The Olympian High School football team has compiled a rather innocuous 5-16 record over the past three seasons, including a 0-7 mark two years ago. But new head coach Brad Carter sees the Eagles making a turnaround in coming seasons.
“There’s a lot of talent here,” the former Granite Hills High School and Southwestern College alumnus said. “This is not a rebuilding year, it’s a reloading year. I like our schedule. I like our playoff bracket.”
Carter played at Granite Hills from 2006-07, graduating in 2008. He subsequently played at Southwestern College in 2008-09 and served as an assistant coach there in 2008-09.
“They were some of my best years in my life,” Carter said. “I learned how to play football here (Southwestern) and I learned how to coach here. This is home for me.”
The Alpine native also retains positive high school gridiron memories as a former Eagle.
“My senior year we beat Valhalla for the first time in seven years,” he recalled.
He also competed on the school’s basketball and track and field teams, posting a 10.95 time in the 100-yard dash in 2008, second all-time among seniors.
Carter went on to play at Central Methodist University in Missouri following his two seasons at Southwestern College.
He earned first team honors as a junior receiver on the Heart of America Athletic Conference in 2010 after finishing the season with 53 catches for 854 yards and three touchdowns.
Carter joins Olympian after coaching stints at Murrieta Mesa, Dana Hills and Cerritos high schools. He also worked at Mt. San Jacinto College.
The Eagles finished 4-6 last season, but Carter feels the team already shows promise for the upcoming campaign. He got his first real look at the squad during last weekend’s 15th annual Southwestern College passing tournament and had to like what he saw as Olympian won the consolation bracket championship with a 28-16 win over Mar Vista.
The Eagles finished 6-1 over the two days of 7-on-7 football.
Top returners include senior linebacker C.J. Clavier, senior defensive back Ethan Roberts, senior quarterback Tristan Anderson and senior receiver Jake Marcial.
Anderson led the team with 306 rushing yards and three touchdowns last season while Marcial had 22 catches for 447 yards and a team-leading six touchdown receptions.
Clavier logged 73 tackles, second on the team. Roberts had two interceptions.
Olympian finished 3-0 in the opening day of the passing tournament with wins over El Cajon Valley (28-15), Montgomery (29-27) and San Diego (24-21) to earn the No. 6 seed for the playoffs the next day. However, the Eagles dropped a 29-24 rematch against Montgomery in the seeding round to fall to the consolation bracket.
The Eagles would not lose another game as they defeated El Cajon Valley (27-19) and Monte Vista (37-14) to meet Mar Vista in the consolation championship game, finishing 6-1 over the two days of competition.
“Overall, it was a lot of fun,” Carter said. “We have some skilled players. We have guys on offense to move the ball. The quarterback (Anderson) did a great job. This was my first look on seven-on-seven, I am happy.”
Mar Vista lost Saturday’s opener, 16-13, to Mountain Empire before turning things around with victories against Sweetwater (22-20) and Castle Park (21-19).
The Mariners finished 2-5 in the tournament — 0-3 on the first day and 2-2 on the second day.
“We were the last seed,” MV junior quarterback Peter Thomas said.
