the daily times football preview

2 2014 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW THE DAILY TIMES

2014 FOOTBALL SCHEDULESFA

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Aug. 29 Los Lunas 7 p.m. HomeSept. 5 Kirtland Central 7 p.m. HomeSept. 12 Belen 7 p.m. AwaySept. 19 Durango 7 p.m. AwaySept. 26 Los Alamos* 7 p.m. HomeOct. 3 Grants 7 p.m. AwayOct. 10 Piedra Vista 7 p.m. HomeOct. 17 Aztec 7 p.m. HomeOct. 31 Miyamura 7 p.m. AwayNov. 7 Gallup 7 p.m. Away

Home games played at Hutchison Stadium *Denotes Homecoming game

Aug. 29 San Juan 7 p.m. AwaySept. 5 Goddard 7 p.m. AwaySept. 12 Durango 7 p.m. HomeSept. 19 Moriarty 6 p.m. HomeSept. 26 Kirtland Central 7 p.m. AwayOct. 3 Roswell* 7 p.m. HomeOct. 10 Farmington 7 p.m. AwayOct. 17 Miyamura 7 p.m. AwayOct. 24 Aztec 7 p.m. HomeOct. 31 Gallup 7 p.m. Home

Home games played at Hutchison Stadium *Denotes Homecoming game

Aug. 29 Bloomfield 7 p.m. AwaySept. 5 Durango 7 p.m. HomeSept. 12 Kirtland Central 7 p.m. AwaySept. 19 Del Norte 7 p.m. HomeOct. 3 Valley 7 p.m. AwayOct. 10 Gallup* 7 p.m. HomeOct. 17 Farmington 7 p.m. AwayOct. 24 Piedra Vista 7 p.m. AwayNov. 7 Miyamura 7 p.m. HomeHome games played at Fred Cook Memorial Stadium *Denotes Homecoming game

Aug. 29 Bayfield 7 p.m. AwaySept. 5 Farmington 7 p.m. AwaySept. 12 Aztec 7 p.m. HomeSept. 19 Los Alamos 7 p.m. AwaySept. 26 Piedra Vista 7 p.m. HomeOct. 10 Zuni 7 p.m. AwayOct. 17 Thoreau* 7 p.m. HomeOct. 24 Wingate 7 p.m. HomeOct. 31 Shiprock 7 p.m. AwayNov. 7 Bloomfield 7 p.m. Home

Home games played at Bronco Stadium *Denotes Homecoming game

Aug. 29 Aztec 7 p.m. HomeSept. 5 Pojoaque Valley 7 p.m. HomeSept. 12 Socorro 7 p.m. AwaySept. 19 Taos 7 p.m. HomeSept. 27 Hope Christian TBD AwayOct. 10 Wingate 7 p.m. AwayOct. 17 Shiprock 7 p.m. AwayOct. 24 Thoreau* 7 p.m. HomeOct. 31 Zuni 7 p.m. HomeNov. 7 Kirtland Central 7 p.m. Away

Home games played at Bobcat Stadium *Denotes Homecoming game

Aug. 30 Silver 2 p.m. AwaySept. 5 Bayfield 7 p.m. HomeSept. 12 Monument Valley 7 p.m. HomeSept. 19 Newcomb 7 p.m. AwaySept. 26 Navajo Prep 7 p.m. HomeOct. 10 Thoreau 7 p.m. AwayOct. 17 Bloomfield 7 p.m. HomeOct. 24 Zuni 7 p.m. AwayOct. 31 Kirtland Central 7 p.m. HomeNov. 8 Wingate 12 p.m. Home

Home games played at Chieftain Stadium

Aug. 29 Laguna Acoma 7 p.m. HomeSept. 5 Estancia 7 p.m. HomeSept. 12 Escalante 7 p.m. AwaySept. 19 Zuni 7 p.m. HomeSept. 26 Shiprock 7 p.m. AwayOct. 4 Clayton 1 p.m. Away(SFIS)Oct. 18 Dexter 1 p.m. AwayOct. 24 Tohatchi* 7 p.m. HomeOct. 31 Newcomb 7 p.m. HomeNov. 7 Crownpoint 7 p.m. Away

Home games played at Navajo Prep *Denotes Homecoming game

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ON THE COVER: Deangelo Phillips, left, Champ Mendoza, Chayton Salcido, AveryRasher and Austin Moore pose for a photo on Aug. 27 after football practice atHutchison Stadium in Farmington. Alexa Rogals/The Daily Times

32014 FALL SPORTS PREVIEWTHE DAILY TIMES

By Joshua [email protected]@jperrysuu on Twitter

FARMINGTON —Navajo Prep had a historic2013 season and is lookingto pick up right where itleft off.

