San Juan High School senior Cameron Rasouli likes proving skeptics wrong every time he steps onto a football field.
"I've heard guys on the other team say, 'Hey, look at that midget,' " said Rasouli, the Spartans' 5-foot-2, 130-pound every-play defensive end, running back and special-teams demon. "But on the field, I prove them wrong. After a while, they don't try to pick on me. After the game, players and even coaches will come up and say, 'Hey 21, good game.' They realize it isn't about size, it's all about heart."
The San Juan captain made more converts Saturday in leading the Spartans (1-8, 1-5 Golden Empire) to their first win of the season, 34-10 over outmanned Encina (1-8, 0-5) in a GEL game at El Camino High School.
Rasouli rushed for two touchdowns, blocked a punt and tackled several Bulldogs running backs in the backfield for losses.
He also made a number of lead blocks for his much bigger backfield mates – 6-foot-2, 190-pound Kevin Stroughter and 5-8, 220-pound Jordan Heines.
Stroughter rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown on nine carries and had a 98-yard kickoff return for a score. Heines, Rasouli's offseason workout buddy, picked up 97 yards on 15 carries.
Rasouli is far and away the team's top tackler, averaging 13 a game.
"He's our toughest kid on the team," San Juan coach Russ Hibbard said. "He's a great leader. He doesn't care how big you are – he keeps coming."
So do the Spartans and Hibbard, a man who loves a challenge. He spent 15 years at Encina, dealing with declining enrollment, transient athletes, eligibility issues and low expectations.
He took over a San Juan program with similar problems that was 1-19 the previous two years before his arrival. In his first two seasons, the Spartans went 9-11 overall and 6-6 in league. However, graduation and declining enrollment – San Juan is down to fewer than 600 students, Hibbard said – has taken a toll this season.
"It's been a tough year," he said. "But with a new culinary arts academy and a $27 million face-lift (for the school), I think you are going to see a turnaround. That is going to be huge for our program, and our school is one of the hidden secrets in the San Juan district."
Although pleased he recorded his first win, Hibbard admitted he felt for Encina's first-year coach, David Lawrence Jr., and his players.
Lawrence is the third coach in three seasons at Encina, and he was hired three weeks before the season started.
He had 15 players suited up for Saturday's Senior Day game, including one who only kicks.
Junior linebacker Ben Runnels was carted off late in the first quarter with an apparent dislocated right wrist, and senior lineman Dillon Strickner sat out most of the fourth quarter because of an injured neck and shoulder.
"It's a tough, tough situation for kids when they see a teammate go down and when they're so tired," said Lawrence, a former Sacramento State football player who recently joined the Encina faculty. "We're just trying to keep the kids' heads up and have them realize that there are brighter days ahead."
Eight ironman Encina seniors and their families were honored at halftime – Strickner, Shane Simonsma, Eli Folau, Alex Runnels, Tre'vonn Tyler, Steve Bedker, Kael Mathieu and Jason Singh.
Call The Bee's Bill Paterson, (916) 326-5506.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.