Gustine ready to contend

Russell McWilliams acknowledges he fell victim to the hubris of youth.

McWilliams helped the Gustine football team reach the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V title game as a player in 2002. He firmly believed he’d quickly lead his alma mater back to the promised land when he returned as head coach in 2011.

Things didn’t go as planned, with the Redskins posting 1-9 records his first two seasons in charge. Humbled, McWilliams stayed the course and continued to rebuild from the bottom up. Gustine returned to the Southern League after a stint in the Western Athletic Conference and began enjoying some success.

The hard work paid dividends last season as Gustine turned in its first winning season (7-4) in over a decade and ended a lengthy playoff drought. Even more encouraging, the Redskins were just a handful of plays on either side of the ball away from a truly special season as their three conference losses came by a total of seven points. With two-thirds of that roster back for 2015 and a handful of new playmakers in the fold, McWilliams has plenty of reason for optimism entering his fifth season.

“I came in thinking I could change the culture and win titles right away,” McWilliams said. “I was 26. I didn’t know any better. Those first two years, it was like fighting an uphill battle. We just had the same losing mentality around the program.

“The third year was a big stepping stone for us. Some pieces began to click. Last year, you could see the kids start to believe, and the town began to believe with them.”

Gustine’s strength again will be its defense. Eight starters are back from a unit that allowed just over 16 points per game a year ago.

Linebacker Brandon Labry led the group as a junior with 76 tackles. He had seven tackles for a loss, four sacks and an interception. Joined by Elijah Vargas and Fabian Morales, Gustine returns three of its top four tacklers.

“We were happy with what we did last year, but we weren’t satisfied,” Labry said. “We could have easily been undefeated in league. It just let us know that we have to go 100 percent the whole game and can’t let little mistakes in big moments be the thing that costs us.

“I think our defense has room to be even better, but what really excites me is that I think our offense is 10 times better. People have not been as excited about this program since they went to the title game in 2002. Being at the school for those 1-9 teams, it means a lot to have helped turn it around.”

McWilliams said his offense never quite clicked in 2014, as shown by cracking the 30-point total just once all season. Just a single score a game more would have produced an undefeated regular season. He believes he has the pieces in place this time around to make an even bigger impact.

Dual-threat quarterback Sebastian Figueroa returns for his third year under center. He produced 1,527 yards of total offense and 16 touchdowns a year ago. With a little extra polish, McWilliams expects a jump in both stats. He’ll have four returning offensive linemen to play behind and a number of new weapons, including Labry taking over as the team’s running back.

“We lost three major playmakers, but I like the guys we have coming in to replace them,” McWilliams said. “With Labry back there, I feel like we’ll have a much more effective run game this year, and I like the options we have on the outside.

“The kids learned last year that they were right there. A little more attention to detail, and those losses could have gone our way. We feel like we’ve got the pieces in place to finish that off this year, and I’m excited to see what we can do.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 9:58 PM with the headline "Gustine ready to contend."