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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Little Pintos Tackle Listening This Week, Hitting Next

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
       The Moriarty Pintos probably don't even remember Don Meredith, in his Texas twang, opening the classic "Monday Night Football" with a hearty, "Are you ready for some football?"
    But the New Mexico Young America Football League 10-year-old, freshmen-division team, mostly fifth-graders-to-be, would rather be playing the game than watching it on television anyway. The Pintos, coached by Jonathan Ipiotis in his first year as head coach, was out at Moriarty High's practice field for YAFL's first day of practice on Monday evening.
    "Our offense is what the high school uses," Ipiotis said. "It's all coach (Bob) Allcorn's stuff. Most of the boys have been using the plays since they were 7 years old (in the mitey-mites division). We teach them step by step. We use a wing formation on offense, a misdirect. And we use a 5-2 or 5-3 attacking defense."
    The pre-prep Pintos, some fresh off their summer baseball seasons, started off practicing with no hitting and no equipment and will progress to helmets and pads with contact by next week.
    Ipiotis and his players don't have a lot of time for messing around. They will play Valley in a scrimmage at Moriarty High's practice field on Aug. 9 at 10 a.m., and their season opener will be against Eldorado on Aug. 16 at 2 p.m. at Albuquerque's Bullhead Park, field No. 4.
    The YAFL regular season runs through Oct. 4.
    On Monday, Ipiotis told his players to pair up with a buddy. He then told them to tell their teammates a little bit about themselves, including what their favorite thing to do is outside of football.
    At the end of the practice, Ipiotis asked each of the boys to recall what their buddy's favorite thing was.
    "Listening and hitting are the two most important things in football," Ipiotis said.
    Steven Sena, with 13 boys at the practice, was the odd man out.
    "I didn't have a buddy just 'cause it was an odd number," said Sena, a 4-foot-6 tackle who attends Moriarty Elementary School. "My favorite thing to do is playing on the trampoline."
    Sena also noted that his favorite football player is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
    The remaining Pintos at Monday's practice — listed with their heights, positions, schools and favorite players and things to do other than football — included:
    n Konner Bond, 4-foot-5 cornerback, Route 66 Elementary, Brett Favre, "riding my bike";
    n Michael Brunson, 4-9 center, Mountainview Elementary, Brian Urlacher, "playing basketball";
    n Fox Fieselman, 4-8 left guard, Mountainview; " ‘Isaac' — I don't know his last name — on the high school team," "swimming";
    n Nazareth Garcia, 4-5 wide receiver, Estancia Elementary, Terrell Owens, "swimming";
    n Anthony Gaztambide, 4-11 1/2 offensive lineman and defensive tackle, Edgewood Elementary, LaDainian Tomlinson, "riding my bike and playing basketball";
    n David McClure, 4-9 lineman, Moriarty Elementary, Jerome Bettis, "drawing and playing outside";
    n Allen Michel, 4-7 1/2 halfback, Moriarty, Champ Bailey, "riding my four-wheeler";
    n Charles Montaño, 4-5 cornerback, Moriarty, Ray Lewis, "swimming";
    n Aaron Murphy, 4-5 nose guard, Moriarty, Peyton Manning, "skateboarding and playing video games";
    â– Garrett Rowland, 5-3 center and defensive lineman, Mountainview, Tomlinson, "playing basketball;
    n Michael Sifford, 4-6 tight end, Edgewood, Favre, "drawing"; and
    n Gavin Valencia, 4-10 quarterback, Route 66, Manning, "playing basketball."
    Many of the YAFL Pintos are still playing baseball with the Moriarty Vipers. The Vipers have been competing in the Super Series national tournament in Breckenridge, Colo., this week.
    The other Pintos are Jeremy Brant, Seth Castillo, Julius Giron, Jonathan Ipiotis, Robert Miller, Antonio Mora, Santiago Mora, Joseph Moseley, Coleman Rhoads and Nicholas Young.
    "It's for the kids," the elder Ipiotis said. "And my boy plays, and I love football. I played YAFL myself. There were some good YAFL coaches and some bad YAFL coaches then. Then in high school, I had some great coaches who taught me the game and some lessons in life."