s plan.”
Ali, a Kenyan, persevered despite
suffering a broken ankle in the first game of his sophomore season. That’s not a good thing for anyone, but especially someone who clocked an 11.00 in the 100-meter dash.
“I didn’t want to give up on the team,” said Ali. “Actually, I’m still kind of scared it might happen again but I haven’t let it slow me down.”
Because he plays everywhere, Ali has just seven receptions and six rushes. He has a rushing TD, a 60-yard interception return for a score and a 50-yard kickoff return.
“He’s a playmaker,” Marquez said succinctly.
And he’s not the only one. The quarterback, Kevin Luong, who is Vietnamese, is also the biggest player on the team at 6-2 and a solid 250 pounds, who, according to Marquez, has received more than 20 scholarship
offers.
He said while Luong can and has thrown the ball, he’s especially dangerous on the option because when he runs, like he did for 50 yards on his first carry, he’s tough to bring down.
Marquez said he’s never cut anyone nor has he ever had a problem with any of his players. He said they respect him and he respects them and besides, he’s a campus security guard so even if they’re tempted, “I’m always right around the corner.”
As for language problems, there aren’t any because all of the plays are given by hand signals from the sideline. Of course, several coaches give signals so the opponents can’t intercept them.
That makes more than 51 languages.