Part 2: Does Speed translate into Wins

Running Backs Eduardo Covarrubias and Zach Henshaw

The ReSporter had an article last week about the Relay teams Relating to the game of football.

There are six athletes that were part of the three track relay teams that won District and this is the conversation with the players and how they feel about the upcoming season.

The players?
Doug Hubnik
Robin Pedranti
Daniel Camarillo
Zach Henshaw
Eduardo Covarrubias
Alex Kemp

“Speed is very important,” Robin Pedranti jumped out of the blocks exclaiming. “Great teams are fast and the fastest team usually wins.”

The three relays the Hawks won takes speed and teamwork as the athletes learn how to pass the baton and get their steps down to maximize the top notch speed.

“The track speed helps us rally to the ball better,” Junior Daniel Camarillo said. “It will also allow us to get to the outside faster.”

Canyon Lake had problems with teams getting long runs and passes for touchdowns last season and hopefully the speed of the defense can stop those type of plays.

“It (speed) will help us beat our opponent, if you are faster than the person you are lining up against,” defensive back Doug Hubnik intercepted….oops…We mean interjected.

Track and running back Coach Levi Montgomery knows all to well what the team is trying to accomplish on the field each week.

“We are football players first,” Coach Montgomery said. “We want to build the team around the weight room. The track season gave them confidence, but you still have to tackle.”

That is the other side of the coin as the Fredericksburg track team has been dominant on the cinders the past three years yet have been lacking on the football field in wins. Just being fast has not translated into victories for the Billies, so their has to be something else in the formula that speed can bring to the table and allow the team to win more than they lose.

“Track helps for football, it will start to make us finish better,” Pedranti said. “We are no longer content with two playoff games.”

The Hawks had deficiencies in the fourth quarter last season and allowed 58 more points scored on them in that particular quarter. While the offense scored 50 points less than the other three quarters.

The fourth quarter would be the anchor leg in all the relays and that might be the key for this seasons team to ‘finish’ better.

“Track has really helped and made us stronger,” Running back Zach Henshaw said confidently. “It is all guts out and makes you better in football….just making you push it….and push it. The 4×400 makes my speed stride and gives me a better length in my legs.”

Eduardo Covarrubias finished, “The 4×4 reminds me of a football game as each leg is a football quarter and the last 100 yards is the last quarter when you have to bring it home.”

Zach Henshaw has improved his 40 time to 4.5 seconds almost two tenths of a second faster than his first year.

Henshaw started to realize the speed at the end the season in the playoffs as he had four runs that were all longer than his 36 yard run he ran as a Sophomore.

“We practice whenever we can and when no coaches are around,” Junior running back Covarrubias said. “We are more dedicated and we are putting extra time to make us go farther this next season.”

Listening to the six tracksters might give you some confidence as they attack the upcoming season.

“When we hear that someone else is up here working out, then we feel bad if were not at the field working with them,” Henshaw said. “We have a lot of heart, speed, and strength and we will rely on heart and God and then we can do anything.”

“We’re not smiling,” a frowning Montgomery said. “We haven’t done anything yet.”

That is why the class on, ‘Does Speed Win Football Games’, will convene this coming Fall on Friday nights.

What we do know is the Hawks have increased their playoff run in each of the past two seasons and the Track team has continued to improve in the District Meets.

The Hawks won all three relays this past Spring and we now wait to see if the Relays will Relate to wins.

If ‘Speed’ kills, then the Hawks will be eating a lot of mascots this coming season.