What does a team do when its star quarterback goes down seven plays into the first game of the season? First, coaches send in the backup—in this case, a junior named T.J. Jordan. Then, they move on.
In the tough Pac-7 league, there’s no time to dwell on misfortune, and the Righetti Warriors know that truism better than anyone this season.
“If those first seven plays were any indication, Justin was going to have a good year,” said Defensive Coach Ron Prober.
Senior Justin Level hurt his knee in that seventh play and has since had surgery to repair the damage. Though he’s doing well—and will hopefully still be able to play in college, according to Head Coach Gary Wilson—the team has had to adjust.
From tight end to quarterback, it was Jordan who got pulled from his regular position and switched to quarterback. He’s been there ever since.
“We’re really fortunate that we have T.J. He’s done a great job,” said Offensive Coach Derrick Beebe. “We lost a lot, but we gained a lot, too.”
Jordan was quarterback on his junior varsity team, but it had been a while since he held the position. He’s gotten a lot of practice in the Warriors’ last four games, and led the team to two wins and two losses so far, including a loss in a close game against the Pioneer Valley Panthers. The Warriors beat Cabrillo and Santa Barbara High School and lost to Hart from Newhall.
“He’s starting to take on the challenge and excel,” Wilson said of Jordan. “We haven’t really given him full range yet, but we’re working on it.”
The team has one more pre-league game against Dos Pueblos High School on Oct. 3 before starting league play against Atascadero on Oct. 17. With only five league games total, Righetti can only afford to lose one game and still make the playoffs.
Last season, the Warriors went 2-3 in the league. The coaches are planning to improve that record this year. Prober has a new plan for the Righetti defense. Instead of concentrating on stopping their opponents’ running game, the Warriors are branching out and learning how to stop passes, too. This new strategy will help against San Luis Obispo High School and Paso Robles, two teams with more of a passing game, Prober said.
On the offensive side, Beebe said that they’re sticking with the same game plan for Jordan that they had for Level, and counting on the offensive line to be one of the team’s greatest assets. There are also a few players that Righetti is counting on to make a difference. One of those guys is Matt Miller, a junior receiver and defensive back.
“We can’t afford to take him off the field,” Wilson said. “We’re a different team without him on the field.”
“He’s definitely one of our most athletic kids on both sides of the ball,” Prober added.
The team will need his help against Atascadero, and Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo.
“To win the league, you have to play with the teams up north,” Beebe said.
Wilson is worried about those teams up north. He’s also worried about his own players, and hopes that they will play up to their potential this season. In the Pac-7, he said, there are no off games—teams have to bring their best game each and every night.
The Warriors have a good team this year, and though they suffered a setback in losing Level, Wilson said that the loss doesn’t mean they can’t compete. It just means they have to work a bit harder.
“Hopefully it builds character for us, and the kids will rise to the occasion,” he said.
Sports Editor Sarah E. Thien thinks that she saw this situation on TV somewhere. Contact her at sthien@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 2-9, 2008.