No rest for the Rebels

Meet the 2008 Flintridge Prep football team’s starting offense.

Also known as the 2008 Flintridge Prep football team’s starting defense.

From a personnel standpoint, there will be little differentiation between the two.

“There aren’t too many guys that are coming off the field, quite frankly, this year,” said Flintridge Prep Coach Perry Skaggs, who guided the Rebels to a 7-3 record and an appearance in the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division playoffs last year, his first on the job. “We had the luxury of being deep last year. This year, I think we’re as talented, if not more talented, than last year’s team was, but we’re just not as deep.

“We are as good as we were last year in all the spots and, if we stay healthy, I think we have the potential to do something special.”

Health will be extra important to the Rebels, whose entire roster is just 25 deep, in their quest to compete for a Prep League title and a playoff spot in the Northeast Division, where they hold a preseason No. 4 ranking.

Stamina and versatility will play large roles as well, areas in which senior running back Adam Ross said the team got plenty of experience last year.

“We’ve kind of had to learn several positions, so even though we don’t have a deep bench, we’re deep at each position,” said Ross, who will also start at inside linebacker. “We should be able to manipulate games enough so that we could use that to our advantage.”

The key difference for this year’s squad is that more of the Rebels’ offensive skill players will have to swing double duty on defense.

One of the most important pieces of the Rebels’ puzzle will be returning senior quarterback Gus Herrera, who has spent the offseason preparing to add the role of inside linebacker to his list of duties.

“It’s a lot of work, I’m looking forward to it though,” Herrera said. “I’ve been working really hard this summer, getting in the weight room trying to build up so I can be ready to play linebacker.

“[The offense] has been going great. It’s a pretty simple pass offense to run — it’s a lot of short, quick routes — so it’s just a matter of repetition.”

In Skaggs’ first season, the offense seemed to operate under a maxim of “Run first, throw when absolutely necessary.” But Skaggs has added some new wrinkles to the Rebels’ playbook in an effort to keep teams guessing in their defensive coverage.