Several starting positions will be on the line Friday as the local prep football teams take part in multiteam scrimmages at Pioneer and Live Oak High School beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Several starting positions will be on the line Friday as the local prep football teams take part in multiteam scrimmages at Pioneer and Live Oak High School beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Acorns’ starting quarterback job has been an even battle between David Pelz and Dominic Bejarano. Live Oak coach Jon Michael Porras assessed the two seniors, both great athletes with varying strengths, before Wednesday night’s practice at Richert Field and insisted the race is too close to call.
“Right now, I feel like we have two No. 1 guys there,” said Porras, whose team will host a jamboree with Gilroy, Christopher, San Benito and Independence today. “We’re looking for someone to take it.”
Offensive/defensive line coach Matt Acosta will have a better idea of what his starting front five will look like. Three candidates – Danny Galli, Andrew Daggett, Kailo Wilson – are vying for the top spot at quick tackle, while the quick guard position has boiled down to David Robertson and Ruben Magana.
A week away from Live Oak’s season opener against Gilroy, Friday’s jamboree will be the final audition.
“We did six camps this offseason, so the guys have hit against live opponents quite a bit,” Porras said. “We’re going to be looking for who is the most aggressive. Who can play all out? Who’s ready to go? That’s the main thing. We want to see who the kids are and how assignment-sound they are.
“It’s the last chance for them to help us figure out what the depth chart is going to look like come Sunday.”
Because Gilroy and Live Oak are playing each other next week, they will not go head to head Friday, Porras said. The Acorns’ first scrimmage is scheduled to start around 7 p.m.
Conversely, the Sobrato High School coaching staff will be looking closely at its defense Friday as the Bulldogs take on Santa Teresa Division foe Branham, West Valley Division stalwart Silver Creek and defending Mount Hamilton Division champion Pioneer.
Sobrato opens the season Sept. 3 against Christopher in Gilroy.
“What I’m really looking forward to is, we have a nice look at the Blossom Valley Athletic League,” SHS coach Nick Borello said Wednesday. “We’re hoping to hang in with Pioneer. I think it’s going to be a nice wake-up call of sorts – or just a nice way for us to show where we are.”
The Bulldogs have two of three defensive line positions locked down, but the last one remains up for grabs between Tanner Holt, Sergio Mihai and Nick Perry. Each of them will likely see plenty of playing time this season.
Junior Conor Havstad and sophomore Frank Palmer are competing for the last safety spot.
“It’s a final audition for them,” defensive line/secondary coach Albert King said. “We have options; all of them can start. It’s a matter of who steps up most, takes the bull by the horns.”
