Of course, the Simi Valley High football team wanted to return to the field as soon as possible.
Coming off the first sectional championship and regional final appearance in a century of play, the Pioneers will be the first Ventura County team to take the field this fall.
Simi Valley’s road trip to Spanish Springs of Sparks, Nevada, on Friday arrives a week earlier than Week Zero, when most local teams will kick off their seasons.
It will mean more history for the program, which will play its first game out of state.
“We’re embracing that,” head coach Jim Benkert said of his team’s trip to the Reno area. “We’re flying, we’re doing things right. It’s the next step for our program to continue to raise the bar to compete with the upper echelon of the county.”
To do so, Benkert’s team didn’t adjust its preseason whatsoever.
“We started like everybody else,” Benkert said. “We’re just going to play a week earlier.”
Which isn’t a big deal for Benkert. Ventura County’s all-time winningest football coach, who reached 300 career wins last November, has always maintained his teams are ready to a play well before they actually take the field on a Friday night.
“The last week, at least for me, kind of drags,” Benkert said. “The things that we’re doing now, we’ve done in spring, in summer and in camp.
“It’s almost boring for our guys because we do it so much. So we’re ready to play. Getting a game this early gets us going.”
Simi Valley was 9-6 a year ago, when it edged Mira Costa, 44-38 in overtime, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 title game and reached the CIF-State Division 2-A regional final.
Quarterback Jesse Sereno and much of the receiving and linebacking corps have graduated, but the cupboard is far from bare.
Running back Brice Hawkins, who amassed 3,127 all-purpose yards as a junior, returns, as does his entire offensive line, led by center Kevin Ilano — a four-year starter — and 6-foot-3 guard Gino Veon.
“I feel good about it,” Hawkins said. “I’m just ready to play.”
Former Pacifica and Westlake quarterback Tagg Harrison moved back from Arizona in February to take over the keys to the offense.
“It gave me a little bit of time to get used to the school and get to know people, which was nice,” Harrison said. “Just being able to get used to how (Benkert) coaches and getting onto the same page as him, being able to go into the office and get into the playbook with him was really cool.”
Running back Zane Tryon, who flashed talent as a freshman before transferring to Sherman Oaks-Notre Dame before last season, is back. Freshman Salvador Villa gives the Pioneers one of the deepest backfields in the county.
Spanish Springs was 7-5 last fall, reaching Nevada’s 5A-North Division 2 title game. Senior Brady Hummel had seven TD catches and six interceptions as a junior.
Starting a week early means Simi Valley will have two bye weeks this fall — Weeks 1 and 5.
“Our kids are excited to travel as a team,” Benkert said. “Our kids are excited to stay in a hotel and go through the festivities. That’s what we’re trying to do, give them these experiences.”
Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook and TikTok.
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Publish date : 2024-08-15 07:46:00
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