Prep football preview: Long Beach Cabrillo Jaguars

LONG BEACH >> Bob Moran had been the Fullerton College offensive coordinator for the past decade and had never coached at the high school level.

Moran, who has ties to Cabrillo High School co-principal Elio Mendoza and his brother, longtime coach Lalo Mendoza, jumped at the chance to coach high school football players when he heard about the job opening at the school.

It has been a rough couple of years for the Jaguars. Jason Brown left after the 2014 season and Luis Hayes, who had been an assistant coach at Poly, St. John Bosco, Servite and Gle, left last December after a 4-6 campaign.

Moran inherits a team that will be heavily reliant on a pair of talented juniors in Denalyn Fuimaono and Dythan Ulufale, both whom played last year. Fuimaono is a quarterback and safety and is as dangerous with his legs as he is with his arm. Ulufale is a big target on the outside who also plays cornerback.

“They will be big contributors for us and will be on the field a lot,” Moran said.

At Fullerton, Moran ran the West Coast offense that was heavy on the I-formation. He said he will change that to fit the Jaguars’ persoel.

“We’re going to try to be balanced. Our quarterback is a dual threat, so we have to take advantage of his skills,” Moran said. “We’ll be a little bit more in the shotgun, ruing zone and gap schemes and then try to throw the football.”

But Moran isn’t shy about the state of his offensive and defensive lines, admitting, “it’s a rebuild job.”

Last year, Cabrillo enjoyed a wealth of size and talent up front, led by Jason Noble and Brandon Majors. But the only returner from those lines is senior Javier Camacho. Senior lineman Rasheed Mackbee also has some experience. But other than that, Moran said nobody has secured a spot on the line.

“I can’t say there’s a lot of people on this football team that have positions locked,” Moran said.

Moran did say that he’s expecting a lot of production out of junior middle linebacker Shailoeh Kaewili and junior outside linebacker/defensive end Rodney Ford.

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