Valley Christian’s opener was doubly painful as its came up just short against defending North Coast Section Division II champion Vacaville and lost quarterback Jay MacIntyre to injury.
MacIntyre incurred a concussion and "will be out seven to 10 days and then will be re-evaluated,” coach Mike Machado said.
Meantime, the Warriors will rely on the ability and leadership of senior Bryce Novak to run the offense Friday against host Bishop O’Dowd (2-0). The kickoff is at 7 p.m.
“Bryce is capable, he’s athletic, and he can make plays for us,” Machado said. “The most important thing is that he runs the offense efficiently.”
Machado desired a tough non-league schedule and Bishop O’Dowd, defending champions of the West Alameda County-Foothill League, fills the bill. The Dragons went 9-3 last season.
O’Dowd (2-0), is led by senior Isaiah Johnson and returning senior quarterback Dominic Miroglio. Johnson scored twice in O’Dowd’s victory against McClymonds , including catching a touchdown pass from Miroglio. The Dragon QB also threw a TD pass to 6-foot-2, University of Washington-bound receiver Kevin King.
Miroglio is coming off an impressive 2011 season during which he threw for an average of 220 yards per game and finished with 34 scoring passes.
Valley Christian hopes to bring the heat and finish their tackles.
“It doesn’t really matter what they do, we just have to play Valley defense,” sophomore middle
linebacker Jesse Osuna said. “We will play aggressive and smart, but most importantly with an attitude of
wanting to win.”
Osuna came out strong his first varsity game against Vacaville, contributing three solo tackles.
On offense, Valley Christian again figures to rely on its stellar rushing attack, led by sophomore Kirk Johnson and seniors Ryan Severson and Raigan Hubbard, who combined for 220 yards in the loss to Vacaville.
Johnson thinks the Warriors are capable of more.
“We’re going to improve our blocking,” he said. “We also need to execute the plays right with our backup quarterback Bryce.”
The first-game jitters are now behind the Warriors.
“We’re going to fix the mental mistakes by reducing the penalties,” senior fullback and linebacker Hubbard said. “We will have a lot better execution come Friday.”
