Hartnell passed over for bowl bid

BY GEORGE WATKINS • gwatkins@thecalifornian.com • November 18, 2009

The Hartnell College football team beat San Jose City in a Coast Conference game and finished ahead of the Jaguars in the Coast Conference standings.

Yet it was San Jose City that received the invitation to play Saturday in the Graffiti Bowl in Modesto, and not Hartnell College.

"We got hosed," Hartnell coach Matt Collins said. "They said you had to win a conference title or have a record of 6-4 or better. But Sierra got in at 5-5, and that should have opened the door for us. We thought we had an outside chance."

San Joaquin Delta and Sacramento City also received bowl bids with 5-5 records and College of the Redwoods earned a spot in the Southern Division Bowl to play Coast Conference champion De Anza with a 4-6 mark.

Hartnell finished 5-5 overall and second in the Coast Conference at 4-1. San Jose City had a better overall record than Hartnell at 7-3, but finished behind Hartnell in third place at 3-2 in conference. Among the San Jose losses was a 32-29 decision to Hartnell.

Yet it'll be San Jose playing Modesto Community College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"There's a lot of disappointment," Collins said. "We thought we had an outside chance. It probably should have been us going."

Hartnell's last bowl appearance came in 2005 in the Graffiti Bowl where it beat Yuba, 37-34, in overtime.

Fourteen community college bowl games will all be played Saturday.

The news was not all bad for Hartnell.

Five of its players were named first-team all-conference. The list included Kiero Small, a 5-9, 265-pound freshman linebacker from Baltimore, who led the state in tackles and tackles for losses.

Other Panthers making first team were offensive linemen Daniel Jimenez, a 5-11, 205-pound sophomore from Alvarez High, and Daniel Taue'etia, a 6-2, 295-pound freshman from North Salinas.

First-team defensive picks were 6-1, 220-pound sophomore linebacker Sione Polota from Hawaii; 6-1, 265-pound sophomore lineman Vincent Bain from Florida and 5-11, 276-pound freshman lineman Charles Russell from North Salinas.

Freshman receiver Isiah Tate, sophomore quarterback Dwayne Gatlin, freshman running back Ricky Rodwell, sophomore defensive back Maurice Curry and offensive lineman Quinn Yamamoto were honorable mention.

Hartnell had its team banquet Monday with Small receiving the Thaddeus Williams MVP award, the Hit Man award and the Defensive Player of the Year award. Small and Gatlin were honored as team MVPs.

The Larry Parker Defensive Back award went to Mark Ramos, the Bill Maker Heart of a Panther Award went to Riley Glenn and Most Improved went to Daniel Jimenez.

View original aritcle here.

Panthers coach Collins gets first victory over rival Lobos

BY GEORGE WATKINS • gwatkins@thecalifornian.com • November 16, 2009

The crowd sang "Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, good-bye," the stadium sound system blared Kool & The Gang's song "Celebration," and the Hartnell College football team whooped it up at midfield and hoisted the President's Trophy for all to see.

After a three-year struggle, it was happy days are here again for the Hartnell College football team.

The Panthers gave an emphatic and enthusiastic end to the season Saturday night by beating rival Monterey Peninsula College 55-34 in front of an energetic crowd at Salinas High Stadium.

Considering how badly Hartnell has suffered during the last three years (combined record 3-27), this may have been the sweetest 5-5 finish in Hartnell history.

It also earned Hartnell's third-year coach Matt Collins his "Beat MPC" merit badge.
It was Hartnell's first win against the Lobos in four years.

Among those congratulating Collins on his first win over MPC was the guy he replaced as coach at the start of the 2007 season, Larry Souza.

"Now you're a Panther!" Souza told him. "Now you're a Panther!"

"They love you when you win, I guess," Collins said with a wry smile. "They wanted to egg me the first two years."

After going 0-10 in 2007 and 2-8 last year, Hartnell battled back this season to finish 4-1 in the Coast Conference — its first winning conference record since 2005.

De Anza beat San Jose City Saturday to finish as conference champions at 5-0.

