2013 Southern NM Football

7/30/2019 2013 Southern NM Football

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READY FOR

THE CHALLENGEMartin brings fresh perspective,

outlook toNMSU football program

RETURNTOGLORY

Mayfield looks toreturn tostate’s elitePAGE3

STRONGTEAMREMAINS

ChampionBulldawgs’solid coreremainsPAGE8

STATEMENTSEASON

Oñate hasplayoffberth asultimate goalPAGE13

PROGRESSIVEGROWTH

Centennial looks tobuild off first yearPAGE16

LCSUN-NEWS.COMFACEBOOK.COM/LCSUNNEWSTWITTER.COM/CRUCESSUNNEWS

A publication of the

Football2013

SouthernNM

Thursday,8.29.2013



SOUTHERN NM FOOTBALL STAFFNMSU 101is a supplement of

For advertising opportunities, please call the Sun-News at 575-541-5400.

Publisher: Frank Leto

Vice President and Editor: Jim Lawitz

Advertising Director: Heidi Melendrez

Sports editor: Teddy Feinberg

Layoutand design: Michael L. Lewis • Sports reporter: Jason Groves •Photographers: Shari V. Hill, Steve MacIntyre, Robin Zielinski • Online: Jason Gibbs,Lucas Peerman • Contributors: Bill Armendariz, Michael Johnson, Danny Udero

Cover photo: ROBIN ZIELINSKI — SUN-NEWS • Special thanks: Estep Photography and Kim JewPhotography for high school football head shots

THELINEUP

MAYFIELDHIGH SCHOOLPAGE3: It was an abnormal 2012season at Mayeld — a 7-5campaign that saw themeliminated early from playo contention. The Trojans now look to right the ship.

PAGES4–7:Meet the 2013Mayeld Trojans.

LASCRUCESHIGH SCHOOLPAGE8: Aer winning the state championship on the wings of an explosive oense, theLas Cruces Bulldawgs will now turn to it’s defensive unit in 2013.

PAGES9& 12:Meet the 2013Las Cruces Bulldawgs.

OÑATE HIGH SCHOOLPAGE13: The Oñate Knights haven’t been to the postseason since 2009. Can they reversethat trend in Year 3of the Caleb Hull era?

PAGES14–16:Meet the 2013Oñate Knights.

CENTENNIALHIGHSCHOOLPAGE16: A high-ying attack granted the Centennial Hawks a .500record in 2012. They’llnow look to continue and make strides as a second-year program.

PAGES17–18:Meet the 2013Centennial Hawks.

OTHER AREAHIGHSCHOOLSPAGE18: Gadsden PAGE20: Chaparral

PAGE19: Deming PAGE21: Santa Teresa

PAGE19: Alamogordo PAGE22:Silver

PAGE20: Mesilla Valley Christian PAGE22:Hatch Valley

COLLEGESPAGE23: A position-by-position look at the New Mexico State Aggies.

PAGE25: Game-by-game prognostications of NMSU’s independent schedule.

PAGE27: Keys to the Aggies 2013season.

PAGE26–28: Previewing UNM, WNMU and UTEP.

Online Extras: Videos on Mayeld, Las Cruces High, Oñate, Centennial and NewMexico State can be found at LCSUN-NEWS.COM

Online Updates: Follow our sports sta on Twitter @TEDDYFEINBERG and @JPGROVES

for news, updates and analysis on high school football throughout the year

| Football |2 S AUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013SUN-NEWS



Sun-News staf report

As high school oensescontinue to spread the eldand move the ootball, May-eld has become somewhato a throwback.

O course, the Trojans stillput multiple ormations onthe eld, but the team’s iden-tity will likely remain with agood rushing attack and adisciplined oensive line.

The 2013 Trojans should besolid deensively. And May-eld has several returners atthe skill positions, including junior quar terback KavikaJohnson, senior receiverJoah Franzoy and running back David Stookey.

Raymond Fierro is thelone returning starter on theofensive line and will leadthis year’s group — a unit

the Trojans need to cometogether. Johnson is an im-pressive athlete and, ater

splitting time at quarterback last year, he’ll take overthe ull-time role in 2013. Hismaturity at the position willset the tone or the entire o-

ense. Mayeld improved aslast season progressed, butthe Trojans sufered lossesdue to growing pains and achallenging schedule.

This year, Mayeld opensthe season with home gamesagainst two very good ElPaso teams. Still, at least theTrojans will have the beneto beginning the year in theirown backyard.

