The connection between the struggling Matadors and the thriving Giants

Reporting on MVHS varsity football, one thing becomes clear right away: The team isn’t built around one player. Depth is the Matadors’ strategy.

With a league record of 1-2, a CCS appearance is unlikely. And in a sport that’s perennially run by stars, it’s easy to doubt the Matadors’ potential in years to come.

Yet MVHS is inadvertently following the model of the San Francisco Giants, who made the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons and can smell the World Series. What’s really fascinating about San Francisco is how it got to the postseason, without the superstar bats customary of most baseball success stories.

Giant leaders

Aubrey Huff, added before the season, would become the Giants’ emotional fire—having played ten seasons with some of baseball’s worst teams, he itched to make it to the postseason. The rest of the team caught that rash.

In similar fashion, the Matadors are led by a group of skilled captains hoping to make up for last year’s 4-6 performance. Seniors Freddy Kuo and Giles Van Poetsch have shined, while senior Victor Wan, out with a torn MCL, has still played an active role. Even if MVHS falls short this year, the captains are providing an example of chip-on-your-shoulder leadership, the same used by Huff, who got off the list of active players who had waited the longest to make it to the postseason. (He was third, with 1,479 regular-season games, when the Giants made it there.)

Giant rookies

The question still loomed mid-season: would San Francisco be able to stay in the mix in a tightly-packed National League West with four viable contenders (resembling the up-for-grabs El Camino)? Contributions from standout rookie Buster Posey, who would go on a 21-game hitting streak, kept San Francisco afloat through the middle part of the season.

The Matadors have a rookie surprise of their own in junior Jordan Sheade. Through four games, Sheade had the most touchdowns (four) and yards (523) on the squad, after unexpectedly grabbing the starting spot in the midst of offensive injuries.

Giant acquisitions

As the Giants started to put together a run, new players just started rolling in (and didn’t stop). Late-season arrivals Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez put up career numbers as relievers. Hitters Mike Fontenot, Jose Guillen, and Cody Ross cemented a lineup in the midst of a bad year. By September, the Giants didn’t resemble the struggling club of years past.

Trades and free-agent deals were not options for the Matadors, but the composition of the squad is similar. Guys doing the dirty work—not pitchers, but senior linemen Jason Jung, Reinhardt, and Van Poetsch—have kept the team going despite offensive struggles. Guys trying to prove themselves—not back-up hitters, but juniors Michael Whittaker and Sam McCann, who have battled back from injury—have given the team a long list of personnel options.

Giant shoes to fill

The Matadors have done well by establishing a deep, balanced team; the Giants’ attempt to do the same thing has produced the franchise’s best results since the Barry Bonds era. MVHS didn’t enjoy similar success this year, and it’s hard to say for sure if it will in the future.

But the coaches are on the right track.