This preview is the third in a series of articles highlighting the local 11-man high school football teams ahead of the 2025 season, which begins with Week Zero on Friday, Aug. 22.
The tide has officially turned for San Marcos football, as the Royals snapped their 19-year CIF-SS playoff drought last season after a second-place finish in the Tri-County League.
San Marcos head coach Ralph Molina, now entering his fifth season as head coach, will look to guide a team with new faces with a similar identity back to the playoffs after graduating 27 seniors last year.
“Without a doubt, it was the best season in a long time,” Molina said of last year’s success. “It kind of set the tone for us (and is) kind of a new beginning for us. It was a team that had a lot of seniors, but it was one of those that was about the whole program.
“We had a really good JV team last year, and so we’re building. We’ve got a good corps of guys coming up, and the kids are feeling good about it… The expectations are high for us, there’s no doubt about it.”
Many of the new faces suiting up for the Royals this fall will be slotted into key positions on both sides of the ball, beginning with junior quarterback Hayden Feleay (5-10, 152 lbs.).
Feleay was the starting quarterback for the JV team a season ago and will look to guide an offense focused on the running attack to begin the season.
“He’s had a pretty good spring and summer,” Molina said of Feleay. “We’ll roll out, we’ll throw the ball, and we’ll take what teams give us. I want teams to come up and try to stop the run, and to me, that will open up some stuff.
“With the run game, we’ll play action pass a lot. We’ve got a lot of experience (spreading out) during the summer, but that’s not our game. I’m not expecting them to spread things out and throw the ball down the field.”
While there’s a new quarterback under center, the San Marcos offense will remain centered around the rushing attack.
Senior Cole Dominguez (5-10, 180 lbs.), a defending First Team All-League running back, will bring his experience to the lead back role, and senior Brody Green (6-0, 195 lbs.), a standout on the basketball court and track, will look to make an impact in his first year on the gridiron.
“We’re going to run the ball. There’s no doubt about it, that is our bread and butter,” Molina said. “[Dominguez] did a great job for us last year on both sides of the ball. Having a guy like that with experience [is important]… There’s not a whole lot that fazes that guy.
“For three years I’ve been wanting to get [Green], and he came to me and said, ‘Coach, I want to play.’ He’s just an amazing athlete. He’s in great shape, he’s the strongest kid on our team, he runs well and he’s smart.”
Dominguez, Green and Luis Villalba (5-9, 185 lbs.) will have the task of running behind an offensive line that boasts two returners in Chris Martinez (5-11, 250 lbs.) and Arian Botello (6-3, 260 lbs.) and a pair of sophomores.
“We’ve got two solid guys with game experience, and then we’re young, but they’re good-sized guys,” Molina said. “We lost a good center, so right now we’ve got a couple of guys working at the center spot, but I like our size. We just have to get them some experience.”
Green isn’t the only basketball and track & field star putting on the pads for his senior season, as he will be joined by wide receiver and cornerback Logan Patterson (6-1, 170 lbs.), who has turned heads in the summer.
“We’ll match up these tall receivers with [Patterson], because he can jump and he can run. He can flat out run,” Molina said. “We were in the Dos Pueblos passing league, and he was making a couple catches across the middle like he’s done it a thousand times.”
“Between him and Brody Green coming out, I’ve got two athletes that will play a lot on offense, and boy, they really help us.”
Green will join Patterson in the secondary on the defensive side of the ball as one of the team’s starting safeties, a position that the All-League basketball star is excited for.
“I’m more built like a football player than a basketball player, and I love hitting and being physical,” Green said. “I’ve just always wanted to play my whole life and realized that it was my last opportunity and didn’t want to live with the regret of not playing.”
The defensive line will be anchored by senior Max Silva (6-2, 220 lbs.), who wreaked havoc on opposing offenses last season with seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hurries. He will be joined on the line by seniors Steven Herrera (6-3, 225 lbs.) and Yuren Cruz-Vasquez (5-11, 240 lbs.).
“Defensively, I think we could be pretty good,” Molina said. “Last year, you saw how physical we were. I think this year, we could be as physical if not more, and that will help us.
“I’ve been teaching that since I got here. We’ve got to be physical if we want to compete with these guys. Being in the Channel League for those couple of years forced us to be physical because we had to give it back because we were taking it.”
With an intriguing group of talent and Molina looking for another year of improvement, San Marcos has its sights set on a Tri-County League title after coming up just one game short last year.
“Growing up around here, SM kind of had a bad stereotype (for football),” senior linebacker Dominic Christman said. “Coach Molina came in and really turned us around. We had to put in a bunch of work, but now that the tides have started to turn, it really boosts the morale and the energy, and I’m really excited for this year.”
San Marcos Football Schedule
- Friday, August 22 vs. Del Sol
- Friday, August 29 vs. Paraclete
- Friday, September 5 @ Santa Ynez
- Friday, September 12 vs. Buena
- Friday, September 19 @ Santa Barbara
- Friday, October 3 @ Fillmore*
- Friday, October 10 vs. Santa Paula*
- Friday, October 17 @ Hueneme*
- Friday, October 24 vs. Agoura*
- Thursday, October 30 vs. Dos Pueblos*
* – Tri-County League Game
All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.