RSS FeedGRANTS - The Grants High School football team kept chugging along this week in preparation for its first action of the season, a scrimmage at Kirtland Central High School which has been an annual tradition for many years.
 Freshman Chad Roybal prepares his hands for a spectacular catch at a recent GHS football practice. The Pirates will be led by first year Head Coach Dale Hooper.BEACON / ROMERO |
“I think we are now in the 70s,” he said of the amount of athletes he and his coaches now have to work with. “We saw some guys that might help the team this year and in years to come, and that is encouraging.”
Having many players to call on is not only to pack the sidelines as an intimidation factor for other teams. Hooper said that bolstering his roster only means that his goal of having players play only “one way” can be accomplished.
“As the backup gets better, the position gets better and everything gets better,” he said. “We had a lot of people play a lot of positions this week; we had four or five play quarterback, and we've had people moving around on defense too.”
As for the scrimmage, Hooper said he hoped to get his offense and defense at least 40 plays each.
“I want to just see our kids keep fighting like they do at practice,” he said of his expectations. “Of course, our goal on defense is 'relentless pursuit,' so we want to see that and offensively, obviously we want to move the chains nonstop. We'll see what happens. As long as they stick to team goals we'll be alright.”
Gallup High School - the Pirates' second opponent of the season - is also slated to attend the scrimmage, but Hooper said that with the looming Bengals/Pirates matchup, his team won't square off against its I-40 rivals today.
And as much as the focus this week has been on improving the offense and defense, many of the improvements to the Pirate football team are of the non-playing variety.
For example, Hooper and his staff staged parent meetings and they were well-attended.
“I see that parents are stepping up and wanting to help,” he said. “They want to be involved and that is one of the highlights of this week. The kids are working hard since day one to get the program where it needs to be, and now we hope that the parents will continue to come out and do the same.”
Equally impressive to Hooper are his team captains, the senior players, who were charged with addressing their teammates and outlining the team goals for this season. Hooper said he wasn't surprised that the captains put academics high on their list.
“We had a poster made and they stood up in front of the team and stated the goal that everyone should strive for a high GPA,” Hooper said. “That tells me a lot about the character of our team. These seniors are our leaders and they need to step up to the plate and take their leadership role seriously, and they are.”
For Hooper this is all a part of how he wants to build his program at GHS: with athletes who care as much about life off the field as on the field.
“I'm a firm believer that leaders aren't born,” Hooper said. “So it's my duty to make them good leaders and good citizens. I would like them to leave the program as stronger citizens than when they came.”
The Pirates open their season on Aug. 28, when Socorro visits Pirate Stadium. The Warriors will be without their leading rusher of 2009, Alvin Alvarado, but Socorro defensive coordinator Chuck Zimmerly feels like his non-presence won't be much of an issue.
“We lost one of the best ground guys in the state,” he told the El Defensor Chieftain. “But we have some young guys who we think will be real good - we've got some weapons.”
Socorro made the 3A state tournament last year as a number four seed. The Warriors received a first-round bye but were eliminated 31-18 by St. Michael's.
Stay with the Beacon for continuing coverage of the Pirate football team.
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