Saddleback College’s Gauchos Football season preview
As the days get shorter and the nights cooler, it’s time to welcome yet another Gaucho’s football season to the rolling foothills of the Saddleback campus.
Coach McElroy is optimistic about the new line-up, “We are young, but very talented and we need to stay healthy,” he said. “If we stay healthy, the Gauchos in 2014 should be a good team to watch.”
Last season they were 5-6 in overall and 3-3 in conference. 2013’s offense threw an average of 392.6 yards overall and their defense had 905 tackles with 18 sacks. So what can we expect this season from Gauchos football?
This fall has another impressive squad to start the season at their first game against the Cerritos Falcons, Sept. 6 at Cerritos. They also have a couple of players returning from last season to help the men win a possible championship.
Sophomore kicker Matt Boermeester is back for his last season, and was leading scorer for the Gauchos in the 2013 season with 76 points.
He will be transferring to USC in the fall of 2015, which was his father’s rival team, being that he kicked for UCLA from 1977-1979.
Third year veteran and starting quarterback, sophomore Ricky Bautista, had a completion percentage of 63.5% last season and had 34 touchdowns which should give the Gauchos an edge on the competition in their league.
Bautista will be passing to the only returning wide receiver, R.J. Dedrick. Also, watch out for sophomore wide receiver Christopher Dimry, who at 6’6”, should tower over their opponents.
Sophomore second-string quarterback Anthony Berg will also be getting some playing time in the first game after he threw for 40% in 2013.
In regards to the Gauchos defensive line, Coach McElroy stated that all, “The safety’s are new.”
Sophomore and defensive end Blake Burnard is one to watch this year as well, as the Gauchos take on their opponents defensively.
Freshmen running back Mitchell Simonsen is injured for game one but will be back against Riverside’s team.
The Gauchos have had an all-star list of previous players– like Kyle Long (Howie Long’s son) who transferred to the University of Oregon after playing for two years at Saddleback.
Former safety Duran Workman also played last season, and is now playing for the University of Nevada where he just showed off his skills last week.
Under the leadership of head coach Mark McElroy, they have been ranked nationally for seven straight seasons and this year alone had 17 players transfer to four-year schools.
The next game will be here at Saddleback on Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. against the Riverside Tigers.