MAYFIELD TROJANS

Ready to reboundTEAM CAPSULE

Coach:MichaelBradley

2012 season:7-5,3-1 indistrict(LostinClass5Aquarternals)

District:3-5A

INSIDE THE HEADSETBradley’swonthreestatecham-pionshipsandcoachedinvestatetitlegamessincetakingoverasheadcoachotheMayeldprogramin2006.

Mayfeld’splayedintwoothepastthreestatechampionshipcontests,meaningtheTrojansaredueoranotherplayorunaferlosinginthequarternalsroundlastyear.

SHARIV.HILL—SUN-NEWS

TrojansoensiveanddeensivelinemanTylerWhitlock,ront,hitstheeldhardduringanAugustpracticeatMayeldHighSchool.

SUN-NEWSAUGUST29 -SEPTEMBER4,2013 3S| Football |



2RileyFolkman

5IsaacFigueroa

6

NickFlores

10

JoerayValencia

12IsaiahCarrera

3EthanAlvarado

5JeremiahLopez

7

KavikaJohnson

11

ElijahStout

13PatrickShannon

14JonathanMarquez

14AndrewFlores

7 KEYPLAYERS

Kavika Johnson: Aer animpressive showing as asophomore, expectationsare high for Johnson as hetakes overquarter-back dutiesfull-time forthe Trojans.Enteringhis juniorseason,Johnson has shown su-preme athleticism and canget out of the pocket andmake plays with his legs.

Isaac Figueroa: The6-foot-2, 180-poundFigueroacame on lastseason andwill play freesafety andwide receiverthis season.He is a 4.0student and a three-sportathlete. He placed fourth

in the Class 5A high jump,clearing 6-feet last year.

David Stookey: The5-foot-7Stookey is a hard

runner and the Trojans’most experi-enced re-turner in theoensivebackeld.Mayeld isnotoriousfor havingtalent at the skill positions,and Stookey hopes to carrythat torch entering the2013season.

RaymondFierro: The lonereturning starter on theoensive line at tackle,the 6-foot-4, 250-poundFierro will also start on thedefensiveside of theball for theTrojans.Fierro issomeonethat will be

relied upon for leadershipon the oensive line.

Shane Tieman: Aer see-ing signicant time on the

defensive line last season,Tieman will also start at of-fensive tackle in 2013. Dueto injuries,he was oneof 13Trojansto play alongthe frontseven lastyear, makingfor a deepgroup in 2013.

Isaiah Lerman: Team-ing with Phillip Ehly in the

defensive backeld at thesafety position, Lerman ledthe Trojanswith nine

intercep-tions lastseason.He’ll alsosee time atthe slash-receiver position, which

is a split-end type positionthat has been important tothe Mayeld oense overthe years.

Joseph Arguello: Playingdefensive end last year,Arguello was somewhatundersized at 6-feet, 190pounds. He’ll now moveback to his natural positionat linebacker. Arguello wasa rotationplayer lastyear, butnow he andsenior JoahFranzoyform a solidduo at line-backers in the Trojans’ 5-2defensive front.

TELLINGNUMBER

2Home games for theTrojans to start this

season aer an 0-2start onthe road last year.

MAYFIELDTROJANS


SUN NEWSAUGUST 29 SEPTEMBER 4 2013 5S| Foot a |



MAYFIELDTROJANS

17TylerHarrison

18PhillipEhly

20LloydGardner

21AbnerGomez

15PaysonRogers

18IsaiahLerman

19RyanHammond

20MarcianoGiron

22Matthew

Zertuche

24Erick

Prieto

27Angel

Aguilera

29Robert

Sandoval

31ChristopherManuel

33ErnestNevarez

35RobertZarate

38AndrewLamond

40LouieLombardi

42MitchellMatheison

21David

Stookey

23David

Santome

25Seth

White

28Matthew

Pettes

30JoahFranzoy

32JesseJimenez

35FrankieCordova

37JoshSullivan

39JoshuaSlappey

41IsaacTarin

2013MAYFIELDSCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 vs. El Dorado (El Paso) 7p.m.

Sept.6 vs. Franklin 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 @ Carlsbad 7 p.m.

Sept. 21 @ Manzano 1 p.m.

Sept. 28 vs. Eldorado 1 p.m.

Oct. 4 @ Volcano Vista 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 vs. Gadsden* 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 BYE

Oct. 25 @ Oñate* 7 p.m.

Nov. 1 vs. Alamogordo* 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 @ Las Cruces* 7 p.m.

