‘Last year was a wakeup call for all of us.’ Deleon, Atwater ready to take next step.

Isaiah Deleon is ready to win.

The highlight of the senior quarterback’s high school career to this point was a 5-5 freshman campaign. The Atwater varsity team has won just four total games in the two years since then.

There’s reason for optimism, however, entering head coach Seneca Ybarra’s second season at the helm. The Falcons have numbers (62 on the roster), size and seemed to figure some things out to close the 2017 season. A young Atwater squad went 3-4 in their last seven games, turning in increasingly more competitive performances as the season wore on.

With almost the entire starting lineup coming back, including electric running back Charles Jackson (139 carries for 951 yards and 10 touchdowns), Deleon and company believe Atwater is ready to take the next step.

“I’m just ready to win,” Deleon said. “This group of seniors has put in a lot of work the last few years. We’ve fought through some tough times. Our best season we went 5-5 as freshmen.

“I think most people probably have low expectations for us, but we believe in ourselves and the progress that we’ve made.”

The logic is sound. The Falcons return their top passer (Deleon), top three rushers (Jackson, Jose Bautista, Alberto Ramos), a trio of offensive linemen (Sam Jenkins, Kaden Ramirez, Rafael Gomez) and two of their top three tacklers (Crisanto Perez, Nick Maravilla).

“It was nice to get over the hump and put together a couple wins,” Ybarra said. “It’s tough to preach that these are the things you need to do to win games and then not have it work for you. I think the kids bought in fully the last three or four games.

“I think we finally learned how to practice. The effort and intensity were way up and you could see the results on the field. Now we have to build on that.”

Ybarra said that effort has carried right through the offseason and Atwater has added some nice pieces to complement its already veteran core. Teo Martinez (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) will help solidify both the offensive and defensive lines and sophomore tight end/linebacker Samari Russo should provide an imposing presence for the next three years.

Deleon believes all the pieces could be in place for the program’s first winning season since 2013.

“Last year was a wakeup call for all of us,” Deleon said. “I know it was for me. We were shown how much harder we needed to work if we wanted to be successful. It was a complete change of mindset for everybody.

“We’ve carried that same intensity into the offseason. I see us with the capability of winning any game and I’m excited to get going.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 5:44 PM.