Sowing the seeds of 'Panther brotherhood'

Running back Nick Shew, linebacker Isidrio Perez and center Jake Vanwinkle all stood on the sidelines during practice one Thursday afternoon –- the walking wounded for Porterville High School’s football team.

They watched as their secondary unit suddenly gathered around in a circle in the middle of the practice field. Squinting to see what was going on, Perez discovered the object of the group’s interest in the center of the circle –– a teammate doing pushups –– and smiled.

“I guess he didn’t do something right,” Perez said.

Such seems to be the theme for the Panthers in 2008:  Make a mistake and prepare to pay the consequences.

While the three aforementioned players are expected to suit up by the season’s first game against North High School (Bakersfield), second-year coach Rick Stewart knows much more needs to happen before this program gets back on track after winning just three games in the past two years.

One of the first steps Stewart took in bringing the program back to the prominence it once enjoyed was installing a farm system of young football players –– some as young as 7 years old –– and teaching them the exact offense that Porterville’s varsity squad runs.

“It’s huge,” Stewart said. “Look at the current senior class. They had 70 guys when they were freshmen and only nine of them are on the team now. We lost them through dream-killers — girls, drugs and grades.”

The current freshmen squad has 55 players and Stewart hopes to retain half of them through their senior years. Doing so would not only ensure that incoming players would already be familiar with the X’s and O’s, but it would cultivate a sense of unity that Panther squads have lacked in the past.

“We have created a Panther brotherhood and we’re building our whole program on brotherhood and relationships,” Stewart said. “I got it from the Marine Corps, where you’ve gotta be willing to go to battle and lay it all on the line. That’s the ultimate selfless act.”

Shew has already seen the drastic changes in attitudes within the team.

“Last year, there were a couple of guys that no one got along with,” Shew said. “They were good players but no one got behind them.”

Perez maintains that Stewart’s coaching methods, while tinged with a certain military presence, is more than a positive influence on the football field.

“It’s fun only if everything is going right,” Perez said, “and that’s how it should be. This year, we’re like a family. All the coaching staff is amazing. (Stewart) helps us on and off the field with football, grades and other sports.”

The Panthers lost several playmakers from last season including standout running backs Josh Dieterle, Michael Coria and Anthony Cemo, as well as quarterback Frank Carabay.

Stepping in for Carabay will be junior Richie Coppenbarger, who took just three passes last year.

“He’s young, but he’s got the heart of a warrior,” Stewart said. “What we love about him is that he hates to lose and that’s the No. 1 requirement to play quarterback.”

Aiding Shew in the backfield will be seniors Colby Quinton and Josh Callanan –– players that Stewart says will “have to be dragged off the field.” Stewart also calls Perez “our rock” of the team.

“All I can say is, we’re going to be better than last year,” Stewart said. “Where that translates into the win-loss column, I don’t know. There’s so much you can’t control. You can’t control injuries and you can’t control how good the other teams will be.”

Another factor that will likely play into Porterville’s success this season is that the schedule will not be a burden as it was in 2007.

“We had three of the Valley finalists on our schedule last year,” Stewart said. “We’ve got CVC, Taft and North new to our schedule this year and they’re all talented, but we played El Diamante and Lemoore last year.”

Regardless of the new strategies, the new field equipment Stewart brought in to aid the team in games and practices, and the farm system, the players believe nothing can replace a hard work ethic and that feeling of Panther brotherhood to better achieve success.

“We’ve worked way too hard not to have high expectations this year,” Perez said. “Way too hard.

“I just wanna be there for my team and do whatever it takes.”