{"id":3402,"date":"2009-08-28T10:39:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-28T10:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/wilson-bruins-the-contenders\/"},"modified":"2009-08-28T10:39:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-28T10:39:00","slug":"wilson-bruins-the-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wilson-bruins-the-contenders","title":{"rendered":"Wilson Bruins: The Contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Last season, Bruins coach Mario Morales told us his team’s goal was to compete\u2014they wanted to be in every game they played.  <\/span>And Wilson achieved that goal, starting off 4-3 before losing their final three games to Poly, Jordan, and Lakewood.  <\/span>Even in the losing efforts, they were close, falling short of beating Compton and Jordan by just a play or two.  <\/span>But this year, the Bruins are a year older, and a lot more experienced\u2014just competing won’t be enough for them.  <\/span>“Now,” says Morales, “We need to contend.”<\/p>\n

The Bruins are one of the oldest teams in the league, returning starters at every key skill position except quarterback, and bolstering one of the league’s craftiest defenses with eight returning starters.  <\/span>Getting so many kids back has added a lot to the program\u2014in addition to familiarity with the team’s system, it’s also brought hunger.  <\/span>“They’re so driven right now, it’s almost weird,” says Morales.  <\/span>“I was getting texts from guys while I was on vacation, just saying ‘Let’s go, I’m ready.’  <\/span>I think we feel a real quiet confidence right now.”<\/p>\n

The Bruins and their fans will find out whether that confidence is justified pretty quickly, as Wilson has a tough nonleague schedule with games against Huntington Park, powerhouse Edison, and Los Alamitos (see below for full schedule and analysis).  <\/span>“We want to see what kind of a team we’re going to be early,” says Morales.  <\/span>“But I can honestly say that we are not intimidated by anyone.”<\/p>\n

They proved that with a feisty passing league performance against Lakewood, which they lost by a hair’s breadth\u2014they’re also drawing emotional strength from bolstered numbers, as Wilson had a lot more kids come out for two-a-days than they’re used to seeing.  <\/span>But with as many seniors as the Bruins have, of course, that can only mean one thing\u2014pretty soon, they’ll have to start over.  <\/span>Last year, they made great strides up the hill\u2014this season, we’ll find out whether Wilson can plant their flag at the top before it’s back to the drawing board in 2010.<\/p>\n

Wilson Bruins 2009 Schedule (Games at 7pm unless noted)<\/o:p><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Week Zero: September 4th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vs. Huntington Park<\/p>\n

Week One: September 10th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

@ Edison (Thursday)<\/p>\n

Week Two: September 18th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vs. La Serna<\/p>\n

Week Three: September 24th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

@ Los Alamitos (Thursday, will be played at Gahr)<\/p>\n

Week Four: October 2nd<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bye<\/p>\n

Week Five: October 9th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vs. Millikan<\/p>\n

Week Six: October 16th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

@ Compton<\/p>\n

Week Seven: October 23th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

@ Cabrillo<\/p>\n

Week Eight: October 30th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vs. Poly<\/p>\n

Week Nine: November 6th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

@ Jordan<\/p>\n

Week Ten: November 13th<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vs. Lakewood<\/p>\n

Schedule Analysis<\/o:p><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wilson really has a tough nonleague schedule, much harder than in 2008\u2014by their first league game, week five against Millikan, we should have a very good idea of who these Bruins are.  <\/span>It’s also going to be easy for busy sports fans to get to their games, since they have two Thursday contests (against Edison, and Los Alamitos).  <\/span>The biggest test before they get into their league schedule will be Edison, on the road on September 10th.  <\/span>The Chargers are returning a lot of players this season and are becoming a popular pick for CIF champion after a dominating passing league schedule, a feat they performed without their massive offensive line.  <\/span>“Those are some teams with great history, with very rich football traditions,” says Morales.  <\/span>“But that’s why we’re playing them, we love the challenge.”  <\/span>The Bruins are glad to be done with the curse of the tenth-week bye this season\u2014now, they’ll play their nonleague schedule, take a week off to heal up and prepare, and then dive in with Millikan.  <\/span>Their real proving ground will be at the end of the season, as they finish against Poly, Jordan and Lakewood\u2014ouch.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Five Players To Watch:<\/o:p><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Brett Harper, QB, sophomore #8<\/o:p><\/em><\/p>\n

The quarterback is a player to watch for most teams\u2014but maybe none more so than at Wilson.  <\/span>A young player on an experienced team, a lot will be riding on the young shoulders of Harper, who will have seniors blocking for him, catching his passes, and taking his handoffs.  <\/span>If he can defy expectations, and convention, the Bruins will have a good year.  <\/span>Morales says he has the respect of his teammates\u2014”They feel real confidence in him, despite his youth.  <\/span>We have high expectations of him, and he’s handling it well.”  <\/span>One positive indicator for his intangible leadership abilities may be Harper’s presence on the Long Beach PONY team that won the World Series two Summers ago.<\/p>\n

Brandon Robertson, RB, senior #23<\/o:p><\/em><\/p>\n

Robertson was the most underrated back in the Moore League last season, hands down.  <\/span>A blue-collar, workhorse runner who got stronger as the game went on (we did the math and his yards-per-carry increased with every passing quarter), Robertson averaged 5 per-carry and over 100 per-game.  <\/span>If he continues his bruising production, he’ll be an awfully big luxury for young Harper and the rest of the Bruins.<\/p>\n

Ryan Entis\/Josh Kocher, Linemen, seniors #s 64 and 66<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, this technically makes this a Top 6 Players to Watch, but the importance of these guys is best described in tandem.  <\/span>They’re both seniors, they’re both captains, they’ll both play both ways, and they’re both physically imposing, a big indicator of how far the Bruins have come in the last few season.  <\/span>“Our success on offense this season will be entirely predicated on offensive line play,” says Morales.  <\/span>So even with the other weapons, Entis, Kocher and the third returning starter Dike Ezenekwe (# 70) might be the guys to keep your eyes on.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Ezell Ruffin, WR\/DB, senior #5<\/o:p><\/em><\/p>\n

Ruffin is an exciting player\u2014on defense, he’s a playmaker with the ability to shift around to a few different spots.  <\/span>On offense, he’s an extremely capable number one wide receiver, with unrivaled in-air ability.  <\/span>If you need someone to haul in a jump ball, you won’t find a better pair of hands than Ruffin.  <\/span>That ability, combined with good route-running and a good sense of the “big play” (Ruffin threw for a TD last year, and was the team’s go to end-around option), he should, along with Robertson, provide a nice safety net for Harper.<\/p>\n

Cheyne Garcia, LB\/FB, senior #33<\/o:p><\/em><\/p>\n

If you don’t like the way Garcia plays football, you probably don’t like football.  <\/span>He’s an all-out, no-holds-barred kind of guy, which is why he’ll play both ways\u2014he actually likes <\/em>being a lead blocker, so you know he won’t be shying from contact on the defensive side of the ball, where defensive coordinator Mark Ziegenhagen will try to keep his string of All-League linebackers going.  <\/span>Garcia’s a dynamic player, and chances are you won’t have to work too hard to keep your eye on the defensive captain.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wilson made great strides last season\u2014with eight returning starters on defense, a balanced offense, and an impressive nonleague schedule, this is the Bruins’ years to plant their flag at the top of the hill, or start climbing all over again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":16969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3402"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3402"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}