A brand new flag football season is nigh, and expectations across the league are high. Preparations for three South Bay teams featured a three-way joint practice on Monday, Aug. 24. Santa Clara, MacDonald, and Willow Glen High Schools had their varsity and JV squads compete in 30-minute timed scrimmages, an idea spearheaded by Bruins Head Coach Pedro Martinez. 

“Originally it was supposed to be four schools,” acknowledged Martinez on the unique scrimmage. “The Willow Glen coach is good friends with one of my assistants, so we hit him up, and they were totally down. And then MacDonald has good people over there, and I know the coach too, so it was easy calls to make to put this together.” 

The multi-team scrimmage gave each school the ability to face different schemes and coverages in the same afternoon, particularly useful for new players who haven’t seen competition in years past. 

“That was a big key. You get to see two different looks, two different quarterbacks, two different defensive styles,” added Martinez. “And now we will go back and look at the tape, see what we did right, what we didn’t do right, and clean things up going into our first game.”

MacDonald Head Coach Arturo Lopez also came away from the scrimmage quite pleased with the experience his team was able to gain. 

“This was a good way to go about it. It gets a lot of teams a lot of good reps,” noted Lopez. “It’s good for the community too, for these different schools to work together; it’s good in the long run for the kids.” 

Players on both sides enjoyed the atmosphere of being able to get live reps against multiple opponents on the same afternoon. 

“I enjoyed playing against both schools; they are both really good teams,” chimed MacDonald junior Vianey Sanchez. “They are in different leagues, so they are tougher competition for us, which was good to experience their level. 

“It was definitely a good learning experience; now we can build off what we saw in live action,” echoed MacDonald sophomore Klarissa Hernandez. “It was a really nice way to get prepared.” 

“It was a really good experience,” added Bruins senior Victoria Calvillo. “Getting the gist of how things work amongst each other, our teammates and with our own coaches as well.” 

“This was really fun, especially with a lot of new girls coming out for the team and seeing them having fun; it’s a really good experience for them,” noted Bruins quarterback Alexis Paez. “When I see our team work together well, it motivates me and makes me happy to see how things are getting smoother.” 

Santa Clara will kick off their regular season schedule this Thursday, Aug. 27, when the Bruins play at James Lick. MacDonald will also open up on the same night with the Condors traveling to take on Evergreen Valley in San Jose. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. start times.

Related Posts:
Santa Clara Flag Football Looking to Make History Again in Year 3
Can MacDonald Football Buck Its Current Trend?