* District 3-5A game

College of

Arts and Sciences

Free Safet y

J u st in Smit h

C rimin al J u st ice

a Wishes our

Student Athletes

Successful Season!

Offensive LinemanDada RichardsCriminal Justice

Free SafetyJustin SmithCriminal Justice

QuarterbackAndrew McDonald

Individualized Studies

Wide Receiver Joshua BowenSociology

Strong SafetyAnthony Edwards


Offensive LinemanAndrew Cunningham

Criminal Justice

Offensive LinemanHouston ClementeCriminal Justice

Place Kicker Maxwell JohnsonIndividualized Studies

Wide Receiver Jordan BergstromIndividualized Studies

Wide Receiver Brennon ShayBiology

Running BackJeremy Fielder Individualized Studies

Long Snapper Michael Kaiser Individualized Studies

Punter Jake Capraro

Criminal Justice

Punter Cayle Chapman-Brown


Defensive LineNick OlivaIndividualized Studies

Line Backer Dele JunaidIndividualized Studies

SUN-NEWSAUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 5S| Foot a |

| Foot a |6 S AUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4 2013SUN-NEWS



WHATTHEY’RESAYING

Michael Bradley ondefending modern highschool oenses: “Youneed depth and you needspeed. Depth on the de-

fense is good versus thesespread oenses. We’ve gota good mix of speed andsize, so I think we can playboth ways this year.”

Kavika Johnson onMayeld’s 2013expecta-tions: “Our main goal is tojust come together. Our ul-timate goal is to make it tothe state championship.”

David Stookey on car-rying the load in theTrojans ground game:“I’m just going to workto be the best and try myhardest. I learned I’m notthe biggest guy out there,

so it’s probably better totry to get around guys thanrun through them.”

Isaiah Lerman on play-ing the slash positionin the Mayeld oense:“It’s kind of big shoes to llknowing past players. It’skind of an honor to play theposition. It’s tough, but Ithink we can get it done.”

MAYFIELDTROJANS

43RyanEscalera

44MarcusReyes

45CalebGattis

46AnthonyLopez

47JoeArguello

48TrevorYurcic

49TrevorNunley

50JuanTorres

51ColtonEvans

52GarretDozier

53EligioTena-Olivas

53JordanMcWhorter

54CameronMills

54MatthewFranco

58DominikTrujillo

59AndrewLopez

61KristianRodriguez

62JordanZuniga

63ChrisLopez

65JeremyStock

67ChristianSanchez

68TylerWhitlock

72RaymondFierro

73AbrahamOrdunez

59JamesNoe

59JustinGonzales

60AndrewBolanos

60JustinSotelo

| Foot a |6 S AUGUST 29 SEPTEMBER 4, 2013SUN NEWS



MAYFIELDTROJANS

Q & AJoah Franzoy, linebacker/receiver

Q: Whatare your expec-

tationsfor the season?A: “I would like to have highexpectations. It’s my senioryear so you want to go outwith a bang.”

Q: Do you prefer oenseor defense?

A: “I kind of just play wher-ever the team needs me.Whatever helps them outthe most. It doesn’t reallymatter to me.”

Q: Doyou and your team

consider lastyear a downyear?

A: “Mayeld has a winningtradition, so yes, you wouldconsider last year a downyear. We have high stan-dards.”

Q: As theseason starts,whatis the strength ofthis season’s Mayeldteam?

A: “We’ll just have to testit out and, throughout theseason, see what we are.”

Q: Is there a non-districtgamethat you’re lookingforward to this year?

A: “I think we’re lookingforward to Franklin (from)El Paso. They got us reallybad (last year) and we’relooking forward to gettingthem back. It will be herethis year.”

SHARI V. HILL — SUN-NEWS

Mayeld linebacker Joah Franzoy, center, runs through

drills during a recent practice at the school. Franzoyreturns as one of the Trojans top players, both atlinebacker and wide receiver.Online: For individual

photos of local highschool football players, goto our Sun-News SportsFacebook page:FACEBOOK.COM/SUNNEWSSPORTS

Online: Videos on theMayeld team can be

found at LCSUN-NEWS.COM

73EverettGaribay

75ZacharyBustillos

76KyleOwen

77JosephLujan

78ShaneTiemann

80ChadFaubion

81AnthonyArmendariz

82NoahPierce

83DominicCarrasco

83NicholasBustamante

85BenMonsivaiz

86TommyMontoya

87MatthewRivera

88BrandonWhitlock

89BrettKowalski

93RobertoMelendrez

SUN-NEWSAUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 7S| Football |




The Bulldawgs scoredover 30 points per game inall 13 of their 2012 wins, roll-ingtoa Class5Astate cham-pionship in the process.

