Woodbridge looks for defense to lead the way

KICK-OFF 2011: Woodbridge looks for defense to lead the way Warriors lose a lot of offense from last year.

Published: Sept. 7, 2011 Updated: Sept. 8, 2011 2:20 a.m.
By BRENT SHAVER / The Orange County Register
TEXT BY TIM BURT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: PHOTOS COURTESY WOODBRIDGE FOOTBALL

Brendan Beresford, 5-9, 160 QB---------------------------Matt Callahan, Jr., 6-2, 170 QB


Last year it was the offense, led by Max Neser, Nick Gstrein and Jalen Craver that lit up scoreboards, racked up nearly 5,000 yards and helped push the Woodbridge High football team to the CIF playoffs.

This season, the defense will be counted on a lot more. Woodbridge returns a number of starters, including one of the top defensive players in Orange County, senior end Kyle Kelley.

The offense will see some back-up players from last year's team stepping into bigger roles along with several newcomers asked to be productive.

"Points wise (426 points in 11 games) last year it was a record for our school," said Coach Rick Gibson. "Last year we were so explosive on offense. Are we going to be like that this year. No. We can't expect those kinds of numbers. However, we still have solid expectations for this offense."

Gibson will be rotating quarterbacks during games for at least the first five contests of the season.

"It is something I have never really done before," Gibson said. "We will see how it goes. They both bring a lot of qualities to the table."

"I know will show up and do the things we need to do," Gibson added. "Our main goal is to improve weekly. I think a lot of schools have similar rosters in the Pacific Coast League. We will come to compete every game."

Woodbridge did just that in its first game of the season last Friday, battling Aliso Niguel before falling short, 20-13, at Irvine Stadium.

The Warriors went 6-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in league a season ago, beat Magnolia in the first round of the playoffs and had a shootout in the second round against eventual CIF division champion Garden Grove.

A look at the 2011 Warriors:

OFFENSE

Backs: Woodbridge plans on rotating quarterbacks for at least the first five games.

The quarterbacks are junior Matt Callahan (6-2, 170) and senior Brendan Beresford (5-9, 160).

"Both quarterbacks are very savy," Gibson said. "Matt Callahan has played in the Junior All-American forever so he has experience as a quarterback. Brendan Beresford is the type of kid you want playing for you. He gives you a 100 percent all of the time and is a student of the game."

The featured running back will be senior Derek Calderon (5-10, 180). He rushed for 108 yards as a back-up last year.
"He reads the hole really well and stays on track," Gibson said. "People don't know about him, but I think he is going to have a very good year."

Calderon could also line up as a quarterback in wildcat sets.

Receivers: Juniors Nick Greenberg (5-7, 150), Alex Baker (5-8, 130) and David McCutchan (6-3, 185) and senior Jeffrey Azuogu (5-9, 165) will rotate at receiver. Junior Jeff Lynch (6-4, 190) and senior Kyle Kelley (6-3, 230) will play tight end.

Line: "It is one of the biggest group of kids that we've ever had," Gibson said. "It is definitely one of our strengths."

The left tackle will be junior returning starter David Patterson (6-5, 270), the left guard is junior returning starter Zack Rusick (6-5, 220), battling for the starting center spot are senior Ryan Watterson (5-11, 240) and junior Mubashir Syed (5-8, 200), the right guard is Alex Hernandez (5-11, 265) and the right tackle is Jae Enyart (6-2, 300). A back-up is sophomore Nic Neser (6-0, 200).

DEFENSE

"We are excited about the defense," Gibson said. "We have a bunch of guys back and they are still very young. We started a freshman last year along with a couple of sophomores and three juniors who are older, more mature and have that experience under their belts."

Backs: One of the cornerbacks is Azougu, who is a returning starter. "He brings quickness and leadership," Gibson said.

The other cornerback is junior James Carr (5-8, 135). Back-ups are sophomore Nick Sine (5-10, 150) and Baker.

The free safety is Greenberg, who is a returning starter.

Other safeties are McCutchan, who started half of the games last year, and sophomore returning starter Austin DeFreitas (6-1, 185).

Linebackers: Woodbridge's outside linebackers are senior returning starter Blake Rusick (6-0, 170) and sophomore Tyler Branin (5-11, 165).

Gibson said Rusick is his team's defensive leader.
"He is a tireless worker that wants to compete and wants us to compete at a high level," Gibson said.

The middle linebacker is sophomore Philip Hong (5-7, 185). Senior Brady Loefke (6-0, 178) will also see action.
Hong is a player to keep an eye on, according to Gibson.

"He is as football savy of a linebacker as we have had in a while," Gibson said. "He has some innate qualities of stepping up and reading things."

Line: The defensive ends are Lynch and Kelley, who was an all-league and all-CIF player a year ago. Kelley, who had 19 sacks and 88 tackles last season, has verbally committed to play at Arizona next year.

Senior returning starter Patrick Ingram (5-11, 220) is the nosetackle. Back-ups on the line are Hernandez, Zack Rusick and sophomore Andrew Song (6-0, 185).
Special teams: Kelley will be the long-snapper, Beresford is the holder and junior Donald Jackson (6-0, 165) is the place-kicker. The punter is Callahan. Among the returners will be Calderon.