The Eagles reached the2A quarterfinals thanks tothe arm of quarterbackTyler Sorensen and aplethora of speedy widereceivers.

Sorensen is back for hissenior year, but he willhave to work with a differ-ent receiving corps afterMika Mauga, AlexDanzuka and IsaiahYazzie all graduated in thespring.

The Prep quarterbacksaid it took some workover the summer, but hisnew targets are gettingaccustomed to the offenseand will be ready to go forWeek 1.

“The whole summer,they’ve been working inthe system, and nowthey’re getting it,” saidSorensen, who threw for

just more than 4,000 yardsand 51 touchdowns in2013. “Everything is com-ing along. This is my lastyear of high school foot-ball, so I’m really excited.”

While the receiversmay all be new, Sorensencan take comfort in thefact that he’ll have most ofthe offensive line back toprotect him as he orches-trates the Eagles’ aerialattack.

“Not only is the lineback, but they’ve beenworking really hard in theweight room during theoffseason,” Sorensen said.

While the offense wassolid throughout the yearfor Prep in 2013, thedefense struggled againstsome of its strong oppo-nents.

In the Eagles’ two loss-es, they allowed 102points to their opponents.

“They just need to getmore mean,” Sorensensaid of the defense. “Idon’t see what we had lastyear, but I’m confidentthey’ll get it done.”

Like most teams in San

Juan County, Navajo Prepfinds itself in a new dis-trict, playing in 1-3A thisseason. Newcomb is theonly remaining opponentfrom last year’s District 5-2A, and the Eagles willnow face off with Tohatchiand Crownpoint, insteadof Cuba, Dulce andNavajo Pine.

The Eagles are expect-ed to roll through the dis-trict similarly to last year,when they went 4-0 whileoutscoring their oppo-nents 229-0.

To make up for theweaker district slate, headcoach Rod Denetso loadedup with the strongest non-district schedule theEagles have played in histenure.

Prep’s schedule fea-tures 2A championClayton, along withDexter, Estancia andLaguna Acoma. All fourschools are ranked in thetop six in 3Aby MaxPreps’preseason rankings.

Denetso said the sched-ule will play a role in get-ting the team ready for the

postseason as it tries toimprove on its 2013 finish.

“I think it’s good for us.Having a schedule like wedid last year hurt us,”Denetso said. “Thoseteams used to beat up onus. But with the develop-ment of the program, wewant to see where we’reat. It will just prepare usfor the playoffs. We’ve gotto face guys like that.Those teams called us andwanted to play, so thatmeans a lot to our pro-gram.”

Prep will also take onShiprock, which theEagles defeated a yearago, and Escalante, theteam that handed Prep itsonly regular season loss in2013.

“I think we’ll matchupwell this season,” Denetsosaid. “Our front seven isbig and has a lot of experi-ence. They’ll be a strengthfor us.”

Joshua Perry is the sportseditor for The Daily Times.He can be reached at 505-564-4577.

NAVAJO PREP EAGLESNPS looks to build on its 2013 performance

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesNavajo Prep starting quarterback Tyler Sorensonpasses the ball on Aug. 21 during football practice atNavajo Preparatory School in Farmington.



AZTEC — The Aztec foot-ball team is out for redemp-tion in 2014.

The Tigers are coming offtheir worst season in morethan a decade after finishing4-6 last year and missing thepostseason for the first timesince 2002. But with 18 return-ing starters, the team is look-ing forward to a turnaroundthis year.

