Senior Jarell Sykes of San Dimas is most noted for his efforts on offense. He has rushed for 3,304 yards and 42 touchdowns the last three years. He had 2,129 of that last year in helping the Saints to the Mid-Valley championships game,

But second-year head coach Mark Holman has been pleased with Sykes play on defense as well. Last week the Saints shut out Diamond Bar 49-0 and Sykes was a big part of that for his defensive efforts against Brahmas junior Shane Wells, the top receiver in the Inland Valley.

Wells has 34 catches for 530 yards and caught passes for more than 100 yards in Diamond Bar’s first four games. Last week Sykes, who moved over from safety to corner, held Wells to three receptions for 21 yards.

“We thought that was our best shot,” Holman said of putting Sykes on Wells. “That was our Plan A and we had a Plan B but we didn’t have to go to it.”

Sykes, an All-Inland Valley selection last year, has drawn some interest from some lower Division I schools as a running back but Holman is trying to sell his player on defense and working on putting together film on him there in hopes of landing him higher profile offers.

“I think he’d be great where ever you put him but there are a lot of running backs out there and a lot fewer guys that can play defense like he can,” Holman said.

San Dimas (4-0), ranked third in Division 8, plays Thursday night against California High of Whittier which is 3-1 but has beaten three teams that are a combined 0-15.

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Senior running back Jarell Sykes (above) will again lead the charge for the San Dimas Saints.

The San Dimas football team is coming off quite the season. The Saints marched all the way to the Mid-Valley title game before falling to Sierra Canyon.

The Saints have more than enough talent to get to another title game, although the Mid-Valley Division is gone and a new playoff alignment is in place.

“I really like what we have,” second-year head coach Mark Holman says. “We have a lot of players that had really great off-seasons. We think we can pick up where we left off.”

Of course the Saints (10-4 in 2015) are going to do what they do well – run the football. And why not when you have a quality back like Jarell Sykes returning. He ran for 2,129 yards and 28 touchdowns last season and was the catalyst of the 12th-ranked rushing team in the state. Oh yeah, Sykes is also a top defensive player.

Among the other returning veterans on offense are senior quarterback Joey Tamayo, senior lineman Abbas Darwiche, a three- year starter, and junior lineman Pablo Donoso.

Holman is also high on junior tight end Andre Zarate, senior wide receiver Josh Marquez, junior running back Noah Maldanado and senior running backs Daniel Jackson and Kai Rodriguez.

“I’m more excited about our offense than I was last year,” Holman added. “We have more options so it doesn’t have to be all one guy.”

On defense Holman will be counting on many of the same players – most notably Darwiche and Sykes.

He singles out junior middle linebacker Dylan Ware as the best pure athlete on the squad.

Other major contributors will include junior lineman A.J. Placentia, senior outside linebacker Evan Haas and senior  Anthony Bernal who has excelled at both linebacker and free safety.

Holman is looking for his team to get off to a better start. It was only 2-2 through the first four games last year and one of those was the Smudge Pot loss to Bonita, something else he hopes to avenge.

The Saints also settled for second place in the Valle Vista League behind Northview.

The new season starts on Aug. 26 with that rivalry game at Bonita.

“We haven’t won that in a few years so we’re due,” he said. “For whatever reason we always seem to get off to a slow start. We’d really like to change that.”

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