The Bulldawgs are an in-triguing team offensivelyagain, but the strength andexperience enteringthe new

year i s now on t he defensiveside oftheball.It beginswith

head coach Jim Miller, whosteps in as defensive coordi-nator after longtime assis-tantcoach Brent Jaquess an-nounced his retirement fol-lowing last year.

The Bulldawgs have ninestarters back on defense in-cluding Division I prospectSam Denmark at middlelinebacker,as the Bulldawgsaddthe4-3 defensivefront to

contendwith spread oensesthat have taken overthe highschool football ranks.

Offensively, Miller’s son

— sophomore quarterbackK amer o n Mi l l er — w i l lstart the season under cen-ter. The Bulldawgs imple-

mented a new vertical pass-ing game last season, andthey’re loaded at the skillpositions, but Jesse Olsonis the lone returning starteron the oensive line. AustinSalas and J.J. Granados arequality running backs thatcan make Kameron Miller’stransition to quarterback asuccessful one if the oen-sive line comes together.

LASCRUCESBULLDAWGS

Defending the titleTEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Jim Miller

2012season: 13-1, 4-0indistrict (Won Class 5A statechampionship)

District: 3-5A

INSIDETHE HEADSETJim Miller is5-0in statechampion-ship gamesat LasCruces HighSchool.

Miller’sdone virtual-ly everythingduring his17years as head coach, andthis season he’ll take over asdefensive coordinator whileone of the program’s veteranassistant coaches, MarkLopez, handles the oensiveside of the ball.


Las Cruces High’s Austin Salas tries to break through two Bulldawg tacklers at the schoolpractice eld earlier this month.

Q& AKameron Miller, quarter-back

Q: What’s the biggestthing youlearnedfromquarterback Jonathan Joylastyear?

A: “He led the team to astate championship. Heshowed me how to staycalm and don’t let your teamdown. He taught me how to

lead the team.”Q: What is your strengthas a quarterback? Whatdidyou work the hardestto improveon?

A: “I’m more of a stay-in-the-pocket kind of guy andwait to see receivers getopen. At the beginning oflast year, my arm strengthwas not so good, but I’veworked on it for the pasttwo summers. I believe I canmake every throw now.”

Q: Who’s your favoriteNFL player?

A: “Peyton Manning. I’ma die-hard Colts fan eventhough he went to the

Broncos. He’s a Hall of Fameplayer no matter what. Hehad neck surgery and stillled his team to the playos.”

Q: Who is the best LasCruces quarterbackyou’ve seenplay?

A: “It’s going to be eitherDante (Caro) or Joy. Dantewas a running quarterbackthat led the team to the

state championship and Joywas a passing quarterbackwho won. Those two guyscombined would be theperfect quarterback.”

Q: What does it mean to

you toplayfor your dad?A: “I’ve been waiting for itfor all my life. He will pushme harder than any otherkid on the team, I guaranteeyou.”


Amidst a sea of Bulldawg blockers and pass rushers, LasCruces High quarterback Kameron Miller throws downeldduring an August practice at the school.





1KameronMiller

41DavidRamirez

39AdamChavez

2RicardoTerrazas

42CoryNoel

40SteeleBlue

5NickGuerrero

43VinceMontez

6EanSmith

44Alex Hernan-dez-Hualde

7SamEllis

11DylanPerez

13JosephMontoya

50JesseOlson

45AaronWatson

14AndrewThatcher

52AdrianCampos

49DiegoGarcia

15J.R.Hernandez

53JacobDiaz

16TommyPierce

54XavierArmendariz

17SamSuarez

18ThomasEsparza

19DanielHerrera

20J.J.Granados

21JunshiroMolinar

22IsaiahMcIntyre

23JalenBishop

24GabeSaavedra

36SamDenmark

33DanteLujan

28MarcellGarza

38SethBall

31A.J.Martinez

35AeneasReynolds

32AustinSalas

26DominikFrietze

37ForrestMcKee

30JacobRobles

LASCRUCES BULLDAWGS

2013 LASCRUCES SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 29 @ Chapin (El Paso) 7 p.m.

Sept.6 @ Eldorado 7 p.m.

Sept. 14 vs. Cibola 1 p.m.