“It’s a night and daychange. We had a small seniorclass a year ago. We have alarge senior class this year,”Aztec head coach MattSteinfeldt said. “The leader-ship in this class is second tonone. We’re nothing butpleased with the results we’reseeing. The general attitude

toward our football programhas had a revitalization.”

A return to the playoffs issomething the Tigers havehighlighted coming into theseason.

“It’s something that’s unac-ceptable here,” Steinfeldt saidof missing the playoffs. “Theexpectations around here arehigh. The expectationsweren’t necessarily low lastyear, but we weren’t capableof reaching the goals we setfor ourselves. Missing theplayoffs is something wedon’t plan on doing again.We’re ready to compete.”

Offensively, Aztec hasquarterback MarcusCrawford returning for hissecond season in the offense.Crawford said having a yearof experience under his belthas helped him progress inSteinfeldt’s system.

“It’s definitely easier hav-ing that year experience,”Crawford said. “Having a fullyear of experience will helpme a lot this year.”

Also returning for the Tigersis Crawford’s primary target,All-State receiver Josh Harris.Harris finished with 12 touch-downs in 2013, but a brokenelbow forced him to miss allthree games of the districtschedule. The senior is backhealthy for the start of the yearand said missing the districtseason has him hungry for thestart of the year.

“Those were the three maingames I wanted to play lastyear,” Harris said. “Now I justwant to get out there and play.”

Aztec will have to makeone change on offense at run-ning back with the graduationof Ryneal Lewis-Adams. JoshHarris’ twin brother, Jake, will

step into that role for theTigers.

“He looks phenomenal atthat position,” Steinfeldt saidof Jake Harris.

The Aztec defense was aweak point for the Tigers in2013, but Steinfeldt said theteam is bigger and stronger upfront and that will go a longway in helping his squadimprove on that side of the ball.

“We were averaging some-where around 185 or 190pounds on defensive line lastyear. At any level, that’s goingto be tough to compete with,”Steinfeldt said. “We’ve cer-tainly bulked up there withsome big physical guys.”

The Tigers will open theirseason with local rivalBloomfield and take onKirtland Central andDurango, Colo., prior to theirdistrict schedule. Aztec also

has a marquee matchupagainst Valley, the 2013 No. 1seed in 5A, on Oct. 3.

Steinfeldt said those non-district showdowns will havehis team ready to finish outthe season on a high note.

“This is the first year I’vehad any input on our sched-ule, and I like the schedulewe’ve put together,” he said.“The local games are impor-tant because it draws a lot ofinterest and creates a greatatmosphere. KeepingKirtland, adding Bloomfieldand Durango — all three ofthose are great local games. Ibelieve all five of the teamswe see in non-district playwill be playoff teams.”

Joshua Perry is the sports edi-tor for The Daily Times. He canbe reached at 505-564-4577.

AZTEC TIGERS

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesAztec kicker Jarrett Hathcock practices his kick with Logan Campbell on Aug. 27 during footballpractice at Fred Cook Memorial Stadium in Aztec.

AHS strive for turnaround season

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesAztec’s Derek Baca, left, and Zane Bradshaw practice drills onAug. 27 during football practice at Fred Cook Memorial Stadiumin Aztec.


By Karl [email protected]@karltschneider on Twitter

BLOOMFIELD — TheBloomfield Bobcats have loftygoals in mind for the 2014 4Afootball season.

Bloomfield has its sights seton not only matching the suc-cess of the 2013 season — whichsaw the Bobcats earn a No. 4seed and a first-round bye intothe quarterfinals of the 3A statetournament — but making arun in the 4A playoffs.

“This year, we’re really hun-gry, and we have a lot morepeople buying into the sys-tem,” said Bobcat senior run-ning back and safety AdrianVigil. “We want it bad. I thinkthat will motivate us to get pastthe first round of the playoffs,like every year, and get as far aswe can.”

But replicating the success ofpast seasons could be challengefor the Bobcats, who are imple-menting a new offense undernew head coach Bob Allcorn.

Bloomfield will operate outof the Delaware Wing-T, a run-heavy scheme that plays to thestrength of the Bobcats.

