San Dimas strong safety Mitch Giles
By Josh Ouellette
Senior to be and strong safety for San Dimas High School, Mitchell Giles, likes a lot of things. He likes any kind of music really, he likes Italian food, he likes the Indianapolis Colts when they play on Sundays, but there is one thing he loves: playing football.
“I like Mitch. Mitch plays the game because he loves the game. He’s not one of those guys who are trying to do it because he’s trying to impress somebody, or anything like that, he’s doing it because likes football,” head coach Bill Zernickow explained. “And those guys are fun guys to coach because they’re putting all their heart and soul into it because they want to make the team better. Mitch has been a good team guy.”
Last year the Saints went 11-2, only losing to fellow Mid-Valley Division powerhouse teams Monrovia—in the regular season—and Paraclete in the Semi-Finals. San Dimas also went undefeated in league play in the Valle Vista for the first time since their 2009 CIF Title winning campaign.
“I think last year, as in years past, we continued to fit guys into spots and guys grow up real quick for us,” said coach Zernickow. “They know what the expectations are so this year going forward, we lost a lot of great seniors that were great players, but we have good kids coming up and guys who kind of fit the mold to be successful for next year.
Things are definitely looking up heading into this season because the Saints are returning much of their offensive core. All Mid-Valley players like Player of the Year running back Jake Payton and Center Fidel Castro will be back next season along with quarterback Josh Avila.
“Obviously they’re great places for us to start and to find complimentary pieces to them will make us a better football team. Coming into next year I am excited about a fullback we have, Fausto Martinez, he’s six foot, 225 pounds and he runs really well, so that’s going to give us a great inside presence,” Zernickow offered. “The best part of our football team, I think, is our line play, the majority of those guys are coming back and that’s going to allow us to make some adjustments during games and stuff like that because they’ve been there and done that.”
But that is just looking at the offensive side of the ball San Dimas.
“Defensively, we have some guys and the right pieces and the right body frames that will allow us to do some good things on defense, so I’m excited about that,” Zernickow said.
But there is definitely one player coming back to lead the Blue and Gold on defense and it comes in the form of their strong safety. Giles was a transfer from Damien High School in La Verne last season and he acclimated to the San Dimas way of life pretty quickly. On the year Giles played in every game and was third on the team in total tackles with 105, add in his team-leading six interceptions, 11 tackles for loss, a handful of pass deflections, a couple of sacks and a fumble recovery.
Good enough to make him the All Mid-Valley Team Strong Safety, but that’s not what the 5’10” 185-pound backfield leader for the Saints cares about. It isn’t his personal accolades or his stats, no, this strong safety cares about how his team can get amped up and play good football.
Giles told how his success was mainly due to that of his team.
“The success I had came from that of my team pressuring the quarterback and making them throw bad passes,” explained Giles. “We had a strong defensive line, strong line backers, good corners covering other guys, it just made it easier of everyone that we had such a strong defense. Everyone did their part and made it possible.”
Giles agrees with his coach about how the defensive unit shouldn’t skip a beat going into next season.
“I feel like we’ll be able to do it because we had a good second team. They had strong tacklers and good coverage, so I feel like we can become as strong [defensively] as we were before as long as we work for it,” said Giles.
The Saints jersey number two loves to hit and loves to be the guy who comes up big in the game, but he still sees this as a team action.
“It is always fun being able to say that you were the one that tackled him [the opposing player] because it shows that you can do it on your own and you don’t need anyone else,” Giles said. “It’s just fun being the guy that made the play because you know you did well and you know your team appreciates it. I appreciate it when all of my teammates do their job and are the ones that get to kill the quarterback or hits someone hard because it builds the confidence within the team.
Much of Giles success can be accredited to Zernickow and the player tells everyone why the long time leader of the Saints march for football success is such a great head coach.
“Because he pushes you. He’s a strong coach and he’s a perfectionist so it drives you to do better and become perfect at what you do just because he motivates you and he’s a strong speaker,” Giles quipped. “He makes the team feel more like a family than a team.”
Giles will be one of the heads of the table in next season’s San Dimas family and he has the goal of taking it game by game.
“Just to play every game, think of the game coming up not the games ahead and to go far and play hard,” Giles said.
But there are a few games he is definitely looking forward to in a few months.
“I think Northview and Covina because those are the most competitive games to play in,” said Giles. “You talk more on the field with them, you’re more vocal, so I feel like those will be some interesting games.”
And what every reader wants to know is about what is becoming one of the greatest match-ups in the Mid-Valley Division, the one between the Saints and three-time CIF Champs, the Wildcats of Monrovia High School. Giles focuses in on the intensity of the rivalry.
“It’s extremely intense because you know that they’re a very good team and very aggressive and that you have to play your best to beat them,” he said.
But what teams who play San Dimas will need to look out for on Friday nights this coming fall is Giles trying to get opposing quarterbacks to know what his goal is.
“Hit him as hard as you can, make him drop that ball and make him remember you,” said Giles.
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