By: Carlo Jimenez
Hours of practice, double days, weight room sessions, and early morning workouts before school will be put to the test September 1st. Bellarmine’s football team will attend a scrimmage with Clovis North at San Jose City College at 7:30 PM. They are looking to bounce back from a 7-5 overall record last year.
Matthew Gustafson ’19 emphasized the team “really picking up [the intensity]” as they get ready for the season to start.
Gus provided insight about how the first couple of scrimmages have gone. Things haven’t been smooth sailing so far.
“We weren’t all on board with our blocking schemes… and not together as a team as we should be. The intensity just wasn’t there,” he said.
With less than two weeks, starting positions are not set in stone for the team. According to Gus, Coach Amarillas reminded the team on Monday that “nobody has a [secured] spot.”
Bellarmine Football has always had a traditional system of ground-and-pound. This system focuses on running rather than a passing game. Gus confirms that nothing will change this year.
“Bellarmine is a [traditional] school in that we do a lot of running,” he said.
This newly constructed team will have some big shoes to fill as seven first-team All WCAL players and two second-team all WCAL players departed the team. Gus is assertive, however, that his fellow Bellarmine players will step up and fill those shoes. Seniors Brandon Bumanlang ’18 and Noah Lane ’18 look to fill in at the running back positions and diversify Bellarmine’s offense. They also have veteran player Austin Ajiake, former first-team all WCAL running back, to accompany and work with them.
In terms of guys who seek a more efficient and prosperous season, Gus had several names to watch for “Cade Hall ’18 has become more explosive than last season, we’re hoping that Claude Cole ’18 can play [multiple positions] for us… he could be a really good two-way starter.”
“We feel like if we flip the intensity we should be able to be there and compete against [every] team,” he said.
In just over a week, the varsity football team will put their training to the test in their first home game against Clovis North High School at San Jose City College on September 1.