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Expectations high for Corona’s gridiron season
By Brian Gomez
Not many football
prognosticators are giving Corona del Sol High School much of a chance this
fall, but head coach Gary Venturo is determined to take his team to the
postseason for the first time in five years.
The Aztecs will have
to overcome inexperience on both sides of the ball, in addition to replacing
their starting quarterback, their top wide receiver and arguably the best
lineman in school history from a team that went 6-4 last year and finished
just shy of making the state playoffs.
“We expect to go
pretty far,” said Venturo, whose team opens the season at 6 p.m. Aug. 28
in a scrimmage at Gilbert Highland.
“No one else gives
us a chance, but we think we can do it, and that’s all that matters.”
Corona likely would have been included
in the 16-team postseason field last year had it not been for a 30-point
loss to Desert Vista in its finale. The Aztecs finished 18th in the Class 5A
power points rankings, a complex system that takes into account a team’s
record and strength of schedule.
“We don’t have a
chip on our shoulder,” Venturo said. “We didn’t take care of business
when we should have. You’ve got to win the ones you’re supposed to
win.”
Corona’s
postseason hopes hinge this year upon a group of relative unknowns, many of
whom will be thrust into the starting lineup after being used primarily as
reserves at the varsity level.
Senior Matthew
Larson and junior Blaise Johnson are in contention for the starting
quarterback position, which was handled last season by Brett Nenaber.
Larson is a
drop-back passer, whereas Johnson is more of a roll-out quarterback,
allowing the Aztecs to add more wrinkles to their offense.
“We’re going to
end up doing a lot with either one of them,” Venturo said. “We’ll just
have to see how it plays out.”
Regardless of
who’s taking the snaps, Corona needs more playmakers in the absence of
wide receiver Chris Palmer and running backs Tyler Markichevich, Joshua
Hossa and Henry Todd.
Venturo expects
seniors Jon Kaufman and Adam Carr to emerge as his team’s leading
receivers. Juniors Chase Flores and Daniel McClendon and senior Eric Smith
will run behind an offensive line anchored by seniors Allen Smith and
Michael Pursley and junior Joey Featherman.
On defense, junior
inside linebacker Kirk Cox is in position to assume the leadership role held
last season by lineman Mike Pollak, who has since signed with Arizona State.
Senior linebackers Lloyd Cook and Emmanuel Butters will also figure into the
mix.
Corona’s starting
place-kicker and punter remain undecided due to the departure of Roy
Simmons, coupled with Johnson’s leg injury toward the end of last season.
Senior Daniel Dastrup and sophomore Kevin Hager are competing for the
place-kicking job, while Johnson and junior Stephen Harper are being
considered as punters.
“I really like the
chemistry of this team,” Venturo said. “They’ll be quite a few new
people, but we can run this year. We can move a lot better than we have in
the past couple years.”
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com
or visit him online at http://sundevils.freeyellow.com/briangomez.html.
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