“We have a lot of good run-ning backs here, and we canattack from anywhere on thefield. It’s a very diverse misdi-rection offense and somethingI’ve been running for a lot ofyears, and it has always beenvery effective,” Allcorn said.

Allcorn knows it will taketime for the players to get com-fortable with the new systemand add to the complexity ofthe playbook. But he saidthey’ve added all the pieces tomake the team successful dur-ing the first part of the season.

“It’s a slow process putting

in a new offense,” Allcorn said.“The kids are picking it up pret-ty well, but we’re a long wayfrom being a polished teamright now. We’re also not tryingto overload them too much.They’re getting better and bet-ter each day, and we’ve hadsome really good practices thispast week.”

Senior quarterback JoshStowell said the team haspicked up the new offense pret-ty well in the first weeks ofpractice. Now, he said, theBobcats need to focus on get-ting the details right.

Junior running back and line-

backer JD Robinson said theteam’s efforts will not only workout the kinks of the new play-book but bring the Bobcats tothe top level of play in the state.

“It doesn’t matter who weplay,” Robinson said. “Wecould play any team in thisbasin, any team in the state, aslong as we come into practiceevery week and do what weneed to do, Friday nights willhandle themselves.”

And Robinson is ready forthat first Friday night whenBloomfield will host 5A Aztec.

“I’m very, very excited,”Robinson said. “Very excited.

I’m trying not to overthink it.Just go to practice and give iteverything I have during theweek, and Friday night, comeout and show what I and theteam have been working reallyhard for. As coach always says,‘You got be the harder hitter. Bethe aggressor. Go make theplays.’”

Rather than focusing onearly season success with a lim-ited playbook, Allcorn said he’smore interested in seeing howaggressive his players are in thefirst few weeks during practice,in the weight room andthroughout games.

“That’s how I’ll gaugethings, by the personality ofour team,” Allcorn said. “Iknow we have those abilities,and I’m looking to enhancethat. As the kids get better atexecution, I expect we’ll be amuch better team down theroad. I want to see that we aresteadily improving and playingour best football at the end ofthe season, going through dis-tricts and into the postseason,hopefully.”

Karl Schneider covers sports forThe Daily Times. He can bereached at 505-564-4648.

BLOOMFIELD BOBCATSBHS look to improve on 2013 season

Jon Austria/The Daily TimesBloomfield’s Joshua Stowell practices with his team-mates on Aug. 25 at Bobcat Stadium in Bloomfield.

Jon Austria/The Daily TimesBloomfield’s Adrian Vigil leads his team on Aug. 25 in a warm-up drill beforefootball practice at Bobcat Stadium in Bloomfield.


SHIPROCK CHIEFTAINS


SHIPROCK — TheShiprock Chieftains won’t bethe biggest or strongest foot-ball team in District 1-4A, andfirst-year head coach JamesSnyder is fine with thatbecause his team may be thequickest.

“We’re young and gifted,”Snyder said. “We’ve got a lotof quick guys. We don’t havea lot of big guys, which is OK.The early assessment is wehave a very bright future here,but it’s going to be a process.”

Part of the process will begetting stronger. But whileadding strength and bulk willtake time in the offseason,Snyder plans on takingadvantage of the tools theteam currently possesses —quickness.

“Our goal is to take whatwe have and squeeze everydrop out of it. And what wehave is a lot of really quickkids, and that’s the style thatwe’ll play to,” Snyder said.“It’s about positioning andgetting to the right spots, andthat’s playing to the kids’strengths. We’re not going tobe the biggest or strongest upfront, but with the properfootwork, we’ll be able to fitwhere we’re supposed tofit.”

After the Chieftains’ firstscrimmage, the players arestarting to find their spots inthe new offense. Junior widereceiver Irwin Holiday, whoSnyder plans on lining up atmultiple positions to takeadvantage of his speed andathleticism, said the offense isstarting to work as a singleunit. The quarterbacks aregetting the ball out quicker,

receivers’ route running issharper and the offensive lineis improving on blockingschemes.

While mistakes are stillbeing made, Snyder sees themas learning opportunities forthe team.

