Clear skies. Low 66F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies. Low 66F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

Editor’s note: This is the first of five previews on Orange Belt high school football teams. Also to be featured will be Porterville High, Monache, Strathmore and Lindsay).

The Granite Hills Football team is hard at work with practice on the field; gearing up for a new year of fun and competition. 

Granite football coach Carl Scudder was able to comment on the upcoming season and Granite Hills' focus for this year. After a hard past few years due to COVID-19, Scudder isn't worried about turnout.

Starting with some good news, Scudder commented on the youth football program that returned to Granite Hills after a 15 year absence. “Previously we'd have at least 30-50 kids in the youth program who would work their way up and then transition into the JV and Varsity programs. So having it return for us is a great opportunity for all these kids. Focusing on their improvement is important. That goes for all the student athletes we have. 

All told with JV and Varsity we have somewhere like 70 plus kids who are wanting to get on the field. COVID really hurt everyone these last few years, previously we only had 25 kids on the varsity team and 30 in JV. It's really nice to see the kids come back and we're still making sure to look after their health during the pandemic. We also have at least some 20 plus kids working right now who played with us during the summer and spring that we're looking forward to having back. It's important that those kids are allowed the same opportunities even while they have to work. Some of our best players come from field working families and we respect them for all their hard work, it's not easy.”

With a host of new players ready to try their hand at football, Scudder also commented on a few players. 

“Last year's team is going to be really important for our continued success. We have a new quarterback, Andre Longoria who's a senior this year. Andre is a great kid and really runs our plays with determination and heart. We have two kids on JV looking for starting spots, we'll be doing a few tryouts before we finally decide on that though.”

Continuing the talk on the offensive players, Scudder said “We also have a running back, Daniel Ramirez coming back from an ACL injury last year. We have been keeping in touch and up to date and we're looking forward to having his Physical Therapist to clear him soon. 

“One of our tight ends graduated last year so we'll have 4-5 returning offensive linemen with Armando Corona, Left Guard Anthony Florez, and returning junior Angel Bizarro who started as a sophomore but will be playing Right Guard.”

The Grizzlies continued to run their plays and drill through the practice as Scudder returned to comment on the defensive lineup. 

“ We have some good defensive guys this year. We have two returning to our defensive line with Daniel Lores returning to the line, and Anthony Lores backing him up. I have two linebackers AJ Duran and Tylor Berrones. They're both inside backer spots having come from their sophomore year and showing some incredible growth. AJ's also going to be running our tailback position as well; along with Daniel Ramirez who will be taking a defensive back position.”  

The Grizzlies had a hard time last year with a 2-8 record and 1-5 in league. But the Granite Hills student athletes have high hopes. After a solid few hours of practice, the Grizzlies football teams packed their gear up and wind their way back home to rest up. 

“We're all ready and looking forward to taking on our first game. We've been practicing for a few months and it's been fun so far but I'm really excited for the year to come,” Longoria commented.  

“Yeah Coach Scudder has been out with us and the assistant coaches are really making sure we run our plays right and have good form.” said Duran who was then followed by Berrones who said “We've been working hard in the gym to get strong and it's been great to have coach Scudder help us out making sure we can get fit and making sure no one gets hurt doing it wrong.”

When asked about their next scrimmage Scudder commented “we have a scrimmage against the Minarets. So we're looking forward to testing our boys with an informal but still real game. It'll be nice to have recordings of the players and we can focus on teaching from there.” 

The Grizzlies' informal scrimmage at Minarets is today.

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