Granite Bay flag football gets the NFL treatment

Former Granite Bay football star Dallas Sartz has accomplished more than most could ever dream of. At USC, he was a two-time national champion and two-time Pac-10 honorable mention at linebacker under coach Pete Carrol. After a brief NFL career that included stints on the practice squads with Washington, the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, Sartz began a coaching career that has included stops at UC Davis and his alma mater, Granite Bay. Now, Sartz is taking on a new challenge as the first head coach of Granite Bay's girls flag football team. This isn't Sartz's first stint coaching girls or flag football. For the last few years, he has coached his daughter's soccer team, the Bumblebees, and her girls basketball and flag football teams. Coaching flag football at the high school level provided a new challenge for Sartz, as it is a new sport and he has to lay the foundation of the program and build it up. "We didn't know how many ladies we would have. We didn't know if we would have a JV or just a varsity team because everybody kind of got into it at different phases," Sartz said. "We kind of got things going a little bit late compared to other schools and we're still trying to get people out. It's kind of uncharted territory so we don't really know what we're gonna get." The Grizzlies played their first scrimmage Saturday, taking on Rocklin, Folsom, Whitney, Del Oro, West Park and Woodcreek. Sartz was pleased with how his team performed. "The thing I was most pleased about was that the girls had the best camaraderie I've ever seen out of the group," Sartz said. "They're out there loving each other up, high-fiving each other, cheering and celebrating with their teammates. It was a blast to see their smiles." Sartz was happy with how the Grizzlies executed as well, saying, "We played really well, we did really well. We executed our basic information and our basic offensive schemes and our defensive schemes. They had a great understanding of the game." Coming from an intense football background, Sartz has found there is a decent learning curve with his knowledge of the sport and that of his players, some of whom have never played or even watched football before. Sartz said the team does a good job asking questions and is hungry for more knowledge and understanding of the game. "They're getting thrown a lot of information all at once," Sartz said. "They're being diligent and I think it's a reflection of our coaching staff being able to relay information to them so that they can actually understand it and execute on the field." The Grizzlies opened their season Aug. 24 at Vista del Lago and play their first home game Sept. 7 against Oak Ridge in the Sierra Foothill League. "I'm excited for that first home game so the community can come watch us under the lights," Sartz said. "It's something the girls have never experienced. They play soccer and they play lacrosse and that's on the field but you know, a football game under lights in the stadium is something that's pretty special."