The Oceanside Pirates, known for their football tradition, have produced outstanding players who’ve been playing in colleges and the NFL.

For 21 years, former coach John Carroll guided the squad to numerous San Diego Section and CIF state football titles, the retired in 2014 and is currently involved watching Pirate games, making TV appearances, and is on the CIF San Diego Football Committee.

David Rodriguez took over the reins in 2015 and has guided the Pirates to two San Diego Section CIF football titles with a 23-14 win over rival El Camino and 2019 with a 28-10 win over Lincoln. After three seasons, Oceanside finished with an 8-3 record in 2016 and two rebuilding years of 6-6 and 6-7. In 2021, the Pirates finished the season at 4-7 and look for improvement this year.

“It’s an exciting celebration coming out of the pandemic to host the Pirate intersquad tag football game that’s always a tradition for us at Oceanside High School,” Rodriguez said recently. “It’s fun watching our kids and coaches binding together as we had a great crowd support along with the Elks Club contributing for us as football is taking place as I’m excited for the kids.”

“At (quarterback), Andrew Miller, a rising sophomore who played JV last year, has worked hard on his skills as my QB coach Joe Pao Pao is working with Andrew on from chalk talk to working on the field,” Rodriguez said. “Our other members of the coaching staff in Joseph Matthews and Onzei Weaver are excited about our future.”

In the Oceanside Green vs. Oceanside White scrimmage, the teams finished in a 7-7 tie. The Green squad took the first lead at 7-0 as quarterback Andrew Miller threw a 9-yard pass to Devin Corpuz with Isaac Hernandez on the PAT. The White squad came back for the tie as Georgie Nua scored on a 4-yard run and connected with the PAT.

“Georgie Nu, who is one of my backs, is very energetic like the bunny you see on the commercial, loves football, is a competitor, which shows in his place as Devin Corpuz, my other back, is an upcoming player as he competed on the JV level, is currently playing basketball, has dedicated himself with the hard work as I’m excited to watch him,” Rodriguez said.

“We have a cohesive unit working hard in terms of being fundamentally sound as our defensive front made key interceptions for us as they worked on their responsibilities properly,” he continued. “My two defensive assistants, Coach Orlando and Coach Cabrera, have done an amazing job of getting our guys lined up ready to go for the ball.

“Isaac Hernandez had a good day for us kicking field goals for the Green along with teammate Georgie Nua for the White, but in the real game Isaac kicks the ball right in the middle of the goal posts, which will win football games for us.”

Oceanside High School opens the 2022 season on Aug. 19 at John Carroll Stadium.

David A. Willauer contributes prep sports updates to OsideNews, an Oceanside news site affiliated with the North Coast Current.