Southern League Football Preview: Waterford defends title with new faces in key places
Stanislaus District football teams went all out last season. There were seven league champions, 16 teams earning playoff spots, three section champions, two runners up and one Northern California Champion from this area. It might be hard to top the success we saw last year, but the beauty of sports is every team is going to try.
The Bee will preview each league highlighting last season’s league winner along with notes on what to expect from teams this season.
The Southern League sent three teams to the 2021 Sac-Joaquin Section postseason as league champion Waterford earned the six seed in Division VI and Le Grand and Mariposa County earned third and seventh seeds, respectively in Division VII. It was an all-SL Division VII semifinal as the Bulldogs beat the Grizzlies on their road to a section title. Ripon Christian is back in this year’s postseason picture after reaching an agreement with the section in the winter to end its playoff ban after last year.
2021 SL Standings
Team (Overall record, League record)
Waterford (10-2, 6-1)
Le Grand (9-5, 5-2)
Ripon Christian (7-3, 4-2)
Mariposa County (6-6, 4-3)
Orestimba (5-6, 3-4)
Gustine (3-7, 3-4)
Denair (2-6, 2-4)
Delhi (0-10, 0-7)
The Waterford High football team conditions any time it can. First thing at practice, in the middle of practice, sometimes even saving the running to the end. The Wildcats have to.
With just 19 players — they’re waiting on possibly a 20th — basically everyone plays offense, defense and special teams. But they’re used to it.
“It’s a mindset and conditioning, honestly,” coach Adam Hilton said. “We don’t have much of a choice. It’s always been a thing here at Waterford.”
Seven of the 19 are returners from last year’s 10-win team that advanced to the second round of the Division VI playoffs including multiple offensive and defensive linemen. One position the Wildcats did have to fill, however, is quarterback. Aaron Adams was Mr. Do-it-all for the team last season after passing for 2,193 yards and 32 touchdowns and rushing for 1,085 yards and 11 touchdowns in his senior campaign.
Coach Hilton’s son, Caleb, will look to step in after playing mostly running back last season.
Caleb Hilton looks to take after Adams as a dual-threat quarterback who can hit receivers but isn’t afraid to tuck the ball if a play breaks down. He won’t have Javier Nusom, who went for 1,230 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, but instead will spread the ball around to a trio of receivers who are equal in size and skill.
“If we had a kid who just purely could just throw the ball, we’d go with that, but we get some good athletes,” Adam Hilton said. “If you get a guy who can run, you can simplify (the offense) and say, ‘Let this kid do some stuff naturally.’”
After chasing everyone ahead of them in the league last year, the Wildcats start the season on top. The reigning Southern League champions. The hunted not the hunter. It’s a different position to be in for most of the athletes on the team and Hilton wants to know how his team will respond.
“We were the team chasing and trying to get there and now we got there and now it’s like everybody wants us now.” he said.
After securing the school’s first nine-win season since 2012, this year’s Wildcats are looking to expand on last year’s success and advance deep in the postseason, despite their limited numbers.
“I always say to the guys I want to be practicing on Thanksgiving week, which is sections week,” Hilton said. “We haven’t reached that yet, but that always is part of what we want to do … it’s something that we talk about.”
SL Notes
Ripon Christian Playoff Eligible
The Knights are playing for something again. After not being able to go to the playoffs last season, an agreement with the Sac-Joaquin Section in the winter ended its playoff ban after last season. Ripon Christian was projected to be one of the top seeds in Division VII.
The Knights are going into this year excited. Though they’re young on the offensive and defensive lines, the players are experienced at the skill positions. Incoming senior Trey Fasani returns at quarterback, Grant Sonke enters his junior season after rushing for 11 touchdowns last year, tight end Thys Van Der Hoek and receiver Griffin de Abreu are both seniors bringing experience back for the Ripon Christian passing attack.
“Everybody’s excited,” Coach Phil Grams said. “It seems like for the first time in a long time, we’re going into a normal fall. We just need get our young guys up to speed on the line, but everybody’s excited for the challenge in front of us.”
That challenge starts with defending Division 4AA State runner-up Central Valley Christian in Week 1, a team that returns its starting quarterback and top three receivers from last year’s team. Nonleague finishes with Cloverdale and Calaveras before taking on Denair in Week 4.
“We feel like it’s a pretty strong non league schedule,” Grams said. “Our young lines are going to have to have to grow up fast and I think those three games will definitely prepare them for our league.”
Orestimba returns with veteran leadership
The Warriors barely missed out on the playoffs last season. They finished just under .500 overall and in the league with 5-6 and 3-4 records, respectively. The Warriors have a lot of offensive and defensive returners as they hunt for that coveted playoff spot.
Top tackler Kai Brazil returns for his senior season as the team’s leader on both sides of the ball. Brazil tallied 136 tackles last season at linebacker, and on offense finished as the team’s third leading rusher, with 556 yards and two touchdowns. The most underrated part about Brazil is his availability. He was one of just a handful of Warriors to play in all 11 games.
Whether Orestimba’s senior leaders learned from last year will be tested immediately as the Warriors play three playoff teams, Rio Vista, Hughson and Los Banos, in the preseason.
Le Grand looks to defend section title
Division VII section champion Bulldogs finished at the top of their division for the fifth time last season. It was the first section title since winning four straight from 2010-2013 under head coach Rick Martinez. Le Grand returns a lot of players from last year’s team and they’re hungry for a repeat.
It starts with quarterback Julian Bucio, who passed for 2,488 yards and 31 touchdowns last season.
Last season’s leading rusher, Louie Aguallo, and two top receivers, Carlos Castaneda and Reyes Diaz, all return with Bucio as major weapons in the offense that averaged more than 27 points a game.
As a sophomore, Diaz was the team’s second leading tackler, with 106. This year, he’ll lead the defense at linebacker.
This story was originally published August 9, 2022 at 8:39 AM.