“It’s almost like we need tomake some mistakes in orderfor it all to come together,”Snyder said. “I’m seeing moreand more where the kids arerealizing what it is we’re look-ing for them to do, but we hadto make those mistakes andkind of mess up to help every-one realize that. But I thinkit’s all going to come together.I’m waiting for that week inpractice where it all makessense.”

Holiday shared Snyder’sassessment of the team, say-ing the team is young andneeds a few weeks to accli-mate. But based on the

improvements he’s seen inpractice, Holiday said he hasno doubts that by midseason,when the Chieftains enter dis-trict play, they’ll be ready.

The team wants to win thisseason, but Snyder and hisplayers realize the bigger pic-ture is building a programthat is competitive year afteryear.

“You can hear people talk-ing about wanting to win thedistrict and make it to theplayoffs,” said junior line-backer and center ZanderDale, who transferred fromWindow Rock, Ariz., toShiprock, where he is origi-nally from, this season. ”Butfor me, it’s just about takingsteps to help establish a lega-cy and be recognized as afootball team.”

And establishing that lega-cy starts with Shiprock’s firstgame, when the Chieftains

will travel to Silver City toface the Fighting Colts, a teamthat was in a position similarto the Chieftains a few yearsago.

“I’m really excited for thefirst game, especially beingagainst Silver,” Holiday said.“A lot of people told me howa few years ago Silver was likeus, a young team, trying tobuild a good team for thefuture, and now that’s us,that’s our challenge. I knowthat we’re going to be a goodteam. We’re not going to goout and play like garbage.We’re going to be good, and Ihave no doubts. I’m ready, Iknow the other guys areready and the coaches are get-ting us ready. I’m excited forit.”

Karl Schneider covers sportsfor The Daily Times. He can bereached at 505-564-4648.

Jon Austria/The Daily TimesShiprock head coach James Snyder works with his team on Aug. 18 during foot-ball practice at Chieftain Stadium in Shiprock.

SHS take steps to better program’s future

Jon Austria/The Daily TimesShiprock’s quarterback Arjay Miller takes the snap during football practice onAug. 18 at Chieftain Stadium in Shiprock.


Jon Austria/The Daily TimesShiprock’s Logan Charley practices with his team on Aug. 18 at Chieftain Stadium in Shiprock.



FARMINGTON —Although the Piedra Vista foot-ball team reached the playoffs ayear ago, it will have to rely onsome young players if it is tomake a return trip in 2014.

Beau Clafton, who wasnamed to four 2013 All-Stateroster slots, and three-year start-ing quarterback Isaiah Valdezgraduated, putting the bulk ofthe offense into the hands of agroup of underclassmen.

PV head coach Jared Howellis expecting the young guys tostep up and fill the big shoes ofhis former standouts.

“We’ll just take our betterathletes and put them there,”Howell said.

Junior Ryan Montoya and

sophomore Alex Shay have bat-tled it out in camp to see whowill be the starting quarterbackin place of Valdez, and it’s likelyboth will see snaps at the posi-tion throughout the early part ofthe season.

“We knew Isaiah was goingto be gone, so we’ve tried to pre-pare for that,” Howell said.“We’ve had a good little quar-terback battle going on withRyan Montoya and Alex Shay,and we’ve had a new kid comein as a third string guy in TrentThomas who might work hisway in there. We’ve got a nicebattle, and I’m not sure we’vebeen able to settle on a true No.1 yet.”

After Clafton received thebulk of the offensive touches ayear ago, the Panthers will havea more balanced attack headinginto this season.

“We won’t have the speed ofa Beau Clafton out there, butwe’ve got some good sopho-more kids that run well and areathletic,” the PV coach said.“They can put yards on peopleif we block and do the funda-mentals.”

While PV may be inexperi-enced at the skill positions, it hassome solid players returning onthe offensive and defensivelines.

Senior tackle and defensiveend Tanner Hunt said he’sexpecting the Panther upper-classmen in the trenches to setthe tone early in the season.

“We’re definitely well-rounded and have a lot ofdepth,” Hunt said of the line’sstrengths. “Overall, I feel like weare a really solid unit.”

