Prep Football Preview: Nighthawks look to get quickly accustomed to change

A lot of new faces are on the sidelines at Del Norte High, including first-year coach Patrick Coleman.

He right away inserted a new spread-type offense and changed the defense to match what powerhouse Oceanside runs.

“The kids are adapting well to the change,” said Coleman, who was the defensive coordinator for legendary Pirates coach John Carroll from 2008-2013. “We have an outstanding coaching staff and now it is a matter of how fast we can get up to speed and learn the scheme.”

The Nighthawks will be doing it with new faces on the field, too. Graduated is three-year starting quarterback Parker Lappin, running back Kayden Clements and the versatile receiver/defensive back Quenton Meeks, who is now at Stanford.

Del Norte will turn to 6-foot-3 junior Jake Moore at the quarterback position and is hoping track star D’angelo Gunter can be the home-run hitter at wide out.

“Jake is very intelligent, a 4.0 (GPA) type of kid,” Coleman said. “He is on the basketball team and is very athletic. We are training him to be a pocket passer. We are not deep at that position so he won’t be running a whole lot.”

The running will mainly be left up to senior Elijah Abrenica. The 5-foot-8, 155-pounder carried the ball 44 times for 340 yards and two touchdowns last season. He should get some help from junior Will Carpenter and Gunter could also pitch in to boost the running game.

“Elijah will get the majority of the carries, but we are looking fairly good to be able to rotate guys in and out and change packages,” Coleman said.

The Nighthawks went 1-3 in their first season in the brutal Avocado East League. It will be tough again with Mission Hills, San Marcos, Vista and Rancho Buena Vista all ranked ahead of the Nighthawks in the MaxPreps San Diego Section rankings.

“The big boy in the league is Mission Hills,” Coleman said. “They will be loaded ... and San Marcos had a very good season last year and are returning a decent amount of guys and Vista is a North County power.

“For us, my philosophy is that if we practice great and we perform to the best of our ability, I believe we will get the wins that are deserved. And playing against those guys will get us fired up to make a run in the Division III playoffs.”

The Nighthawks were bounced in the first round of the Division II playoffs last season. The move to Division III makes their chances at a deep postseason run more likely. Coleman is certainly optimistic.

“I tell everybody I am an over-optimist,” he said. “So, without being cocky I like to be confident. For us, if we are not setting our goals at championships then we are not going to get them. So, our goal is to win league and Division III and the SoCal Regional and then state. And we are going to do everything we can to prepare to meet those goals.”

The Nighthawks have just one Division III opponent on their schedule and that is Fallbrook in the final week of the regular season.

Other than that they play four Division II teams (Rancho Bernardo, Westview, Mt. Carmel and Rancho Buena Vista), three Division I teams (Mission Hills, Vista and San Marcos) and one Division V team (Escondido Charter).

Del Norte

Coach: Patrick Coleman, first year

2014 record: 5-6, 1-3

Division: III

Key players: QB, Jake Moore, Jr.; OL/DL, Zack Zacchilli, Sr.; RB/S, Elijah Abrenica, Sr.; LB, Scott McKirdy, Jr.; WR/CB, D’angelo Gunter, Jr.; WR/DB, Marco Young, Sr.; K, Grayson Farnham, Sr.; RB/LB, Will Carpenter, Jr.; WR/LB, Anthony Ullrich, Jr.; OL/DL, Christopher Jimenez, Jr.; RB/LB, Robby Hauck, Jr.