Jaguars Want More Than CIF Runner-Up In Football This Year

It might be easy to hang your proverbial hat on the success of a season in which your team made it to the CIF championship game, amassing an 11–2 record along the way, and setting a new school record for most wins in the regular season.
But Valley Center head football coach Rob Gilster knows that the easy way isn’t always the best way.
The Jaguars head into the 2010 season with the slogan, “We want more,” and coach Gilster says it’s an attitude that has defined the team so far this off-season.
“This is a team that wants to keep achieving and hopes to go further than we did last year,” he says. “Obviously, being the CIF champs is the pinnacle of what we’re chasing after, and our ultimate goal is to strive to be the best. We know that being the best means that you get a win in that last game of the year.”
Part of the challenge of improving on last season’s title-game run will be finding a way to replace a player who accounted for more than 2,200 yards of offense a year ago. The hole left by graduated running back Stanton Upson will be filled this year by Travis Bernard, who was used mainly as a slot receiver last season.
“Travis will be our first option, but we have a few guys who can run the ball, including Kenny Thomas, Mike Rodriguez and Garrett Fiehler,” coach Gilster says. “But Travis is ready to take on that role. He’s always wanted to be a running back, but when he got to the varsity level, Stanton was already established there, so we had to find ways to get Travis involved on offense. He’s had to wait his turn to be the go-to guy, but he’s always had the ability.”
Quarterback Beau Reilly returns to lead the offense in his senior season, and coach Gilster is excited about the development of the young passer.
“He’s improved a lot this off-season,” he says. “He’s gotten bigger and a lot stronger, and the experience he gained from last year is invaluable.”
Up front, the offensive line has some returning starters, but overall, coach Gilster has a young group of blockers to work with.
“Overall, we’re real young on the line, but I’m excited to work with these guys,” he says. “We’ll have some guys moving up from JV, but we’ll have a couple guys with some starting experience back this year, including [center] Andy Fletcher.”
Former tackle Stehly Reden will move to tight end this season, a position he played on occasion last year. Joining him is incoming transfer Jean-Marc Briere, and with returning receivers Taylor Oshinski and Tommy Aguilar, along with John Watkins moving up from JV, the receiving corps makes up a position that coach Gilster sees as a strength this season.
“We always strive to be a balanced team, so if we’re right around the sixty-forty mark for running and passing, whichever way it goes, then we’re right around where we want to be,” he says. “But we never want to be predictable, and with the weapons we have on offense, I think we’re going to be able to keep defenses on their heels.”
On the other side of the ball, the graduation of middle linebacker Patrick Preston leaves a big gap to fill, but with Jacob Beason returning from an injury, along with Martin Cunningham moving back to middle linebacker from nose tackle, coach Gilster says the defense has some solid players up front.
“These guys are disciplined, excited to play, and they’re tough guys,” he says.
The defensive secondary looks solid as well, with returning starters Aguilar and David Last at cornerback, along with Bernard coming back to play safety.
But even with a hard-working, experienced team looking to make another run for a CIF championship, coach Gilster knows that the Jaguars will need to play at an elite level throughout the season, especially with some challenging new opponents added to the talented teams already on the schedule.
“It’s going to be a tough schedule this year,” he admits. “San Pasqual, Ramona and Mount Carmel are always good teams, and we play at Escondido this year, which is always a tough place to play. We also have La Quinta and Los Alamitos, which is a big school up in Orange County, so we know we’re going to have to prepare if we’re going to be successful.”
The Jaguars kick off the 2010 season with a scrimmage at Mira Mesa on Aug. 27 before the regular-season opener takes place against San Pasqual at Valley Center at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3.