Welcome back in. Well as you guys can
see we have some company up here joining
us now and it gives me great pleasure
to introduce you guys to the Oak Ridge
football team out of El Dorado Hills.
And representing the football team we
have head coach Casey Taylor and we are
also joined by senior captains Maddox
Varella and the man with the CODIS and
Coolest Molly you are ever see the one,
the only Connor Jasmine.
Thank you guys so much for being here.
Thanks for having you.
Alright, well let's just get right into it.
Coach, we talked about this earlier.
You guys are off to a dominating start.
Matter of fact,
dominating is an understatement.
You guys are averaging 56 points a game
through your first five games of the season.
Undefeated and equally impressive,
you guys have only given up 10
points on defense the whole year.
What do you attribute that success to?
Well, I just think
that we got a great group of guys,
very, very great team chemistry.
They love one another.
We had a tough year last year,
going three and seven.
We started the starting the weight room.
They already know the playoffs and
I think just working through the the
rest of the fall last year in the
spring and through the summer and
really getting to get in the weight
room and get after it in there,
get to know our guys a little better.
Personally, I got hired so late last
year I think that we didn't really get
a chance to really get to know one
of there as well as we should have.
We made some changes in our coaching staff,
changed some schemes,
but I think the key was just getting
together and starting to compete
with everything we do compete.
We start the NFL this week,
so everybody's 010 and we know we're
in the best league in the area.
Best league and probably the state
with public schools and probably
one of the best teams in the,
you know, state next week,
fulsome at our place and we're
looking forward to the opportunity
now. Connor, the 10 points
allowed so far this season,
starting the game with or starting the
season with three straight shutouts
for someone on the defensive end,
like how much pride do you take in that?
There's so much focus on the office side
of the ball and highlights like that,
but to be on a defense that shuts
three straight opponents out has
allowed only 10 points so far this
season through A5 and no start.
What is that like for you?
I will, definitely. Played that.
I do take a lot of pride in our defense,
you know, like going out there every,
you know, every night, you know,
you don't know what you expect,
you know, from, you know, watching film
and watching how these guys play and,
you know, when you go out there,
you just kind of you feel you.
I told my guys like you kind of,
you kind of feel the groove of the game,
you know? I mean you go out there,
you punch in the mouth and you get
big stop and then you go, you know,
send our quarterback out there and,
you know, you start over there
cooking on their defense.
You know, I have to see that,
you know, Ohh score, you know,
us, we get shut out, shut out,
turnover, turnover shut out.
I take a lot of pride in that.
Definitely.
Yeah. Maddox, you and your offense,
you guys have put up a lot of points.
Yeah, and you do so in a hurry.
You guys can strike 1/2 plays 60
yards down the field just like that.
But how much confidence does it give
you to take the field knowing that that
defense is both in front of you and
behind you to bail out any mistakes
that you guys haven't really made
yet or just set you up to succeed?
The greatest gift for a
quarterback is a great defense.
Because I know my offense,
we're gonna **** ***.
But if I do, make a mistake,
if running back makes a mistake.
You know, they're gonna have my back end.
I know they're gonna do their best
and do their job to send me back out
there and let me redeem myself in.
I know just having turnovers and
not having to drive that full
75 yards every single series.
Sometimes they give me the ball
at the 20 yard line and it's just
it makes my job a lot easier.
You know, when you have a
team that's doing so well,
like this team is doing,
how do you prevent them
from getting too big headed?
How do you keep them humble
with this much success?
Well, we try
to break up the season.
Like we said, you know, preseason,
having our first couple had two games,
that was kind of we had two
weeks of focusing on him.
We had to buy. We had three.
Now with league starting,
you know, got five weeks of that,
then hopefully through playoffs.
We haven't really started the season,
you know, our goals are to play
in week 1516 down the road.
So I think I kind of try to remind
them when getting tired or doing
things getting above their head
that we haven't done anything yet.
We're all going to fight for each
other and it's great that we play
in a great league like SFL and it
really brings out that I love him.
He loves me and the whole family is going to.
Come together and if whether it's win,
lose or draw, we're gonna rally
back and we're gonna keep fighting.
You know, you said love.
Thanks for spreading love.
I feel the love up here
right now with all of us.
So with that being said, you as a team,
I know obviously we we talked earlier.
You guys have been playing
for a while together,
not just this year but previous years.
There's a lot of camaraderie
and chemistry amongst the team.
How do you feel that you guys
can use that as a benefit or
advantage to you on the field?
That clearly translates off the field.
Well, because we have such good chemistry,
you know, it's like.
We always kind of like,
we kind of know what we're doing.
We all trust each other, you know,
like all the aluminum like know like, OK,
he's going here to block this guy, you know,
and that receivers and they go kick this
guy out and run back and cut underneath.
And we just, you know, every Rep, you know,
during practice we just go on and on and on.
So everybody kind of gets familiar
with each other about it.
And so that's just kind of
how we're so successful.
I feel like
coach, you were a student at Oak Ridge.
So the coach, not only
for your former school,
but I also wanted to ask you specifically
about a couple weeks ago, the honorable.
Was was played in and your guys's
venue and we were out there getting
to experience that a really moving
ceremony before the game itself.
So getting to play the game for even a, a,
a a bigger meaning or a more meaningful game.
So what was it like for you to
have that kind of experience?
And then again, guys,
if you could speak on just the atmosphere
that you guys get to play off in
front of, I'll talk about the honorable,
I think the honorables.
It's a very pleasure to be a part of.
I know Mark Soto really well and have been
involved over there the last 10 years.
My dad was in Vietnam and my grandpa
was in Pearl Harbor. And, you know,
they they didn't have the best of times.
They were, you know,
messed up through the war and, you know,
things weren't great, but, you know,
but I think they've both passed on.
But I think we go those honorable and have
those times to reflect on my when my dad
and Grandpa have really meant a lot to me.
It's funny, one of those games where
you're always fired up over the honorable,
it's like they start playing taps
and things like that and, you know?
Kind of crying before kick.
That's kind of guys, you know, you know,
I picked some tears off, you know,
but I think, like what you said,
it's playing for a greater cause and,
you know, freedom's not free.
And I think, you know,
you get a good example of that when
you see what goes on to honorable.
And I think it's a, you know,
very important,
especially in these days where we're at,
the people take some time to reflect on,
you know,
what's going on and what's important.
And I think Donald brings you back,
brings you back to that.
Let's hear about the
student section over here.
Yeah, we have a great student section,
whether it's after a great play or
just on the sideline looking up and
seeing them having fun and ruin you on,
and whether it's either out
the game or even at school,
just walking through the hallways,
just hey, you had a great game,
man, and holy crap, you're great.
You're a great quarterback
and you guys are a great team.
And it's really, it's really a family.
It's not just the football team,
it's a whole entire school day
rally around us and I'd rather
have no other students section.
Well, Coach Taylor,
congratulations to the success that you've
been having with these men thus far.
And Connor and Maddox keep killing
it out there undefeated start.
Good luck to you guys the rest of this year.
Keep that hair looking great
out there as well. Alright guys.
Well, if you want to check
out Oak Ridge in action,
they take on Folsom this
Friday in a game that's sure to
attract thousands of people.
So be sure to get those tickets.