Sept. 20 Rio Rancho 7 p.m.Sept. 27 @ La Cueva 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 vs. Artesia 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 vs. Oñate* 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 @ Alamogordo* 7 p.m.

Oct.25 BYE

Nov. 1 @ Gadsden* 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 vs. Mayeld* 7 p.m.


WHATTHEY’RESAYING

Jim Miller on expecta-tions: “Sometimes you liveon what you did last year.

They have been workinghard and they know there isa target on their back.”

Sam Denmark on startingat tight end and lineback-er: “The biggest challengeis that it’s draining play-ing both ways once you

get to the third and fourthquarters. But I don’t know ifI would be happy not playingboth ways. It feels greatbeing able to contribute on

both sides of the ball.”

J.J. Granados on what ittakes to defend a cham-pionship: “We’re going toneed to work together a lit-tle bit more because there’sgoing to be a target on ourback as state champs. But

anything is possible. If wework hard, I think we canmake another run at it.”

Jesse Olson on replacing

their entire oensive line:“It’s denitely been dier-ent from last year. The otherguys are not as experiencedas I am and don’t know theoense as well. We’re notas big and physical up frontthis year, so we have tofocus more on technique.”

| Foot a |

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| |



SUN-NEWSAUGUST29 - SEPTEMBER 4,2013 11S| Football |

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LASCRUCESBULLDAWGS

56RickyGarcia

57CalebEnglehart

59A.J.Kovach

62AsleiMorales

64SimonValdez

66GabrielMartinez

67LazGomez

68DanielOntiveros

69AndrewLawendy

71ConnorStringam

72Alejandro JoseGomez

73CarlosCampos

74DavidMulheron

75FrankieGonzales

77SergioLedesma

79StefanoHernandez

7 KEYPLAYERS

SamDenmark:Denmarkis valuable in all aspectsfor theBulldawgs,moving to atrue middle

linebackerrole for theteam defen-sively, whileproviding a target in thepassing oense and a physi-cal blocker in the run game.All tolled, he’s a clutchplayer who seems to makethe big play when the chipsare down.

J.J. Granados:A scor-

ing machine last season,Granados hitpaydirt on24percentof his carriesin 2012. Gra-nados scored34rushingtouchdownslast year and accumulated1,119yards on the ground.Entering his senior season,he should enjoy a similar rolethe LCHS attack.

AustinSalas: Whilerushing for754yardslast year, Sa-las teamedwith back-

eld mate J.J. Granadosto form a physical one-twopunch for the Bulldawgs of-fense. The 2013season willalso see Salas play outsidelinebacker for the LCHSdefense.

Isaiah McIntyre:McIin-tyre started at safety lastseason for Las Cruces High,where hisspeed madehim a play-maker on thedefensiveside of theball. A statequalierin the 110-meter hurdles,McIntyre is one of the fast-

est players on the Bull-dawgs football roster. Thisyear he’ll also see time atreceiver.

JesseOlson: At 5-foot-11,240pounds, Olson wasn’teven the biggest oensiveor defensive lineman on theLCHS roster last year. Butthe senioris the onlyreturning

starter onan oensivefront thatat-out hadit’s way withopposing teams in 2012.While this year’s Bulldawgs’oensive line might nothave the same dominant

presence, expect the unit tostill hold it’s own.

DavidRamirez:Aer start-ing last season at defensiveend, Ramirez will man thepositiononce again in

2013. WhileBulldawgshead coachJim Millersaid the de-fensive endwon’t be asked to drop intocoverage oen in the team’s4-3defensive front, Ramirezremains a versatile player.

Carlos Campos: At 300pounds, Campos will step

into a starting role as a ju-nior at oensive and defen-sive tackle.Campos wasamong thestandouts atthe NMPreps.com Com-bine in RioRancho thissummer. What he lacks invarsity experience, he cer-

tainly makes up in size andstrength.

TELLINGNUMBER

9Number of returningstarters on the defen-

sive side of the ball.


Las Cruces High senior linebacker Sam Denmark, le, will be a valuable asset to both theBulldawgs’ oensive and defensive units during the 2013season.

Online: For individualphotos of local high

school football players, goto our Sun-News SportsFacebook page:FACEBOOK.COM/SUNNEWSSPORTS

Online: Videos on theLas Cruces team can

be found at LCSUN-NEWS.COM





Oñate was 3-3 enteringDistrict 3-5A play last sea-son and heldhopes ofa play-o berth, only to go winlessin district play during headcoach Caleb Hull’s secondseason with the program.

The Knights were com-petitive against teams withcomparabletalent, buta lackof depth and injuries to keyplayers took a toll late in theyear.

