By Vincent PAGE

While Friday night lights are still months away, the Crescenta Valley High School varsity football team is already getting ready for the season ahead. Practices are held during the hottest parts of the day, followed by hours spent in the weight room that include excruciating workouts created by defensive coordinator Dennis Gossard.

But the players do not complain; instead they attack the workouts head-on and push themselves and their teammates through it.

In the past three years, CVHS Falcon football has found great success. Winning the Pacific League three times and a CIF championship in the past three years is no easy task, especially with continued improvement – and competition –  from Arcadia, Burroughs and Burbank. The key to this success has been the offseason, along with the ability to find players who play without fear.

A primary reason for this success, according to Falcon head coach Paul Schilling, is its 11-on-11 scrimmages. These are essentially games without pads that allow the coaches to see which players are best fit for certain roles.

“We just want to see what guys will compete. We’re going to go after these really good programs and get to see how they do. We’ve had so much success,” Schilling explained after an 11-on-11 against Cathedral High School. The “really good programs” Schilling referred to include Cathedral, cross-town rival St. Francis, and Hart High School. After having “a great run at St. Francis, where we kind of did whatever we wanted,” Schilling said, CVHS faced much tougher competition against Cathedral last week.

On the field there were many new faces on defense, and some familiar ones on offense despite a couple of key players graduating including running back Brandon Beardt and wide receiver Andrew Traber. Junior quarterback Cole Doyle will enter his second season as a starter, and will lead this offense as usual. Doyle has nearly everything one would want in a starting quarterback: good mobility, a solid arm and pocket presence. However, Doyle, at 5’8”, lacks the desired height though he more than makes up for it with his playmaking ability.

He will also be protected by one of the best offensive lines in the Pacific League, one that features five senior starters. Anchored by Pacific League first-teamer Riley Center, San Diego State University commit Tommy Chun, and Pacific League second-team selection Destin Jordan, the offensive line will provide Doyle with plenty of time and big holes for senior running back Joe Suh.  

The offense looks solid once again, especially with offensive coordinator Hudson Gossard, who always game plans to his players’ strengths, instead of making them adapt to a certain system.

 However, with six new starters on defense, leaders will need to be found over the offseason. Against Cathedral, two players showed major promise as leaders.

The first was Brian Erickson. He was consistently near the ball and making plays. He is a vocal player on the field, and plays with constant emotion. He is an all-around linebacker, and he will be asked to play in the middle and command the defense while also coming off the edge as a rusher in some situations.

The second standout defender has a familiar last name for Falcon fans. Tyler Lobianco is a different type of leader for Crescenta Valley. He has a much calmer demeanor on the field. As a defensive back, he consistently shut down the wide receiver he was facing. A true leader by example, Lobianco will be looked upon to hold down the back of the defense.

There is still a lot of time left before the season kicks off, but this team looks extremely promising thus far into the offseason. The Falcons have gone to the championship game in all three of their passing league tournaments, winning two easily while falling to Paraclete High School in the finale of last weekend’s tournament.

  Alithea VALDEZ, Vincent PAGE