BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
MONTE ALTO — Monte Alto sophomore quarterback Joseph Cano remembers watching the Blue Devils play football during their first few years as a varsity program.
“It’s an honor to be on this team,” Cano said. “I used to come to the games all the time.”
The Blue Devils played their first varsity game in 2011, and in the time since, they have never made a playoff appearance. Cano may be the player to change that.
Over the offseason, Cano said he was hard at work trying to get better.
“I wanted to improve more on my throwing,” Cano said. “Being the quarterback this year, we wanted to focus a little bit more on getting the ball down the field. So I am trying to make that more of an option in the offense.”
Cano started a few games at quarterback last season as a freshman.
Being called on that early in his career was challenging, but he learned a lot, he said. That experience is already paying dividends for the Blue Devils, as Cano is showing unprecedented poise as a sophomore.
“He got his feet wet early,” Monte Alto coach Amos Salas said. “What I like about Joseph is that he is our field general out there during the games. That’s not what you would expect from a sophomore, but he has a lot of football savvy.”
Salas is in his first year as a head coach, but last season he was the offensive coordinator at Monte Alto, giving him a lot of familiarity with Cano.
Cano worked hard to learn the playbook as a freshman, and that shows in how he operates at the line of scrimmage. In the team’s spread option offense, Cano has to make quick reads to decide whether to keep the ball or hand it off to a back, Salas said. That’s not the only part of the offense that requires him to make the right decision very quickly.
“In our passing game, if we see something that we didn’t find before, he can check down to an audible,” Salas said. “We have several audibles set for him this year.”
Salas said he can trust Cano with those responsibilities because “he is a very smart kid.”
“He is ranked No. 1 in his class,” Salas said. “He has a lot of football savvy. Having him out there, he sees a lot of things that we might miss from the sidelines.”
Cano credits a lot of his development to his quarterback coach, Steven Bocanegra.
“We talk a lot about form and everything,” Cano said. “He helped me with keeping the ball close to me, up high, getting ready to throw the ball and having a quick release.”
But Cano is not alone. He has the support of his teammates. Even the upperclassmen trust him to lead, Salas said.
“Last year to this year, I feel strong with him,” junior running back Marco Oseguera said. “I have been talking to him more, and I feel a closer connection this season.
“The seniors and the juniors, we have to stick together as a team and help him out, because he is a younger guy.”
THREE WAYS
Many players on offense will also be asked to play a role on the defensive end, a circumstance that is common at the 3A level.
“At a small school, it is kind of expected, and our kids are adapting,” Salas said of players playing offense and defense. “They are trying to change the culture about going both ways, even in the third phase of the game — special teams. So we are going to have some kids that will have to do that, as well. We have always preached to them that we want to be a well-conditioned team, to where they can go both offense and defense.”
Salas said he has been seeing an average of 25-30 players in practice so far, but he is hopeful to get another 10-15 when school starts back up and students return home.
The players he has now have been willing to accept whatever role he needs them to.
“Everybody has a positive attitude. They are willing to learn,” Salas said. “They are willing to make a sacrifice and play a new position that they haven’t played before, because they understand what their role is on the team.”
With the numbers where they are, plus an expected influx, Salas is hopeful that he can bring back an element of the program that has been missing.
“We are trying to — which they haven’t done the past years — have a JV team,” Salas said. “If we can get those numbers and play a few JV games, that helps our younger kids with their confidence.”
Salas said giving younger players a chance to play on the junior varsity team may give them the experience to contribute on the varsity level later in the year, which would give some of his two-way players a chance to rest.
BIG SHOES TO FILL
Last year, one of the leaders on the Blue Devils’ offense was Stephen Baxter. Stephen graduated, but this year, his brother Matthew Baxter, a senior, is looking to follow in his older brother’s footsteps.
“He’s on the right track,” Salas said. “Like a lot of kids on this team, he had a good summer in the 7-on-7.”
Most importantly, Matthew Baxter has developed an alliance with Cano.
“He’s one of my go-to’s,” Cano said. “He’s one of my favorite receivers.”
MONTE ALTO’S PROGNOSIS
With Cano and a bevy of talented backs, Monte Alto will need to control the ball on offense to find success.
2016 record: 2-7
Returning starters O/D: 4/3
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Amos Salas
Year at school: 1st
Record at school: 0-0