Bearing down

Coach Roy Perkins is gone. Twenty seniors from last year's team have graduated. The rivalry against neighbor Williams is flaring.

For Pierce High, it's time to rebuild, start fresh and reinvent a team that has gone 7-24 in the past three seasons.

Enter Scott Burnum.

The head basketball coach for 14 seasons gets his first varsity football coaching job at perhaps the most beneficial time.

In 2007, the Bears got a crucial and surprising 20-19 win over Quincy to save their defeated season. They finished 1-9. In 2008, they never got that win. Arbuckle watched as their Bears went 0-10. In comparison, last season's 6-5 record was a joy.

But they did it with standouts Rudy Godinez, Jake Driver and Ottie Harris, all of whom moved on with the other group of seniors.

Now Burnum takes over a dissected class of players, all of whom will get a large share of his philosophy on football and life.

"The main thing is discipline, accountability, respect and pride for the community," the coach said. "We want people around town to say, 'That's the Pierce football team on the field.'"

"It's like a job, you don't show up for work for no good reason, you're probably going to get fired," Burnum said. "You don't blame others when you miss assignment, it's about being accountable."

Burnum would prefer the philosophy on the field speak for itself.

"Yeah, we're coming at you. We want an aggressive style of play defensively and on the ground," he said. "We're going to run the ball all day.

"The shorter the game the better for us. We'll focus on ball control."

And they have the guys to do it — as long as they stay healthy.

The depth on the team lacks as numbers are bit down from last season, but Burnum believes if the team can stay healthy they can compete.

"We'll be thin on the line, but the people we have are very good," Burnum said.

Johnny Orozco, Andrew Diaz, Raul Cardenas and Armando Colsa, a 5-foot-11, 240-pounder, will lead the team on the line.

Kyle Duncan, who is expected to be cleared to play after Week 2, injured his knee and will eventually line up under center, but starting at quarterback early on is Taylor Cabral.

A standout athlete, who is expected to be a strong cornerback for the Bears this season. Duncan will play safety, along with Garcia.

Burnum isn't shy when talking about his team's ground game.

The team has a bevy of runners.

For starters — Mike Villanueva. The 5-foot-8, 180-pounder "can do it all."

"We have the perfect combination of backs," Burnum said. "Our running game will be our strength."

Isaiah Garcia is a junior who is "one to watch for" with speed and returning starter Jaime Moreno is the "pounder." Chris Topia will also see time as the wingback, playing in the backfield and lining up at wideout with Andy Corona and Jerry Oliveras.