Boulder Creek determined to win back Northwest Region title
MARC BUCKHOUT ~ MANAGING EDITOR ~ 8/25/2010

Whether it’s offense or defense the 2010 Boulder Creek Jaguars feel they have the quickness, depth and talent to take the fight to opposing team.
On Friday they’ll open their season on the road at Pinnacle looking to unleash an offense led by senior running back Mike Contreras and fellow senior tight end Zack Brown.
Contreras enters the season as the team’s leading returning rusher with 722 yards and seven touchdowns, while averaging 4.63 yards per carry.
Brown meanwhile caught a team best 31 passes for 476 yards and three touchdowns during the team’s 7-4 season, which ended in the first round of the 5A Div-II state playoffs.
While Contreras is shooting for a 1,000 yard rushing season he is excited about an offense in which he won’t be such a targeted player like last year.
After losing fellow senior running back Phillip Bayus to a season-ending knee injury in an Oct. 9 loss to Sandra Day O’Connor the Jaguars made a switch at quarterback, putting then sophomore Trevor Bonifasi under center.
With Bayus out of the mix as a threat and an inexperienced Bonifasi getting on the job training at quarterback Contreras said he felt the watchful eye of opposing defenses gearing up to stop him.
“I think it made me a better player, especially as a runner because the team needed me, but with Phillip back and with Trevor now being a junior we have weapons all over the field,” Contreras said.
Contreras said the improvement at quarterback is one of the big keys.
“Trevor has studied the offense and now he’s just smooth,” he said. “He knows his reads and knows where to get the ball. I think we’ll be at a different level this season.”
Coach Dan Friedman said a bigger and stronger offensive line from a season ago also will allow the Jaguars to be more versatile.
“Line play drives football at any level,” the coach said. “If you don’t have a good line you aren’t going to be very good as a team. The group we have now is very experienced. They have grown, both in maturity and in size after working in the weight room. We’re still not going to be the biggest one around, but it’s certainly the biggest one we’ve had here at Boulder Creek.”
Leading the way for the unit will be senior Jacob Rodriguez, a 6-foot-3 240-pound guard and junior Austin Farnlof, a 6-foot-3 250-pound guard.
That group figures to not only open holes for Bayus and Contreras, but also allow Bonifasi time to find targets like his tight end Brown or any number of receivers Friedman said have a chance to make impacts including junior Marquis Bundy a transfer from Cesar Chavez, senior Harrison Stewart and sophomore Isaiah Huston.
The defensive unit will once again look to pressure opposing quarterbacks, bringing blitzes from all over the field.
“We’re always blitzing,” said Brown, who not only plays tight end on offense, but lines up at defensive end on defense. “I couldn’t imagine facing our defense. We’re always moving people around before the snap. It has to be very confusing for the other team’s quarterback. I don’t know how you get a read looking at how we line up.”
While Brown comes off a season in which he was second in the team in sacks, with 5.5, and earned all-region honors at both tight end and defensive end he’s excited about said the depth of talent along the defensive line as eight players figure to see time in a rotation that will allow the Jaguars to keep fresh lineman in the game at all times. He said Farnlof at defensive end and tackle James Vanderpool are two teammates in the trenches primed for big seasons.
Among the front seven Friedman also expects big things from senior middle linebacker Taylor Reber at 6-foot and 205 pounds. As a junior Reber was in on a team best 111 tackles.
“He’s a very intellectual player, Friedman said. “He really understands what other teams are trying to do and gets himself in position to make plays. He’s a great football player.”
Lining up along side Reber will be junior Sean Pratt. As a sophomore Pratt recorded 92 tackles, good for second best on the defense. Completing group is junior Brandon Fuller, another player the coaching staff is high on.
“I’d like to say we’re pretty balanced defensively,” Friedman said. “The stats show we don’t give up the big play in the air. We put so much pressure on quarterbacks that those type of plays don’t have time to develop.”
The secondary returns senior Joe Simpson, at 6-foot-4 and senior safety Branden Ronning. Harrison Stewart and Houston also could make impacts.
Friedman said it’s a roster that has what it takes to win back the Northwest Region title, which Sandra Day O’Connor took from the Jaguars last season.
The region also includes fellow Deer Valley Unified School district teams in Mountain Ridge, Goldwater and Deer Valley along with Willow Canyon, Valley Vista and Kingman.
“That’s our first goal, to win the region,” he said. “You never overlook the defending region champion. We’ll have to take it from them. I also think Mountain Ridge will have a very good
squad this season.”
After going to the quarterfinals in 2008 and being eliminated in the opening round last year Friedman said this year’s team has what it takes to advance deeper in this year’s playoffs.
“I really think if we stay healthy we can compete with anybody in the state,” the coach said. “It’s the usual suspects that will be state contenders. You have Centennial, which will be out for blood after what happened to them last year, you have Chaparral, Marcos de Niza, Pinnacle and then Ironwood Ridge down in Tucson.”
With two of what the coach perceives as state contenders in the first two weeks, at Pinnacle on Friday and then Chaparral at home on Sept. 3 Friedman’s crew will get an early indication of how they stack up in the 5A Div-II ranks.
“Last year we went to Chaparral and it was pretty clear we weren’t at the same level with them,” he said. “This year I look at our team and feel we have a lot of good athletes that should give us a chance to compete with anybody as long as we can stay healthy. We’re excited to
get the season going.”