Victor Valley College football team is ready for a new season with David Slover at the helm

When Adrian Rodriguez returned home looking to continue playing football, Victor Valley College wasn’t his first choice.

Rodriguez was a year removed from graduating from Oak Hills High School, where he earned a scholarship to play at New Mexico State University. But things didn’t quite work out for the linebacker.

Unfettered from his dream of continuing to play college football, he knew the “JUCO” route would be a big gamble.

“I had to make it work with my at-home situation,” Rodriguez said.

It turns out that the gamble paid off. Rodriguez was one of five players from last year’s VVC squad to transfer to NCAA programs. The other players are Kenyard Edwards Jr. (Colorado State University), Matt Lowe (Morgan State University), Hosia Stokes (Fort Hayes State University), and Cam Stephens (University of Idaho).

“The JUCO grind wasn’t easy. It’s countless hours of work on the field, weight room, film room and classroom,” said Rodriguez, who is now playing at Idaho State University. “I felt there were times when no one believed in me, but that didn’t matter because I believed in myself. Earning that full-ride scholarship was such an accomplishment. It was what I have been working towards my entire football career, especially to get back to the Division I level where I had been before.”

Rodriguez led the defense last season for the Rams with 51 tackles, including 39 solo and two interceptions.

Rodriguez is back in Southern California this week as Idaho State takes on San Diego State University on Saturday, the same day that Victor Valley College kicks off its season on the road against Santa Monica College.

“Ultimately, I’m proud to represent my hometown here in the High Desert,” Rodriguez said. “I hope I and the other mid-year transfers guys inspire High Desert football players that VVC is somewhere where you can go and develop and transfer out.”

New head coach

Ever since the departure of Dave Hoover, there’s been a revolving door at Victor Valley College to the head coach position.

This season is no different, with David Slover taking over as head coach for Artie Allen, who spent the last two seasons at the helm.

Allen was named the head coach in 2021 and, earlier this year, announced he is now the college’s athletic director.

Slover was announced as the head coach, and the transition from Chaffey College to Victor Valley College has been seamless.

This is his first-ever head coaching job after spending seven years at Chaffey College; he was an assistant coach last year and was the defensive coordinator for the previous four seasons.

“It’s been an easy transition, but I have to say that these young men deserve a lot of credit,” Slover said. “This group of men is extremely resilient in the way they handled the transition of Artie Allen stepping into the AD role and having a new coach taking over earlier this year. They really stuck through it and bought into a new culture here. I really feel that the school cares about the athletes and understands that athletics play a very special role to help young men to achieve their goals academically and provide core principles — discipline, accountability, integrity, and resilience — that they can apply to their daily lives. Not just on the field but academically, all over campus, and even in the community. Our main focus is on our behavior traits.”

Last season didn’t quite go well on the field for the Rams. After an 0-3 start to the season, the Rams won three of their next four games, sitting at a 4-3 record.

But the Rams dropped the final three games as the numbers game took a toll on the team so much that the team played the second half of the season with just five offensive linemen.

On the year, the Rams averaged 21 points and 321 offensive yards a game. The defense allowed 29.6 points and 338 yards per game to opposing offenses.

Now at Colorado State, Edwards led the offense for the Rams with 829 yards of total offense. The Apple Valley graduate ran for 681 yards and four touchdowns while also catching 16 passes for 148 yards.

A Granite Hills graduate, Tyler Karen threw for 2,093 yards, 19 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. But Karen isn’t with the Rams, as he transferred to El Camino College.

New roles on the team

Taking over the offense at quarterback this year appears to be Miguel Larios, a Hesperia High School graduate.

Larios is in a position to be a starter after competing for the job with Landon Webster, who graduated from Goodwill Education Center in Victorville, and Tremel Echols.

Larios will start in Victor Valley College’s season opener on Saturday afternoon against Santa Monica College.

"My favorite thing about Larios is that he’s intelligent. He’s a true student of the game, and that’s his strongest trait,” Slover said.

Slover likes the chemistry he’s seen Larios develop with Carlos Anaya, a Riverside Prep graduate, and Omari McCullough, an Adelanto High School graduate.

Anaya and McCullough figure to be focal points in the aerial attack. Anaya is getting plenty of looks from colleges as a 6-foot-6 tight end and wide receiver.

“Both of those guys have had a great offseason for us,” Slover said. “Carlos is huge. He’s one of the captains on the field and will be exciting to watch at those positions. Omari is just a true talent that is so well-rounded. He’s someone that can do everything, go up and catch the ball, and is very aggressive as a blocker.”

Defensively, a few local names have stepped up this offseason, especially at linebacker.

Lealofi Chanwong, an Oak Hills High School graduate, and Andrew Olmos, a Silverado High School graduate, should really solidify the second line of defense.

“Those two are going to be our main guys,” Slover said. “Chanwong did great things for the team as a freshman last year, and he’s really leading the way this season. Olmos is a true freshman who is really adjusting physically and mentally to a college defense.”

The Rams’ season kicks off at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Santa Monica College. Victor Valley College will play its first home game on Sept. 9 at Sultana High School.

The rest of the home games this year will be played at Victor Valley High School as the college awaits the completion of a football stadium. The long-awaited stadium will include home bleachers to accommodate nearly 2,500 on the home side and roughly 1,500 on the visitor side.

Slover hopes that construction wraps up right at the end of this season and that the Rams qualify for a bowl game.

“Having a bowl game as the first game at this stadium sure would be amazing,” Slover said.

Daily Press reporter Jose Quintero may be reached at 760-951-6274 or JQuintero@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @J0seQuintero.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victor Valley College is ready for a new football season with David Slover at the helm