WATSONVILLE — The way head coach Kevin Cordova sees it, the Pajaro Valley High football team doesn’t have many excuses left.
Now members of the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Santa Lucia division, the Grizzlies are seemingly on a level playing field with the six other programs in the division — Gonzales High, Greenfield High, Harbor High, Marina High, Soquel High and Stevenson.
In fact, they will be at an advantage on paper.
With 1,390 students on campus, Pajaro Valley will be the largest school in the division in terms of enrollment, according to the Central Coast Section 2017-18 CBEDs. Soquel (1,180) and Greenfield (1,179) are the only other schools with more than 1,000 students.
“I’m not going to say that all of our kids have been making that excuse for the last couple seasons, but it’s there,” said Cordova, who is entering his second season as head coach. “They see it. When we got out to varsity games and we stand out across a team that’s twice as big as you, it becomes a built in excuse. We’re the largest program in our league now, so what’s our excuse?”
With the school’s long-awaited athletic fields also finally moving ahead, Pajaro Valley could be on the verge of becoming a blossoming football program. And this year’s senior class — 14 of the 31 players on roster — wants to be the group to spark that change.
“We want to go 10-0,” said senior lineman Marcos Aguilar. “We want to get a good record and leave a legacy behind for the young kids who would love to make it there, too.”
Interview with Pajaro Valley High OL/DL Marcos Aguilar on the upcoming season. #RPsports pic.twitter.com/61BBQL4xmX
— Tony Nunez (@Tony_Nunez) August 3, 2018
Pajaro Valley has not had a winning season since 2007, but the program has a very good chance to end that drought this fall. Marina (5-5) was the lone team in the Santa Lucia division that did not finish with a losing record last season, and four of the remaining five programs won three games or less.
That’s not to say the division will be without talent or intrigue. There is a new excitement at Soquel with former NFL safety Dwight Lowery now at the helm of the program. Harbor, under second-year head coach James Gaynor, is in the midst of a massive rebuild, which includes a new state-of-the-art synthetic field. And Marina and Greenfield will welcome in new coaches this fall.
“It’ll be good competition,” said senior quarterback Max Arevalo. “We have chances to stay in ball games. We’ve always had chances, but now we’ve put in more work to keep up.”
Interview with Pajaro Valley High starting quarterback Max Arevalo on the upcoming football season.
Sorry for the airplanes, rich people gotta hobby it up! #RPsports pic.twitter.com/6otTivLvEG
— Tony Nunez (@Tony_Nunez) August 3, 2018
Arevalo and Aguilar emerged as the team’s two go-to leaders during the spring and summer.
Arevalo last season split time at quarterback with now graduated Danny Jimenez-Carrillo, but will have full reign over the Grizzlies’ new run-heavy Wing-T offense during his final year.
“He’s always had a maturity and a football savvy that a lot of kids seem to lack right off the bat, because we don’t get a lot of kids that grew up watching football,” Cordova said of Arevalo. “He’s always had that, and I’m glad that he’s fulfilled what I thought he could do this year.”
Aguilar, a 5-foot-11, 294-pound nose guard and offensive lineman, is the strongest player on the team, and might be the strongest high school football player in the city — he benches 290 pounds, power cleans 300 pounds and squats 540 pounds. Now in his third year of varsity football, he’s been more vocal when the team has needed a guiding voice.
“He surprised me a bit,” Cordova said. “The moment we stepped foot in the weight room in January, he started slowly becoming that guy.”
The Grizzlies will have decent size on the offensive line this fall, and, more importantly, depth that was sorely lacking last season. Seniors Josue Gutierrez (5-foot-6, 209 pounds), Aaron Olivares (5-10, 208), Allen Hernandez (6-0, 208) and Jesus Magdaleno (5-9, 192) all return with an entire year of varsity football under their belts.
They’ll try to open holes for senior running back Russel Pablo, who has bulked up (5-10, 175) over the offseason without losing any of his explosiveness or straight-line speed.
“We really challenged him this year, and I really think he’s responded to the challenges,” Cordova said of Pablo. “I’m excited to see what he can do.”
Juniors J.J. Briseno and Omar Salazar, among others, will also see some touches in the running game.
When he’s not handing the ball off, Arevalo will look for senior Manny Murillo, a 6-foot, 260-pound tight end who has quick feet and soft hands.
“Half of [the seniors] have been playing for the last four years,” Arevelo said. “We’ve got a good connection and I feel like we can lead the younger guys a little bit more.”
Murillo will also factor in on defense as a defensive end. He and Aguilar will anchor the defensive line and make life easier on linebackers Daniel Perez, Carlos Hernandez, Briseno, Pablo and Gutierrez. Hernandez is the lone junior in the linebacking corps.
Seniors Daniel Ramos and Dario Camarillo, and junior Daniel Gonzalez lead the defensive backs.
“It’s all about teamwork and bonding,” Murillo said. “That’s what we’ve been practicing on, bringing each other up.”
Interview with Pajaro Valley High’s Manny Murillo, who shows off his quick feet with a TD dance. #RPsports pic.twitter.com/TNLoj2hgiC
— Tony Nunez (@Tony_Nunez) August 3, 2018
Pajaro Valley will start the season off with the biggest rivalry game in the county, the Belgard Kup Game, on Aug. 24 at Emmett M. Geiser Field, and will stay local over the next two preseason weeks with games against St. Francis High (Aug. 31) and San Lorenzo Valley High (Sept. 8) before traveling to San Jose for its preseason finale against Lynbrook (Sept. 14).
Following a bye week, the Grizzlies will open PCAL Santa Lucia division action at Gonzales (Sept. 28).
Cordova said he didn’t know what to expect from most of the teams in the new division, but the coach did say that his program needs to show some progress in the near future, especially when considering the advantage in numbers and the upcoming construction.
“I don’t think I’m doing my job if we remain in this league for a long time,” Cordova said. “Based on the size of our school, and if we get some facility upgrades and different things, I think we should be playing with the league above. That’s how I feel, and I think our kids agree.”
Editor’s Note: This article will publish in the Pajaronian’s “Kickoff 2018” section on Aug. 17. The yearly section will feature previews, schedules and player spotlights for the six local football teams in the Pajaro Valley: Pajaro Valley, Watsonville, St. Francis, Monte Vista Christian, Aptos and North Monterey County.
