The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
College of San Mateo football coach Bret Pollack has already made contingency plans just in case he can’t be on the sideline when the Bulldogs play their season opener against De Anza on Saturday. Pollack and his wife are expecting their first child sometime this week.
“I’m going to miss one day this week, and hopefully it’s not Saturday,” Pollack said. “(My wife) doesn’t want to be induced, so it’s by God’s mercy (when she gives birth).”
(Note: Look for CSM’s football preview in Friday’s edition of the Daily Journal.)
Other thoughts and notes regarding CSM football. Just how deep is the Bulldogs program? Two of the best running backs in San Mateo County last year — Capuchino’s Nate Newman and Menlo-Atherton’s Vaughn Smith — are taking grayshirts this season.
CSM is loaded in the backfield with David Aknin, Seta Pohahau, Danny Godfrey and Justin Walton. Newman and Smith taking grayshirts shows you just how strong community college football is, especially at CSM’s level. The Bulldogs have 92 players on the roster, with 17 of them taking grayshirts.
A starting position at CSM varies from week to week, depending a lot on who performs the best in practice. In that regard the quarterback competition is always intriguing. Sophomore Matt Pelesasa has the inside track to start the opener because of his experience, physicality and overall ability.
But Pollack also has plenty of confidence in Julian Bernard, a true freshman out of Terra Nova High. One thing is for certain: This is the biggest pair of QBs Pollack has ever coached, and probably in the history of CSM football. Pelesasa is a load at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, and Bernard is 6-5 and 215.
“Julian looks like he’s standing on a podium back there (in the pocket) because he’s so tall,” Pollack said.
The best junior college programs always attract Division I transfers, and CSM is no different. Former Aragon standout Matangi Tonga had disciplinary problems at BYU and was dismissed from the school.
Pohahau, a 2008 Aragon graduate, earned a scholarship to BYU but didn’t qualify academically. Look for both players to have a huge impact for the Bulldogs this season. Another Division I-transfer include Donell Gaines, who was previously enrolled at Hampton. And Joe Sampson, who will team with Eddie Elder to form one of the most dynamic safety duos in the country, previously played for Foothill College.
Former Bulldogs coach Larry Owens, who stepped down from his position in the offseason due to personal reasons, is still involved with the program, Pollack said. Owens watches practice occasionally and does whatever he can to help players in the weight room.
Owens will probably take on a larger role with the program starting next season.
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CSM water polo and swimming coach Randy Wright is willing to take his lumps in the present for the good of the future.
He has little choice, given the fact that CSM’s new aquatics facility isn’t expected to be ready until March, Wright said. The construction of the new sparkling facility can’t come soon enough. In the last couple of years the Bulldogs’ water polo team has used Carlmont High as its “home.”
CSM women’s team is a work in progress, as four projected starters elected not to play this year so they could play in the school’s new facility next season. Wright understood his player’s decision but knows it made his job that much tougher. This year’s squad is led by goalie Samantha Miglian, who is one of the best at her position in the Coast Conference.
Only three players from last year’s team are back, including Alli Tucker, a big, strong and physical player from her 2-meter position. And utility Najelah Najdawi, a freshman out of El Camino — which didn’t have a water polo team — is expected to have a big impact because of her swimming ability, speed and rocket for an arm. Even though El Camino didn’t have a program, Najdawi has water polo experience through club ball.
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CSM has fielded some excellent cross-country teams the last couple of years, but this season is definitely a rebuilding one.
Only one runner is back on the women’s side, zero for the men. Coach Joe Mangan said he has plenty of runners on both the men’s and women’s teams, but most of them are true track runners and not built for the grueling 3.0-mile runs at venues like the Crystal Springs Course in Belmont.
Still, Mangan will work with his athletes and the plan is to have the top runners peak at the end of the season to qualify for the bigger meets and championships.
