Hancock Football Opens Season Sept. 3 at Home Against Bakersfield

Armed with an arsenal of young and talented players, the Allan Hancock College football team will open the season Saturday, September 3, against a familiar opponent, Bakersfield College Kickoff at the Hancock Football Field will be at 3 p.m. A live video stream of the game will be available with play-by-play and commentary provided by CJ Silas and Irvin Kiger. A link to the webcast will be visible on the homepage of athletics.hancockcollege.edu.

"This is one of the youngest teams I've coached at Hancock," said Kris Dutra, who enters his 16^th season as head coach of the Bulldogs. "But we are learning how to play faster and finding our rhythm. We are looking forward to opening the season at home."

The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-6 season. Since then, Hancock was impacted by the conference realignment approved by the Southern California Football Association. The Bulldogs moved from the National Division's Northern League to the American Division's Pacific League. Bakersfield remained a member of the Northern League.

Hancock and Bakersfield will be meeting for the 25^th time. The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings, including last season's 39-35 conference road win that was highlighted by Dy'Kari Hickey's four touchdowns. The Renegades lead the all-time series 17-7.

Nipomo High School graduate Matt Albright (Nipomo HS) will be Hancock's starting quarterback. The 6-4 sophomore played five games last season and completed 26 of his 58 passes for 299 yards.

"Albright is a talented passed. He has a great opportunity this season. I have a lot of confidence in Matt as our quarterback," said Dutra.

The Bulldogs' backfield features nearly all new faces with the departure of Malik Williams, Jericho Worrell and Bakari Davis to name a few. After sitting out 2015, sophomore Shaq Autry (North Marion HS in FL) returns at tailback for the Bulldogs. As a freshman in 2014, he rushed for 242 yards and five touchdowns on just 26 carries. Tony Saintmelus (Hohenfels HS), a freshman from Germany, will also start in the backfield for Hancock.

"It's nice to have Autry back," said Dutra. "Tony is a nice, big and powerful running back."

Freshman Paul Lorick (John Carroll HS in MD) and sophomore Jajuan Lankford (South Pittsburg, TN) will also see early carries for the Bulldogs. Lankford transferred to Hancock from East Tennessee State where he rushed for 70 yards and one touchdown as a freshman.

Sophomore Chris Barganier (St. Joseph HS) returns to anchor the receiving corps. Bargainer led Hancock with 24 receptions for 560 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman.

"Chris is big, athletic and looks really great. His vertical leap makes him dangerous because he can go up and get anything," added Dutra.

Central Coast natives Alex Cecchi (Arroyo Grande HS) and Nick Kimball (Nipomo HS), as well as sophomores Norris Simmons (Northwestern HS) and Kelvin Marion (Everglades HS) will line up at receiver for Hancock. Simmons caught one pass for 17 yards last season, while Marion, who should return soon from a shoulder injury, had 12 catches for 126 yards.

Ben Rantz (St. Joseph HS) will also see time at tight end for Hancock. He caught a touchdown pass last weekend during the team's scrimmage at Santa Monica.

Sophomore Jordan Pollard (Righetti HS) will take over kicking duties from Jose Morales, who graduated last season as the program's all-time leader with 27 career field goals. Pollard converted both of his extra point attempts last season. Pollard and sophomore Sean McComas (West Valley HS) will share punting duties.

Despite its youth, Dutra said his defensive unit looked solid during its scrimmage last week at Santa Monica City College.

Davon Perry (McKinley HS in NY) will be the only sophomore on Hancock's defensive line. Perry finished with eight tackles, including one sack last season. Joining him on the line will be freshmen, including Osa Omokaro (Hillside HS in NJ), Brandon Walker (Rose City HS), Anthony Miller (Navarre HS) and Masaih DeLeon (Moses Lakes, WA) just to name a few.

Dutra described the linebacker corps as solid. It includes sophomores Patrick Graves (Stephenson HS in GA), Easton Coy (Templeton HS) and Jametrius Smith (Sheffield, AL). Graves recorded 23 tackles and Coy finished with 15 as freshman last season at Hancock. Smith transferred to Hancock from the University of North Alabama.