On Sept. 17, Aragon’s football team (2-2 overall) beat Saratoga (0-4 overall) 40-0 in their first home game of the season. This marked the first varsity game for some players, including sophomore running back Ivan Nisa.
“Being my first [varsity] game, I think I was a bit nervous,” Nisa said. “My strategy was to go in, get hit a bit and then get used to the game.”
The first half of the game was successful for the Dons, both on offensive and defensive plays.
“[The most critical part of the game was] probably the first quarter where we established that we could run the ball and make plays,” said head coach Steve Sell.
Not only did the team manage to prevent Saratoga from scoring any touchdowns, they were able to score six touchdowns in a row, which brought them to a 40-0 lead at halftime. Nisa, who ran a total of 122 yards, scored four of the touchdowns, including a 62-yard rushing touchdown with just a little over four minutes remaining in the second quarter.
“The excitement when you score a touchdown, there’s nothing like it,” Nisa said. “You just want to keep scoring and I think that that’s what I did.”
After halftime, the Dons replaced their starting lineup with their backup players.
“The second half of the game … was more mellow,” said senior cornerback Alan Tanielu. “Our coaches wanted to save some of our starters so we wanted to let our [backup players] do their thing.”
“It feels great to … have the environment of our school here again”
Although the Dons were unable to score another touchdown during the second half, they still held Saratoga back, even with several penalties. The game reached a stalemate during the second half, and the score did not change.
“I was very happy with the way [the backup players] played,” Sell said. “I was happy that they got to play a lot.”
The team was excited to be back on the Aragon field, once again cheered on by the crowd.
“It feels great to … have the environment of our school here again,” Tanielu said.
In total, the Dons have played three away games and one home game. They lost to Homestead (2-2 overall) and Leland (2-1 overall), but beat Woodside (1-3 overall) 41-7 and Saratoga 40-0 respectively.
The biggest challenge for the team this season is rebuilding team chemistry and veteran leadership, especially with last year’s shortened season.
“We don’t have a lot of returning players,” said junior quarterback Dylan Daniel. “[We have] three starting seniors this year, which means that … the juniors and sophomores need to step up.”
Both Daniel and junior wide receiver Lloyd Walter agree the key to improvement lies in the Dons’ cohesiveness.
“I think building our team chemistry will be really helpful going forward,” Walter said. “Focusing and doing what we’re supposed to do when we’re supposed to do it [will also help].”
Daniel concurred the team needs to improve their harmony, in addition to refining their plays.
“The one thing our team needs to do the most is [to] take their work home,” Daniel said. “Football is not just on the field. [We] often need to study [our recorded plays] … to be able to know what we’re doing.”
With their recent success, the Dons’ work seems to be paying off. The team has been building new strategies and are preparing to implement these against the many strong teams they will be facing.
“I’m looking forward to … the Menlo game, which is our home game, and then also the Hillsdale game just because [of] the mental game last year,” Walter said. “We were missing some players that game so we didn’t get to play to our full potential.”
While the Dons are looking to improve on the field, Sell is also working to improve the players off the field.
“Football is not just on the field. [We] often need to study [our recorded plays] … to be able to know what we’re doing.”
“We want all that on-field success,” Sell said. “But [at] the end of the day, you’d like to develop these young citizens that are responsible and work hard and do the right thing.”
The Dons’ next game will be away against King’s Academy (1-2) on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.