Offensively, the Knightsshowed an ability to putpoints on the board withplaymakerssuch as runningIsaiah Fielder and wide re-ceiver Rhyan Araiza. Therunning game should alo bebolstered by what Hull saidwasthe biggest oensive line

he’s had in three seasons with the progr am. Such agroup can hopefully provideadequateblockingfor the ex-plosive F ielder.

Oñate needs anywhere between five-to-seven victo-ries to reach the postseasonfor the first time since 2009.

Acquiring a playo berth has been a goal of the coachingsta and players at Oñate,and there’s certainly oppor-tunities on the schedule toget the Knights there thisseason.

OÑATEKNIGHTS

Pushing forwardTEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Caleb Hull

District: 3-5A

2012season: 3-7, 0-4indistrict

INSIDETHEHEADSET

In his thirdyear atOñate, Hullwon’t callplays thisyear, yetwill ratheroversee theKnightsprogram init’s entirety.

Assistant coach Gilbert

Gonzalez will run the of-fense while Hull broughtin Richard Grace to be theprogram’s new defensivecoordinator.

Grace, who’s had previousstops at Gadsden and SantaTeresa, will implement a 4-3defense at OHS.

Q & ATravis Johnson, quarter-back

Q: What are yourstrengths as a quarter-back?

A: “I think my biggeststrength is that I’m a dualthreat. I’m able to pass andable to run.”

Q: How is the oensiveline coming along?

A: “Our oensive line hassome pretty good depthwith three starters return-ing. The oensive line ispretty big, so I think we’ll beable to bully some people inthe trenches this year.”

Q: What would it taketoget the Knights back intothe postseason?

A: “A total commitment bythe whole football team. Wealso need to beat Crucesand Mayeld. If we want tobe able to make the playosand be successful in theplayos, we have to beatCruces and Mayeld.”

Q: Is there a particulargame you’relooking for-

ward to?

A: “I’m looking forward tothe Bel Air game becauseit’s the rst game of theseason and they’ve beentalking a lot on social-net-working sites.”

Q: Have you alwaysplayedquarterback?

A: “Since the h grade. Istarted as a tight end, butthey moved me to quarter-back because I could throwthe ball far at that age.”

STEVE MACINTYRE — FOR THE SUN-NEWS

Travis Johnson looks to step up as Oñate’s startingquarterback in 2013.


Isaiah Fielder’s proven that he can be a strong feature back in the Oñate oense.



OÑATEKNIGHTS

2013 OÑATE SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 29 vs. B el A ir ( El P as o) 7 p .m .

Sept. 6 @ So cor ro ( Texa s) 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 @ Cleveland 7 p.m.

Sept. 21 vs. Hobbs 2 p.m.

Sept. 27 vs. Volcano Vista 7 p.m.

Oct. 5 @ West Mesa 1 p.m.

Oct. 11 @ Las Cruces* 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 @ Gadsden* 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 Mayfeld* 7 p.m.

Nov. 1 BYE

Nov. 7 Alamogordo* 7 p.m.


3JoseBustillos

5RichardEnriquez

7GabeBenavidez

11EthanTahuahua

1FabianReyes

2JovanLopez

4BrandonLopez

6NathanSteigely

8TravisJohnson

15MichaelSalcedo

19DavidSoto

21JaimeQuintana

23DustinSchneider

27GarrettHernandez

31ChristianArmendariz

36JonathanRodriguez

41TimothyPatrick

44AlbertRowe

13AarenMcShan

16SarahPatterson

20MathewGuerra

22IsaiahFielder

24RhyanAraiza

28C.J.Gant

33ZacharyWeisenberger

40MarioPacheco

42ZakLauterbach

46JavierCorral


SUN-NEWSAUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 15S

| Foot a |



47MarcosMontoya

O ATE KNIGHTS

48GabrielGonzales

52DanielMartinez

54AntonioGuzman

56FidelGarcia

60Nicolas

51JulianHill

53LuisDuarte

55NathanTrevizo

62Luis

65Anthony

63David

7 KEYPLAYERS

Rhyan Araiza: Aer step-ping into a lead role for theKnights oense last year,Araiza made a consider-able impactat widereceiver. Healso madehis presencefelt on spe-cial teams,lining up asa dangerous player in thekick-return game. Araizawill also ll in at cornerbackin key situations on thedefensive side of the ball.

