Joselyn Carbajal
Granite Hills coach Carl Scudder talks to his team after practice on Aug. 25.
The long, hot days of working out and practicing in the summer are about to pay off finally.
The Granite Hills High School football team will play its first football game of the 2025 season at Parlier on Aug. 29.
Coach Carl Scudder, entering his fifth year as coach of the Grizzly football team, looks forward to the start of a great season.
“I’m really excited about the season,” Scudder said. “I’m looking forward to it. We had a scrimmage last week, and the boys played really well in the scrimmage. So I’m just excited to get to the football games finally.”
The Grizzlies went 6-6 last season, and Scudder is excited to see what this year’s team will do.
“I think last year, being 6-6, I thought we were a little bit of underachievers,” Scudder said. “I thought we could have been a little bit better last year. This year’s team is a completely different team. We’re really young this year. So if we can match or do better than we did last year, I’ll be very pleased.”
Last year, the Grizzlies won their first-ever playoff game, beating Foothill 35-7. Although they lost in the second round of the playoffs 46-29 against Corcoran, coach Scudder has very high hopes for them again this season.
“I mean, we won the first playoff game in school history last year,” Scudder said. “So those are big shoes to fill.”
If the Grizzlies are going to repeat their successes of last season, they will have to rely on the offensive line.
Scudder said players like Clayton Taylor, Izzy Villegas, and others are going to be a big part of the offensive line.
“Right now, we’re projecting three seniors and two sophomores to start for us,” Scudder said. “And then a junior at tight end, so, the better the offensive line does, the better we’re gonna do overall.”
The three seniors who are projected to start on the offensive line are Villegas (6-0, 325 pounds), Aidan Owens (5-10, 315), and Manuel Corona (6-0,220).
Other key returning players include: Xavier Fernandez, Angel Hinojosa, Rhyan Vinson, Fabian Magaña, Armando Robledo, along with newcomers Joseph Magaña and Taylor.
Vinson, the returning starting quarterback, is enthusiastic about his teammates this year, as long as everyone comes together.
“We’re gonna have a pretty good season this year, as long as everyone comes together as a team, as a whole,” Vinson said. “We all work together, do our jobs. If we all do that, then probably we will come out on top, win a championship this season.”
Another key player on the Grizzly team is senior captain Villegas, who is one of the starting offensive linemen. Villegas plans to win a ring in his last year with this football team.
“Honestly, I’m hoping that we take it all the way,” Villegas said. “I’m trying to win this year and end my last season with a ring.”
Scudder’s starters are just projections, but they can change from week to week.
“They can be won or lost every day at practice,” Scudder said. “So I have an idea of who our starters are. But if somebody steps up in practice and wins a spot, then that’s the starter. I really favor the guys who work hard and put the time and effort into doing their job well.”
The Grizzlies play Parlier this Friday, a team they beat 47-0 last season. Parlier played Orange Cove last week, in which it won 42-40.
The ultimate goal for Scudder is to win championships, but he is not thinking that far ahead yet.
“One step at a time. One game at a time,” Scudder said. I would like to make it all the way to the Valley championship. Absolutely.”
(Photos by Joselyn Carbajal)