5 minute read
Sterling
Injuries should help Warriors’ depth
By TY REYNOLDS
treynolds@shawmedia.com
There has always been that next-man-up mentality in the Sterling football program – and it really served the Golden Warriors well during an injury-plagued 2021 season.
But as much as it hurt last fall, it could benefit them over the next three months. A lot of injuries meant a lot of guys getting a chance to gain experience that they otherwise might not have had, and that’s led to a deeper, more veteran team this fall.
“I think by default, that made us deeper this year. It’s not something that we wanted to happen last year, but it might help us this year,” said Jon Schlemmer, entering his 11th season as Sterling’s head coach. “It’s all about depth this whole summer, this whole offseason, really, building that because of what happened last year. It’s just understanding what we need going into the conference slate, and really the schedule we have: we’ve got to feel really good two or three deep at a lot of positions, and we’re pretty close to that, so we feel pretty good with where we’re at.”
As with the start of every season, the returning players and the younger guys coming up to the varsity squad must find a way to mesh and become a cohesive unit.
Traditionally, that’s something the Warriors have excelled at, and senior Justin Null said that’s something that hasn’t taken much effort at all to achieve this offseason.
“I would say it has been easy. When we were sophomores, the freshmen kind of had lower numbers, so now that we’re seniors and juniors, we’ve kind of all been together already, so this group has known each other for a really long time, and it doesn’t take a whole lot for us to get along together. We hang out a lot outside of football and school, too,” Null said.
“I think it’s just the leadership from our seniors, whether it’s Kael Ryan or JP [Schilling] at quarterback, or basically any of our seniors, really, we’ve all been really helpful for the juniors that may not know exactly what they’re doing, or to people that are new. Being able to help each other is really benefitting us.”
Schlemmer points to the offseason workout program as the site of a lot of that team chemistry being built – and again, the injuries last season might have lent a helping hand to that process.
“I think that all start upstairs in the weight room. That’s where kids gain confidence, that’s where kids really learn about each other, lifting with a guy they don’t know very well, and that’s where it all starts,” Schlemmer said. “Coach [Isaac] Kinnicutt ran our summer program, and I thought it was probably one of the best summers we’ve ever had – and it wasn’t really due to any of us coaches, it was our senior leaders.
“A product of the injuries that we had last year, and some kids unfortunately unable to play winter or spring sports because of that, it created that bond upstairs, and really, I think it created some leaders out of those guys who were there every single day and didn’t miss at all in the offseason lifting. It wasn’t a question of who was going to be there; everybody was going to be there. That’s really showed.”
SVM file photo by Alex T. Paschal – apaschal@shawmedia.com Sterling’s Antonio Tablante (3) turns the corner to pick up yards during last season’s Week 6 game against Quincy. Tablante returns to the Golden Warriors’ backfield after rushing for more than 1,000 yards last year.
Roster
No. Name Yr. Pos.
1 Tommy Tate Sr. WR/LB 2 JP Schilling Sr. QB/DB 3 Antonio Tablante Sr. RB/LB 4 Isaiah Mendoza Jr. WR/DB 5 Mateo Vasquez Sr. WR/DB 6 Devin Fargher Sr. WR/DB 7 Kael Ryan Sr. QB/LB 8 Braiden Herrera Sr. RB/LB 9 AJ Kested Sr. RB/DB 10 Cale Ledergerber Jr. WR/DB 11 Will Ports So. WR/LB 12 Joseph Marchiorato Sr. H/LB 13 Tavian Kelly Sr. WR/DB 14 Justin Benson Jr. WR/LB 15 Drew Nettleton So. QB 16 Dylan Ottens Jr. WR/DB 17 Mataeo Alvarado Sr. WR/DB 19 Mason Emin Jr. WR/LB 20 Miles Nawrocki Jr. WR/DB 21 Kyle Knutsen Jr. WR/DB 22 Andre Klaver Jr. WR/LB 23 Aramis Morga Jr. RB/LB 26 James Morris Sr. WR/LB 28 Yuriy Guerrero Sr. P 29 Gavin Church Jr. RB/DB 31 Gage Tate So. H/LB 37 Dillian Wellman Jr. WR/DB 38 Joseph Holcomb So. RB/DB 42 Braden Birdsley So. RB/LB 48 Lance Wren Sr. H/LB 51 Anthony Speers Sr. OL/DL 52 Christian Beasley Sr. OL/DL 53 Chase Ullrich Sr. OL/DL 55 Alex Manon Jr. OL/DL 56/83 Lucas Austin Jr. OL/H/DL 57 Javier Luna Sr. OL/DL 58 Jayden Florez Sr. OL/DL 59 Braylen Boer Jr. OL/DL 60 Mitchell Sechrest Jr. OL/DL 61 Fernando Cervantes Jr. OL/DL 62 Lincoln Davis So. OL/DL 65 Adrian Williamson Jr. OL/DL 67 Christopher Marin Sr. OL/DL 68 Kendric Muhammad Jr. OL/DL 71 Troy Hernandez Sr. OL/DL 73 Nathan Cavazos Sr. OL/DL 77 Peyton Davis Sr. OL/DL 80 Justin Null Sr. WR/DB 90 Fabricio Pena Sr. K 91 Ryan Gebhardt Fr. K
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