Garey broke 10-year postseason drought... now what?
How does Garey follow a season in which it cracked the postseason for the first time since 2000? Simiple.
"Keep making it," head coach Leonard Hudson said.
In a Mt. Baldy League where each of the seven teams had a chance to make the playoffs entering the final week of the 2010 season, it's a good bet the Vikings will be in the mix again.
Garey will significant holes to fill seeing as it graduated its starting quarterback and running back in addition to receiver Dominique Williams taking his talents to Washington State. But the Vikings gain a player who would have figured heavily into the mix for a team that averaged a very respectable 28.5 points per game last season.
Running back Khalen Hudson, the head coach's nephew, transferred from Los Osos prior to last season but wasn't cleared to play. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound tailback would have shared time in the backfield with productive senior Sothia Bun but Hudson will carry the load this year working with senior quarterback Jawan Hawkins in the pistol offense.
"He is a workout monster," Leonard Hudson said of his nephew. "He can juke you or he can run over you. He's not going to run away from you but he's not going to shy away from you."
The absence of Williams may actually help Garey's offense run a little more effeciently seeing as their strength last year was the ground game. Williams' talent was so evident it demanded the ball be thrown his way a large number of times per game but delivering it to him wasn't exactly a high-percentage venture.
There may be less pressure on the Garey offense this year with a new, but familiar, face on the sideline in defensive coordinator John Brown, who had a solid season as the head coach at Pomona in 2009 after many years as an assistant. Brown has installed a 4-3 scheme in place of last year's 4-2-5.
"You don't need as much pass defense in this league," Hudson said. "We want to force people to throw the ball. Our strength is our secondary."
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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