By Dan Agnew

Signal Staff Writer

Lengthy march in second half leads Saugus over Burroughs

Saugus running back Chris Wolford (21) barrels over players on a two-point conversion attempt on Friday at Cougar Stadium.

Saugus got all it could handle against John Burroughs High School of Burbank Friday night at Cougar Stadium, but the Centurions hung on for the victory.

It took a 9-minute, 25 second scoring drive that started late in the third quarter for Saugus to come out on top 26-20. The drive was capped off with a 3-yard play-action touchdown pass to sophomore Denley Rodriguez with a little less than three minutes left in the game. The pass – delivered by junior quarterback Jared Carbajal – was only his sixth pass attempt.

“I knew it would work,” Carbajal said of the game-winning play. “I knew they would bite on that run.”

Still learning the position, Carbajal is Saugus’ latest mobile quarterback

By Cary Osborne

Signal Sports Editor

Saugus junior Jared Carbajal had never played quarterback before he got to high school. But his explosiveness makes him a perfect fit for the Centurions, who have had their fair share of running quarterbacks over the years.

The fact that Jared Carbajal has little experience throwing the football is not a big concern.

At Saugus High, quarterbacks run.

Every year since 2004 under head coach Jason Bornn, the Centurions’ quarterback has rushed for at least 400 yards.

But how many kids has he had like this?

Carbajal is 16 years old — a junior — and prior to high school had never been a quarterback.

“I’d throw the ball around and stuff, but never on a team,” Carbajal admits.

Carbajal has been competing for the starting quarterback job with senior Evan Steen and through late August appeared to have the edge.

How — despite the learning curve?

“He’s fast — very explosive,” Bornn says. “Cuts on a dime.”

Plus, getting Carbajal the experience now could only lead to good things in the future.

Carbajal would be the third two-year quarterback in Bornn’s eight years if he takes the job this year and keeps it next year.

Zach Summers (2005, 2006) had mixed results. Desi Rodriguez (2007, 2008) was a star and is now playing football at the Air Force Academy.

Just to see if he was up to the task of being a varsity quarterback, after starting quarterback Zack Gauthier was lost for the season with a back injury late, Carbajal was brought up from the junior varsity and given the start in the Centurions’ regular season finale.

No pressure, right?

Saugus running back Tyler Watt couldn’t fully overcome injuries last season. Proving that he can stay healthy — and be effective when he does so — is his main goal in 2010.

By Cary Osborne

Signal Sports Editor

When asked which ankle he sprained last season, Saugus junior running back Tyler Watt paused as if he didn’t know the difference between left and right.

“It’s not that,” he said. “I just forgot which one it was.”

That answers the question about his health.

Watt’s first full varsity season was supposed to be something big, if you listened to Saugus head coach Jason Bornn prior to last season.

Instead, it resulted in some of the Foothill League’s biggest questions in 2009.

Will he play this week?

Will we finally get to see how good this kid is?

The answer to that first question in 2010 is — we might not even have to ask it.

The answer to the second question should be — yes.

“He’s healthy,” Bornn said. “He might be a little better. He has the same quickness. He’s just a bull. He runs very hard. And he’s a tremendous blocker. A tremendous receiver.”

Bornn speaks with a similar fervor that he did exactly one year ago.

Coming off the school’s first-ever Foothill League title, he was very optimistic that quarterback Zack Gauthier and Watt, in their first years, would carry the offensive load.

But Watt damaged ligaments and suffered a high ankle sprain in his left leg during the team’s scrimmage with Quartz Hill, one week prior to the Centurions’ first game last season.

He went through six weeks of rehabilitation and wore a protective boot for three weeks.

Watt didn’t play until Week 5 and by that time Saugus was trying different options at running back.

Nothing seemed to work, even when Watt came back on Oct. 9 — a 50-0 loss to Crespi.

He didn’t have an impressive performance until Week 10 in a 17-10 loss to Canyon.

In the Nov. 13 game, he rushed for 94 yards on 18 carries.

In five games, he ran for 238 yards, averaging 3.5 yards per rush.

Watt was never 100 percent during the season.

“His injury wasn’t the most frustrating thing,” Bornn said. “We couldn’t get anything to go right. The offense put more pressure on the defense. That wasn’t on Tyler. We were just forced to put players in different positions.”

Saugus averaged just 16 points per game and finished 3-7.

Its leading rusher was Gauthier with 416 yards.

By comparison, the 2008 team averaged 36.7 points per game and finished 9-4 with two 1,700-yard-plus rushers in Desi Rodriguez and Ryan Zirbel.

Watt said there were times last season when he ran without full confidence, worrying he might hurt himself again.

Yet the 205-pound running back, down nearly 10 pounds from last season, is confident that he’ll be able to prove himself in 2010.

“I’m just ready to have a full season,” he said.

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Hello,

We are one month away from the start of SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE (May 10). This is an exciting time for the players as they will get to put their skills and hard work to the test as they compete for positions on the team!!!

There are a couple of things I wanted to share with you that are critical the next few weeks:

Hello,

As each day passes, we get closer to Spring Football Practice. Along with lifting weights and running, your sons are being introduced to the basics of football. Each Tuesday and Thursday from 315 to 400pm we are practicing football skills after school. These sessions are open to all players (9th, 10, and 11th graders). On Wednesday mornings from 645am to 730am, we are practicing with the skill players but again, this is open to all players. We HIGHLY encourage the players to come out and learn the basics of what we will be doing in more detail come Spring Practice. Here a couple of important notes for the next few months:

I wanted to touch bases with all of you and tell you some very important information!

First off, your sons, both the JV players and Varsity players, are working extremely hard in the weightroom and our off-season program. We can already see results and the players are doing all they can to improve themselves physcially. Thank you for your continued support by getting them here in the morning, supplying them with their needs, and for supporting the things that we do.