Barstow, SVHS look to avenge losses

From: Desert Dispatch, CA - Sep 17, 2004

Aztecs travel to Serrano High, while Trojans visit CSDR

By SHEL SEGAL/Sports Editor

With Barstow High and Silver Valley High suffering season-opening losses a week ago, both teams look to get into the win column tonight, as the Aztecs travel to Serrano High and the Trojans visit California School for the Deaf, Riverside.

Putting the past behind them

It's no secret Barstow's first week didn't go nearly as planned. First, the team's game with Apple Valley High, who won just one game a year ago, was postponed from Friday night to Saturday night because of a lightning storm. Then, the Aztecs (0-1 overall) fell one point short to the Sun Devils, 14-13.

That's hopefully not going to happen this week, said Barstow coach Dan Smith. But he added the youthfulness of his team makes it difficult to predict how the players will come back.

"When you have as much inexperience as we have, you never know how their going to react," Smith said of the Aztecs.

Barstow was penalized for 74 yards in the first half alone a week ago, something that Smith again attributes to his team being overzealous.

"That's part of the inexperience stuff showing," he said.

Smith said his team will have to regroup and just let the past stay there.

"We tell them to go back and focus tell them what we need to do to be successful," he said. "They have to play hard to win. (Last week) we had chances. We didn't make our yards on three downs (on the last drive), so it came back to haunt us. We had to go to the kicking game."

However, Smith said place kicker Daniel Hernandez is not at all to blame for the team's loss, despite missing a PAT and a game-ending field goal attempt.

"I still contend we have one of the best kickers in the High Desert," Smith said of Hernandez. "You never know. It often has more to do with the snap and the hold."

But it is the lack of experience that has Smith worried going into tonight's game and for the rest of the season.

"The inexperience is so difficult to get a grasp on as a coach, because you don't know how they're going to react," he said. "They don't understand what third-and-four or fourth-and-one means. They don't understand you have to reach down and go a little extra when it's the last drive."

Reaching an unlucky number 14

Losing at Needles High last week, 49-0, means the Silver Valley program (0-1 overall) has now lost 14 games in a row dating back to November 2002. But don't mention that that losing streak to coach Ernest Vogt.

"This team has had just one loss and 49-0 was a fluke," Vogt said. "We had about 13 miscues from the center to the quarterback. If you do that you can't move the offense."

Vogt said he has corrected the snap at the line of scrimmage by having the center use a two-handed snap instead of a one-handed snap that is used in professional football. He added while his defense still needs work, his offense still moved the ball, with running back Jamie Becera running for 109 yards on 19 carries.

"The defense was nonexistent, but the offense still works," Vogt said. "We shot ourselves in the foot. Without the miscues we could have scored 50 points if we could have stopped screwing up."

Going up against CSDR (1-0 overall), Vogt said he will go with what is successful at the time.

"We need to do what works," he said. "We can run, we can sprint out, whatever works."

In addition, Vogt said he worked a lot with his defense this past week, redesigning it. Instead of mainly blitzing, he said he was going to go to a five-three formation.

"It'll let the linebackers do what they're supposed to do," he said. "I expect to make a good showing (tonight)."

CONTACT THE WRITER: (760) 256-4124 or shel_segal@link.freedom.com

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