Odds Were Stacked Against Them

The Eastlake Titans made the trip from Chula Vista last Friday night. They entered Tiger Stadium with a 0-3 record and felt determined to not go home with a 0-4 record. San Jacinto’s defense was playing short-handed. Three key defensive starters sat out this week for various reasons — one in the second two on the defensive line. The backups tried their best to give pressure and shut down Eastlake’s running game, but it just wouldn’t be enough. Eastlake continued to punish San Jacinto inside basically running it up the middle over and over again without much variation. San Jacinto’s coaches consistently told the players what was going to happen, but it didn’t matter. Eastlake wanted to prove the point that they can run the football. Their Passing game was in-effective San Jacinto’s secondary did a great job of shutting that down. 

Junior Defensive Back/Safety Keith Hunter made a few great defensive plays, which made Eastlake re-think passing the football, he got his hands on the ball two plays in a row and barely missed out on the chance to come out with the interceptions. Senior Safety Kameron Rocha was laying down big hits and shedding blockers all night as well. One can’t help but think that this game would have been dramatically different if San Jacinto’s defensive unit would have been completed.

On the Offensive side of the ball, the team struggled to get anything going; it’s hard to tell if it was self-sabotage or Eastlakes energy and passion that was making hard for the Tigers. Kajiya Hollawayne (Tigers Dual-Threat QB) wasn’t seeing any openings when being forced to scramble out of the pocket, and Juan Denny (Tigers Senior RB) was being met at the line of scrimmage with two or three defenders every time he touched the ball. Eventually, Coach Galliano decided to start throwing the ball, and Kajiya Hollawayne started to connect with Junior Wide Receiver Damonce Williams on a consistent basis, but Eastlake figured out that Damonce was Kajiya’s most reliable receiver with other receivers on the roster dropping balls, and stop running mid-route.

San Jacinto ended up falling to Eastlake 31-14, there is no more time left to figure things out, with only one more game until League Play starts the Tigers need to come together and discover their identity. 

Player of the Game went to Eastlake’s Maximus Susi who played on all phases of the game and made a huge impact. After the game, Max made himself available for an interview and said, “We knew they were a tough team, but we needed to come out here and show that we could play with a chip on our shoulder too and that’s what we did.” It seems like the Eastlakes game plan was all about coming out and playing aggressive smash mouth football. It is safe to say that the strategy paid off. 

It was a tough week for half of the league Hemet and West Valley would lose close games this week. Tahquitz and Citrus Hills both won their games and Beaumont dominated their rivalry game against Banning.

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(Alumni Highlight) This week’s Alumni Is former West Valley Mustang Ryan Cogdill. Ryan graduated as a member of the class of 2009. While at West Valley Ryan was a member of the football team and track team. When he graduated, he went on to MSJC to continue his playing career and eventually earned a scholarship to play football at Dixie. While at Dixie Ryan struggled to adjust, Family is essential to him, and he didn’t feel right being away from them for so long. Football helped ease his mind though, he refocused his attention on the game and was able to make it through.

It was at Dixie that Ryan feels like he found his calling. He overheard some teammates talking about what they were going to do after football, and that they were nothing without it. It was then that Ryan decided he was going to help Athletes and regular students find their paths after High School. Ryan is adamant that this world has so much to offer, but you have to be willing to fight for it, to enjoy it. Ryan came back to the San Jacinto Valley with a new mission. He started coaching at Tahquitz/West Valley to help guide his players and help them get on a good path. 

Ryan eventually found his way on to Coach Galliano’s staff at San Jacinto, He got a job as a special needs substitute which was only supposed to be a temporary position as he waited for an opportunity to open up for him to teach an English class, but he fell in love with the job and the kids. Ryan is now a full-time special needs teacher at San Jacinto High School and the Defensive Coordinator for the League Champion Tigers. 

Ryan Loves his job, I asked him where he sees himself in ten years and he was perfectly content with being in the same place he is now, being the Defensive Coordinator of the football team and teaching his special needs class. It is very clear that he doesn’t do the job because of the paycheck, but rather, he does it because he cares about the kids.

