Star Staff
The Santa Ynez Valley Union High School football team has been working especially hard this summer to ensure that all its varsity and junior varsity players were ready for the season, and it showed as their first home game against Carpinteria High School was a victory 42-0.
“We have a lot of first-time varsity players this year and it’s been great to watch the kids bond and the older ones share their knowledge,” Head Coach Josh McClurg said.
The defense is led by returning all-league middle linebacker Travis Vreeland and AJ Reynoso, cornerbacks Michael McCoy and Gabe Prendergast, and strong safety Ben Schaeffer.
Team captains this season are Michael McCoy, Gustavo Zarate and Ramon Lazarit.
“McCoy is our quarterback and he will be joined by returning wide receiver Gabe Prendergast and tight-end Travis Vreeland. We have a strong team and can’t wait to see what they do on the field,” McClurg said.
Every Thursday you can find the varsity team on the field practicing game situations, with McClurg and his staff leading the players and showing them how to get through each play.
The schedule of the Pirates’ home games is printed in the September issue, and their entire schedule is posted at syvpirates.org.
The team’s next home game is at 4 p.m. for Junior Varsity and at 7 p.m. for Varsity on Friday, Sept. 23, when Santa Ynez hosts Templeton High School.
