Vikings ready for 5-week ‘sprint’
Valencia head coach Larry Muir said the traditional 10-game football season — which coaches generally start prepping for in January, not long after the previous season ends — can be similar to running a marathon in terms of how it can wear a team down.
This year, he said, everyone’s running a fivegame sprint, with three weeks of lead-in time.
“The biggest thing is you have to be flexible, and we’re trying to be flexible to figure all this stuff out,” Muir said, “and that’s the key. You have to be flexible every day because you never know what’s going to be brought your way.”
In addition to flexibility, Valencia has brought a whole lot of winning to the Foothill League table, coming off another 5-0 run through the SCV last season, which resulted in the school’s 11th straight league title.
While everyone is in a situation where “experience is your No. 1 ally,” Muir said the team has been impressed with the play thus far of quarterback Tyler Voss, a junior who will be taking his first varsity snaps this season.
Part of that comfort comes in knowing the receiving corps is led by junior Zamondre Merriweather, who was second in the team last year with more than 530 receiving yards and has already received significant NCAA Division I attention. Muir also mentioned junior Duhron Goodman and senior Jayden Shakir as important parts of the passing game.
In the backfield, Muir mentioned a couple names that will help carry the load, including senior Christian Alcantar and junior Giorgio Spiropoulos.
One of the foundations of the offensive line will be Vincent Casillas, a three-year varsity player, Jack Seymour and Jackson Stein.
Seymour and Stein are also going to provide leadership on the other side of the ball as defensive ends, Muir said. Senior Max Begley is expected to lead the linebackers, alongside brothers Chad and Jake Stich, who are juniors.
For the cornerback position, junior Brandon Tompkins is another who has playmaking potential for the defense.
As far as special teams go, Muir will look to kicker Ty Morrison, who went six of 12 on field goal attempts last year, with a long of 41 yards, and 40 successful PATs.
“It’s a five-game sprint,” Muir said, “and usually ... it’s like a marathon, you have spring football and offseason workouts, summer ball and fall camp, it’s like a marathon ... you have to pace yourself, and you have to kind of take a step-by-step approach ... steps one through 10,” he said, explaining what the preseason has been like up to Friday.
“Well, we skipped like five or eight steps, so we’re just doing the ninth step, and so we’re just going,” he added, “and now just turns into a sprint.”
Muir hopes his team will be able to move quickly toward the finish line when Valencia’s season kicks off Friday against West Ranch.