Players’ brotherhood, coaches’ friendship help Simi Valley football reach state playoffs
Coach Jim Benkert and his assistants repeatedly tell the 47 players on the Simi Valley football team to stop talking. It gets redundant for the coaches, but the players’ behavior can be an indicator of something good.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about, but they talk,” Benkert said. “That’s kind of the mark of this team. But they believe in each other. They’re like real brothers.”
As the players chatter away, the coaches have been talking, too — all the way to a CIF Southern Section Division 6 championship and now the CIF Southern California Regional Division 2-A Championship Bowl Game, which will be against Central Valley Christian on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Benkert asks defensive coordinator Doug Semones at the start of each week how many points the opposing team will score against the Pioneers. The question is repeated Tuesday and Wednesday and Semones’ answers tell Benkert all he needs to know about how well practice is going for the defense.
“These are the things we lean on and talk about or laugh about and communicate with,” Benkert said. “And so the kids are communicating, but so are the coaches. We talk a lot too.”
Benkert, who was hired at Simi Valley in 2018, and Semones have known each other since the 1980s and have coached with each other on and off since then. Assistant coach Mike Fong goes back that far with Benkert, too.
Semones lives in Puerto Rico for most of the year, but returns to the states every fall to coach football. One special teams coordinator, Darrell Talavera, lives in Maui and the other special teams coordinator, Lance Sterling, lives in Utah. There are six volunteers on the coaching staff, including Talavera.
“It’s friendship,” Benkert said. “Football is great, the kids are great, coaching is great. But we’re all friends, so we’ve been together a long time.”
Simi Valley’s 44-38 win over Mira Costa on Saturday gave Benkert, who has been a head coach for 35 years, his third CIF-SS title with a third school after winning one with Westlake and Oaks Christian.
He and the Pioneers now have their attention on Central Valley Christian, the Central Section Division II champions. The season has stretched through the weeklong Thanksgiving break and into the winter sports season, presenting new challenges. Players like defensive lineman Izak Simpson and receiver Drayton Rittersdorf have basketball season on deck and the team has been practicing on a grass field while sharing the turf field with the soccer teams.
“Trying to keep their eyes on football and winning, and going through this is not an easy thing at this point,” Benkert said. “We played 14 games in 15 weeks. That’s a lot of football. And they’ve still gotta go to school all day and be kids.”
Benkert promised his team that if they made it to the state playoffs they wouldn’t put on shoulder pads for the remaining practices. The week leading up to Saturday’s game has been mostly walk-throughs and mental preparation.
The bond that the players share could make the difference at this point in the season — as well as the investment from the coaches.
“I kid around with Coach Fong; we say that we’re going to be buried at midfield,” Benkert said. “We do it for the team, it’s all about the kids and I’m not building a resume. I’ve been around for a while, so I’m just enjoying the moment.”
BIRMINGHAM TO PLAY DEL NORTE
Birmingham’s football team is slated to play Del Norte on the road in the CIF Southern California Regional Division 3-AA Championship Bowl Game on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Patriots won their fourth straight L.A. City Open Division championship last week when they beat Garfield 49-7 at L.A. Valley College. Ronnell Hewitt ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and Dresden Fowles collected 115 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.