GREENFIELD — Going back to last year’s football season, the Greenfield Bruins’ season didn’t go as planned as they finished with a 3-7 record, but this year seems promising as they are returning with a fair amount of their starters.
Last year the injury bug hit Greenfield hard: before the first game, their starting left tackle went down with an injury; then on their first play of the season, their starting quarterback got hurt; and then they had to try to run an offense with a player who had never played quarterback before.
Going into this season, the Bruins are expected to compete for a league title next year. With close to 100 players coming out for spring ball, the expectations are sky high.
Coming into this year, there are still some questions looming over this team. Who is going to be the starting quarterback? Who is going to replace Anthony Morales’ offensive production? Who is going to step up at the receiver?
When it comes to the quarterback position, there will be two players contending for the spot.
The first of whom is Eric Hernandez, who will also be one of the Bruins’ top defensive players this upcoming year. Hernandez hurt his hand on the first play of the game against Soledad last year, which kept him out for multiple weeks.
Also competing for the starting job is last year’s quarterback, Cristian Zavala, who before that year had never played quarterback before. Last year in Zavala’s first game, he was able to help the Bruins overcome a 19-point deficit and win the game 33-25.
The good news for whoever plays quarterback next year is they will have the luxury of having arguably the best offensive linemen in Santa Lucia Division: Andrew Siqueiros.
Last year Siqueiros was able to open tons of holes on the ground for the running backs. He will be a part of an offensive line that will have replace some parts from last year, but this line is still good enough that they should be better than the majority of their opponents.
Finally, if the Bruins are going to be an actual threat this year, they are going to need their all-league running back from last year, Alonso Barcenas, to have a great season. Barcenas, at the end of the season, caught fire as he rushed for 100 yards in the last four games of the year and had 173 yards against Stevenson.
