After filling up on treats from Porto’s, coaches and players from Cleveland, Taft, Birmingham, Chatsworth, El Camino Real and Granada Hills stood at a lectern Saturday morning in the El Camino Real library during a West Valley League football media day and offered inspiring insights to make it clear progress is being made on and off the field in the City Section.
There was 6-foot-2 junior quarterback Nathan Swinson of Taft. He has a 4.2 grade-point average, starts at catcher for the baseball team and is vice president of the Black Student Union. He was once defensive MVP as a freshman at middle linebacker, but quarterback is where he’s needed to lead.
There was sophomore quarterback Domenik Fuentes of Cleveland. He boxes, trains in Muay Thai and is a former defensive player who’s always telling the coach when they’re on defense, “Coach, let me in.”
There was 6-3, 270-pound lineman Adrian Zarsange of Chatsworth. He’ll be a four-year varsity player. His coach, Marvin Street, celebrated his 42nd birthday Saturday and couldn’t be happier with his improvement.
There was linebacker Eddie Plaza and defensive back Antrell Harris of Birmingham. Plaza also wrestles. Harris is one of the fastest athletes and has a twin sister playing flag football. They’ll be the leaders on a team that has 16 sophomores and five freshmen playing varsity with a 43-game winning streak against City opponents.
They and others were impressive in taking the moment to tell their stories. There was first-year Cleveland head coach Mario Guzman explaining the responsibilities of being a high school football coach. If anyone knew what coaches in the City Section must endure, they’d probably wonder why they coach.
“It’s been a crazy offseason,” Guzman said.
He had two players that were homeless. Many of his players were working jobs.
“I’m mowing the grass. I’m lining the field. I’m the equipment man. I’m taping ankles. I’m ordering pregame meals. Oh, I’m a part-time teacher,” he said.
Now he’s thinking up ways to use Fuentes.
“He’s our best passer, best runner, best tackler,” he said.
With 110 players out for football, Guzman is excited, especially with a player such as Fuentes ready to lead. Most of the programs in the league are filling up rosters in a sign of post-pandemic growth. Birmingham has 125 players, Chatsworth 87, El Camino Real 118, Granada Hills 102 and Taft 105.
El Camino Real coach Jason Sabolic spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons without a home field after it began melting in hot weather. It’s finally completed and the Royals will play their first home game since the 2021 season on Aug. 30 against Heritage Christian. Asked to describe his team, Sabolic said, “A motivated one.” Receiver Rafael Cortez has returned after transferring to St. Genevieve.
Granada Hills continues to hold 6 a.m. practices so its coach, Bucky Brooks, can continue his job working in the NFL as a broadcaster. Tight end Oliver Myers said, “It’s nice getting practice out of the way but hard waking up at 5 to get yelled at and run.” Myers joked about the team’s few passing plays running the double wing, saying, “I get so excited when coach introduces something new … oh, it’s just another run play.”
Chatsworth finally will add more passing to its attack this season. The linemen are learning pass blocking. “I’m really excited about the competitiveness in the West Valley this season,” Street said.
Most teams had scrimmages this past week and games begin Friday.