Lions ready for Tri-Valley League football

The Oaks Christian High School football team made it to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) semifinals last year, in the school’s first year competing as a varsity football team after playing JV and soph-frosh games the year before.

Now in its third year of existence, Oaks Christian will have seniors for the first time as it heads to league play for the first year as a member of the Tri-Valley League after being a freelance team—no league affiliation—its first two seasons.

After going 11-1-1 in 2001, head coach Bill Redell said his team looks forward to the challenge of facing this year’s Tri-Valley League’s opponents, which include Carpinteria— probably the league favorite—and Oak Park, Nordhoff, Santa Paula, Bishop Diego and Fillmore.

"I think we’re a very unknown quantity for the Tri-Valley League," Redell said, noting that the Lions haven’t faced any of the league foes since becoming a varsity team last year. "I think we’ll be a very competitive team, but where we really rank in the Tri-Valley, I have no idea."

Redell had juniors as the oldest teammates last year, so all of the players are back this fall.

"I do know we’re a good football team and we have some real fine skill people and we’re experienced, and obviously everybody returns," Redell said, "so I think we’ll be able to compete. But I would say all of those teams ought to be ranked ahead of us until we show that we can play with them."

The OCHS coach said his team should continue to be a strong running team, but that the Lions cannot rely as heavily on the ground attack as they did last year when they amassed 3,894 yards and 52 touchdowns, led by Aaron Ware, who’s a sophomore this season.

Ware, Adam Richter, a senior, and Johnny Giangregorio, a junior, combined to form a fearsome threesome last season. Ware ran for 1,658 yards and 19 touchdowns, averaging about 10 yards per carry.

"We have to be more diverse if we’re going to be able to compete in the Tri-Valley because they’re physical enough to where they’ll be able to stop you if you’re one dimensional," Redell said. Joey Halzle, a junior quarterback, is expected to start again this year and will be called upon to pass more than last year. His targets include Sean Travis, a senior tight end, and wide receivers Bryan Price, Kyle Salter and Sean Adams, all seniors.

Joe Giuliani, a sophomore, has shown promise as Halzle’s backup.

A lot will depend on whether or not the Lions’ offensive line can stand up to the upgrade from Division XIII last year to Division XI and the Tri-Valley League this season.

Redell said of his offensive line, led by Kyle McClure, "I would say they’re not a question mark from an experience standpoint, but from a physical standpoint. Can they play physically-tough teams week in and week out, which they haven’t had to do before?"

The defensive line for Oaks Christian will feature Salter, McClure, a 6-foot-7 senior who has committed to play football at Cal Berkeley, and juniors Justin Green and John Quinn. Concerning the 238-pound McClure, Redell said, "He’s the strength of the line, both offensively and defensively."

The Lions’ coach said his team has prepared hard in the weight room to match up with bigger, stronger teams this season, and he said winning last year and in 2000 (the Lions were 8-2 vs. JV teams and soph-frosh teams) will only help mentally.

"Certainly the kids know how to win," Redell said. "They’re confident that they can win because they’ve won since they’ve been here as freshmen."

Having a senior class for the first time will help, he added.

"It gives you leadership," Redell said, "and these kids know it’s the last year they’re going to play (in high school) and for some of them, it will be the last year they ever play. They know they can put it all on the line."

His team, Redell said, is deep, skilled, talented and fast, but he reiterated that the key this season will be whether the Lions can match up physically.

"We’re two-deep at almost every position," he said. "And speed would be the strength of the team—we’ve got really good team-speed at both the receiver and the running backs. Again, it’s going to depend on how physical we are. Can Oaks Christian play physical football—that’s the question.

"Skill-wise, talent-wise, we’ll be as good as anybody."