The San Francisco 49ers Foundation's Charlie Wedemeyer Memorial Coach of the Week award for week one goes to Kyle Padia from Leigh High School in San Jose.
Coach Padia and the Leigh High Longhorns defeated the Andrew Hill Falcons 48-7 in a week one matchup, kicking off the Longhorns' season with a 1-0 overall record.
With the game tied 7-7 in the 1st, and the Longhorns backed up on their own goal line, Leigh recovered a momentum changing Andrew Hill fumble. From that point on, Leigh put 41 points on the board through and held the Falcons off for 3 shutout quarters. With 11 returning seniors including quarterback Gabe Davis, running back Lavon Donald, and free safety Tayvry Carrasco, the Longhorns had the leadership they needed to execute on all sides of the ball.
Running a zone-read spread offense for the first year, Davis executed the offense to perfection going 4 for 6 through the air with touchdown passes of 60 and 70 yards. Donald, a senior, established himself as a force on the ground with 9 carries for 129 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 50 yard touchdown run.
With a 32-man roster, each one of Coach Padia's Longhorns played a minimum of 10 plays and put forth a solid performance. Padia is confident in the strength of his young team with players like junior wide receiver Alec Smith who had a 70-yard touchdown and showed his versatility with 4 tackles as middle linebacker.
On the other side of the ball, Padia's newly implemented 3-5 defense is ideal for a team with linebackers like No. 22 Sean Cosentino who recovered a fumble and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown, and No. 36 Brett Kempski who had 8 tackles. Junior defensive end Nick Rubio solidified the defense's concrete performance with an impressive 11 tackles.
The Longhorns' powerful defense gives Coach Padia reason to implement the importance of player safety and concussion awareness. "We teach our players to keep their heads up, see what they are hitting," said Padia who has focused on providing the latest helmet technology for his players, "Our biggest step this season has been to update our helmet inventory with latest in head protection. This $1,000 is going to continue our efforts to get our players what they need."
As for his team's philosophy this season, Coach Padia stated, "Offensively the team is a machine—start early, start fast, condition well, and keep pressure on the defense for all four quarters. That's how we are going to put points on the board."
For the Longhorns' great win and an outstanding team effort, the San Francisco 49ers have selected Coach Kyle Padia as the Charlie Wedemeyer Memorial High School Coach of the Week.
In addition to being named Coach of the Week, the Leigh High football program will receive $1,000 from the 49ers Foundation. Coach Padia will also be featured in a KRON 4 interview with Gary Radnich, receive two tickets to a 49ers home game where he will be recognized on the field before the game, as well as an article on 49ers.com. In the weeks leading up to the on-field recognition, Padia will be invited to visit the 49ers training facility in Santa Clara to watch a private practice and receive a certificate from 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh.
