Small But Mighty – That’s the Theme of the 2016 Denair High Football Team

DHS Coyotes Football

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

In addition to being a football coach, Anthony Armas is a math teacher. He understands numbers. And the bottom line tells a worrisome tale for this year’s Denair High team: There are just 16 players on the varsity roster.

There’s no getting around the impact of that fact. It changes how Armas and his coaching staff approach practices, it changes how physical the players can be during the week for fear of injury and it changes game strategy with so many required to play both offense and defense.

“The coaches knew when we came over what we were getting into,” said Armas, a Denair High graduate beginning his second year as head coach. “Having 16 guys is terrifying sometimes. We’re walking on eggshells. If someone starts limping in practice, I get nervous.”

Having acknowledged the tiny turnout, Armas remains upbeat about the upcoming season and the Coyotes’ chances to improve on last year’s 3-7 overall record. They begin Friday at home against Summerville. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Jack Lytton Stadium.

Denair more than held its own in Saturday’s scrimmage with Linden, Mountain House and Delhi.

“We did well against them all. Our execution was good for this point in the season,” said Armas, crediting that to the continuity of running the same offensive and defensive schemes for two years in a row. “The players are really understanding what we’re trying to do. We even had kids coming up to coaches suggesting which plays might work.”

Armas said his defense was “dialed in” and the offensive line matched up well against all three opponents. The only concern following the scrimmage was the health of junior tight end and linebacker Dylan Mann, who banged up his shoulder and may not be able to play Friday. Continue reading “Small But Mighty – That’s the Theme of the 2016 Denair High Football Team” »