Isaiah Fielder: A workhorse

running back, Fielder hasthe size toget throughthe line ofscrimmageand speedto pullaway fromdefenders.Fielder was the Knights’

most consistent oensiveplayer last season as a

junior and doesn’t gure tosee a drop o in production.

Travis Johnson: At 6-foot-4, 173pounds, Johnsonis more imposing and has

greater arm strength thanlast year’s starting quarter-back, CurtisHynes.Johnsonshould havea biggeroensiveline in frontof him anda proven running back, butwill need to develop as a

rst-year starter in Oñate’sspread oense.

Mario Pacheco: A securityblanket forthe Knightslast season,Pachecowas capableof gainingtough yards

at the fullback position. Thesenior will also line up attight end, yet lls a similarrole for the OHS oense in2013: clearing the way forrunning back Fielder whileproviding an insurancepolicy for rst-year quarter-back Johnson.

Darren Jackson: Stand-ing at 6-feet, 215pounds,Jackson could be a break-out player at defensiveend for theKnights in2013. TheKnightsswitchedfrom a 5-2

defensivefront to a4-3for players like Jackson,who Oñate coaches believecould be a game-changer,rushing the passer o theedge. Jackson will also seeplaying time at tight end onoense.

Danny Martinez: The

Knights’ smallest oensivelineman, Martinez (whoweighs in at 195pounds)is a two-year starterwhosemotor andinstinctshave madeup for hislack of size.Martinez plays le tacklefor the Knights and is anemotional and vocal leaderon the Oñate line.

Austin Hales: Entering his junior season, Hales showedthe ability toknock pass-

es downat the lineof scrim-mage as adefensivetackle. Haleshas good length, and looksprimed for a solid year aerputting in a good oseasonwith the program.



69CarlosJimenez

72VictorPeña

74DanielSidwell

77MiguelCorral

90DarrenJackson

70TylerStockberger

73DavidTabullo

76JoshVillalobos

79DavidHouserman

97AustinHales

TELLINGNUMBER

2009 LasttimeOñate

made the New Mexicohigh school football stateplayos.

WHATTHEY’RESAYINGCaleb Hull on the directionof his football program:“We have the highestnumber of athletes rightnow throughout the entireseason and oseason. Wehave team goals, but itshows we’re improving as aprogram if we go into thatnext stage.”

Mario Pacheco on theKnights’ oense: “We’rebetter than last year, (so)I think we’ll be a lot betterthan last year. We just haveto work on the defensiveside a little bit.”

Javier Corral on playing

middle linebacker in theKnights’ new 4-3defense:“It was a 5-2last year, so Ilearned a couple things atlinebacker. It’s more taking

responsibility and steppingup and lling the holes.”

Isaiah Fielder on teamexpectations for the 2013

season: “We need to comeout and get some victoriesin our rst couple of games,and try to get a playoberth.”

OÑATEKNIGHTS

STEVE MACINTYRE —FOR THE SUN-NEWS

The Knights believe widereceiver Rhyan Araiza can bea versatile player across theboard oensiely.


Centennial’s 5-5 recordlast year came as a pleas-ant surprise for the Hawks’coachingsta as, withvirtu-allyno oseason, theHawksproved to be a competitiveClass 4A team. Centenniallost to El Paso Americas’

junior vars ity team and ElPaso Fabens by a combinedfour points, ultimately cost-ing the Hawks what couldhave been a playo berth.

CHS players are now a year older with a hand fulof seniors and impact con-tributors on the roster. TheHawks believe a strengthentering the season is theiroffensive and defensivelines, but they’re lookingfor impact players on theoense to vary their attack.Defensively, the team’sline-

backers and defensivebacks will have to be become b et-ter playmakers than they

were last season. An ea rly loo k at the

s c h ed u l e i nd i cat es t h eHawks should improve ontheir five wins from a year

ago. But with no Class 4Ateams on the pre-districtdocket, improving on their

lone league win is the bestchance they have for post-season football in 2013.

CENTENNIALHAWKS

Bigger, faster, strongerTEAMCAPSULECoach: Aaron Ocampo

2012season: 5-5, 1-2indistrict

District: 3-4A

TELLINGNUMBER

10Centennial upperclassmen in 2013,

which marks the rst seniorclass at the school.

INSIDETHE HEADSETAaronOcampowas a qual-ity choiceas the rstfootball

coach at abrand-newhigh school.

He wongames andscored points while at Man-zano in Albuquerque, andhas laid similar groundworkat Centennial. The teamplayed competitively duringit’s rst season with noseniors on the roster.


