When Encinal head coach Ricky Rodriguez took over the Jets’ program prior to the 2014 season, the team had reached the playoffs in seven straight seasons, but was also teetering on the brink of disaster. Now, in his fourth year at the helm, Rodriguez not only has things stabilized on the field, but is also serving as a beacon of stability for the program off the field.
The Jets are off to a 2-0 start this year, with easy wins over both Washington and American. But those wins were expected. What will define the success of this season is what happens from this point forward, beginning this week with Northern Section power Paradise. But it’s also important to look back at what has transpired to get to this point.
“When I took this job, we had 14 academically eligible players in the entire program,” Rodriguez said. “When we set foot on campus, as a staff, we implemented an academic game-plan to make sure that we were even going to be able to field two programs. Our first six to eight months here were all about making sure the kids understood the importance of academics.”
The first year that Rodriguez had his new staff in place on the Alameda campus, they may have started to turn things around in the classroom, but the results were not yet seen on the football field, where the team went 0-9. But the process started to materialize in 2015, when the Jets made the post-season, falling to Saint Mary’s in the first round, with a varsity roster of 19 kids. Those 19 kids, however, included some key building blocks for the next couple seasons, athletes such as David Hamilton, Abdul Holland, and quarterback Theori Oliver.
Oliver is now a third-year starter behind center, while Hamilton and Holland are key playmakers on both sides of the ball. Through the first two games this season, Oliver has completed 63 percent of his passes, with six touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also ran for a team-high 254 yards with five more scores.
“We prepared Theori to be the starting quarterback at Encinal since the summer he was transitioning from junior high to his freshman year in high school,” Rodriguez said. “I knew from the beginning that this was the person I wanted to lead my program. He is the hardest worker in the weight room and the hardest worker at practice. The biggest growth I have seen out of him this year is his command of the football team, and his growing relationship with his teammates.”
Aside from those three leaders, the varsity roster is now back up to 30 players as well, and it is a great group which is committed to the year-long process at Encinal. Rodriguez estimated that as many as 90 percent of his players live in single-parent households, and that a large majority of these families live in subsidized housing on the old naval base nearby. It is a neighborhood that Alameda transfer Taj Banks, Jr., who moved to the area from New Orleans, compared to post-Katrina low-income neighborhoods.
A large percentage of the Encinal roster receives free and reduced lunch on campus, but that doesn’t always help during the summer. That’s where the coaching staff for the Jets takes on its extra responsibility. Rodriguez said that the team met regularly around noon during the summer, and usually that extra time before practice was spent on non-football activities. That included community service projects, tutoring sessions, and even simply providing lunch for players.
The end result has been a close-knit group which is off to a flying start, but knows it has a lot of work ahead. Last year’s team went 9-3, reaching the Division III quarterfinals, and winning the WACC-Shoreline title. But even that did not come with the satisfaction one might expect.
“The way we look at it, we didn’t earn that title last season,” Rodriguez said. “Hayward gift wrapped it for us (with a loss to Alameda in the final week of the regular season). This year, we want to control our own destiny on a weekly basis, and earn it on the field.”
Two losses from last year still stick in the minds of the Jets. That includes a 36-33 loss on the road to Paradise, and a 12-6 loss to Hayward in the league opener. Both of the results from last year means that the time for focus starts now, playing a Bobcats team which is 2-0 to start the season, with wins over Red Bluff and Oroville. Down the road, the goals get even bigger, though Rodriguez is reluctant to look too far ahead.
The road ahead, though, is paved with plenty of elite competition, as the Division III playoff bracket is loaded with top teams such as Bishop O’Dowd, Marin Catholic, Cardinal Newman, Rancho Cotate, and Miramonte.
“I know it is generic coach-speak, but we really are just staying focused on taking things one game at a time, and handle our business on a weekly basis. Paradise is certainly a big enough challenge this week,” Rodriguez said. “That being said, in terms of that bigger picture, we know those other teams are some pretty big names, but we relish the underdog role.”
That underdog role sounds like nothing new for most of the Encinal roster, and it has worked out well so far.
Livin’ in Livermore
For the second straight year, both Livermore and Granada have started the season 2-0, and it worked out pretty well last season. Livermore has posted wins over Kimball and Washington, headed into its EBAL opener against California this week, giving new coach Terry Butler wins in his first two games at the helm.
Granada has beaten Benicia and Newark Memorial, each of whom is 1-1 to start the year. The Matadors are off this week before opening EBAL play against Dublin, and are seeking their third straight trip to the NCS Division II semifinals this year.
Fast starting head coaches
Butler is not the only new head coach to win his first two games in the position. Others include El Cerrito’s Jacob Rincon, Ferndale’s Justin Griffith, Rancho Cotate’s Gehrig Hotaling, and Tamalpais’ Matthew LemMon.
In need of points
Marin County teams Novato and Drake are still seeking their first points of the season after two games, and joining them on that list is Fort Bragg. The first two teams on this list struggled last year as well, but Fort Bragg reached the Division V championship game last season. Graduation hit the Timberwolves hard, however.
Fast starting stat leaders
St. Bernard’s quarterback TJ Campbell has already thrown for 714 yards and eight touchdowns in two games, picking up where Jack Rice left off, but more impressive might be the early performance of Rancho Cotate quarterback Jake Simmons. Simmons has played just four quarters in two blowout wins, but has thrown for an incredible 697 yards and eight scores in those four quarters.
Heritage’s Aidan Quinn and Livermore’s Mekhi McElroy are both off to fast starts in the ground game, having run for 427 and 387 yards, respectively, with both teams off to 2-0 starts.
Tamalpais is off to a 2-0 start, and a big part of that has been junior defensive end Sam Carlson, who has five sacks to lead the section.
