Submitted by Denair High School

Denair’s dominating 32-0 season-opening victory over Woodland Christian didn’t help Coyotes football Coach Anthony Armas sleep any better over the weekend. Despite the lopsided score, he saw too many things that still need to be fixed.

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Armas assessed.

His to-do list for practice this week is long – better angles on blocking and tackling, better play by his backs, more accuracy in the passing game and even better conditioning after many players cramped up in Friday’s heat.

All that said, there were many things that pleased Armas.

Senior Steffin Winston scored three touchdowns – twice on runs and once on a reception – on his way to 121 yards on the ground. Senior Drew Pritchard sprinted 91 yards for another touchdown. Junior middle linebacker Christian Obando spearheaded an aggressive defensive effort that included stopping Woodland on the goal line as well as scoring on a safety.

“I thought our defense played very well,” Armas said. “We really rallied to the ball.”

The Coyotes set the tone early. Denair stopped Woodland on its opening drive, then quickly scored on Winston’s first TD, a 41-yarder.

Denair tacked on another touchdown and a field goal to lead 16-0 at the end of the first quarter, but hit a lull.

“We started well, but then in the middle of the game, we didn’t do much,” Armas said. “Honestly, we should have scored three more touchdowns… We left points on the field.”

The Coyotes will have plenty of time to work on their problem areas. They have a bye this week and don’t play again until hosting Millennium of Tracy on Aug. 31 at Jack Lytton Stadium.

“We’re still trying to figure this group out,” said Armas. “Some of the things we’ve been harping on we’ve still got to fix.”

Junior varsity game: Pitman’s freshman team defeated Denair 7-0.

Submitted by Denair Middle School

A former student with a talent for art is brightening up one of the walls at the Denair Middle School office.

Libby Martinez, a 2017 graduate of Denair High, spent part of Thursday and Friday painting a howling young coyote with the words “Denair is home.” The mural graces what is familiarly known as the “detention wall” outside the principal’s office (it’s the place where students wait).

The project is the brainchild of first-year Principal Amanda Silva, whose oldest son, Hector Obando, graduated with Martinez.

“I reached out … and asked if Libby would consider painting a mural on an empty wall, depicting school spirit. Libby jumped right on it and less than 24 hours later, she is sketching and painting,” Silva said Thursday.

“I got a text from her Wednesday asking if I’d do this,” Martinez recalled. “It never went through my head to say no. It was, ‘How am I going to do this before I go back to San Francisco?’ ”

Martinez is an art major at San Francisco State University. She moves back into the dorms next Thursday; school begins Aug. 27.

She expects to finish the mural no later than Monday. Thursday, she set up a projector in an office across from the wall, allowing her to trace the coyote and words on the wall. She then applied the first coat of semi-gloss house paint. She’s using two shades of purple and brown as well as black, white and gray.

Friday morning, she put on a second coat of purple on the letters.

“Hopefully, I’ll be done Saturday,” Martinez said. “If I have to do touchups, that will be Monday.”

Painting is nothing new to Martinez, though she admits to never doing a mural before. The closest she’s come is two 6-foot by 5-foot charcoal self-portraits she did last spring as a class project.

Martinez credits high school art teacher John Stavrianoudakis – Mr. Stav to everyone – for recognizing her passion for art and inspiring her to pursue it as a career. She hopes to eventually earn a master’s degree and teach art at a university.

“I love Mr. Stav with my whole heart,” she said. “He taught me everything I know. … He taught me to break things down into simple shapes — circles, rectangles, triangles. It helps you from getting super overwhelmed.”

Stav, predictably, gives all the credit to his former student.

“Libby is a ‘force!’ ” he said. “I’m flattered to hear I had a positive influence on Libby to guide her in her artistic path and journey, but the truth is, Libby would be successful in art in spite of me.”

Stavrianoudakis said Martinez excelled at every assignment he threw at her.

“It was a great pleasure to see her grow in high school, and it is an even greater joy to see her continue this post DHS,” he said. “At the end of last year, she dropped by to visit and gave me a print of a skeleton in a headdress she worked on in college.  I have it hanging in my room, and treasure it!  It is what teaching is all about!”

Silva said the entire Martinez family – parents Pam and Ron and their four children – “exemplify the purpose of our work in Denair: Building positive, lifelong relationships where students feel compelled and eager to give back to the community and school system.

“Libby’s theme in sketching the mural is, ‘Denair is Home.’ For all of us that live, breathe, and bleed purple: Denair IS home!”

Submitted by Denair High School

Anthony Armas considers the 2017 football season a building block. Denair relied on mostly juniors and up to seven sophomores most of the year – giving up precious size and experience to virtually every opponent. The Coyotes’ 2-8 record was disappointing, but not surprising, given the challenges.

And even as the season ended in November, the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm remained among the returning players. Many were eager to hit the weight room the very next Monday.

Friday night’s home game will be the first test to see if the lessons learned last fall – and the hard work invested by players and Armas’ coaching staff – will begin to pay dividends.

“Our expectations are high,” admitted Armas, now in his fourth season on the sideline.

The first opponent will provide a stern measuring stick. Woodland Christian is coming off a 10-2 campaign that saw the Cardinals capture the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League championship and advance the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII semifinals.

“They were a game away from playing for the Section title,” Armas said. “They run a similar offense as us with a lot of motion and misdirection, and they’ve got some pretty decent-sized kids.”

Once again, Denair will field a relatively young team. Armas expects to have no more than 10 seniors on a 25-player roster, though all of them got plenty of experience playing both ways last fall. He’s also counting on an infusion of juniors – the sophomores who played on the varsity last year, plus the rest of their classmates who compiled a 4-4 junior varsity record.

Just as important, Armas does not expect to start the year with any sophomores on the varsity – a positive sign of increased depth.

“Our strength and conditioning have improved (since last year),” he said. “The kids have put on muscle mass. We’ve gotten bigger and stronger.”

Leading the way is junior quarterback Elvis Silva, who will be joined in the backfield by senior running backs Steffin Winston and Hunter Musgrave and junior fullback Dylan Da Silva. Senior Drew Pritchard, who played quarterback last season, also is expected to rotate among the running backs.

The Coyotes again will run the Wing-T offense, which relies on motion and trying to get the defense looking in one direction, then sending a back with the ball in another. Confusing defenses allows Denair’s linemen to use blocking leverage to make up for any size differences.

Armas said three juniors – center/middle linebacker Christian Obando, guard/defensive end Carlo Morales and tackle Derek Starkey – will be the anchors on both sides of the ball.  Senior defensive end Scott Badal also is expected to fortify the defense and pressure opposing quarterbacks.

Kickoff this week moves up to 7 p.m. at Don Lytton Stadium because Woodland Christian has a long bus ride home. The Cardinals don’t have a JV team, so Denair’s underclassmen will face the Pitman High freshman team at 5 p.m.

*Southern League game

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