GOLDEN VALLEY

Continued from 13 more this year,” Rios said. “Last year, we had a little bit of injuries but this year we’re looking pretty healthy.”

Martinez, a senior, has been with the Golden Valley core for all three years and has seen his team’s physicality improve along with their chemistry. “Our strength and speed stand out,” Martinez said. “We also all have chemistry with each other. The past two and a half, three years we’ve all worked with each other.”

Juniors John Mia and Brandon Contreras are competing to be the starting quarterback. Contreras won the starting spot on junior varsity last season before a season-ending injury. Mia replaced his teammate and came up to varsity for the Grizzlies’ playoff run.

Keep an eye on Jamison Torres and Kam’ron Pierre in the receiving group. Torres has adjusted to varsity speed smoothly, becoming the third Torres brother to play for Kelley, while Pierre has shown flashy speed all summer.

“Jamison Torres stepped in and he’s a varsity football player,” Kelley said. “He did the seven on sevens. He’s just a competitor and is 100% a playmaker. That would probably be the one guy that’s coming in from the lower level that stands out.”

On defense, Kelley has options up front. Golden Valley is about 16 players deep on the defensive line, with a big group of players the coaches all trust to get in the game and cause havoc.

Donnavan Anson and Jackson Anderson will suit up alongside Orozco as linebackers. The latter two finished second and fourth, respectively, in tackles last season as the Grizzlies held opponents under 15 points five times.

“Last year’s defense was something else. It was different,” Orozco said. “We’re solid all around. I believe that this year’s defense is going to be pretty physical. Our backers are pretty stacked. We’re going to be solid.”

The linebacker duo know they have big shoes to fill. 2022 CIF Defensive Player of the Year Malachi Beacham racked up 164 tackles last season, more than any two Grizzlies’ totals combined.

“I feel like we’re filling them pretty well,” Anderson said. “There’s a lot of big guys we had last year that’ll be hard to replace but I think we’re doing a pretty good job.”

Torres will also look to leave his mark at strong safety, while teammate Sean Gomez mans the top of the defense at free safety. Gomez will also likely take over kicking duties.

Kelley has liked what he’s seen from his new-look group, but everything changes when the pads and hel- mets come on.

“It’s a work in progress,” Kelley said. “We’ll see who steps it up here in a week when we go into pads. It makes you as a coach realize what you’ve got because everybody can look great without helmets and shoulder pads. You put them on and here we go.”

The team is managing expectations well. The Grizzlies see no reason why it wouldn’t be them competing for a league or CIF championship.

“I think that we’re going to be very underrated and we’re going to shock a lot of people,” Orozco said. “I think we’re going to break some expectations of what people expect from last year’s team to this year’s team.”

2023 Roster

NAME

1 Donnavan Anson TE/LB Jr.

2 Jamison Torres WR/DB Jr.

3 Sean Gomez WR/DB Sr.

4 Ricky Gonzalez RB/DB Jr.

5 Brandon Contreras QB Jr.

6 Anthony Seragusa WR/DB Jr.

7 Braydon Hudson WR/DB Jr.

8 Jackson Anderson TE/LB Sr.

9 Christian Patino WR/DB Sr.

10 Alex Risdon K Sr.

11. Jessen Rodriguez WR/DB Jr.

12. John Mia QB Jr.

13 Rico Lapid RB/LB Jr.

14 Aryan Chandra K Jr.

15 Isaac Gavina WR/DB Sr.

17 Adrian Ramos WR/LB Sr.

18 Julian Rios RB/DB Sr.

19 Jordan Flores WR/DB Jr.

20 Anthony Castillo WR/DB Jr.

21 Jonah Garcia WR/DB Jr.

22 Kamron Pierre WR/DB Sr.

23 Christopher Farley TE/LB

“It’s always the same goals,” Kelley said. “We’re still looking for that first league title, but we’re coming close. It’s a big hurdle. It took West Ranch a while to get there and we’re the same age as them. It really does take a complete football team to win a league title.”

Last year’s CIF run has still left a taste in this team’s mouth. “I’m excited, we’ve been working hard in the weight room,” Anderson said. “I feel like there’s a lot more enthusiasm and drive being runner-ups last season. We’re hungry for more.”

The Grizzlies fell just one point shy of a CIF champi-

AUGUST 18, 2023

See GOLDEN VALLEY, page 39