Football Preview: Tartans Know What It Takes to Win

Let’s let the numbers speak for themselves:

— 8 consecutive league titles

— 65-5 overall record in the last five seasons

— 4 CIF Southern Section championships from 2006-2009

— 1 CIF State Championship Bowl game victory in 2008

And the Tartans from St. Margaret's Episcopal School lost their chance to win a fifth consecutive section title in December, when they lost in the East Valley Division semifnals to top-seeded Paraclete, 38-21, at Antelope Valley College.

Rod Baltau, who has been with the St. Margaret's program for five years but will be entering only his second year as head coach this fall, said the one quality each of those champinship teams shared was "hard work."

Asked if the 2011 Tartans were as hard-working as previous squads, Baltau replied, "Absolutely.”

“This team has a great attitude,” he said. “We were really young last year. We're a year older this year.”

One of those young guys is linebacker Jake Hines. As a freshman last season, Hines started eight games and was named to the All-Academy League second team. His impressive play won over his coaches and teammates and now the play of its linebackers might be the defense’s greatest strength.

“Last season I was kinda nervous,” Hines said. “But I grew into it.”  He credited his success to his ability to “read plays,” and, speaking like a veteran linebacker, "to hit pretty hard.”

Senior leadership for St. Margaret’s this season will come out of the backfield, where Matt Nuñez and Kent Iizuka will lead the team's rushing attack.

Nuñez missed all of the 2010 season because of a back injury, but is looking forward to carrying the ball, just like his brother Michael Nuñez did for the Tartans in 2006. “I run a lot like my brother,” Matt said. “I try to be quick and power through the holes.”  He added that his brother has been helping him in the weight room this spring.

The senior running backs will be counted on a lot, at least at the beginning of the season, as the Tartans are breaking in a new quarterback in sophomore Josh Davis, who said he has been getting ready for the challenge by attending quarterback camps and working with several different coaches on areas of his game.

“I’ve been focusing on reading defenses, focusing on my drops and my accuracy with receivers,” Davis said.

The Tartans coaching staff said the team's offense will employ three receivers and one running back and will sometimes operate out of the shotgun formation. They also want to give Davis the option to run or pass by running plays designed to get him outside of the pocket.

“I want to be a dual-threat quarterback,” Davis said. “The sprint-out stuff is a cool part of our offense.”

But playing quarterback involves much more than simply throwing passes and running with the ball. The quarterback is the team's leader, on and off the field, and Davis said he is ready to take on that role as well.

“I’m friends with a lot of the upper-classmen,” he said. “Hopefully, I can earn their respect and have them play for me and I play for them.”

Other returning players for the Tartans are offensive lineman John Gencarella, defensive lineman Alex Waller and strong safety-wide receiver Andrew Torok.

With all the success St. Margaret’s has experienced in the past few years, it might be easy for the players to take for granted that they will win games just by showing up, but Baltau knows differently and he wants to make sure his players remain hungry.

“We can’t get complacent,” he said. “We have to keep getting better.”

St. Margaret's 2011 Varsity Football Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 3 vs. Coronado, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 16 vs. Orcas Island, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 23 at Whittier Christian, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 30 vs. View Park Prep, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 8 vs. Animo South, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 14 at Bernstein, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Firebaugh, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 28 at Brethren Christian, 7 p.m. *

Friday, Nov. 4 vs. Sage Hill, 7 p.m. *

Friday, Nov. 11 at Crean Lutheran South, 7 p.m. *

* Denotes Academy League game