San Luis preview: Creating a culture

Fernando Solano isn't just trying to install a new offense and a new defense in his first year at San Luis.

He's trying to install a new culture.

A soccer-first school its entire existence, football has never been a strong suit for the Sidewinders, who have lost 36 of their last 37 games after a 1-9 showing last year.

Solano said he's trying to drum up interest in football - not just to get players to try out, but to get students to come to games Friday nights.

"Soccer's always been the primary sport here," Solano said. "But football build school spirit. What we're trying to do is get kids involved and have kids come out to the game on Friday nights. At other schools, that's the cool thing to do on Friday nights. That's what we're trying to build."

As for interest among players, it seems to be working - Solano said San Luis will have enough players to field a freshman, junior varsity and varsity team this season. He's even gone to middle schools and talked to them.

"We've tried to spread the word of San Luis football down there with lower grades," Solano said. "We really want to start young. we want kids coming into the program with four years of experience."

He said he knows what will help drum up interest both fronts most of all - wins.

"Wins are going to go a long way," Solano said. "I hear kids say 'You never win.' But we say 'We need your help to win.' We have to have some numbers out there. Wins will definitely increase our participation."

The Sidewinders beat only Carl Hayden last year, which has struggled more over the past five years than they have. They open against Carl Hayden on Sept. 5.

This year, the players said they can do much better than just one win..

"We're positive about the games," said sophomore halfback Hugo Beccerra. "We're thinking we can win a few games."

Solano said with Beccerra, quarterback Edwin Carranza, running back Rodolfo Luna and receiver Miguel Gomez, the Sidewinders should not suffer five shutouts as they did last year.

"We're going to try to get the ball in their hands and let them make plays after that," Solano said. "They're pretty good athletes, so they're going to be the focal point of our offense."

Beccerra will play "H-back," a position in Solano's offense which is a hybrid running back-receiver. Solano added Carranza's success will determine how well the team does.

"We're not going to be heavy run or heavy pass," Solano said. "We're going to try to mix it up, get the quarterback out of the pocket."

In the end, said senior linebacker Jose Velazquez, the team knows what it has to do.

"We just hope we can go out there and try," Velazquez said, "maybe even get a few victories up there."