Football preview: Garey home to league's best player
High hopes and low expectations make for an exciting combination. Home to the best player in the Mt. Baldy League but also a 10-year playoff drought, Garey embodies both. After winning one game in 2008, the Vikings were one win away from the playoffs last season. And now that Chino has given the Mt. Baldy League seven teams, there are four playoff spots up for grabs instead of just three.
Leading a Garey offense that averaged 24 points last season will be 6-foot-4, 190-pound receiver Dominique Williams, who not only has the size but the 4.5-second speed. He has the scholarship offers to prove it. Boise State, Utah, Oregon State, Washington State, San Diego State and Colorado State, to name a few, have already offered with more likely to come.
"I'd dare to say that going into this thing he [Williams] is the best athlete in our league," Chaffey head coach Chris Brown said. "He was even making plays against Colony last year even though Colony was clearly the best team in league."
Running Garey's pistol offense that will include a heavy dose of the zone read will be first-year starting quarterback Thomas Michel, a versatile threat who head coach Leonard Hudson said is picking up the system rapidly. Expected to anchor the running game is senior Sothia Bun, who played only the final six games of 2009 but compiled 535 yards and seven TDs on just 96 carries. Then, of course, there is Williams, who is expecting to improve on his 2009 numbers: 45 receptions, 1,213 yards and 13 total TDs.
It could make for a dynamic offense but the Vikings are hoping a shift to a 4-4 defense from last year's 4-3 will help keep them within striking distance. Before winning four of five games during a mid-season stretch last year, Garey gave up nearly 37 points per game during an 0-3 start.
The playoffs are the obvious goal but a Garey team on the rise could be a candidate to do some damage in the playoffs of a Central Division minus the Baseline and Sierra Leagues.
"The sky is the limit," second-year head coach Hudson said. "If you had another playoff spot last year, we're in the playoffs. We just want to keep progressing. That's all we can do."
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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