Spring Football Preview: Tesoro Relies on Adams' Versatility

With all the talk surrounding next year's senior class of South Coast League quarterbacks, Travis Wilson at San Clemente and Alex Bridgford at Mission Viejo, sometimes it can be easy to overlook Tesoro's Matt Adam.

But after leading the Titans to eight wins and an upset victory over fourth-seeded Bishop Amat in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs last season as a sophomore, Adam—who will graduate in 2013 as a four-year varsity football player—has just as many weapons to play with as his more heralded counterparts. Plus, he has something they don't—speed.

Wilson is a drop-back specialist with a booming arm, and Bridgford suits Bob Johnson's pro-style offense to a tee with precision passing and good mobility, but Adam brings a dynamic athleticism to the position that the others don't.

Stoutly built at 6 feet, 187 pounds, Adam comes equipped with a cannon arm, but when he breaks from the pocket, he turns into a tailback. That could mean big things for Coach Brian Barnes' spread offense in 2011.

"He is [a special player]," Barnes said of Adam, who threw for 1,281 yards and 11 touchdowns with eight interceptions a season ago. "We wouldn't have had him on varsity his freshman year if we didn't think he could play. I know he went to that Elite 11 camp weeks ago at Stanford and finished third or something. He's got a heck of an arm, he knows the game. He's smart, he knows his reads really well, and he makes us a lot better."

Barnes referred to the annual Elite 11 quarterback tournament for the nation's top high school signal-callers, of which Adam participated on May 19.  Throwing alongside Wilson, Dana Hills quarterback Justin Burns and about a hundred others, Adam finished tied for first in his bracket (13 points) with Mike Baker of Central Fresno, who moved onto the finals on a tiebreaker. 

Burns finished the best out of the South Coast League trio, collecting 15 points over the course of five throwing events, and moved onto the finals where he finished fifth overall, and Wilson accrued only five points and didn't make it out of his bracket, though his size and arm strength did manage to draw a few recruiting website headlines afterward.

While Adam, a smart, humble player with a team-first mentality, will lead the Titans from the huddle, what he has around him is what makes Tesoro so intriguing in 2011.

The Titans (8-4, 2-2) finished third in the South Coast League a year ago playing primarily underclassmen who surrounded two big-time talents on the defensive side, Arizona State-bound defensive end Sean O'Grady and Nolan Muchow, who Barnes described as perhaps the best linebacker ever to play at Tesoro.

While O'Grady and Muchow are now gone, the Titans return 15 starters all told, including three names who are about to start making headlines of their own.

Standing a 6-2 and weighing in at 220 pounds is middle linebacker Blake Rodgers, who Barnes said is already fielding several NCAA Division 1 offers. Rodgers is a heady, disciplined defender who reads offenses well and has a knack for gap coverage. Fleet-footed, he packs on a healthy frame and also serves as a battering-ram ball carrier on the offensive side.

The highlight reel machine in Tesoro's offensive backfield, however, is senior wideout Kyle Woolbright (6-1, 190), who has outstanding size and strength to complement an instinctive playmaking ability that often results in large chunks of yardage after the catch.

While Rodgers will pound out goal line yards for Tesoro, the bulk of the running duties will fall to junior tailback Nate Tago (5-11, 183), an ankle-breaking tailback who will also be a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Defensively, Tesoro runs out of a base 4-3, and will be anchored in the middle by Rodgers, while Dave Adam (6-2, 220)—Matt's cousin—will help lead the defensive line from end with good size and a slender enough frame to be a serious edge rush threat. Chazz Roberts, who is currently nursing a knee injury, is hoping to return in time to pick up his duties as Tesoro's stop-gap defensive tackle.

In the secondary, Woolbright will help patrol the edges from cornerback while strong safety Nick Crouch (5-11, 171) should provide plenty of attitude and excellent assignment coverage from the top of the defense.

"[The expectiation is] to win one game, you know, to take them one at a time," Barnes said. "Our goals are the same every year. We're trying to win league titles and CIF titles, but every team out there is trying to do that, so we'll see. We'll take them one at a time, and hopefully at Week 10 we're 10-0."

While the playmaking ability is not in doubt, Tesoro does have a few lingering questions heading into summer workouts, primarily along the offensive line, where a young group is learning to come together as a unit.

The injury bug—every coach's nightmare—has also reared its ugly head this spring.

"There always are [concerns]," Barnes said. "Our offensive line is still really young, but I think we have an opportunity to be better than last year—we have some good young kids there. Our D-line has been very solid for us, but we did have an injury to one of the best kids we have. Hopefully he'll be back soon, but you never know. There's questions all over the place, especially this time of year."

Fortunately for the Tesoro faithful, most of the questions are already answered for the Titans, especially at some of the most critical positions on the field.

Still, when fall rolls around, expect the speculation surrounding Tesoro to sound a little like this: "They're a year away."

Just don't tell that to Barnes or his football team, because after learning to win together in 2010 and returning reloaded with talent and experience, such premature dismissals will no doubt fall upon deaf ears.

Tesoro's 2011 Varsity Football Schedule:

Friday, Sept. 2 at Hart, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 9 vs. Santa Margarita at Saddleback College, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 16 vs. Chino Hills, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 23 vs. Narbonne, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 30 at Temecula Chaparral, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 8 vs. Ridgecrest Burroughs, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Trabuco Hills, 7 p.m. *

Friday, Oct. 28 vs. Dana Hills, 7 p.m. *

Friday, Nov. 4 at Mission Viejo, 7 p.m. *

Friday, Nov. 11 at San Clemente, 7 p.m. *