Rio Mesa Is Simply Struggling

Coach George Contreras of Rio Mesa is trying to jump-start the Spartans’ struggling offense by reducing the number of plays.

Contreras said Rio Mesa was running about 15 plays in its double-wing T offense during the first five games, but that number dropped to five last week in a 24-6 Pacific View League-opening loss to Channel Islands.

“I thought we had too much offense in the first part of the season,” Contreras said. “We were having trouble getting consistency on offense, so I thought we should make things simpler.”

The change seemed to help, initially.

Rio Mesa (2-4) put together an 18-play drive on its opening possession, but after turning the ball over on downs at the Channel Islands eight-yard line, fullback Michael Diggs scored on a 92-yard run for the Raiders.

“A play like that just hurts tremendously,” Contreras said. “Especially when they score so quickly. It takes a lot out of you.”

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Rio Mesa isn’t known as a passing team, but the Spartans brought new meaning to the term one-dimensional by not throwing a pass against Channel Islands.

On two pass calls, quarterback Pancho Tinoco was sacked once and he scrambled for a three-yard gain.

“I’ve been in coaching for 30 years and that’s the first time I’ve coached a team that didn’t attempt an official pass,” Contreras said.

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Rio Mesa could benefit from the fact that the top four teams in the five-team Pacific View League will qualify for the Southern Section Division IV playoffs, but Contreras isn’t sure that’s a good thing.

“We’re like the NHL,” he said. “We’ve got 22 teams in the division and 16 of them make the playoffs.”