Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 | 8:49 a.m.
C.J. Garduno might not be the most popular person with parents and siblings of Basic High football players.
It's not that the Wolves' senior lineman acts rude, mistreats puppies or anything of the sort. An entire summer of placing early-morning phone calls to teammates who were late to weight room sessions, however, is not a way to make friends.
"I'd be in there in the morning and I'd call the guys who weren't there, wake up their families," Garduno said Tuesday.
Whatever it took to push the Basic team through grueling off-season workouts after a dismal 2001 season appears to be paying off now, as the high-powered Wolves are 5-1 heading into this week's Southeast Division showdown at Foothill.
"I think our kids have worked hard and they understand what we're trying to do in the football game," Basic coach Cliff Frazier said.
Coming off a painful 0-9 season, creating a culture of dedication to training and improvement became the biggest challenge for Frazier, in his 11th year with Basic.
Thanks to a motivated group of juniors and seniors, though, the Wolves made their offseason a successful one.
"During the summer is the time when the team gets together," Garduno said, crediting the team's work in passing leagues and camps.
By developing its potent passing attack and improving its defense, Basic came together and found the formula that has produced a 40.2 points per game average in its five victories.
"I think we feel confident that when we're on the field, we can control the tempo of the game," Frazier said.
Along with a solid corps of receivers headlined by playmaker Brandon Hawkins, a lot of the credit for the high-flying offense goes to junior quarterback Chris Montano. Frazier said his young passer comprehends the Basic offense and Montano's timing with his wideouts is well developed.
"Everyone's just trying to get on the same page, and so far, we have been," Montano said.
Basic does not throw to the exclusion of the run, as evidenced by the high number of rushing touchdowns registered by the Wolves. Frazier, though, knows what keeps his offense -- and his kids -- moving.
"Throwing the ball, the kids love it," Frazier said.
Foothill (5-1, 1-0 Southeast) also knows a bit about putting the ball in the air, as its offense relies heavily on contributions from receivers Nate Wederquist and Jake Lamb. The Falcons' offense could receive a positive jolt soon, as injured quarterback Josh Daneshforooz is practicing and will begin to see game action as soon as next week against Coronado.
Coming off a 23-7 loss to Centennial, the focus for Falcons coach Ray Fenton is simply on getting his charges ready for the Basic attack.
"We're just going to try to slow them down a little bit," Fenton said. "They do a great job of making big plays."
Those big plays did in the Falcons last week, as Centennial's Melvin Matlock returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown and the Bulldogs broke an 80-yard scoring run on a play where tailback Jarvis Jones kept going on a play where everyone thought he was down.
"Special teams-wise, we need to re-assert ourselves," Fenton said.
Assertiveness is in full supply for a Basic offense running at peak confidence.
"We want the ball right away," Frazier said. "We want to see if we can get downfield."
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