2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW – Experience should give Valley Christian better results than last season

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

VALLEY CHRISTIAN DEFENDERS

3-7 overall last season, 1-4 in the Ironwood League, fifth place

26-29 overall last five seasons

Head coach: Brendan Chambers (second season, 3-7)

Lost 12 seniors out of 32 players from 2023 opening day roster

Last time made the playoffs: 2022

2024 schedule

Aug. 23       @ Gahr (7-4 overall last season)

Aug. 31       @ Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana (4-6)

Sept. 6        Baldwin Park (5-7)

Sept. 13      Cerritos (9-6)

Sept. 20      @ Sierra Vista (2-8)

Sept. 27      BYE

Oct. 4          Capistrano Valley Christian (8-2)

Oct. 11        @ Aquinas (7-4)

Oct. 18        @ Village Christian (7-4)

Oct. 25        Heritage Christian (5-5)

Nov. 1         Ontario Christian (9-3)

It was a rough start to his head coaching career at Valley Christian High as Brendan Chambers won three games, two in convincing fashion and the other by a point. He said the team was faced with a lot of challenges coming off a season that saw the Defenders advance to the CIF-Southern Section Division 12 championship game coupled with the 10-game schedule they had last season in which those opponents had a combined record of 65-47 from 2022.

“With the opponents we faced, both in league and non-league, we were in an uphill climb the whole season,” said Chambers. “We lost a close game against Gahr that could have gone either way and we had a great one against Heritage [Christian]. So, there were some good moments and some rough spots in there.

“I think what we learned was how important the offseason is for us; getting in the weight room, seven on seven’s, summer ball and showing up to summer practices to be focused on the season ahead of us,” he continued. “Our schedule has changed a little bit, which is going to help us out more to our caliber.”

V.C. returns a lot from last season, which is one positive note, and Chambers said he didn’t realize how young the 2023 team was until the first game against Gahr High. But the growth throughout the season and the experience the young players got should help the Defenders win more games this season.

When Chambers took over last season, he became the program’s sixth head coach in as many seasons and the three victories were the fewest since 2018 and marked just the third time since at least 1998 V.C. won three games with the other time coming in 2012.

OFFENSE

The Defenders had a tough time finding the end zone in the first four games, scoring two short yardage rushing touchdowns and a pair of long touchdown passes. It wasn’t until the fifth game that V.C. enjoyed its first victory of the season in a big way. The Defenders scored at least 20 points in four games but were blanked three times and two games were decided by a point each while the other eight were decided by at least 33 points.

“When it comes to the offense, we were just trying to figure out what worked best for the guys that we had,” said Chambers. “We were pretty young. Joe [DeYoung] was the quarterback; he’s kind of one of the senior guys that we had, and Grant [Hefner] as well. There were a couple of seniors mixed in, but most of us were young, especially on the offensive line.”

Returning at quarterback is senior Austin Abrahams, who completed 49 passes for 586 yards and eight touchdowns opposite one interception while sharing duties with DeYoung.

“He’s just a heck of an athlete,” said Chambers. “He was the guy we were always trying to get the football to last year at the receiver position with tunnel screens, split screens and going vertical with him. He took the initiative this offseason to go get private training; work on that quarterback craft and he’s progressed in time. He did a fair amount of seven on seven’s this year which he didn’t do last year and each time we’ve been out there, he’s improved.”

Sophomore Liam Sweeney is the backup signal caller but because he’s a transfer, he won’t be eligible until early October. That makes sophomore Lincoln Slater, who completed a pair of passes for 14 yards, the backup.

Chambers says he feels more confident about the quarterback situation this season because of the improvements Abrahams has made and the depth in the receiving department. The top returners will be juniors Dylan Teays (11 receptions, 277 yards, three touchdowns) who will be on the outside and play some slot as well and junior tight end Lucas Witt, who led the Defenders in rushing with 346 yards on 69 carries and a pair of touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 109 yards and another touchdown. Senior Seth Dahlenburg and junior Sean Bouma are other wide receivers while juniors Max Douglas and Cole Hefner are other tight ends that will be in the mix.

“Lucas has been just a weapon for us on seven on seven; almost unstoppable, kind of like a Travis Kelce-type,” said Chambers. “We always know we can always move Lucas back. He’s probably one of the smartest kids we have. Even if Austin goes down at quarterback, Lucas is probably the guy to fill that [void] because he knows how to do it.

Moving from wide receiver to running back will be senior Jayce Shields, who caught 16 passes for 163 yards and scored once in 2023. He will be joined by juniors Wyatt Barker, Tyson McNeese (16 carries, 73 yards), Timothy O’Conner and Karsen Wesley (nine carries, 38 yards).

The three players locked into protecting the abundance of skill players will be senior left tackle Noah Klistoff, senior center Tyrone Voecks and junior right tackle Isaac Morales.

