It’s the dawning of a new era for Fullerton College football this upcoming weekend as they face off with a tough opponent in the Santa Barbara City Vaqueros. What makes this game so special is that it is going to be held on the brand new Sherbeck Field.
The Hornets look forward to playing in the brand new stadium, and according to Head Coach Garrett Campbell, it’ll be great for the program and the community.
The Hornets come into the 2023 season with high aspirations, especially after playing in the SCFA Championship just last season against Riverside, where the Hornets lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Tigers, 31-17.
When a team suffers such a heartbreaking loss they can either bounce back with motivation of winning a title or stumble all season long en route to having a disappointing campaign.
Teams always have a motto coming into any new season, and for the Hornets it’s an all business type of motto.
“The bottom line is that it comes down to work ethic, it comes down to handling your business on and off the field, handling your business in the weight room, and handling your business in the classroom,” said Campbell. “It’s our job as coaches to help them through that as they hit rough spots because they evidently do as we all did when we were young.”
The talent is there for the Hornets. It is up to them if they want to take it and be successful throughout the season and Campbell knows his guys have to be ready to play each and every week.
“I think we have a lot of growing up to do. I think we can be a good team, we need to prove that we can be a mature team and that’s where my concern is for this team,” Campbell said. “Time will tell if we’re a mature team or be that team that is not quite ready to take that leap and be able to take command over the course of a game.”
The quarterback position is always the most important position in the sport of football, but who will be at the helm for the Hornets? That question is seemingly answered as sophomore quarterback Brandon Nunez will take the reins from former quarterback Josh Calvin.
Although Nunez mostly split time with Calvin, Nunez is looking to build off a solid freshman campaign where he had a 57.1% completion percentage along with passing for 973 yards, adding 15 total touchdowns and five interceptions.
Some players looking to make their mark this upcoming season are a pair of sophomore wide receivers who didn’t see any game action in their first year with the Hornets, in Austin Levias and Jeremy Gonzales who were credited by Campbell for having huge performances in training camp.
Campbell also gave credit to another pair of sophomore position players, this time being in the defensive line group, with Labarron Kennedy Jr. and Carlo Torres destined to build off their freshman seasons.
The Hornets’ opponent is by no means an easy opponent as the Vaqueros come into the 2023 season ready to capitalize off a year in which they set a school record for most wins in a season (10) and winning the SBCC Beach Bowl.
“They are well coached, they are big and strong. It’s going to be a big test for us, they throw some things at you fundamentally,” Campbell said. “You know from a strategic standpoint they are going to be a little tricky for our guys to pick up.”
The Vaqueros had a high powered offense averaging a staggering 45.4 points last season, but it’ll be interesting to see how the offense comes back this year considering they lost their all region quarterback and running back.
Campbell knows that if the Hornets play their own game and play with great speed the team should be in great shape to start 1-0.
The opening game for “Swarm City” begins this upcoming Saturday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m.