"We knew from day one this was going to be a long process," Collins said. "And we're nowhere near where we need to be. But that's all part of the growing pains. We're on the right track."

Not only did the win over the Lobos (3-7 overall) extend Hartnell's lead in the series to 37-24, but it may go a long way to improving the local recruiting process that has been just as much of a challenge as the schedule.

"We just want the student-athletes in this area to know we want them to be part of Hartnell football and not always to be looking to go to the next best place," Collins said. "We want this to be the next best place."

One that got away was MPC receiver Bret Chernetsky from Palma, who caught 12 passes for 131 yards for the Lobos.

But the Panthers had their share of standouts as well. They broke tackles and completed passes all night long.

Ricky Rodwell rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown, Dwayne Gatlin completed 15 of 22 passes for 253 yards in the first half, then switched positions and caught two passes for 45 yards in the second half.

The game-breaking score was turned in by Jarvious Smith, who grabbed a punt in heavy traffic while in full stride and raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give Hartnell a 41-20 lead with 8:20 left in the third quarter.

Sione Polota ended things with Hartnell's second interception of the game.
It was a triumphant finish to what has been three seasons of seemingly never-ending challenges.

"Most of it was done with a third-string quarterback, six offensive linemen — we were down to five defensive lineman and had receivers filling in as defensive backs — with no real subs," Collins said. "We were paper thin. It was a testament to their character and hard work."

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Pete Noble joins the Hartnell College football staff as the defensive coordinator

Hartnell football coach Matt Collins wasted no time hiring Pete Noble just less than 2 months after his retirement from Monterey High School. Coach Noble stepped away from a lifetime career as a high school teacher and coach. His resume is unmatched as he can be remembered having a major influence on thousands of young men and women dating back to the beginning of his career in 1970 at Tennyson High school in Hayward, Ca.



“Pete has been a friend and colleague of mine in the coaching profession dating back to the 2000 season. We met at the Portland State clinics and have kept in touch over the years. His knowledge of football is legendary as he is known throughout the country as a successful coach. Having the opportunity to hire Pete was just good timing. We couldn’t pass him up.”

Prior to serving as the head coach at Monterey High School from 2003-2008, he was named the 2002 Monterey Herald and Salinas Californian Coach of the Year at Gonzalez High School. In addition, he has been named coach of the year 10 different times in 3 different conferences. Coach Noble has won 10 conference championships and has had 16 playoff appearances throughout his 23 years as a head coach.

Coach Noble is the author of Football’s Split 4-4 Defense and he has gained National recognition for football clinics and instructional videotapes through “Coaches Choice videos”. Over the years, he has been a guest speaker at clinics throughout the country at major Universities; too many to list.

In addition to coaching on the football staff, Coach Noble will be teaching classes as a part-time member of the physical education department. His wife Kathy is a full time employee at Hartnell College where she works as a DSP counselor.



THE NOBLE FILE

2003-2008 Head Coach Monterey High School
2002-2003 Head Coach Gonzalez High School
2000-2002 Assistant Alvarez High School
1998-2000 Assistant Gavilan College
1985-2000 Teacher Monterey High school
1985-1994 Head Coach Monterey high School
1985 Head Coach Oakland Fire Dept.
1976-1985 Head Coach Encinal High school
1983 D. C. Fremont Cavaliers (Professional League)
1973-1974 Head Coach Alameda High School
1972 Assistant Alameda High School
1970-1971 Assistant Tennyson High School

EDUCATION

1971 B.S Physical education California Sate University – Hayward
1972 Lifetime Teaching Credential State of California

Additional education course work:

Cal Lutheran
Chabot College
Azusa Pacific College
University of Santa Clara
San Francisco State University
San Jose State University

PUBLICATIONS

Author Coaching Football’s Split 4-4, Coaches Choice Second edition
DVD Author: Coaching Football’s Split 4-4 vs the Run, Coaches Choice
DVD Author: Coaching Football’s Split 4-4 vs the Pass, Coaches Choice
DVD Author: Coaching Football Linebackers in the Split 4-4, Coaches Choice
DVD Author: Coaching Football Defensive Linemen in the Split 4-4, Coaches Choice