Falcons looking to soar

Dedication is a term often overused in the sports world.

However, when it comes to the River Valley High football team, dedication is the first word out of coach Brandon Asher's mouth.

After years of having an almost nonexistent offseason training program, the Falcons are seeing participation rise, and as a result, Asher is optimistic about where the team is heading.

"Last year we had 10 kids at most, but this summer we had anywhere from 50 to 78 in the weight room everyday," said Asher, who noted that the varsity squad had at least 45 players show up for each session. "Everybody on the team wants to be out here and is striving to get better each day. They put in the time, and they'll see the success."

The Falcons' roster will be young with 37 juniors on the team compared to just 15 seniors. But what they lack in experience, Asher is hoping they'll make up for with hard work and determination.

"The kids who bought into the program are younger, but they're putting in the time," he said. "We're a young team, but I'm excited about where we're going."

One player Asher is excited about is the return of junior Greg Cannon at quarterback. Although he had an up-and-down season as a sophomore a year ago, a lot of that had to do with a lack of a solid running game, something Asher is hoping to remedy this season.

"Last year we tried to spread it out, but we didn't get enough out of the run game," the coach said. "We've been working on the wishbone because we want to establish the offensive line and get that tough 3, 4 yards per carry."

Seniors Dustin Terrell, Colin Gault and Troy Thomason will line up behind Cannon in the backfield, while junior speedsters Apollo Duran and Cameron Boomgaarden will see time at fly back.

The offensive line will be spearheaded by Jordan Griese (6-3, 180), the team's senior leader and a player whom Asher described as being "strong as an ox."

Junior Anthony Boykin (6-3, 240) will play center, junior Qais Nekrawesh (5-11, 210) and senior Michael Richey (5-9, 210) will man the guard positions, while junior Erik Tejada (5-10, 200) will play left tackle.

"We're not a huge football team, but for us to be successful year in and year out we need to run the ball — and it all starts on the offensive line," Asher said. "They're not real big, but we're working on being physical."

Senior Junior Martinez leads a receiving corps that includes juniors Jimen Branum and Deshawn Chaney. Senior Thomas Propes and junior Connor Wick will play tight end.

"I want these kids to know that to play River Valley football you need to be physical," Asher said. "We need to get that nastiness upfront and we're moving in the right direction."

The defense will be led by a solid group of seniors with Dale Williams (6-1, 220) and Jordan Finley (6-5, 260) playing defensive tackle and Propes lining up at defensive end. Richey and Thomason will play middle linebacker.

And like the defensive line and linebackers, the secondary will be all seniors with Gault lining up at free safety, Robert Hudson at strong safety and Martinez and Ben Rodriguez playing corner.

"Defensive-wise, we've got a lot of guys back from last season," Asher said. "All the seniors are good kids who are aggressive."

The defensive philosophy will be pretty simple — get to the ball carrier.

"Every time they step on the field we want 11 rallying to the ball," Asher said. "We have the athletes, so we want them flying around."

Things won't be easy in a stacked Tri-County Conference that features perennial power Inderkum as well as a talented Yuba City squad from across town.