The Anzar Hawks got the football victory they needed on Oct. 22 over the Pinewood Panthers with a score of 60-42. This brings the Hawks to a 2-2 season record for league play, good enough to place third in the Pacific Coast Conference, and a 2-5 overall record this season.
“It was a nice team effort,” said head coach Rowen Tupuivao. “We had outstanding work from our players, and with one more game to go, we hope to run the table on the last game next week. It would be nice to have the seniors go out as winners.”
So far this season, the Hawks won their game against Trinity Christian High School (56-42) and dropped games to Priory (48-34) and Crystal Springs Uplands (60-48). The season ends with an away game on Oct. 28 at Harker High School in San Jose.
With a five-game season and an eight-man team, Anzar’s football is a much different program than Hollister High School’s. Anzar is a small, rural school with about 350 students. Hollister High School is almost 10 times the size at about 3,400. Tupuivao, came out of retirement after 38 years of coaching in Los Angeles and Gavilan College. He has been with the Anzar team for two years.
“We are not really a football school,” he said. “We don’t have a freshman program here, so you have guys at the varsity level, who are basically playing freshman football. And we don’t have the luxury of having a lot of guys who come here knowing what they are doing. But you play the cards you are dealt.”
Whatever the coach and team are doing this season seems to be working, when you consider that last year, the team went without winning a game, ending with a discouraging 0-5 record.
“Last year was just tough, really rough,” he said. “But we had a great group of kids coming back this year, and we have been working on changing the attitude and changing the culture here. It is just a shame that our wins and losses don’t reflect the quality of our play.”
Tupuivao considers senior Max Castro, 17, to be his secret weapon out on the field, predicting that he will be voted the league MVP. “He has been the king in every game we played,” he said. “As far as respect in the league, he’s got that from everybody. He’s our strong safety. He’s my free safety, my quarterback and my coach on the field. He’s just the boy next door; the one everybody’s mom wants their daughter to marry.”
This is Castro’s second year playing on the team, and he says this year’s Hawks have more drive than any other team he has played for. “Last year, we were getting used to the new coach,” Castro said, “and he was getting used to us, too. We have been practicing since summer, trying to make improvements. I’m playing hard and trying to do all I can for this team. Most of our games have been close, and I think most of them we should have won. So we just keep trying, and we keep playing.”
This year is the first that senior Arnold Garcia, 17, has played varsity football, as he was ruled ineligible last year. “Arnold is Mr. Everything,” Tupuivao said. “I would say, hands down, he is the best lineman in the league. I would absolutely put him up against anyone.” Garcia said that although he could not play last year, he followed the games because he was friends with most of the team and has seen them coming together this year.
“We definitely improved a lot,’ Garcia said. “We got stronger, faster, because we’ve been practicing for quite a while now, and we were all hitting the gym. So I definitely think we got better. We might have our ups and downs, but we all know that we’re still there for each other. And I like the coach. He coaches hard and fast, and I like his fire. And I like that he cares about each and every one of us.”
At one point, Garcia considered transferring to Hollister High School but said he thinks he made the right decision in staying at the smaller school.
“I like this team,” he said, “and I just like being out here with them. What I really like about the team is that they never give up even though we could be down in a game. They still give it all at every snap, and I really, really like that about them.”
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.