Grizzlies playing bigger than their numbers

Occasionally, a phenomenon pops up in sports that seems to defy logic and proves the old adage that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

For Granite Hills football, such seems to be the case almost every year.

With no more than 1,300 students in the entire school, head coach Gary Stoddard said they typically struggle to field a complete football team, much less a competitive one. Yet the school remains in contention with cross-town rivals Porterville and Monache, schools nearly twice their size.

And even though the Grizzlies have managed to beat Porterville six out of seven times and Monache five out of seven, Granite Hills can’t seem to shake the stigma of being the town’s little brother that just wants to tag along.

“We do have a self-image problem sometimes when we play those other teams,” said Stoddard, who enters his fourth season with the Grizzlies. “We’d rather play against schools our size because we have a hard time getting some guys to come out and play. But the kids we do have know how to play some hard football.”

If the Grizzlies are playing with a chip on their shoulder pads, they’re certainly showing it. Two seasons ago, they enjoyed a banner year in which they made a splash in the playoffs and finally went down in the semis to eventual champions Foothill in a 35-29 shootout.

“We should’ve beat those guys,” Stoddard said, “but then last year, we lost a lot of good players and went 3-7. We struggled with special teams and discipline and we learned a lot about ourselves.”

Stoddard, who once worked under the legendary Lavell Edwards as a graduate assistant at Brigham Young University and coached nine years at Porterville High where his team once won 27 in a row, has spent the summer working with his small team and focusing on each player’s strengths. While the results have yet to pay off on the football field this season, they’re paying off in the players’ attitudes.

“We’re all dedicated to win this year,” Felipe Andrade said. “We have more heart and we’re more ready for this year than last year.”

Andrade, who earned second team all-league honors, said the team is hardly fazed by the team’s upcoming schedule – one which Stoddard says is the toughest Granite Hills has ever faced — because this year’s squad boasts perhaps the largest front line in the league, a five-some that Stoddard estimates an average of nearly 280 pounds each.

“Our linemen are what we needed,” Andrade said. “They’ve got our backs, so I expect a lot this season.”

Another who stands to benefit from the improved O-line is senior quarterback Nathan Cordova, who also doubles as a free safety.

Though the crafty Cordova is capable of carrying the ball himself, he admits he’ll likely pitch or hand it off to one of the Grizzlies’ stronger runners, such as A.J. Castillo, a small but shifty back who will also play cornerback on defense.

Should Cordova choose to go airborne, however, the options are speedsters Sammy Salinas and Cesar Cordero and, of course, Andrade.

While Stoddard says the defense is “an ongoing process,” the fact that the school has dropped down to Division IV status should only bolster the team’s chances of reaching its goal of five wins — the minimum needed to reach the playoffs.

Count camaraderie as another ingredient in this team’s recipe of hoped-for success.

“We all get along — it’s like a big family,” Cordova said. “Last year there was some drama and a couple fights broke out.

“If we do all we can, I think we can win a few more games and take league.”