How the defense has paved the way for Golden Valley’s 2-0 start.

Coming into this season, Golden Valley coach Rick Martinez wasn’t sure what areas would be strengths and weaknesses for the Cougars. One thing Martinez did know is he liked the chemistry he saw during the spring and summer with the players.

“Coming off an 0-10 season, who knew what we were getting with the senior group,” Martinez said. “With us being so young and untested, I didn’t know what our strengths would be.”

The Cougars defense has made a strong case through two games.

Golden Valley is off to a 2-0 start heading into Friday’s matchup against another 2-0 team in Centennial of Bakersfield at Veterans Stadium. A big reason why the Cougars have opened with two wins has been a defense that posted a shutout in a 36-0 win over Hoover last week and has given up only six points in two games.

“Everybody is executing,” said junior defensive back Avery Townsel. “We’re going hard in practice. We’re hungry after that 0-10 season last year. Now that we have that taste in our mouths after the first win, that keeps us going.”

The Cougars defense has been getting it done with a collective effort. Nobody has been racking up a bunch of sacks or tackles. It’s just a defensive unit getting contributions from all three levels.

“I think our defensive coordinator Dennis (Stubbs) has done some different things against the spread,” Martinez said. “We’ve changed some of our coverages. We’ve gotten good play from our outside linebackers and inside linebackers. Against Hoover, Gerardo Alvarado did a great job of tackling their running back. That was key for us.

“Etrell (Bowers) has been big as a pass rusher off the end. Zack Fernandez, Avery and (Teddy) Ragsdale have been using their brains in the secondary.”

The Cougars have shown a knack for coming up with a big stop when necessary.

It was Townsel picking off a Livermore pass at the Golden Valley 5-yad line with 2:29 left to preserve an 11-6 win in the season opener.

Last week against Hoover, the defense came up with three sacks and three turnovers to help keep the Patriots off the scoreboard.

“Starting 2-0 has showed us we’re a lot better than last year,” Alvarado said. “We want to stay hungry and try to get the job done.”

Townsel and Alvarado said it’s a lot easier walking around campus and showing your face as a football player this year. He said even their own classmates and teachers expected the team to lose.

Now they are being congratulated after their two wins.

“Definitely, people have been coming up and asking about the games,” Townsel said.

Martinez has seen the tempo pick up in practice. The confidence is spreading throughout the program.

“It has, success brings a lot of confidence,” Martinez said. “The tempo has turned up in practice this week. Now that we have a couple wins, these guys feel like they can win some games. Kids are learning how to practice.”

Martinez feels this week’s matchup against Centennial will be the Cougars’ toughest test to date.

“They are well-coached and disciplined,” Martinez said. “They have some decent size. They are going to be a handful for us. It’s going to be a good measuring stick.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 1:58 PM with the headline "How the defense has paved the way for Golden Valley’s 2-0 start.."