Given the choice, Howellsaid he’d rather have the experi-

ence on the lines heading intothe year.

“If they don’t go, thennobody does,” he said of hislineman. “We’re looking forthem to have that experienceshine through.”

Among a handful of PVplayers providing experience inthe skill areas will be seniorGrayson Tracy, who is expectedto start in the secondary and seetime at wide receiver.

Tracy said the key will be forplayers both young and older tolearn from each other andimprove during the season.

“We’re feeling good. It takesa lot of hard work,” he said.“Our role as seniors is to leadthem, but also to learn fromthem, because we have a lot oftalented guys who know how toplay football.”

The Panthers will have to

come out of the gates strong asthey face a brutal non-districtslate of opponents.

After opening on the roadagainst San Juan High inBlanding, Utah, PV will travel to4A runner-up Goddard beforehosting Durango, Colo., andMoriarty.

The Panthers close out thenon-district portion of theschedule with Kirtland Centraland Roswell, then open District1-5Aplay with rival Farmingtonon Oct. 10.

PV faced six of their 10 2014opponents last year, going 3-3with victories againstMiyamura, Aztec and KirtlandCentral, while losing toFarmington, Durango andMoriarty.


PIEDRA VISTA PANTHERS

Alexa Rogals – The Daily TimesSecond-string right tackle Dillon Weaver practices on Aug. 21 at the Piedra VistaHigh School in Farmington.

Alexa Rogals – The Daily TimesThe Piedra Vista High School football team practices on Aug. 21 at Piedra VistaHigh School in Farmington.

Core of experienced players will set the tone



KIRTLAND — Changeshave rippled through thestate’s high school athleticlandscape, and locally,Kirtland Central may be themost affected.

The New Mexico ActivitiesAssociation reclassified forthe 2014-2015 school year.Rather than following long-time district rivals Aztec,Farmington and Piedra Vistato 5A, the Broncos were heldat the 4A level, joining anunfamiliar district.

But even though theBroncos and their former dis-trict rivals are now in differentclasses, football fans will stillwitness the gridiron rivalriesthey’ve followed for yearswhen Kirtland Central playsall three of the now 5A schools

— plus Los Alamos — beforemeeting its new district mem-bers in the second half of theseason.

“It’s sad that we’re not allin the same district, but thefact that we still have them onthe schedule to keep thatrivalry alive is really good,”said Broncos defensive tackleIsaac Decker. “We don’t getthe same bragging rights thatwe used to, but it’s a goodchallenge for us.”

The Broncos are also look-ing at potential wins againstAztec, Farmington and PV toboost the team’s seeding inthe playoffs.

“We’ll have to prove our-selves in the first half of theseason. We need to treat thosegames like we have in the pastyears, treat them like they’redistrict games,” said juniorrunning back KeishaunAspaas, who recorded more

than 1,000 all-purpose yardslast season. “We have fivenon-district games, so hope-fully we come out with a min-imum of three wins. If we canbeat a few 5A teams and weend up making it to state, hav-ing those wins against 5Ateams should give us a higherseed.”

While the Broncos hope thefirst half of the schedule sets thetone for the season, head coachKevin Graham is excited to getinto the district schedule andsee new competition.

“We’re excited about beingin the new district becausethere are new teams to play.It’s a new challenge, and it’sgoing to be a challenge forsure,” said Graham, who isentering his third season atKCHS. “We’ve got a toughroad ahead of us, but we’relooking forward to it.”

Kirtland Central will rely

on its defense — whichreturns its top two tacklersfrom last season in Deckerand linebacker Jacob Belin,both of whom were namedcaptains for the season — anda number of two-way startersto dictate the game while theBroncos’ run-based offenseeats up the clock.

“We really emphasize thatif they’re going to get somerest, it’s going to be onoffense, because they’re goingto be on the field on defensepretty much all night,”Graham said.

The Broncos’ backfield willfeature a timeshare betweenAspaas, Belin and BrycesonArthur, all starters on thedefensive side of the ball. Theplayers welcome the idea ofsplitting time.

