“I’ve been counting the days [until the bye],” said Glendale Coach John Rome, whose team has lost its last two games heading into the break, including a 20-13 setback on Oct. 3 at Ventura College in its conference opener. “We needed to get healthy. These first five games have been physical and tough and with a small team, numbers wise, it takes its toll.”
It’s an especially critical juncture in the season for a Glendale team looking to avoid a repeat of last year’s second-half slide that saw it go 0-5, all in conference, and finish the campaign at 3-7 (1-5).
“If everybody can stay healthy on the defense, we can continue to play how we’ve been playing,” sophomore linebacker Kalii Robinson said. “The offense will get it together, they’re just taking a little time and we’re gonna help them.”
Robinson is a key component of the Vaquero’s ninth–ranked defense in Southern California, which has held opponents to an average of 18.8 points per game, including just 12.3 over the last three.
But Glendale has scored the same amount of points, 37, as it has allowed in that span and its two losses have been by an average of five points.
“Week in and week out, the defense has kept us in every game,” Rome said. We’re struggling to find the right personnel offensively. The injuries we’ve had to the offensive line have been hard to withstand.”
The Vaqueros’ usually stalwart running game has fallen on leaner times amid the current shuffle of players on the front line, averaging just 40.5 yards in the two losses.
“This bye week is actually helping out a lot,” freshman linebacker Jean Khajarian said. “Resting our players is a big thing because we need everyone we have right now, especially with the small team we have.”
