Bentz takes over as Braves' chief

There's no denying that the Hamilton High football program has accomplished a lot in recent years. A 42-8 mark over the last four seasons and two Northern Section championships bears it out.

With Mark Cooley moving on to help coach the defense at Butte College, the head coaching clipboard falls squarely into the hands of Ryan Bentz.

Bentz has been the head coach of the Braves JV squad in the past, and for the last two years served as varsity defensive coordinator.

His coaching philosophy is simple: If it's not broke, don't try to fix it.

"I promoted Gil Mojica to varsity defensive coordinator, so we'll run the same defense," Bentz said, "and offensively, we've kept most of Mark's terminology - with a few new wrinkles - but no big changes."

Continuity is going to be the name of the game for the 2010 Braves, who hope to continue showing Hamilton fans what they've come to expect on Friday nights.

With 12 seniors from last year's team graduating, there will be lot of juniors seeing action. "We'll probably start seven juniors on both sides of the ball," the coach said.

Senior Brett Burbank will lead the Hamilton offense as signal-caller, upon coming up big last season after Drew Knight went down with an injury.

Burbank completed 43-of-65 attempts for 552 yards and five TDs. While last year's .662 completion percentage may drop with a full season and more attempts, Burbank has proven he can get the job done in the pocket.

The ground game will feature multiple backs in multiple formations, led by Zach Swain at tailback. Swain carried 105 times for 596 yards last year. William Rosen and Cody Dietz will share time at fullback.

"We want to stay balanced between the run and the pass," Bentz said, while stopping short of saying it would be a 50-50 split. "We're not going to just line up and jam it down your throat."

A young offensive line will include juniors Cesar Vasquez (LT), Steven Silveira (LG), Ricky Alvarez (C) and Tylor Hickingbottom (RG). Senior Moises Nava will join them at right tackle.

Three-year starter Kyle St. Louis will line up at tight end.

"Defensively, we'll be aggressive," Bentz commented.

Silveira will spearheading that defense as a linebacker, a spot from where he notched a team-high 111 tackles last season. Ismael Ortiz is penciled in as starting safety, and there is healthy competition for a number of positions, as many players will be going both ways.

"We came into practices in better shape this summer than we had in years past, in regards to some of our bigger kids" said Bentz. They're going to need to be in order to tackle a preseason schedule that begins with a county grudge match with Orland, and continues with Pierce, Kelseyville and Durham.

The Braves open the Mid-Valley League season Sept. 24 hosting Quincy.

"You don't get a week off; there's not a lollipop in the league schedule," Bentz remarked. "They've been working hard, but we know we have to work hard if we're going to be competitive."

Contact Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.