Hesperia football team gives no rest to the weary

No. You’re eyes aren’t deceiving you. Those three Hesperia defensive linemen? They’re all starters on the offensive line.

The Scorpions’ first-string secondary? That group will see plenty of reps at wide receiver and running back.

In the world of Hesperia football, there is no such word as rest. This season, it’s “all hands on deck” for the Scorpions.

“We’re going to depend on the majority of our guys going both ways,” head coach Jeremy Topete said.

It’s a decision born out of necessity.

The Scorpions only return three starters and eight players with any varsity experience from a squad that went 3-7 in 2009. Add in the fact that Hesperia is still suffering the effects of last year’s mass exodus of players to Oak Hills, and it’s no surprise that Topete is faced with a depleted, inexperienced roster.

The only solution for such a predicament is to lean heavily on a select group of players — even if he’s not comfortable doing so.

“No, but we got to do what we got to do, you know,” Topete said.

To get his team ready for the heightened workload this season, Topete installed a more strenuous offseason workout regiment. Longer practices, more running, more lifting and then more running. The end result is a Scorpion squad that feels like it’s capable of playing all 48 minutes.

“I think we conditioned a lot harder this year because we know we’re going both ways,” said senior Devin Diggs, who’ll start on the offensive and defensive lines. “We’re ready to step into that role.  ...  We have a lot of kids on this team that can play the whole game, easily.”
Senior Brandon Maddison — a starter at cornerback and wideout — echoed his teammate.
“We’re in the best shape that we’ve ever been in,” he said. “Coach Topete stepped up, and he was the one that kind of pushed us along a lot harder than we’ve ever been pushed.”

Hesperia’s commitment to conditioning was on display after one preseason practice in particular. At the conclusion of a session that lasted around 21⁄2 hours, every Scorpion lined up across the goal line and ran the length of the field. One hundred yards, 14 times.

“The reason for that is that we’re trying to create a winning mentality,” Topete said. “If you want to go to CIF Finals that’s the 14th game. So everything we do is in series of 14.”

That’s all well and good, but conditioning can’t substitute for experience or ability. The Scorpions struggled mightily in a recent scrimmage against Silverado, and a number of concerns surfaced.

Starting quarterback James Manibusan struggled with the center exchange and the offensive line generally failed to create running lanes. The former can be rectified with practice, but the latter could be problematic for a team that views its tailbacks (Daniel Rodriguez and Daron White) as one of its strengths.

“I had to say (a strength is) our little running backs,” Maddison said. “Even though we don’t have a big guy, we have two little guys that are just going to be killing. … They can see a hole before I can, and it’s crazy. They’re going to be elusive.”

Because of Rodriguez’s and White’s slight statures (about 5-foot-5, 150 pounds) Topete plans to call more plays that feature runs outside of the tackle box where they’ll have the open space needed to take advantage of their speed.

Against Silverado those types of plays were few and far between, and the offense failed to score that night.

But despite the small roster and the certain growing pains the Scorpions will endure during their tough early season schedule, optimism persists at Hesperia.

“I think we have a good squad,” Diggs said. “I think we can win league. I think we have a chance, we just need to step up and show that we can.”

 Said Maddison, “We’re looking forward to some games, and we want to be a surprise team.”