Ryan is very thankful to his parents and Family for always showing his support in every decision he has made, they have always had his back and he is very appreciative to them for that. He is also thankful for his soon to be wife Jennifer Zinn who is his backbone and puts up with him not having much time for her during football season. Soon she will be Jennifer Cogdill and Ryan can’t wait to call her his wife. 

Know a former student who graduated from one of the local high schools who is doing great things and think they deserve to be honored as an Alumni of the Week? Email me at VCsportsKyle@gmail.com and tell me about them.

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(San Jacinto Tigers) It was a pleasure this summer being a part of the San Jacinto Tigers training camp. From the very beginning, Coach Galliano and his staff welcomed me with open arms and made me feel as if I was a part of his coaching staff. Every single one of his players showed me the utmost respect at all times. I applaud Coach G and his staff on how they are bringing these players up into the system. Not only are they taught how to become better football players, but meaningful members of the community as well. I created a bond with quite a few players who I got to know during my time covering the program. The Summer Camp ended last Friday Aug.9th with a scrimmage just two days after school started. This week players had to start adjusting to the life of a fulltime student and varsity athlete, which at times can be difficult to manage.

San Jacinto’s first game is next Friday against Great Oak High School in Temecula. Great Oak is renowned around Southern California for having the best Student-Body Fan Base around. They sell out their bleachers and are constantly cheering on their team, almost like European Soccer Fans. This will be a huge test for San Jacinto High School entering week one of the season. Throughout talking to the players this summer they all had the same goal, “to get back to that championship game.” a lot of them are hoping to matchup against Culver City (who beat them in the championship game last year 61-21) if this matchup is destined to happen it will have to be in the playoffs. Last year the Tigers jumped ahead to a 0-14 lead and the game was tied 21-21 at half time. It was all downhill for them after that. 

The Tigers are coming back poised this year with an extra training camp under their belt and a year older. Just look at the Quarterback Kajiya Hollowayne. He is bigger, faster, and stronger than he was last season. I expect Kajiya to have a dominant season this year and show the rest of the Mountain Pass League his elite skill set. He isn’t the only player on San Jacinto’s roster who is making a return this season, Running Back Juan Denny (who had 133 rushing yards against culver city) is coming in his Senior year and wants to leave his imprint on the campus. Wide Receiver Damonce Williams who was quiet at the Culver City game is ready to show off his hands and wants to be one of Kajiya’s go-to receivers this year. Damonce has excellent hands and shows great potential in being a real possession threat this year. 

The defense is returning quite a few starters Sheldon Newton, Nathan Ortiz, and Kameron Rocha are all back. Sheldon & Nathan are both entering their Junior year while Kameron is going into his senior season. For Kameron, this is his last chance to leave a legacy at the school before taking his talents to the next level. Kameron is hoping to have an impactful season and earn some attention from college scouts. 

San Jacinto’s first home game of the season comes on September 6th against Murrieta Mesa. Be sure to show up there and support the team as they look to bring a CIF Championship home to San Jacinto.

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The team went into full scrimmage mode, (without pads and tackling) but definitely, there was a “Us Vs. Them” mentality when the offense took the field against the defense. The big defensive tackle Sheldon Newton was coming through the offensive line with power and speed right at quarterback Kajiya Hollowayne (who was recently offered a full-ride athletic scholarship to UCLA) In this drill you aren’t allowed to touch your quarterback, but that didn’t stop Sheldon from engaging in friendly trash talk telling Kajiya, “I woulda smacked you, boy,.” Kajiya responded with a smile and an eye roll as to say, “Yeah, I’m sure about that.” The intensity only picked up from there. One of the wide receivers ran the wrong route resulting in a defensive interception. Kajiya wasn’t happy about that and took control of the scrimmage; he started making reads, getting out of the pocket when under pressure and moved his offense downfield. As good as Kajiya and his offense is, it’s the defense I was impressed with this week. Kajiya was always under pressure, and when his receivers caught the ball, they were instantly swallowed up by three or four defenders.

