Atwater hopes large roster will help create depth and lead to wins this season
Seneca Ybarra may be the Pied Piper of Merced County football coaches.
Across the county, high schools are struggling to fill out rosters. Many teams are heading into the season with less than 30 players on the roster.
Atwater is the only team with over 50 players on its varsity roster.
What’s Ybarra’s secret for getting players?
“I’m a stand-up comedian,” Ybarra said. “I don’t know, man. I’m a high energy guy. I like talking to people. I put that out there. I love being out there. We have a good time together. We really stress that family mentality as a program.”
The extra bodies gives the coaching staff the ability to develop some depth behind their experienced players. They can run bodies out there on the scout team to give their starters a look at practice.
That being said, a lot of the Falcons players are first-year guys. Players who will have to learn fast to be able to contribute.
Atwater will be young up front on the offensive line after graduating a lot of seniors. The Falcons will also be young on defense.
Atwater does return three key starters on offense in running back James Thomas, receiver Cameron Frazier and quarterback Bo Valladao.
If the Falcons can block up front, Thomas could have a big year.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound back is tough to bring down. He has tree trunks for thighs and runs with deceptive speed.
“As the game goes on he gets stronger,” Ybarra said. “Hopefully we can help him out by completing some balls and protecting him up front. Hopefully we can let him loose in the fourth quarter and we’ll see if some people will make some business decisions on defense. He looks lean. He’s worked hard. I’m excited for him because I think he’s going to have a great year.”
Frazier gives the Falcons a 6-foot-3 receiver outside. He’s a big target and a matchup nightmare for smaller defensive backs.
“Cam is smooth,” Ybarra said. “He has great leaping ability so he’s going to be able to win those one-on-one matchups. He’s picked it up a bit in practice. He’s really an untapped potential.”
Valladao split time at quarterback last spring with Julius Peacock so he was able to gain some valuable varsity experience.
“I think we’re going to be good all-around,” Thomas said. “We have good receivers, a good QB, we can run the ball and our defense is solid.”
The Falcons will also count on senior players like tight end Drew Boesch and receiver Preston Tucker. Newcomers Javier Avila, Azim Muldrow and Nico Mendoza may make an impact offensively as well.
The Falcons already avoided one disaster this season.
Atwater had to scramble to find a game this first week when Madera informed Ybarra that they weren’t going to get enough practices in to be able to play because of a COVID-19 issue.
Atwater was able to quickly schedule a game against Capital Christian of Sacramento.
“I feel extremely fortunate,” said Ybarra. “I want to compete. Last spring our players didn’t get to play their last game against Merced. We didn’t want to go through that again.”
Even though it was a tough night in a 47-18 loss to Capital Christian on Friday night, Ybarra wanted his kids to compete.
Thomas says the biggest difference between the spring season and the upcoming one is obvious.
“We get 10 games,” he said. “We’re ready to see what we can do. It’s not going to be a four-game season. I’ve been ready for the season to start. Four games wasn’t enough. I want some more.”
Schedule
Aug. 20 Capital Christian 47, Atwater 18
Aug. 27 vs Clovis East
Sept. 3 vs Gregori
Sept. 10 at East Union
Sept. 17 vs Merced
Sept. 24 at El Capitan
Oct. 1 at Patterson
Oct. 8 vs Golden Valley
Oct. 15 vs Central Valley
Oct. 29 at Buhach Colony
