Barlow to lead Falcon football

Sierra Lutheran High School football has been in the midst of moving up from 8-man football to 11-man football.

Last season, the Falcons weren’t able to field a team due to low numbers, but a new and local face has his sights set on helping Sierra Lutheran take the next step.

Justin Barlow, who has been a Carson High School assistant coach for several seasons, will take over at Sierra Lutheran.

Barlow, a Carson High alumni, most recently served as the Senators’ defensive coordinator and said he is excited to continue coaching in the community where he was raised.

“Just the opportunity to do something new and exciting, especially given the location. I can still coach and give back to my Carson community,” said Barlow Tuesday in a phone interview. “It also helped that I’d coached and had a really good working relationship with coach (Billy) McHenry.”

McHenry was also on the Senator coaching staff last season, but will accompany Barlow on the Falcon sideline.

Sierra Lutheran will play its home games on Saturdays at Carson High.

A NEW CHALLENGE

There will be some early hurdles for Barlow and company.

Of course, Sierra Lutheran not fielding a team in 2024 means the new coach will be starting from scratch in a lot of ways.

The Falcons plan to start the season with several 8-man football games before capping the fall with three 11-man contests.

“As far as making the transition, for me starting off I’ve never coached 8-man football,” said Barlow. “I’m doing my research about what the 8-man game looks like versus the 11-man game. We are looking far enough ahead and, working with my offensive coordinator Trevor Goodale, just figuring out what roles can we put in right now that are still going to relate to the 11-man game. So, when we make the transition it’s not going to be as hard.”

Goodale was a two-year varsity player with the Senators in 2009-10 before going to Butte Community College. He then transferred to Texas A&M Commerce where he played two seasons, primarily at left tackle, in 2012-13.

Peyton Hedwall, another member of Barlow’s staff, is the first Sierra Lutheran alumni to play college football. Hedwall played at Concordia University.

Barlow says he’s already got interest from 20 to 25 potential players.

With lower numbers, plenty of players will have to play multiple roles.

“I think figuring out creative ways to develop and harness defense and physicality without burning out some of our guys,” said Barlow. “Figuring out how to teach them how to be nasty and mean on defense. At the same time, a lot of these guys are going to have to have dual roles playing both ways. Special teams could make it three ways, so just figuring out ways to not burn them out as well.”

Ultimately, Barlow said he will center his focus on making sure everyone on the team can feel confident in their role.

“I think right off the bat, coaching positively and coaching people where they are at versus your expectations of where people are at. Everyone is going to come in at a different level and just being able to meet them at their level and grow them from that spot. Getting that ‘C’ player to a ‘B’ is just as important to me as getting that ‘A’ player to an ‘A-plus,’” said Barlow.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit focused on your best players. At the same time, building a connected community where everyone on the team feels like they have a role. I think that’s a huge part that needs to be emphasized to grow the game more. There is only going to be one starting quarterback and one starting running back, per se, but at the same time there are still so many roles on the team that should feel like they have equal value.”

(Justin Barlow coaches Carson High football players through a tackling drill. Barlow will take over as head coach of Sierra Lutheran High School next season. Carter Eckl / Nevada News Group)