“That’s the good thingabout having depth,” Aspaassaid. “We’ll all three share

time and help each other out.I don’t think any of us areworried about individualstats. We just want to do whatit takes to be successful andwin games.”

In their quest for non-dis-trict wins and a playoffappearance, some of the play-ers aren’t looking far to pickup lessons on reaching thosegoals.

“We need to come togeth-er,” Decker said. “Farmingtondid a good job last year. Theydidn’t get complacent. Youcould see that they knew inthe back of their mind thatthey had to win the next oneand the next one. You couldsee them improve everyweek, and that’s what weneed to do this year.”

Karl Schneider covers sportsfor The Daily Times. He can bereached at 505-564-4648.

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesKirtland Central High School Coach John Zecca calls out plays on Aug. 27 duringfootball practice at Bronco Stadium in Kirtland.

KIRTLAND BRONCOSKirtland Central welcomes new, old rivals

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesStarting quarterback Jacob Flack warms up with defensive end Eduardo Arreolaon Aug. 27 during football practice at Bronco Stadium in Kirtland.



FARMINGTON — TheFarmington Scorpions won theschool’s first football state titlein 61 years last season, butthat’s all in the past for GaryBradley’s bunch as his squadhas its attention squarelyfocused on the challenges itwill face during 2014.

The Scorps enter the new

year with new faces in thebackfield after the graduationof quarterback Jacob Lucas andrunning back Brian Farley.

Bradley will call upon juniorDiego Elebario to replaceLucas under center, while sen-ior Chayton Salcido will getmore carries at the runningback spot.

“We’ve all played the posi-tion for a long time, and we’veall been playing together for along time, so we have that con-

nection just like last year,”Salcido said. “I have my linewith me, and I think they’reeven better than last year.”

While FHS has to replace sixof their seven all-state playersfrom last year, Bradley is confi-dent every player coming intoa starting role will be able to fillin and pick up where theirpredecessor left off.

“We’ve got plenty of experi-ence coming back. It’s highschool football, so we lose great

guys every year,” Bradley said.“But those guys under them —the juniors and some sopho-mores — are ready to step in.Hopefully that’s the sign of agreat program and that we’reon that path. Every year is a lit-tle bit of a mystery. I guaranteewe have some leadership. It’squiet leadership and more lead-ership by example, but they’redefinitely ready to roll.”

Defense was the Scorps call-ing card during their title run

as they held their opponents toless than a touchdown pergame. FHS will rely heavily ontheir lone returning all-stateplayer, Champ Mendoza,along with Deangelo Phillipsto eat up blocks and allow thelinebackers to make plays.

“I think we all have to worktogether and have the intensityand mindset to just shut a teamout,” Phillips said.

FARMINGTON SCORPIONSFarmington High doesn’t intend to rest on its laurels

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesDanny Simkins runs with the ball after receiving a punt return on Aug. 27 during football practice at Hutchison Stadium in Farmington.


Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesDonovan Gonzalez catches the ball on Aug. 27 during football practice at Hutchi-son Stadium in Farmington.

Alexa Rogals/The Daily TimesKicker Chayton Salcido kicks the ball to the defense for a punt return on Aug. 27during football practice at Hutchison Stadium in Farmington.

FHS will face two of lastyear’s 4A semifinalists — LosLunas and Belen — in the firstthree weeks of the season. TheScorps earned a 14-7 victoryover Belen to advance to the4A title game. Those early sea-son contests will give FHS a

good idea of where they standwithin the state.

FHS will also take onDurango, Colo., the only teamthat beat them during the titlerun, on Sept. 19.

The Scorps will enter theyear as the 5A preseason No. 1

in the NMPreps rankings andNo. 2 in the MaxPreps rank-ings, but just like last year, theteam says it isn’t paying atten-tion to standings or rankingsand will concern itself withthe next opponent on theschedule.

“We’re preparing for theseason. We’re looking for-ward to the first game,because it’s the first game. It’sthe most important game ofthe season, and it happens tobe against Los Lunas, who hasbeen one of the top teams in

the state the last few years,”Bradley said. “We’ve got ourhands full, and it’s all aboutLos Lunas.”



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