The Coronado Dons look to break Seton Catholic Prep’s three-game winning streak in an away game Friday in Chandler. The Dons are seeking their first win of the season, while Seton prepares to make its homecoming game memorable.

 

Coronado head coach Curt LeBlanc returned to coaching this year, and looks to set the Dons up for a successful season starting this week. “Every week is different, we have to modify and adjust, and it’s really juggling personnel at this point,” LeBlanc said.

 

Injuries have set the Dons back this season. “[The injuries] have affected the team pretty harshly, but most of [the players] are able to get over them by Friday,” said lines coach Daniel Najarian.

 

Luckily the Dons have a few key players coming off injury this week, and the coaches are looking to them to lead the team to victory.

 

Seton’s quarterback Vincent Wallace has a total 763 passing yards on the season. “[Wallace] is a pretty good passer, he likes to spread the football out to many different receivers, not just one person,” said Dons defensive coordinator Chris Martinez.

 

“They are a pretty up-tempo offense, so we need to focus on being up-tempo and communicating,” said Martinez. Coronado running back Akime Coney ran back a 100-yard interception for a touchdown against Flagstaff, and the Dons are looking to him to be a standout player again this week.   

 

Seton comes into this week with 20 total touchdowns with six interceptions.

 

As far as team mentality goes, Coronado has “that same want we had in Week 1, bringing that same kind of mentality of ‘new week, we’re going to get this win this week.’ We have to bring it every single practice,” said Najarian.

 

LeBlanc is focused on making sure his players are in the right mindset of not focusing on losing, but gaining experience. “As unpleasant as not getting a win at this point is, there should be some joy in the fact that ‘man I’m getting to play a lot of football,’ and they are, and we have to take pride in that,” said LeBlanc.

 

Coronado has a lot of young players who are looking to be the standout, like quarterback Mikel James, who is also practicing to play multiple positions. “He’s coming up at the linebacker position, so I think he’s going to stand out on the line, he’s new to the position but I think he’s going to do well,” said Najarian.

 

This week is Seton’s homecoming game, so the Sentinels are not going to give up a win easily.

Coronado knows they’re the underdog in this matchup, so “getting the upset would be huge for us,” said Martinez.

 

The Dons are keeping the spirit alive with mottos or mantras like ‘We Go For Four’ and ‘#PerfectGame,’ according to coaches LeBlanc and Martinez.

 

“We’ve been preaching #PerfectGame, so everybody plays a perfect game: defense, offense, special teams. If we play a perfect game like we’ve been preaching, we should come out victorious,” said Martinez.