New Central Football Head Coach on making his Warriors Debut

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - The Central High School Warriors Football Team has a new head coach leading them this season. While a 46-20 loss to the Fruita Monument Wildcats was not likely the start the team, or Head Coach Ryan Whittington would have wanted, it was still a big day for the program with the new head coach making his debut.

“Yeah, it was great. It’s great atmosphere, you know, Fruita traveled. Well, we had a great fan base. There’s, it was an exciting night, and it was a good football game,” Coach Whittington said, “I thought our preparation was good. We just, our execution wasn’t as good as we’d liked. But plenty of things to work on for week two, and hopefully we can get those mistakes corrected, and be better for it.”

Coach Whittington also pointed out a couple of key contributors for the Warriors that could have big roles in future games, including one Warrior who was flying all over the field on both sides of the ball at Stocker Thursday.

“Cam (Redding) had a good game, he had some good catches, played good, some good defense. He’s a good athlete. You know, he’s a hard worker. But I think we can get more out of him for sure. You know, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what his capabilities are and we’re looking for we’re looking for him having a big season for us,” Coach Whittington said.

On top of that Coach Whittington also made specific mention of a whole unit on the defensive side of the ball and what he saw from them.

“I think our D-line as a whole I was impressed with how hard they played you know, I thought they played very well in the trenches, " Whittington said.

Looking ahead, the Warriors next opponent will also be a Grand Valley team, and they’ll again be playing at Stocker Stadium, the Palisade Bulldogs.

“Anytime you play inner city rivals it’s fun. The kids get up for it. Palisade has got a great program for many years. Coach Ramunno is a great coach, runs a great program, I have a ton of respect for him and his staff and what they bring so it’ll be a tremendous challege for us,” Whittington said.

The Warriors will take on Palisade 7:00pm at Stocker Stadium Friday, Sept. 9.

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