Upland HS has a new Nunes at quarterback
Justin Nunes would have a lot on his plate even if he weren't the younger brother of the quarterback that led Upland High School to the CIF championship game last season.
Before older brother Josh joined the Stanford football team in August, he digested Upland's offense for three years as a starter. The Highlanders are trying to keep it simple for their new QB.
"It's difficult to re-tool after having the same quarterback for three years," Upland head coach Tim Salter said. "There are so many things you can do when you're working with the same guy for that long. We're just asking (Justin Nunes) to run the offense and not turn the ball over."
Nunes, a 6-2, 195-pound junior, is undoubtedly the most important replacement but Upland is filling plenty of major holes, including that of departed RB Davion Fleming, who took his 1,700 all-purpose yards with him to Northwestern.
"Anytime you lose your quarterback, running back and two Division-I DBs, people are going to say 'How are you going to do it again?'" Salter said.
A good question.
Upland's history indicates it can withstand the departure of star players (evidenced by a single losing record this decade - the Highlanders have missed the playoffs just once in the last six years).
Whether any of their departed stars were as good or as important to the team - or both - as Josh Nunes remains to be seen.
Upland returns two receivers and three offensive linemen to a unit that averaged an astounding 36 points per game last season. The defense brings back six starters to a unit Salter says is much faster.
Similar to last season, the biggest question marks are on the defensive line. Upland answered those questions well enough to make an appearance in the CIF-SS Central Division title game last season.
About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
Email Clay here
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