Delhi football uses offseason incentives to gain conditioning edge

Rod McCombs set up an incentive program to help get more players in the weight room during the offseason.

The Delhi High School football coach’s plan was to give the players who spent the most time working out and showing the most progress in the weight room first dibs when it came time to pick uniforms and equipment.

McCombs kept an updated list so the players could see where they stood.

“It made a difference,” McCombs said. “We had a bunch of kids put in a lot of time. It was a challenge for some of the kids to see how many guys they could jump over. We’ve got a mixed bag of gear. Some of the stuff is old and you wouldn’t want to be wearing it.”

Junior Jesse Flores made his way to the top of the list. Flores started at center and nose guard for the Hawks last season, when he was listed at 6 feet and 265 pounds.

Flores told McCombs he wanted to play fullback and linebacker this season.

“I told him if he could get down to 230 or 235 pounds, I would consider it,” McCombs said. “He took it on as a challenge.”

Flores changed his diet, giving up his favorite foods such as pizza and cheeseburgers. Instead, he ate a lot of chicken, rice and vegetables.

After running a lot and spending many hours in the weight room, Flores got his weight down to 230 pounds.

“It was difficult in the beginning because I wasn’t used to running and eating the right food,” Flores said. “Once I got the hang of it, it got easier and easier. It was tough if my parents brought a pizza home or something. There’s always temptations. You just work past it.”

With the first pick of gear, Flores is trading in his No. 72 for No. 48. He also had his pick of helmets, shoulder pads and pants.

“I got everything I wanted,” Flores said.

Flores said he wanted to make the position change this season to improve the team and become a better athlete.

Flores is part of a strong junior class that returns five players who spent the bulk of their season playing varsity as sophomores, including quarterback Louie Avalos and running back Scorpio Martinez.

“They got a lot of good battle experience at the varsity level,” McCombs said. “Now they are all leaders on the practice field and in the weight room. Louie is pretty crafty and he’s a lot more athletic than he appears to be. He’s a good scrambler and he’s elusive outside of the pocket.”

Flores, Martinez, Daniel Jimenez and Avalos will lead the Hawks’ double-wing offense. Meanwhile, on defense, McCombs feels Delhi will feature a strong secondary with Fabian Garcia, Sammy Rodriguez, Roy Rogers and Jimenez.

“We have a group of defensive backs that will be at the top of the league across the board from corner to corner,” McCombs said. “We’ll be challenged defensively up front since Jesse is moving to linebacker, but I feel we’ll be strong in the secondary.”

The Hawks are hoping all the work they’ve put in during the offseason pays off with a trip to the playoffs.

“We’ve got high expectations,” McCombs said. “We expect to be on top. We want to be in the playoffs. Our goal is to play 14 games this year.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Delhi football uses offseason incentives to gain conditioning edge."