RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Imagine you have been given the task to take a squad of approximately 31 young men, most of which have never played any organized football before and it’s three weeks before the season starts.  Also, imagine that once you have singled out your best players, the Varsity has the ability to call them up to their level because the JV is a feeder program. This is the task that Chris Grijalva took on as he accepted the head JV Coach for the Cordova Lancers. Coach Chris attended and played football at Cordova High School from 2007-2011 where he was a running back and defensive back. Shortly after graduation Chris joined the Navy as a Submarine Logistics Specialist. After eight and a half years of active duty, Chris wanted to step into public service. Hearing that many of Cordova’s coaches had stepped back from coaching due to the pandemic, Coach Chris jumped at the coaching opportunity of what he calls “these amazing kids”

Coach Grijalva has taken the core values he learned during active duty and implemented them into the Junior Varsity program. “Our main goal as a coaching staff is to produce productive citizens in society. Our core values are respect (earn it and give it), Integrity (tell the truth and face the truth), and persistence (get up never give up). Football is merely a tool to teach life lessons,” says Coach Grijalva.  He’s very proud of his team and tells them every practice. He treats them as a Varsity squad and sets the bar high. Being a young and inexperienced group of young men, this high bar challenge was difficult at first, but they have yet to disappoint the also young coaching staff. “Our job as JV coaches is to focus primarily on the fundamentals of football so when they reach the Varsity level, they can hit the ground running. I truly believe that if this group of sophomores and freshmen stays together, they will be strong playoff contenders,” said Coach Grijalva.

In the game of football, there are multiple things that could go wrong with each snap of the ball. The coaches weren’t surprised when the squad lost their first three games. Still trying to figure out which positions most of the players are best at, the team hit some early obstacles that caused the cancellation of four of their ten games. One of the biggest challenges was finding one player to take on the roll of quarterback. Freshmen Donnovan Schiffner having what the coaches call “good athletic ability” was given the job. Donnovan did a great job but lacked some of the instincts that an experienced quarterback brings to the position. 

The coach’s prayers were answered midway through the short 6 game season when Freshman transfer Izaiah Bennett took over as quarterback and led the team to back-to-back victories against Valley and Johnson. “Every week the team has gotten better and better and many players have come a long way from never playing before” said Coach Grijalva. Some sophomore standout players this year were Aiden Gilson, Isreal Martinez, Edward Perez, Ruvin Kravchuk, and Noah Sloan. Some Freshmen standouts were Armani Curtis, Lavon Bunch, Isreal Martinez, Isaac Adeloua, Kenneth Bell, Victor Cubero, Andrew Vivanco, and Isaiah Martinez. With the varsity team having 20 seniors graduating, this crop of sophomores and freshmen are definitely the future of the Big Red Lancer football program. GO BIG RED!