A look at the Upland HS football program as the team resumes to action
UPLAND, Calif. — In every town or city, football teams are gearing up to play. With a highly unusual season over the course of COVID, athletes/coaches and fans are ready for the action to resume. Here鈥檚 an inside look at your Upland Highlanders.
Program coaches Chris Allen, David Calderon, Brian Chavez, Vince Elefante, James Flores, Gage Gray, Travis Hills, Tauvaga HoChing, Clarence Jackson, James Johnson, John Mackinney, Cole McCarty, Nate McHenry, Rashaun Scott, Jordan Tanioka, and DeAngelo Wall are back on the field working hard to take this young team as far as they can.
鈥淵ou never stay the same. You are either getting better or you are getting worse. So continue to Pound the Rock and get a little bit better every day.鈥� – Darryl H. Thomas, Upland High School鈥檚 head football coach.”
Team history
The Upland Football Program has a long rich history of playing football the way it鈥檚 supposed to be played鈥� fast, physical, and with passion. Every year the Scots learn the fundamentals of football and are striving to be the most disciplined team in the stadium. Coach Thomas states, 鈥淲e believe that an emphasis on blocking and tackling leads to more success on the field.鈥�
Even though the Highlanders have experienced a number of championships throughout the years, by winning the Baseline League ten times, as well as four CIF titles, it is not the main goal. Their mission is to, 鈥渉elp young people achieve their highest potential while having one of their greatest experiences playing football.鈥澛燱hile they will strive to win that CIF title and Baseline League once again, they plan to do everything they can to play together as a team and continue to pound that rock.聽 Thomas adds, in comparing this year to previous teams, 鈥淲e have so聽many inexperienced players in key spots.聽 However, this team is working just as hard as some of the great teams in the past.聽 We just have to see how we will respond to our opponents.鈥�
At the time of this article, Coach Thomas and his staff have not yet chosen captains. However, they do have members of a leadership council. These are some seniors and juniors on the team who have game experience and who are involved with meetings with the coaches. In these meetings they discuss a number of topics such as: the pulse of the team, what it means to be a good leader, goals for the team, how to respond to different situations, grades, image, culture of the team, the Upland brand, etc…. Members of the leadership council this season are seniors: Bishop Blakely, Felix Bobb, Andrew Campos, Elijah Cannon, Alphonso Conley, Cheke Correa, Guy Crawford, Maika Matelu, Christopher Ponce, Vehi Pulu, Zechariah Ramirez, Raymond Rojas, Ramon Villela, Zivan Ardines, Michael Burnett-Foster, Vincent Macaluso, Sean York, and Arthur Avila.
Pre-game
The Scots have a “Call Out” before every game. They listen to the same song chosen for the year and this starts the ceremony.聽 The coaches have already written the starting numbers of the defensive and offensive starters for the week on a whiteboard on the wall. Coaches call on that particular position and number and the player responds with his nickname or name. The rest of the team claps and cheers after each call out.
They also choose a player for the week to lead them out of the Highlander Tunnel and carry the shield and sledgehammer. This is a person who is a great representation of a Highlander. He may have had a great week of practice, he may have been doing an excellent job in the classroom, he may be a great teammate, doing something positive in the community, or all of the above. This person gets to sign the handle of the sledgehammer and gets 10 helmet stickers.
Hype it up!
Interestingly, every couple years, the team has a player who naturally steps into the role of 鈥榟ype-man鈥�. This player is a natural leader who gets the team hyped up for competition. They usually learn from their predecessors. They have a little chat and a call and response with the team. The hype man this year is definitely Bishop Blakely.
This team wants to leave a legacy. For themselves as individual athletes, for their team, and for their hometown. We wish the Scots a winning and meaningful season.
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