After three consecutive Western States Conference Championships, the 2006 Citrus College Owls football squad are eager to take the next step in their pursuit of a national championship. Over the past several years Head Coach Kevin Emerson and his Owls have emerged as one of the teams to beat in the Western States Conference and are energized to uphold that honor in 2006.
The outlook for the 2006 season is promising as Citrus is returning several key players from its 2005 Championship team. Led by Grey-Shirt Sophomore, Bryan Waggener the Citrus offense figures to be explosive in 2006. Waggener, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards as a freshman during his 2005 campaign, looks to add to those totals in 2006 as he leads the Citrus offensive attack. He will be accompanied in the Owl “Air Attack” by several key returning Wide Outs including Charles Lewis who led the Owls with 15.5 yards per catch in 2005. The biggest offensive challenge for the 2006 Owls will be filling the shoes of departed running back Dario Camacho. Camacho was an All-American running back in 2005 and received the “Offensive Player of the Conference” award. With the exodus of Camacho the Owl offense has a big hole to fill. Outfitted with a surplus of newcomers in the backfield the Owls are anxious to see who will step up and take the lead role. The Citrus running attack is secured by a strong foundation at the offensive line position. Key returners, Mike Combes and Kenny Andrews look to anchor the Citrus O-Line in 2006. With the help of several promising newcomers, the offensive line appears to be a powerful force for the Owls.
On the other side of the ball Coach Ponciano and the Owl defense look like a force to be reckoned with in 2006. Key returners include Martin Lane on the defensive line and Josh Broughton in the Defensive Back-Field. Lane figures to anchor a defensive line that lost three out of four starters from the 2005 Championship team. With help from newcomers Brian Giles and Devon Johnson, the Defensive Line figures to be a physical group up front for the Owls. The linebacker position will be the youngest group on the Owl Defense. After loosing all four starters from the 2005 season, the Owl coaching staff is excited about the potential of returner Nick Williams, and several promising young freshmen. The Defensive Backfield should turn out to be one of the strengths for the 2006 defense as Josh Broughton will anchor a core of returners who proved to be very solid in 2005. Key returners George Lewis and Caleb Flores along with freshmen Johnny Davies and Mitchell Harris, have the Citrus Defensive Backfield looking very promising.
Coach Emerson and his staff are excited about the potential of the 2006 Owls.
Along with the promising athletes, the Owls staff welcomes newcomers to the staff T.J. Woods (Offensive Line, Run Game Coordinator), Ron Edwards (Defensive Backs), Martin Bacon (Defensive Backs), and Robert Lewis (Running Backs). With the quality group of new coaches and players that have been brought in, the 2006 Citrus Owls are packed with potential and appear very capable of a fourth straight WSC Championship.
The Owls understand being one of the best teams in the conference comes with a price, that price is “Hard Work”. The Citrus Football team has been hard at it with a strong off-season program and have begun to gel as a team. Add all the components up and the 2006 Football season should be electrifying. Championship football requires the Owls best, week in and week out and it looks as though they are up for the challenge. The 2006 season kicks off on Saturday September 2nd when the Owls travel to El Camino to take on the Warriors. Kick off is at 6:00 pm.