High Desert Football Preview: Silver Valley ready for 2nd season in Manzanita League

Having a handful of returning starters, including a dual-threat quarterback, seems like a solid foundation for a football team as a new season quickly approaches.

But when it comes to the Silver Valley football program, it’s never that simple given the school’s unique circumstances, coupled with welcoming a new head coach in Austin Crank to lead the way.

The current enrollment at Silver Valley is 402 students, with 60% coming from military families stationed nearby at the Fort Irwin National Training Center, according to Principal Mike Meyer.

Fort Irwin is located 33 miles north of the school and the military dependency percentage means a high turnover rate from year to year constantly looms at Silver Valley.

So, having plans for upcoming sports seasons at Silver Valley is quite tricky.

There have been times a player will have to abruptly leave due to a military transfer, which happened to the Silver Valley program twice in the midst of a historic postseason run back in 2017. That Trojans team lost two key players to military transfers, and eventually lost in the CIF-Southern Section Division 13 title game.

There was even a time when a player stayed on a friend’s couch, with his mom, in order to stay for the playoff run.

“That’s just how it is here at Silver Valley,” said Crank. “But we are in a good spot at the moment with having between 20 to 25 kids at each practice. That’s great for summertime at Silver Valley when we don’t even know what new group of students we have coming in. So knowing that these kids have bought in. Especially knowing that the kids that live on Fort Irwin that have to be at their bus stops by 6 a.m. just to get to practice at 7 a.m. every day. That tells me a lot.”

Some stability

For now, there’s a bit of consistency with a handful of key returners from last season’s squad, including quarterback Bryan Mitchell.

As a junior, Mitchell threw for 941 yards and five touchdowns, while also scrambling for 685 yards. His 1,626 total yards of offense was the seventh best-best mark among all High Desert players in 2022.

“Bryan has the arm, but one thing is he’s kind of relied on his legs to do the job. He’s been developing this summer and is going to be fun to watch,” Crank said. “Everyone is excited because they’ve been together a couple years now. And that’s something that hasn’t happened here in a long time.”

Silver Valley’s top two receivers from last year are also returning in Stephen Crawford and Camari Hunt.

Crawford led the team by catching 26 passes for 425 yards and four touchdowns, while Hunt reeled in 23 passes for 313 yards.

At running back, Lennon Louis figures to have a prominent role, taking over the starting gig this year. As a sophomore, Louis took 68 carries for 274 yards and five touchdowns, serving as Trevon Vargas’ backup.

Crank's football experience

Crank said offensive play-calling duties will belong to Charles Crawford, who is entering his fourth season of coaching at Silver Valley. Charles Crawford is one of three active-duty coaches currently at the school.

Crank said he will take on defensive coordinator duties. After all, he’s a linebacker at heart, even if he doesn’t want to really admit it.

Crank never envisioned himself coaching for a football team, let alone being the head coach. But as the adage goes, expect the unexpected.

Following Jonathan Bowman’s departure from the program, school administration pitched the idea of stepping in as head coach to Crank back in April.

Crank, entering his fourth year as the Silver Valley head baseball coach, mulled the decision back in April and eventually accepted the football gig.

It’s been an adjustment for Crank, who didn’t even plan on playing football his senior season at nearby Barstow High School, where he played under coach Mike Esposito.

“I played football throughout high school, and when Coach Esposito heard I didn’t plan on playing my senior year, he approached me and kind of convinced my parents to get me to give it another year,” Crank said. “It almost turned out in my favor because I had more college football coaches calling me more than I had baseball coaches interested. But it wasn’t what I wanted and went the baseball route.”

Several factors kept Crank from attending Dickinson State University after graduating high school in 2013 and he wound up at Barstow Community College. There, the former Aztec found his way to transfer to play NCAA Division 1 baseball at the University of North Dakota.

Crank has since returned to the High Desert and wound up coaching the Silver Valley baseball team.

“At first, the kids had heard horror stories of how serious and disciplined I am on the baseball field,” Crank said. “But the kids seem really committed right now and things are going great.”

Silver Valley kicks off the season with a Saturday night game on Aug. 26 at home against Desert Chapel. The Trojans have a -65.9 preseason rating from CalPreps.com, which is the third-best in the eight-team Manzanita League.

Team Schedule

• Aug. 26 — Desert Chapel at Silver Valley

• Sept. 1 — Desert at Silver Valley

• Sept. 8 — Silver Valley at Desert Christian Academy

• Sept. 15 — Silver Valley at Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac

• Sept. 22 — The Webb Schools at Silver Valley

• Sept. 28 — San Jacinto Valley Academy at Silver Valley

• Oct. 6 — Silver Valley at California Military Institute

• Oct. 13 — Silver Valley at Temecula Prep

• Oct. 19 — Sherman Indian at Silver Valley

• Oct. 27 — Nuview Bridge at Silver Valley

Editor's note — The Daily Press is putting together a comprehensive High Desert high school football preview for the 2023 season. This is the second story in a series that will continue until the start of the season.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert Football Preview: Silver Valley ready for Manzanita League