FOOTBALL: LANCASTER `FAMILY' EMBARKS AFTER LEAGUE TITLE.Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer They're not related biologically, this group of Lancaster High football seniors and their head coach Ray DeShane. But the Eagles can proudly proclaim themselves as kin. They've fought together. They've bonded together. They've lost. They've won. ``Not too many teams can say `We've been together for four years, more or less. . . . We're a family,' '' said wide receiver Michael Brown Michael or Mike Brown may refer to: In politics:
Going on four autumns now, Lancaster's senior class was built from scratch by DeShane. Now as the Eagles open Golden League play tonight at home against Palmdale, all of the ups and downs ups and downs pl.n. Alternating periods of good and bad fortune or spirits. ups and downs Noun, pl alternating periods of good and bad luck or high and low spirits of the past four years can end on the highest of highs. ``That would be the best thing in the world,'' running back Danny Pagnella said when asked about the significance of winning a Golden League championship. ``Being together for four years it would be the best.'' That goes for DeShane also. ``No matter what happens with these kids, and we might not win a league game, we'll go down fighting,'' he said. It's been a battle since the summer of 1995, when DeShane invited many of the school's first freshmen class to work out with the football team. There was no place to practice at the still under-construction Lancaster campus, so workouts were held at nearby Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. . ``I probably had 130 to 140 kids, 20 of them were girls who were volleyball or softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' players,'' DeShane said. ``There were a lot of us that didn't play any football before we got here,'' Brown said. Playing strictly as a freshman team, the Eagles went 7-1-2 in 1995. As the next class came onto campus the following fall, the seniors won the Golden League JV title as sophomores, finishing with a 10-0 mark entering 1997's varsity debut. ``We went in too confident,'' offensive/defensive lineman Rene Rubira said. ``Our first game, coach told us, `Welcome to varsity football.' '' The Eagles were a respectable 2-3 in nonleague play and took high hopes into the Golden opener at Palmdale, tonight's opponent. For a half, Lancaster played the eventual league champions tough. But the Falcons pulled away in the second half for a 41-16 victory, kicking off an 0-4-1 second half that ended with a 41-10 blowout by crosstown cross·town or cross-town adj. Running, extending, or going across a city or town: a crosstown street; crosstown traffic. adv. rival Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley . ``I told them that the Golden League teams had bigger, stronger and faster kids than anyone we'd seen,'' DeShane said. ``And frankly, everyone wanted to kill us. We were the new kids on the block New Kids on the Block (later NKOTB) was a boy band that enjoyed enormous success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr, the members consisted of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny and some coaches have told me `We were going to put you in your place "Put You in Your Place" is the 7" debut Single by Leeds Indie rock band The Sunshine Underground. The single was released 18th July 2005, by City Rockers and has been limited to 1000 copies. .' '' The seniors admitted to bickering bick·er intr.v. bick·ered, bick·er·ing, bick·ers 1. To engage in a petty, bad-tempered quarrel; squabble. See Synonyms at argue. 2. with each other as the losses piled up. ``A lot of people were very frustrated. . . . We had too many individuals on the team. We got rid of that stuff,'' Rubira said. ``We argued with each other a lot last year.'' Sounds like your typical family quarrels. ``You're going to fight with your brother,'' DeShane said. |
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