Silver Valley football wants to put 2009 in the past

Freezy Smalls repeatedly heard the four words that have haunted the Silver Valley football program for years as the Trojans coach was preparing for the 2010 season— permanent change of station.

Silver Valley draws students from the Yermo, Newberry and Daggett areas but also services the military community at Fort Irwin. The partnership with Fort Irwin can be a positive and negative.

The Trojans lose players and often key building blocks when military families are stationed elsewhere. Silver Valley lost eight players who would have returned to permanent changes of station this season. Among those were last season’s back up quarterback Dan Miller and starting fullback and linebacker Curtis Powell.

However, Smalls does recognize the influx of talent that the military players bring to the team. The Trojans inherited Demetrious Mckay when his family was transferred to Fort Irwin. Smalls said Mckay is going to be a starting running back and cornerback this season.
“It’s tough because you don’t have something to build on because they just aren’t here,” Smalls said. “It’s always consistently starting over again.”

Silver Valley only has six players returning from 2009, but those returning said they are looking to avenge an 0-9 season. The Trojans were outscored 353-76 on the season and 120 -20 in the Desert Mountain League.

Senior captain John Ramirez said he feels that the Trojans will surprise teams this season.
“It’s a little intimidating after last season,” Ramirez said. “I think the teams we face are just going to be thinking we’re pushovers, but we aren’t the same team from last year. We want it more. We’re younger, but I think we’ll be quicker than other teams at every position.”
The 2010 Trojans are definitely a younger team. The team includes eight sophomores, eight juniors and six seniors compared with the 15 seniors Silver Valley fielded last year. Sophomores Richard Mennecke, Monroe Lli and Carmelo Garret will start at quarterback, fullback and running back respectively on offense.

Smalls said his main concern for the 2010 season has been ensuring his team has the core offensive plays ready for the Trojans’ Week 0 game against Citrus Valley. The Trojans are transitioning from the spread offense to a new system that primarily utilizes the double wing. The reduction in passing should ease Mennecke into his new position and reduce turnovers. Silver Valley quarterbacks threw 18 interceptions and the team fumbled the ball 13 times in 2009.

“Offense is really a priority right now,” Smalls said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys that are learning everything so we want to make sure the offense is prepared. The new system should cut down on the interceptions and take pressure off our new quarterbacks. I think we were just trying to do too much with the ball last season. Quarterbacks were trying to make throws into impossible spots, running backs were going for extra yards and not taking care of the ball. We need to protect the ball on offense and depend on our defense to hold the other team.”

2010 Silver Valley Schedule

Sept. 3: at Citrus Valley
Sept. 10: vs. Crean Lutheran
Sept. 17: at Jurupa Hills
Sept. 25: at Desert Christian*
Sept. 30: at Xavier Prep
Oct. 15: vs. Mojave*
Oct. 22: vs. Vasquez*
Oct. 29: vs. Lucerne Valley*
Nov. 5: vs. vs. Boron*
Nov. 12: at Mammoth*

*Desert Mountain League Game
All games are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

All home games are played at Don Price Field, 35484 Daggett/Yermo Rd., Yermo.

2009 record: 0-9
League finish: 5th (0-4)
Playoffs: None

Reporter's Notebook
>> The Silver Valley football team is looking to reclaim the Miner’s Pick from Lucerne Valley in the 10th edition of the annual rivalry game. Lucerne Valley has dominated the Miner’s Pick games between the schools, winning seven of the nine meetings. However, the Trojans had two-straight victories in 2007 and 2008 before losing 14-0 to the Mustangs last year.
“We’re going to get the pick back,” Senior John Ramirez said. “It’s going to be Trojan colors again.”
>> The Trojans are playing an expanded Desert Mountain League schedule this year. The league added Vasquez this season , and Mammoth is returning to football after not fielding a team in 2009. Silver Valley will play six DML games, and the top four teams will advance to the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. In previous years the top three teams from the DML entered the playoffs.
>> Silver Valley coach Freezy Smalls will be busy keeping up with teams outside of the DML this season. Chris Smalls, his son, plays for Barstow. Freezy originally thought he’d only be able to attend Barstow’s Oct. 8 game against Sultana during Silver Valley’s bye week. However, a few scheduling changes for Silver Valley will allow him to see Barstow’s Sept. 24 game against Quartz Hill as well.
“It’s hard having kids playing sports and coaching,” Smalls said. “It keeps you busy. I’m just glad I’ll be able to see some more games.”