The fourth and final season of MacDonald Condors football is about to kick off for the school’s first-ever senior class. Head Coach Burt Codera went through his roster and counted 16 players with whom he has had the privilege of coaching for the past four years, taking them from the JV level and graduating with them to varsity starting last season.
“Sixteen of these guys were with me when we started the program back three years ago,” noted Codera. “I told the kids the time was going to go by fast. The days are long, but the years fly by really fast. It has been really cool to work with the same group of kids for four years and really develop them. I spend so many hours with them. I’m their PE teacher as well, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with these guys the last three years. Watching them grow and develop, not just as athletes, but as young men, it has been really rewarding for me.”
When it comes to development, the program has arguably already exceeded external expectations. Despite not having a senior class a year ago, their first year on varsity saw the Condors finish the league season with a .500 record at 4-4. With a stronger, faster, more mature group of players with a senior class this time around, internal expectations seem to have risen as well.
“Given our group of coaches and players, we have always carried high expectations,” remarked Codera. “We don’t let the outside world’s view control us. We know what we are capable of and what we expect. The expectations are really, really high for us. Bringing back the experience and how we did last year. We do talk about winning league and having a championship season. But it’s one of those things you don’t want to talk about too often. Yes, that’s the goal, but how you get there. It’s not about talking about winning; it’s about doing all those little things that add up to the winning and the big things add up in the long run.”
“Obviously, it’s the last year for a lot of us, so we plan to go far,” responded MacDonald linebacker and slot receiver John Leonard when asked about the team’s expectations. “But we’re not gonna be thick-headed. We are gonna take it game by game and see where it goes from there.”
“I’m really excited. I definitely think we have the talent to go far this year,” chimed free safety and running back Isiah Tela. “We have had the same guys since freshman year, just building and getting to know each other. So, I think we should be able to get things together and go far.”
In addition to Leonard and Tela, the Condors feature a senior class that includes a six-foot, four-inch starting quarterback in Moussa Fall, playmakers like Siaosi Hautau, Ethan Bugarin, Dominic Ortega and a leader in the trenches in two-way lineman Darey Villamar.
MacDonald will open their first-ever senior season on Aug. 29 when they travel to Santa Clara High School to take on the rival Bruins.
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