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Creating a high school football team is much like dumping a lot of jigsaw puzzle pieces on a table—some left over from the puzzle you solved last year and some you have never seen before—and trying to put them all together correctly without the picture on the box to give you hints.
That’s the process Head Coach Bryan Smith and his staff are currently undertaking as they make final decisions about which students who came out for the Hollister High football team will be kept or cut—and more importantly, which Baler athletes will play which key positions.
“It can be a little frustrating,” Smith said. “But it’s part of going through Fall Camp, trying to put things together so the team will be efficient from game 1. I try to keep an open mind through the three-day trials. Someone could make a big impression tomorrow.”
Smith has undertaken this process many times since becoming head coach in 2016 and, as always, it’s complicated by the fact that often half of the previous year’s team is lost to graduation.
“Isias Morin was our Golden Helmet winner last year,” Smith said. “Brayden Watkins will be missed extremely at the running back position. So now we have had probably seven guys attempting to compete for their two positions, and that’s been interesting.”
Hollister had a 2-5 record last year, taking fifth in the Pacific Coast Gabilan League. The championship went to the Salinas High team, undefeated at 6-0.
Though the final standings might seem lopsided, Smith said the team only needed 10 points across three games to flip them to wins: four points against Alvarez, four against Aptos and two against Palma, which went into overtime.
“If we’d won those games,” he said. “Maybe it would have changed the dynamics of our energy, the feel-good piece to our team. But it happened. We changed some things in the off-season, and we’re looking to be a lot better this year.”
He said that losing three games by a total of 10 points meant that the team was still in the games, which kept its morale strong through the end of the year.
Several returning players said they thought a lack of communication between players on the field had held the team back. Smith said he emphasized to the team captains the need to take a greater leadership role in the off-season.
“As a head coach,” he said, “I can control what’s on the field. I can control what’s in our weight room. I can connect with our teachers on campus. But the unity of the team comes from leadership. I want the captains to be more vocal, showing more by their actions and reaching out to teammates.”
Smith said the off-season had been tremendous and that everything was moving in the right direction.
“We asked them to spend a lot of time in the off-season improving,” he said. “Building their strength, working hard. When you go through tough times together, you can look back on the time you put into having success and your investment into the program, yourself and the community.”
Smith said overall, this year’s players are more athletic than last year’s, with bigger and stronger offensive and defensive lines.
“Our leadership is also greater,” he said. “We have a couple of three-year varsity players in Savion Loza and Tomas Salvador who have really stepped up, and we’ve had good energy, working through the bumps and bruises.”
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Savion Loza. Photo by Robert Eliason.Smith said training started with around 90 prospective players and that by Aug. 12, it was down to around 80 through attrition. Smith and the rest of the coaches, he said, would be cutting that number down to 60 following three days of trials.
“One of the worst things we have to do as coaches is cut football players who have spent a lot of time trying to make a team,” he said. “We have general consensus on 50 guys. It’s the last 10 to 15 guys who need to stand out tomorrow and bring a greater energy than they have been.”
Smith named four returning seniors to be interviewed for this article.
Tomas Salvador “Tomas is a three-year varsity football player for us,” Smith said. “He started last year for us at tackle. This year he’ll play guard and should play every single down for us.”
Salvador started playing Pop Warner football when he was seven years old and said that the sport made him who he is today.
“The hard work and dedication and time and effort that you put into it really changes you,” Salvador said. “You can’t just be technically sound; you must also be smart.”
Salvador said the team still has a ways to go to solve the problems it had last year and that the returning players are its greatest strength.
“They are strong on both sides of the ball,” he said. “And that is going to help the underclassmen. But we lost a lot of seniors and their spots really have not been filled yet that need players at the varsity level.”
Salvador said it helps that many of his teachers have been athletes, which puts him in a position to understand the balance between sports and academics. He describes the coaching staff as “amazing.”
“Every one of them will help you out,” he said. “Even if they are not your position coach, they will be there for you if they see you need help.”
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Tomas Salvador. Photo by Robert Eliason.Christiano Lujano “Cristiano just started playing football in his sophomore year,” Smith said. “He plays defensive tackle for us and has blown up immensely. He’s the largest player on the team, but he’s very athletic and agile. He’ll be a force on the defensive line for us.”
Lujano said he came to Hollister High with no sports knowledge, but the coaches “kept getting on me about playing football.” While disappointed in last year’s results, he thinks the team is more focused and dedicated this year.
He said his value as a player is his strength, speed, and ability to get the team hyped up. He said that the team’s strength lies with its returning players and the talent of the coaching staff.
“Every coach has been of great help,” Lujano said. “They help us every single day and we are blessed to shake their hands at the end of practice.”
Carmelo Arias “Carmelo is one of our hardest-working young men in the weight room,” Smooth said. “He’s super respectful in the classroom, and last year he played inside linebacker as a starter for us. He’s looking to have a really good year.”
Arias started playing football in the second grade and enjoys the way the sport allows him to assert himself. He said it was frustrating to lose numerous games last year by close margins but feels the team is on the right track for a better season.
“It was a lot of little mistakes,” he said. “So there were a lot of little things we needed to fix. But this year, we are on a whole different schedule—we are all hard workers, we are very determined, and we have the grit.”
He credits coach Tod Thatcher, who also serves as Hollister High’s athletic director, for his success as a player.
“He helped me become what I was last year,” Arias said. “Because of him, I achieved first-team all-league, and I think I will do even better this year. I think we have the best coaching staff in the Central Coast Section.”
Savion Loza “Savion played wide receiver for us last year and did a great job,” Smith said. “Savion was a basketball-only guy in his freshman year when I recruited him. Carmelo took him under his wing, and they became a force in the weight room. They love to come in and spend every minute working hard. He’ll play wide receiver and start at corner for us this year.”
Loza said last year’s season was not the best, but everyone worked very hard, and he thought it had been fun. “I learned to be more vocal,” he said, “be a better leader and a better teammate. I have been working hard, striving to improve every week, and hopefully, I’ll get a ring.”
Loza entered the football program after one of the coaches saw him playing basketball. He said he enjoys playing wide receiver because he gets to “see both sides of the ball, and that gives me more opportunities to do my best.”
He said he thought the team was stronger this year than last, with a great line and potential for a great secondary and that the coaches were doing a great job keeping everyone motivated. Loza is hoping to play for UCLA after he graduates.
Hollister High 2024-25 Balers Football Schedule
Followed by playoff and tournament games.
The first three scheduled games are against Branham High School, which HHS has never played before; Wilcox High School, which defeated the team last year 19-9; and Oak Grove High School, which lost to the Balers 47-7.
“We’re gonna learn a lot about ourselves here in the first three weeks of the season,” Smith said. “But when there’s adversity, it’s not whether you will face it. It’s how you will respond to it.”
Aug. 29: Away vs Branham, 7:15 p.m.
Sept. 6: Away vs Wilcox, 7 p.m.
Sept. 13: Home vs Oak Grove, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 20: Home vs Alisal, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27: Away vs Aptos, League Game, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 11: Home vs Soquel, League Game, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 18: Home vs Monterey, League Game, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 25: Away vs Palma, League Game, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1: Away vs Everett Alvarez, League Game, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 8: Away vs Salinas, League Game, 7:30 p.m.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Hollister Rotary, for helping expand the sports coverage around San Benito County. Rotary is a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian projects, encourages high ethical standards, and works toward world understanding. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
