Warriors have singular objective this fall

By TODD HVEEM
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
The Cypress Christian Warriors have one thing in mind during the 2010 football season.
Win the state title.
This is the biggest team we have ever had,'' said head coach Jacob Spenn, who has compiled a 14-9 record in his first two years at the helm.
We are going to have around 55 high school football players,'' added Spenn. It is a lot of fun. For the most part, we aren't going to have anybody going both ways.''
Spenn said they waited for baseball season to end to have two weeks of spring practice.
We had everybody out there,'' Spenn said. And we didn't have to divide up (because guys were going both ways). That helped us get better in a hurry.''
For the past two years, the Warriors have had only four or five seniors on the team. This year, Spenn said he has 13 seniors.
They have all been playing since their freshmen year,'' he said. They have taken some lumps, but they have gained a lot of experience. I think that is really going to pay off this season.''
The Warriors' top returner probably is lineman Daniel Rodriguez (6-3, 230), who is being recruited by Rice and Sam Houston State University. He is expected to play on both sides of the ball.
He is a definite Division I prospect,'' Spenn said.
Quarterback Jonathan Mason also returns from last year's 10-2 team.
He makes a lot of plays with his feet and his decision making has improved,'' Spenn said of Mason. He is a good fundamental kid. We lost him the last couple games last year and it really showed.''
Cypress Christian's only losses last year came against Westbury Christian when 16 players missed the game due to the flu, and to Colleyville Covenant Christian in the second round of the playoffs.
We beat Tyler All-Saints Episcopal in the first round of the playoffs,'' Spenn said. It was our school's first (football) playoff win.''
Cypress Christian went 4-7 in Spenn's first year at the helm, but did qualify for the playoffs.
We lost to Bryan St. Joe's in the first round of the playoffs,'' Spenn said. We got into a shoot-out with them and ran out of gas.''
Cypress Christian will compete against Faith West Academy and Bay Area Christian for the district title.
Our district is very small,'' Spenn said. Pope John Paul was in it, but they moved up in classification.''
Cypress Christian will open fall drills on Aug. 2. It will scrimmage Lutheran North and Ft. Bend Baptist before opening the season against Brazos Christian on Aug. 27.
I am really excited about the improvement we have shown,'' Spenn said. I have been our juniors' head coach for five years now. I think that is starting to show up in different areas.''
Linebackers Michael Gamble and Kyle Francis are expected to spearhead the defense.
Jason Groll, who rushed for more than 1,500 yards a year ago, should get the bulk of the touches on offense.
I will be surprised if he has a game under 100 yards this year,'' Spenn said of the 5-11, 200-pound Groll. He runs as hard on Monday at 3:30 p.m. as he does on Friday at 7:30 p.m.''