With four wins a year ago, the Carbon High School football team won more games in a single season that it had in any season during the previous decade. Including 2011, the Dinos have a combined 15-86 record dating back to 2001.
It has been remarkable what head coach Jeff Blanc has done since taking over the program in 2010. In his first-ever game he guided his team to an opening-season win against Monticello 13-6, breaking a 25-game losing streak dating back to August, 2007. That win injected hope into the community and team members. Though the Dinos lost eight-straight to end the season, the hope continued.
Then Carbon ripped off four-straight to start the 2011 season which led many local residents to think they would see the Dinos play in their first playoff game since 2000. Carbon finished the season at 4-5 missing out on any hopes of postseason play. But now with optimism at an all-time high, the Dinos look to 2012 as a banner year that will bring not only more confindence and wins, but also a 3A playoff berth.
“This year we just want to build on what we started last year andВ continue to get some wins and I’m excited to see what this team canВ do.” Blanc said. “I think we can possibly do some really good things this year onВ the football field. I’m just excited to see those guys get out thereВ and play that first game.”
Carbon will open the season Friday at home against Grand. The Red Devils are coming off a 2-7 season in 2011. Grand upended the Dinos in their last matchup in 2010, 27-7.
“I think some of our strengths are that we have a good group of seniorВ leadership.” Blanc said. “IВ think we have some players who know our system now that we’ve been inВ our spread defense for a couple of years now and the players areВ starting to get a better grip on that.”
Senior Dakota Cisneros returns under center for the Dinos after passing for over 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.
“I think we’ve got a couple ofВ great running backs and I think we’ve got a great receiving core,” Blanc said. “So I think on offense we have a lot of weapons. Defensively weВ haven’t really been tested yet. We’ve had a good group of defensiveВ starters last year and so we’ll just have to wait and see who willВ step up defensively. But, I think we’ll do a good job.”
Blanc praised his team’s work ethic and expects to see his team improve in 2012, and beyond.
“I think the team is a team that has worked hard,” he said. “They’re a team who have set some goals for themselves to be better than the year before and I think that’s what we’re looking at every year is to just get better. They’ve put the time and effort into doing that and we’ve just got to make it happen ourselves.”
Note:
Carbon will play six games live on ETV Channel 10 or 6 in 2012, including this Friday’s matchup with Grand at 7 p.m. Click here for the full live TV schedule from ETV Channel 10.