Head Coach Matt Monzingo
Head Coach Matt Monzingo
The ReSporter has come to a realization that you don’t have to have a catchy title when you have scored an interview with the Head Coach for Canyon Lake High School.
The Hawks have a lot of momentum coming into this season. The team won four out of its last five games, and the loss was razor thin.
This Summer the ReSporter has spent much of its time interviewing and talking about the Offensive Lineman and Coach Monzingo started right on the same page.
“There is nothing harder for the offensive line Coach, than to balance the pass blocking and run blocking,” Coach Monzingo started.
The Hawks would like to have a potent run and pass game this season.
There has only been a hand full of games in the history of the young program. The Hawks did not possess a running game it’s first year and so the offense relied on the passing of Ross Wagliardo.
Then the advent of Zach Henshaw introduced a running game that could be lethal. Canyon Lake usually relies on one or the other mode in getting yardage, but seldom has the yardage come by both in the same game.
Having a balanced attack is stopped by opposing teams sometimes. The Boerne Greyhound game comes into play. Boerne stopped the running game by crowding the line of scrimmage.
“Boerne needed the win and they were hell bent on stopping the run,” Monzingo said. “That was not our best game blocking.”
The balanced attack does not have to be balanced to win games. The Hawks passed for 249 yards in that game while rushing for 68.
Navarro Panthers are a team that does not plan on being balanced. The game last year had the Panthers with over 500 yards rushing. That had not happened since the inaugural season, when teams were doing the 500 yard rushing trick each week.
“The rushing game can demoralize you,” Monzingo quipped while reminiscing the Navarro game. “When you can have success in running the ball then the effect will mess up your game plan.”
The Hawks totaled just four plays in the first quarter of that game.
There will need to be a learning curve for the team this season on many levels. The Hawks are into their fourth year of Varsity sports and this is the second campaign of replacing players that graduated.
“This group is very coachable,” Coach Monzingo said. “The players have learned from last years Seniors.”
“I have never seen a group of young man that have worked like they have,” Monzingo continued. “Kids do what they are asked to and don’t complain.”
Monzingo was showcasing a smile while he talked about this part of the team.
The Hawks did graduate a lot of tackles from last year’s squad and even that stat will be replaced by someone this year. The team will continue to have tackles in the game. However, the stat does give you an indication of the maturity of the unit.
Canyon Lake will have to replace several players that were pivotal for the defense the last two seasons.
“Depth cures a lot of woes,” a relaxing Monzingo said. “We are deeper than we have ever been.”
The comment can only accentuate the confidence that Coach Monzingo has in the pipeline of players coming up through the pipes.
“The players are doing exactly what we ask,” Monzingo reiterated. “There is nothing they won’t do if not asked, we had to end up getting bigger tires.”
The tire issue revolves around the exercise of moving them end over end. The players wanted to not only move the tires, they wanted them to be larger. “Very Coachable,” Monzingo gushed.
Coach Monzingo also mentioned the competition that will be playing out on the field in a couple of weeks, “We have young guys hungry for a position.”
An area that will be watched closely this upcoming two-a-days, is the replacement of last year’s quarterback Jeff Nabors.
Nabors transferred to a school in the Houston area and will leave a very important position open for someone new.
There will be two immediate players vying for the job:
Brandon Berger played backup last season and will be a Senior this year.
Branson Belcher will also be in the hunt. Belcher was the quarterback on the undefeated Junior Varsity last season.
Berger will be counted on in the defensive backfield where he started last season. While Belcher brings the same stature as Nabors, with his height (6’3”) and weight (190 lbs).
“Berger takes chances and Belcher has to respond and take what they give you,” Monzingo concluded. “They are both competitive to the end.”
The new quarterback, no matter who takes the snaps, will give the Hawks three different QB’s in the last three seasons.
None of the quarterbacking questions seems to matter to the coaches and players.
Coach Monzingo will be taking a team into battle that has improved each season. The second year, the team went from only winning one game, to getting into the playoffs.
Last season’s team took the next step by winning their first playoff game and allowing the team to set the bar higher.
“The Burnet win has done wonders,” Monzingo finished. “The game changed the whole mind set….it gave them confidence.”
That is not a hard item to notice to people who come and frequent the field house each evening during the Strength and Conditioning exercises. The team’s confidence is noticeable and it seems to spread each day in the hot sweltering heat.
Coach Monzingo and the rest of the team can look back on the Summer after the playoffs in November or December and conclude the worth of the Summer days.
The victor will be ‘Confidence’.
How the young man use that ingredient in life to tackle all the obstacles that the world has to offer will make it all seem worthwhile.
If you weren’t counting, the first practice starts in 2 days.
