Culture change, growth key goals for La Cañada football
Though the start of the high school football season is fast approaching, the viewpoint for new La Cañada High coach Jason Sarceda is one beyond 2017.
The team’s former assistant may have only taken the head coaching reins in June, but his vision for the squad is one he’s been formulating for a while. Now in charge, Sarceda and La Cañada embark on a different path.
“It’s all about building a culture here of not just winning, but working hard,” Sarceda said. “This is a difficult challenge this year because we have so many guys who are new to football. We will roll with what we have, but I’m not just focusing on this year, but on the future.”
Sarceda has served as the defensive coordinator for the Spartans under previous coaches James Sims, Ramsey Lambert and, most recently, Ryan Zerbel, who resigned in June.
Last season was somewhat bittersweet for La Cañada. The Spartans defeated rival San Marino in the season finale, 28-13, to finish 6-4 and 3-2 in the Rio Hondo League to tie for second.
The league runner-up finish was the best for the program since 2010. A coin flip, however, cost the Spartans a playoff berth as La Cañada missed the postseason for a second consecutive year.
Sarceda’s defense was again sturdy last season as it pitched two shutouts and averaged only 17.1 points allowed per game.
Expectations for a similarly stingy defense may be unrealistic. The squad graduated talented stalwarts in All-Area first-team lineman David Vardanian and all-league first-team defensive picks in end Theo Chamberlain, safety Bryce Benton and cornerback Jamie Washington.
“We’re looking for two things from the defense,” Sarceda said. “We want to be defensively consistent and we want to establish an identity. We have a big influx of underclassmen, so that’s going to take a while, but I expect us to get better each week.”
Sarceda is hoping senior defensive end Brandon Buck and junior interior lineman John Woodhouse will anchor the front line of his 4-2-5 defense.
A potential wild card vying for a spot is junior defensive tackle Samuel Seo.
“We just have to push harder to fill in the spots left by the guys who graduated,” Seo said. “We lost some very good and talented players, but if we work harder together as a group, we can still be good.”
Sarceda said the linebacking corps is an open competition and has yet to declare any starters.
As for defensive backs, the unit is likely La Cañada’s strongest on either side of the ball with brothers Tobias and John Humphrey manning the two cornerback positions. Senior defensive back Nick Cozzie is all expected to be a strong contributor.
“My goal is just to do the best I can to help out the team,” said Tobias Humphrey, a junior. “I think I play DB and wide receiver just about the same although I have more fun on defense.”
If there’s some drama, it’s on offense where there’s a quarterback competition between senior Eric Helbing and junior Matthew Bromley, both of whom were named captains.
Both quarterbacks saw some time last year as Helbing played in two games.
“We’re running a lot more offense in practice this year than we did last year and I’d say we’re 100% ahead of last year since we’ve learned so much,” Helbing said. “Right now I’m in a competition because I didn’t do so well last year, but I’ve improved and I want to lead and play quarterback.”
Bromley took part in four games last season and believes he’s ready.
“We’re trying to settle in our offense before we start the season,” Bromley said. “It’s a new system and I want to feel comfortable. Eric and I both know that only one of us can start, but we’re going to support each other.”
Whoever starts has a pair of targets in the Humphreys, who double as the team’s top receivers.
For the first time in years, La Cañada won’t have a dominant running back after graduating All-Rio Hondo League first-team selection Brandon Sharman.
It will be running back by committee with senior Timothy An and junior DJ Choi figuring to take a big share of carries.
According to Sarceda, La Cañada will have somewhere near 40 players when the season starts, though the team will be its greenest in quite some time.
“We absolutely want to be competitive this season, but we also want to learn, grow and get better,” Sarceda said. “We’re going to get a lot of experience as we build up the program and get it ready for the future.”
Twitter: @campadresports
