New-look Livingston builds for future
Alex Gonzalez didn’t inherit a bad situation in his first season.
He took over a Livingston High School program coming off a 1-9 campaign, but he had a veteran group with genuine talent. Gonzalez harnessed it, put in a spread offense and got the Wolves off to an impressive 5-1 start. Injuries plagued Livingston during a pivotal stretch of Western Athletic Conference play, and single-digiit losses to Pacheco and Los Banos forced Gonzalez’s squad to settle for an exciting yet disappointing 5-5 campaign.
Now the real building begins.
Livingston graduated 29 players, leaving the Wolves with just 15 players with varsity experience and five starters.
“It’s definitely going to be a very different-looking team,” Gonzalez said. “We’re going to open the year at about 37, 38 players on the roster. I would like to be at 42, 45, but I’m pleased with our numbers at the lower levels. Our relationship with our youth football team has gotten real good, and it shows with the number of freshmen we have out.
“It’s early still, so it’s tough to say what exactly we can expect from this team. Like I told the kids, the goal right now is to go out and compete in every game.”
We’re still going to look to be balanced, but last year, we were a little more pass-heavy. This year, I imagine we’re going to be a little more run-heavy.
Livingston coach Alex Gonzalez
Steve Wine takes over as defensive coordinator after serving as the junior varsity coach last season. He inherits the bulk of the holdovers with safety Eddie Avila and linemen Justin Reimann and Jesus Ramirez leading what the Wolves hope will be a stout defense.
“There’s a lot of new guys, but I think we can be a little better,” Avila said. “Last year, we had a lot of costly injuries at an important time. I was one of them. I missed some important games where I felt like I could have made a difference.
“To miss out on the playoffs because we got hurt at the wrong time stung. It motivated us to really take our conditioning and weightlifting seriously so it doesn’t happen again.”
A year after his brother, CJ, was the focal point of the offense as a dual-threat quarterback, Avila will carry a good portion of the load as the featured back. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry as a junior but finished with just 274 yards on 46 carries after missing three league games in the heart of the season.
A successful run game will help ease the early burden of new quarterback Grayson Austin as he gets acclimated to the varsity level.
“Grayson has got the skill set. We’re just trying to get him ready,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve got a lot of new receivers also, so we’re just trying to get our timing down and get everyone on the same page. We’ve got Grayson competing with our sophomore (Eduardo Mendoza) right now, and I really think it’s helping him.
“We’re still going to look to be balanced, but last year, we were a little more pass-heavy. This year, I imagine we’re going to be a little more run-heavy.”
Sean Lynch: 209-385-2476, @MSSsports
Aug. 28 at Hilmar 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 4 vs. Fresno 7 p.m.
Sept. 11 vs. Le Grand 7 p.m.
Sept. 18 at Mariposa 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 25 vs. El Capitan 7 p.m.
Oct. 2 at Ceres 7 p.m.
Oct. 9 at Pacheco 7 p.m.
Oct. 16 vs. Central Valley 7 p.m.
Oct. 23 at Los Banos 7 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Patterson 7 p.m.
LIVINGSTON WOLVES
Head coach: Alex Gonzalez
Years/record: 2nd, 5-5
Key returners: RB Eddie Avila (6-2, 180); LB Justin Reimann (5-11, 205); OL/DL Jesus Ramirez (5-7, 180).
Key newcomers: QB/WR/S Grayson Austin (5-11, 175); OL/DL Jaime Aquino (5-11, 235); S Brayan Negrete (5-11, 170)
Key losses: QB CJ Avila; DL Jorge Torres; LB Jesus Sierra; RB Jose Mejia.
Stadium: Livingston Stadium (2,500)
Rivalry: Le Grand
This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 10:41 PM with the headline "New-look Livingston builds for future."