The team then transitioned to one on one drills, Wide Receivers vs. Defensive Backs. This is where kids who are trying out for the team make names for themselves and get attention from the coaching staff. Two players constantly lined up against each other and went head to head multiple times, the defensive player intercepted two balls and batted down a hand full, but that didn’t stop the wide receiver from getting in his reps. He regularly ran great routes, making strong cuts in and out of his route, and showed excellent hands. Catching balls that were a little high or a little low. The competition between the two of them was great, neither were angry when the other guy won the matchup, they simple smacked hands and ran back to the line to get more reps in.

These week’s practices were intense, but Coach Galliano and his staff are trying to make sure his team is ready for when they get pads on in the coming weeks. That’s when the physicality of the game reaches a new level, and you find out who is cut out for it and who isn’t. Until then, Coach Galliano and his staff are working hard to make sure every player knows the playbook and what they have to do in their position.

For more Images of SJHS Hardknocks follow Author Kyle Rae Headlee on facebook.

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This week’s Player Profile features Damonce Williams. He is a wide receiver and is entering his junior year at San Jacinto. He has been on Varsity since he was a freshman and a key feature in Coach Galliano’s offense. Damonce is a two-sport varsity athlete for the Tigers. He is every threat and possesses the kind of natural breakaway speed that throws many defensive backs off guard. Monce has learned not to show his speed right away; he will jog through routes and accelerate out of the break causing defensive players to hesitate and lose their grip on him. Coach Galliano had this to say about him, “Damonce is a hard worker, good route runner with excellent hands. He is his biggest critic; it makes him push harder to become a great WR.”
Last year Damonce banked in 8 touchdowns, this season he is hoping to have a break out year and get some college attention. Every practice he is putting in the work and is getting better and better.

Damonce’s favorite route to run is a post corner, he likes 50/50 balls and competing for those balls. He has been playing football since he was nine years old. Damonce instantly noticed how when he was playing football, he wasn’t getting in trouble and decided that he would stick with it. That’s his number one thing that he loves about football; it keeps him too busy to mess around.
Damonce finished last year’s school year with a 3.5 GPA; he is hoping to get that even higher this year. His favorite subject is reading, and he enjoys the quiet time he can spend away from the world. When Damonce isn’t playing Football or Basketball, he spends his free time playing video games. He loves to play 2k (NBA basketball video game) and Madden (NFL Football Game). Monce is determined to graduate from college and dreams of going to AU (Arizona University) to major in business. He hopes to launch his own clothing company and successfully start a business empire.

Monce is thankful to Coach G for taking a chance on him during his freshman year and never giving upon him. He feels like Coach G has his back and wants to make him proud. Most of all Monce is excited for this upcoming year, and he feels like the Tigers left too much on the table and wants to get back to the championship round to get the chance to show that they deserve that CIF championship ring.
Follow the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle for your weekly Player Profile and Hardknocks updates. If you are looking for more pictures of Hardknocks, please follow Author Kyle Rae Headlee on Facebook.

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They only had a couple of weeks off of workouts, but between the heat and the Taco Bell, they have been eating getting through the first day of conditioning was nothing less than severe.

The assistant coaches were mixed around the field giving instruction, encouragement, but also calling out all the players who were not giving full effort or completing drills, forcing the rest of the team to have to go again. Coach G has his team very organized and is running his program similar to a college. He didn’t even have to instruct the players on what was going to happen; they automatically reacted to the sound of his whistle changing drills. There were quite a few kids who are new to the program, but they seemed to have caught on to the program rather quickly.

Day one was all about conditioning and preparing for the upcoming weeks of practice. At the training, a player asked the assistant coach: “how many of these are we going to do?.” And the coach’s assistant answered: “We will keep going until we are done.” The response from the coach brought a smile to my face and took me back to being one of those kids in that same field. The player and coach shared a laugh and smacked hands afterward, showing that these players have a sincere fondness of their coaches.

Coach G asked the team to help set up the sleds for the next practice. As a team, they moved equipment that weighs well over 500 pounds. When everything was finished, Coach G had the team take a seat at the 50-yard line for a meeting. He told the players what to expect and what he expects out of them. They went over their contracts, appropriate behaviors, grades, how to conduct themselves in his field, and their spirit packs.

For more pictures of the first day of practice, go to Author Kyle Rae Headlee on Facebook where I will be continually uploading pictures of San Jacinto Hardknocks this season.

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