New school celebrates the success of its football team

The new Justin Garza High School in the Central Unified School District is celebrating the success of its new football team.

“Being a brand new school has its challenges, you know starting from the ground up,” says athletic director Hovig Torigian. “But the other aspect of you know being at Justin Garza high school and knowing where the namesake is and what it stands for, we have big shoes to fill.”

Torigian says everything they do as a school will be in honor of Coach Garza and his family.

Garza was the head football coach at Central High School from 2012 to 2015. He began teaching at Central in 1999.

“We’re going to live up to the Justin Garza football name,” says Yosef Fares, head coach of the Justin Garza Football team. “We’re going to live up to his motto ‘stand for more.’ We’re going to establish a culture that’s helping raise young boys into great men.”

Fares’ team finished their inaugural season with a 7 and 1 record.

Principal Ezequiel Gutierrez knows the importance of his school excelling both academically and athletically.

“I think that the testament of building the school, especially Justin Garza in Central Unified is really a testament to the community,” Gutierrez says.