After opening the season with energy in noteworthy circumstances, the Logan football program is back to turning heads in Northern California.
After drubbing the Dublin Gaels in the home opener 52 to 41, the James Logan Colts had a rivalry game against the San Leandro Pirates on Friday, September 13th.
Going into their home opening game the Logan Colts were 0-1 coming off of a tough 16-14 loss to Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga. Since then this team was seeking vengeance and a win from their next opponent, the Dublin Gaels. After they conquered the Gaels, they also wanted a win in a rivalry game against the San Leandro Pirates.
“I believe it absolutely sets the tone for the entire season you know. Our kids have been working tirelessly this offseason in order to get the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd,” Coach Ricky Rodriguez said.
Logan has traditionally enjoyed a strong home-field advantage, with the award-winning band and electrifying crowd. Reinvigorating that home-field advantage is key to the Colts’ success.
“I sense a different energy and feeling not only on campus but at the games,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like we have a lot more support coming off a playoff season last year, and I felt that against Dublin. The crowd made a huge difference in the outcome of the game.”
Even though the Colts are looking good they are still always looking to improve in their game in every aspect of their game as they pursue a spot in the Division 1 Playoffs.
“I definitely feel like we need to improve on our line play, I feel like we have a lot of senior leadership in that aspect but if we want to go deep to the division 1 playoffs and compete with De La Salle and Pitsburg you win those games in the trenches,” Rodriguez said.
“Also I think we can improve our passing game. We do have the leading rusher in the state right now in Chase Sims, and he can’t put everything on his shoulders game in and game out so we need to help him out,” Rodriguez said.
For the season, Sims has 938 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns through 5 games, according to Max Preps. He has rushed for over 100 yards in each game – a testament not only to his skill but the strength of the line and dual-threat of quarterbacks, Junior Shamoun Duncan-Niusulu and Sophomore Marcus Sanders.
Another aspect the team would like to work on is that hard to define quality of togetherness – what makes a team a team.
Senior Alejandro Tovar believes the team can improve by “working as one unit instead of every position at its own. Just working together more — practice, work hard at practice, making practice harder than the game for sure. Just no selfish stuff on the field.”
Senior T.J Euta also sees closeness and working together as one of the keys to the team’s success.
“I say get closer, we have our little groups that we hang out with, and not everybody is on the same page at times. But I say we need to get closer as a team.”
Those adjustments that the team is looking to make are not only essential for the team during practices but especially for the games. After a tough first loss and the opening two wins at home, Logan met the San Leandro Pirates on September 13th at home.
The battle against the Pirates is traditionally an important rivalry game for the Colts. Up until last year, the Pirates have had the Colts number in this rivalry for the past 10 seasons; however, the Colts were looking to change their luck against the San Leandro Pirates this year.
“There is a trophy on the line, they call it the battle of the 880 Corridor and a lot of these kids have grown up playing youth sports together, so there is a familiarity to both programs,” Rodriguez said.
Coach Rodriguez also felt the San Leandro game was important in the larger scheme of the team and the pursuit of greatness.
“I think this is a program defining game for us in terms of whether or not we’re gonna have some respect come playoff time, and whether or not we’re gonna be able to compete with some of those teams in the upper echelon,” Rodriguez said.
In the end, the hard work paid off as the team won 21 to 18 over the Pirates, with a late 22-yard field goal to go ahead for good. It is difficult to overstate how important the win was for the players.
“That’s kinda like our super bowl right now, it’s a need to win situation to get into playoffs,” Tovar said.
The Colts followed that important victory with a 56-6 beat down of Washington at home last Friday. The next game is Friday night against the Newark Cougars at Newark, 7 pm.
