Segerstrom football coach looks forward to leading Jaguars in new Kappa League

Segerstrom, led by Noah Tagaloa (carrying the flag) takes the field for a game last season. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Segerstrom High School’s football team, coached by Joseph Tagaloa, began its CIF required two week dead period this week.

The Jaguars will start preparing for the 2024 season after that.

“I am excited about this upcoming season,” Tagaloa said.

Segerstrom will compete in the Kappa League as part of major re-leaguing for Orange County football teams. The league will consist of St. Margaret’s, Segerstrom, Westminster, Brea Olinda, Esperanza and Garden Grove

“Our new league is the Kappa League, which looks to be very competitive across the board,” Tagaloa said. “We have never played Esperanza or Brea Olinda, so it’s going to be exciting to get out there and compete with those two programs. The last time we played St. Margaret’s we lost in a CIF playoff game, so it is going to be fun to be able to get another chance to compete.

“The other two programs, Westminster and Garden Grove, are no doubt going to be very competitive. When Segerstrom first opened up, Westminster was the team we battled for league supremacy every year. We can say the same thing about Garden Grove, once we entered the Big 4. Our two programs battled for a league title every year. With such a competitive league, it is important that our preseason schedule be challenging, which we get through all of our preseason opponents.”

Segerstrom will look for some key returning players to lead the way.

“We have multiple offensive weapons coming back. Noah Tagaloa (running back/free safety) will look to establish the running game along with Andrew Diaz (running back) and Ayden Morales (running back/noseguard),” Coach Tagaloa said.

“Our passing game will be led by our senior quarterback Jesse Lopez, who will look to connect with Nicholas Cervantes and Cristian Ramos. Up front, senior center Diego Hernandez will anchor our offensive line. Defensively, we return our entire secondary as well as our best pass rusher in senior defensive end Gilbert Peralta. Juniors Roman Saucedo and Jorge Briseno and senior Jason Salazar are looking to leave their stamp on the game.”

The Jaguars will return for summer workouts on Monday, June 14.

“Once we come back we will be playing in the Troy Passing Tournament June 22 and then in the Ocean View Passing and Lineman tournament July 13 before we get into the acclimation period July 29,” Tagaloa said.

2024 Schedule

Friday, Aug. 23 (H) vs. Palm Springs

Friday, Aug. 30 (H) vs. Santa Ana Valley

Friday, Sept. 6 at California

Friday, Sept. 13 at El Modena

Friday, Sept. 27 at Troy

Friday, Oct. 4 (H) vs. St. Margaret’s

Thursday, Oct. 10 vs. Esperanza at Yorba Linda

Friday, Oct. 18 at Westminster

Friday, Oct. 25 (H) vs. Brea Olinda

Friday, Nov. 1 at Garden Grove

(First in a series of summer football updates)

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—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com