Rio Mesa looking for balance on offense
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

SEASON STARTS TONIGHT-Above, Rio Mesa players do a few stretching drills prior to Wednesday's practice. Below, quarterback Shane Austin holds the ball for place kicker Kris Reveles. The Spartans are on the road tonight to take on San Marcos. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

In his first two seasons as Rio Mesa's head football coach, Bob Gregorchuk's teams have made a living running the ball. On paper, things shouldn't be too much different this year, not with 6-foot-4, 215-pound tailback Malachi Lewis lining up in the Spartan backfield.

Lewis, a highly recruited senior, rushed 308 times for 2,187 yards (7.1 yards per carry) and scored 24 touchdowns in 2005, a year in which Rio Mesa finished 8-5 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division IV playoffs, where they lost to eventual champion St. Bonaventure, 28-7.

As a team, the Spartans totaled 3,380 rushing yards a season ago. They had 530 rushing attempts and passed the ball only 168 times.

But rather than lean solely on Lewis throughout the '06 campaign, Gregorchuk said he'd like to see the Spartan offense develop a vertical passing attack to complement its outstanding ground game.

"Hopefully we'll be more balanced," Gregorchuk said.

Senior quarterback Shane Austin "has really worked his butt off this summer. He's been working religiously during the offseason and has really improved," the coach said.

While splitting snaps with Chris Gagua last year, Austin completed 52-of-81 passing attempts for 850 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He posted a quarterback rating of 104 while completing 64 percent of his passes.

This year Austin won't share the quarterbacking duties. He is the team's unquestioned starting signal-caller, a role the senior welcomes with open arms.

"I feel a little more comfortable. I feel like I can really lead the team," Austin said. "Now it's just one guy, and that's easier on me because I'll get more reps. If I make a mistake, I can come right back and make up for it, rather than just getting pulled out, and that's an advantage."

With Lewis in the backfield and a talented group of wideouts to throw to, including track star Josh Harrison on the outside, Austin knows he'll have plenty of options when it comes time to distribute the football.

"We've got a lot of great athletes," he said. "Our receivers have a lot of speed and great hands. I can always trust them coming across middle or going deep. They run crisp routes. If I put it in the right spot, they'll catch it."

Senior left guard Jake Herrera is the only returning starter on the Rio Mesa offensive line, and he understands that distinction comes with certain responsibilities.

"As a leader, I've got to make sure the linemen are stepping it up and doing what they need to be doing," Herrera said. "Some of them might slack off, but we've got to be together-airtight. I've got to push them harder and keep things going."

Juniors Paul Ui and Jeremy Fontes are expected to start at right guard and center, respectively. Both starting tackle positions, however, remain a question mark, with Antonio Hosford, Enrique Miranda, Eric Johnson and Ricky Black all expected to push for playing time.

"Hopefully we can improve quite a bit after this week's practices," Gregorchuk said. "The biggest test, though, will be our first game against San Marcos."

Defensively, Rio Mesa is strong at linebacker and in the secondary, but there are several holes to fill along the defensive line, Gregorchuk said.

Defensive coordinator George Contreras prefers to run a 3-5-3 system, a scheme he learned by studying Army. Contreras' defense is predicated on speed and zone blitzing, Gregorchuk said, with the team's three down linemen constantly slanting to fill gaps rather than reacting to the play in front of them.

"We want to beat the offensive linemen off the ball and get to our gap and control that gap," the coach said.

At 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds, junior Gustavo Uribe will start at nose tackle. Uribe might not be huge in stature, but he's the most powerful player on the Spartan roster.

"We're not looking for a guy to plug up the middle and manhandle people right there," Gregorchuk said. "We're looking for speed. We want lanky guys that can move."

Senior Josh Martin and sophomore James Lopez, along with Black, Miranda and Herrera, are all expected to see significant time along the defensive front.

Rio Mesa scored 30 or more points seven times last season, including putting up 40-plus points on five occasions. They won each of those games. However, in games where they scored 24 points or fewer, the Spartans were 1-5.

Gregorchuk anticipates his team will have to put a lot of points on the scoreboard to be successful this season as well.

"Right now our defense is more of a question than our offense," he said. "Until we really solidify our defense, I think we're going to have to outscore some people."

Rio Mesa opens the preseason tonight in Santa Barbara against the San Marcos Royals. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.