Football Preview: Upland Baseline League
Upland
The Highlanders under Coach Tim Salter will look to improve from last year's 7-4 record and 1st round playoff loss.
Advertisement
By Brandon Tatera
Offense
Quarterback: The Highlanders return their star QB in Josh Nunes, Rivals.com's #10 ranked pro style QB. Last season he threw for 2105 passing yards and 14 touchdowns. This Tennessee commit will look to better those numbers in his senior season.
Running Back: With Tin Hanson graduating Davion Fleming will start and take more of a role in the offense compared to last season when he had 419 rushing yards and 7 TDs.
Wide Receiver: at the wide out spot Jason Speicher and junior Gianni Olivas will get a lot more playing time to better their already nice numbers from last season. Elijah Arnold will also get more playing time as all three WR's try to be Nunes' #1 receiving threat.
Offensive Line: Kyle Bissell and Stephen Kelly return to anchor the Highlander offensive line.
Defense
Defensive Line: Isaiah Shivers and Michael Macias return to anchor the Highlander defensive line.
Linebackers: Olivas returns to start at linebacker also where he had 77 tackles last season. Justin Meng should also see more playing time as a senior starting linebacker.
Secondary: Upland is stocked in the secondary led by Arizona State bound cornerback Osahon Irabor who will also play some wide receiver, and Taj Johnson. Fleming will also play safety.
Special Teams
With the graduation of kicker/punter Kyle Hughlock, sophomore Jake Van Ginkel should take over both of those duties. Speicher and Irabor will likely handle the return duties.
Upland begins their season on September 5th at Colony. Upland will be in contention with Los Osos and Etiwanda for a Baseline league championship.
The game of the year will likely be for the league championship on October 24th: Josh Nunes vs Richard Brehaut, Upland at Los Osos.