The guard positions are still up in the air, but moving in and out of the rotation will be seniors David Armenta, Landon Bouma, Logan Johnson and junior Jayden Bailey.

“We are much improved at offensive line with Noah, Tyrone, and Issac, all three starters coming back from last year,” said Chambers. “And I think that with the defense we have, a lot of those guys won’t have to play both ways.”

DEFENSE

The Defenders allowed over 40 points in half the games and at least 21 points three other times. In fact, most of the of the points given up were in the first half, making a second half comeback nearly impossible. In the seven losses, only the Gahr game and the Village Christian High contest were one-possession games at the half.

“I think for them it was just learning a whole new defensive system,” said Chambers. “The year before they were jumping between a 2-5 and a 3-4…and it just took them time to figure out what this [new defense] looks like and how to run it. The youth in some of those key positions was critical. They were just very, very young and very, very raw. I think they’ve improved in the offseason; we definitely got better.”

Armenta, Landon Bouma and Klistoff, who had 10 tackles last season, will be rotated among the interior positions of the defensive line while Morales (16 tackles) is a lock, according to Chambers. The ends will be Barker and Douglas.

In the secondary, it will be Abrahams (28 tackles), Sean Bouma (17 tackles), Shields (42 tackles) and Teays while Hefner (94 tackles, one sack) and Witt (36 tackles, two sacks) return as the main linebackers with senior Jack Nichol and junior Jackson Halter-Caldarella joining them. Chambers said Hefner and Witt were the heart and soul of the defense last season and are expected to do the same in 2024.

SCHEDULE

Whereas a visit to El Dorado High was the first game of last season, it will be Gahr in a few weeks and Chambers is hoping it won’t come down to a missed two-point conversion at the end of the game.

“We’re pretty excited about that game,” he said. “I look back on last year and there were a couple of games that stick out in my mind and that’s one of them. Yes, we lost on the last play with that two-point conversion, but just the atmosphere we had here. [Gahr] was a great quality opponent across the field from us; coach [Greg] Marshall did a great job with those guys. But also [it was] just something where I looked back on, like so many missed opportunities for us. We’re definitely excited about [playing them again].”

After a short week because the game at Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana High is on a Saturday, the third game of the season against Baldwin Park High will be the first official game on V.C.’s new field turf, recently installed. If that’s not tough enough, Chambers and the team will have to cram a lot into a short week because of the Labor Day holiday days of the Baldwin Park game. Another touch challenge awaits the Defenders when they host Cerritos High, the defending Division 12 champions. V.C. has not played its other city rival since 2015, a 48-6 victory.

“I think we’re all pretty excited about that one,” said Chambers. “We saw them in the spring in seven on seven’s and was able to compete against them. The coaching staff is doing a great job with that school right now. It’s just a chance for us…we would have been in Division 12 if we somehow made the playoffs last year.”

Following the bye week, V.C. faces a new Ironwood League team as Capistrano Valley Christian High, whom Chambers knows all too well when he was a head coach at Saddleback Valley Christian High, replaces Big Bear High. The two South Orange County schools are a mile from each other and they were league rivals.

Nothing will come easy for the Defenders in league play as no one had a losing record in 2023 and the lone league victory came against Heritage Christian High by one point. V.C. has lost two league games to Aquinas High by a combined score of 98-14, and to Ontario Christian High, along with four of the last five meetings overall. The last two games against Village Christian was by a combined score of 68-12.

“I think when you look at the Ironwood League, it’s super tough,” said Chambers. “But I feel much more confident this year with the group that we have. I think that when you look at Aquinas and Ontario Christian, they’re probably one-two. I don’t know if us, Heritage, Village or CVC are going to touch them.”

HOMECOMING

For the second time in the first four games, V.C. will face another city foe and it figures to be a measuring stick for the Defenders. In V.C.’s earliest homecoming game in over 25 seasons, it will entertain Cerritos. Since 1998, V.C. is 21-3 in homecoming games with the last loss coming two seasons ago against Ontario Christian. V.C. and Cerritos have faced each other three times, but not since 2015, and all three have been won by V.C. The previous meeting with the Dons was a 48-6 affair and in 2014, it was 38-14. Last season, the Defenders pummeled Sierra Vista High 38-0 on homecoming night in what is now the second earliest homecoming game (Sept. 15).

FINAL COMMENT

“I’m just excited going into year two at Valley Christian,” said Chambers. “I’m very thankful that they put the money into that [football] facility, and they continue to put money into the facility with the bleachers and press box. I think that when it’s all said and done, it’s going to pay dividends for the program, for the soccer programs, for the school in general. It’s going to get people on campus that wouldn’t normally be here. We’ll be able to practice on there all year round, which is something we haven’t been able to do.”