The Dinuba Emperors have had a shaky start to the 2024 football season with losses to Sanger (14-37) and Golden West (8-63). While it is a discouraging beginning to the season, Head Coach CJ Lester has seen these losses as a learning experience.
Coach Lester has meticulously devised game plans, he’s watching over 10 hours of film a week. On average practices have been two hours and thirty minutes. The Emperors are putting in extra work to face off against their tough schedule. The emperors are set to play Kingsburg oh September 6th, 2024.
Emperor Overview
While the Emperors came up short with the final score (7-28), the Emperor’s defense kept Kingsburg’s offense at bay. The Kingsburg game showed that the Emperor offense wasn’t performing at its best. This is due mainly to the offense being in a transitional period. The Emperor offense is and has undergone major changes, especially the coaching staff where Head Coach Lester was the defensive coordinator last year, and has changed to be the offensive coordinator. The Emperors managed a close victory against Selma High School last Friday with a final score of (12-9). The Emperor offense scored a long run leading to a touchdown. The other touchdown was fought for, with offense taking a long march down the field to score. The Emperor’s defense put up a solid wall against Selma, only allowing one touchdown and one field goal kick. The defense fought tooth and nail the whole game to ensure a Dinuba victory.
Player Perspective
Current Emperor quarterback Tony Ibarra is very passionate about the team and football. When asked how he feels about the season he said, “The season obviously isn’t going the way we wanted it to go.” It’s clear that he wishes to succeed, despite the rough patch the Emperors seem to be going through. Ibarra is a young quarterback, a sophomore, with a lot of potential, and is a leader on and off the field.
Current linebacker and running back Matthew Guido takes the game very seriously. When asked about his feelings about the season so far he said, “ Not starting off the way we want to but there are still seven games left so there is still time to turn this around.” Guido is a senior, in his last year as an Emperor. It’s obvious that he isn’t happy with how the current season is going. Although he as a Team Captain, he has made major strides to improve the team and has been an important influence on the team.
Up Next
The Emperors are set to play Washington Union High School at home on September 20, 2024. Varsity kick-off starts at 7:30 p.m.
