Pride of the Patriots

Jamie Wheeler- Silverman Jamie Wheeler-Silverman was back playing football, and he made sure everyone watching the first game of the season knew it.

After a broken foot sidelined Wheeler-Silverman for the major- ity of his sophomore year, the Viewpoint running back/line- backer immediately made his presence felt in the Patriots' first game this season.

With 23 carries, Wheeler- Silverman rushed for 301 yards and scored four touchdowns as Viewpoint upended Twin Pines 45-27 to secure the program's first win since the 2004 campaign.

"Our offensive line played re- ally well, the best I've ever seen them play," Wheeler-Silverman, 16, said.

In the heat of the moment, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior said he never realized exactly how much yardage he'd piled up over the course of the warm Septem- ber evening.

"At the end of the game, I thought I had about 200 yards, maybe around 180," he said. "I didn't actually find out until the following Monday that I'd rushed for 300 yards. When I found that out, it really hit me and I was more excited than I've ever been about football."

WHAT A RUSH-Viewpoint junior running back Jamie Wheeler- Silverman rushed for 301 yards and four scores in the season opener. Wheeler-Silverman's break- through opener served notice to Viewpoint's opponents that he had the skills to be a dominating ball carrier.

It also made the running back a marked man.

The following week against Fairmont Prep, Wheeler- Silverman was limited to 66 yards on 12 carries and the Pa- triots lost 33-7. Unlike the pre- vious game, he never sniffed the end zone vs. Fairmont Prep.

Viewpoint's third-year head coach Patrick Marquez said the loss taught his squad that they can't count on Wheeler-Silverman to provide all the offense.

"Now we know that there are other guys who need to establish themselves on offense and get going," Marquez said. "We have to rely on more than one guy, and we can do that."

Like many Patriot football players, Wheeler-Silverman has been competing on the school's varsity team since he was a fresh- man. In its third year as an 11- man program in Division XIII, and its first season as a member of the Prep League, Viewpoint's varsity roster currently consists of 21 young men.

According to Marquez, there are 11 additional players who ro- tate from the school's JV squad to the varsity team during any given week. Depending on the teams' schedules, some Patriots still play JV and varsity games on consecutive days.

"We're trying to establish a program here and I think this has been our best year so far," Marquez said. "We rely a lot on our freshmen and sophomores."

While many of his teammates have only been involved with the sport for a year or two, Wheeler- Silverman's spent a good portion of his life on or around the gridiron.

Beginning in sixth grade, he played running back for the South Valley Raiders. When he wasn't rushing the football, he was busy learning the game's intricacies from his grandfather, Bud Wheeler, a high school football coach in Kansas for several de- cades who is now in his first year working on Viewpoint's staff.

Wheeler-Silverman, a team co- captain, said he attempts to use the knowledge gained from his grand- father to assist his teammates.

"A lot of people here haven't played very long and aren't used to it," he said. "I just try to give them pointers. My grandpa's 70- something and he's been coach- ing since he was 20. Whatever he says to me, I'll try to pass that along to others."

To have a father and a son working together on the same high school team isn't unusual, Marquez said, but to look on as a grandfather mentors his grandson has been special.

"Jamie knows where he stands and what his grandfather is doing for him," Marquez said.

"It's a funny story, but for the first game I wanted (Bud) to be up in the booth so he could help me out," the coach said. "But he asked to be down on the sideline instead so he could be the first one to con- gratulate Jamie and give him a hug if he scored a touchdown. To have that relationship with his grandfa- ther is tremendous."

The Patriots continue to play home games at Calabasas High while their new stadium is being built. Construction on the all-pur- pose field, which will feature FieldTurf, is expected to wrap up in a few months.

Last weekend the Patriots im- proved their overall record to 2-1 with a resounding 35-7 victory over Liberty Christian.

This Friday at 7 p.m. Viewpoint has its homecoming game against Midway Baptist at Calabasas High. Wheeler-Silverman, who'd like to continue his playing career at a college in San Diego when he graduates from high school next

year, said he's looking forward to getting a win for all of the Patriot alumni, family and friends who'll be in attendance.

"It's the biggest crowd we'll have all year," he said. "The en- vironment is completely different. It'll be a much bigger stage. Oh yeah, we all want to play well."