Running back Daniel Conklin looks to have a strong year inCentennial’s oensive attack.

Q & ASenior le tackleJoaquin Melendez

Q: What’s the biggestthing youlearnedlastyear?

A: “Last year was my rstyear of varsity football andit was a really great experi-ence. I saw an opportunityand we had a great year forhow young our team is.”

Q: Whydid you choosetoattend Centennial?

A: “I have family in Albu-querque and they talkedabout how great coachOcampo was and that he

was going to go to Centen-nial. My family basicallyconvinced me and it turnedout to be a great experi-ence.”

Q: Whatwill it take towinDistrict3-4A?

A: “Just facing adversityand working harder. I feel

that we can do better. Wehave young players whohave stepped up.”

Q: What do youlike aboutplaying oensive line?

A: “We’re brothers. I loveevery single one of them.We learned a lot last yearfor being how small wewere. This year we’ve got-ten bigger up front.”

Q: Whatdoesit mean tobe partof Centennial’s

rstseniorclass?A: “I never thought thatwould happen. We have agreat senior class that isgoing along with me.”


The Hawks cool o on the rst ocial day of fall practicein early August.



Online: Videos on theOñate team can be

found at LCSUN-NEWS.COM


ENTENNIALHAWKS

SUN-NEWSAUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 17S

| Foot a |



2

QuevinRedding

6

CristianBarrera

10

MattAlvarez

12

ThomasLopez

1

DanielConklin

5

ChristianCedano

9

YsmaelGomez

11

MarcoFernandez

14AngelCruz

40AlexChacon

16JohnathanCastillo

18MarcSotelo

20JohnnyGomez

23CrisCesarez

45StephenGarcia

28BrianKirker

32FrankMartinez

34JonathonFaulkner

13MichaelAguirre

36MichaelSutherlin

15IsaacLegarreta

17JoseRuiz

19JerryGallegos

21RicardoMontoya

42AlexVoelz

27KeithJasso

31DustinGonzalez

33LorenzoRamirez

7 KEYPLAYERS

Quevin Redding: Thesenior quarterback wasthe last man standing onoensetowardthe end of2012, astwo of hisfavorite tar-gets wentdown withinjuries. Redding is a strongrunner and was amongthe best athletes on theteam last year. As a senior,he’s capable of leading theHawks on oense.

Christian Barrera: Prior togoing down with a season-

ending knee injury last sea-son, Barrerawas clearlythe Hawksmostdangeroustarget inthe passinggame. Theteam hopes the 5-foot-7senior can bounce back formore in 2013.

Daniel Conklin: Well on hisway to a 1,000yard cam-paign last season, Conklinsuered a broken leg priorto districtplay. Henow entershis seniorseasonnearly 100percentand, at

6-feet and 170pounds, hasproven to be a hard runningback to bring down.

Joaquin Melendez: Oenin football the le tackle isthe most important playeralong the oensive line,

and Melendez is certainlythat for Centennial. Whilestanding at

just 5-foot-8, 220pounds,Melendezmakes up

for a lackof size withhis feisty attitude andleadership.

Jerry Gurrola: As a sopho-more last year, Gurrolawas arguably the Hawksbest player on defense. Heplayed nose guard and de-fensive end and, at 6-foot,230pounds, Gurrola isamong the most physi-

cal players on the roster.The coaching sta hasalso spoken highly of hisfootball IQ.

Christian Cedano:Among the best athletesin Centen-nial’s pr o-gram, the5-foot-11,156-poundCedano

startedat safetylast year as a sophomore.Cedano even played quar-terback during oseasonworkouts. Now enteringhis junior season, Sedanocould also see time at thewide receiver position.

Andres Chavez: The teambelieves Chavez is amonga handful of Hawks players

with potential for a break-out year. Chavez showedglimpses last season aerwide receiver ChristianBarrera was injured, andshould see increased play-ing time as a junior.

WHAT THEY’RESAYING

Head coach Aaron Oc-ampo on District 3-4A:“We don’t have a 4A teamon our pre-district schedule,so doing well in district isimportant. Deming is still

alented, and Santa Teresahas their line back from last

ear.”

Quarterback Quevin Red-ding on goals for the 2013season: “To get throughevery game with a ‘W’ andmake sure every game, we’regetting be tter.”

Defensive lineman JerryGurrola on the Hawksdefense: “We’re going tohave tough challenges with

all the dierent teams. Wehave to y o the ball andhit them rst.”

Oensive lineman JoaquinMelendez on the Hawks2013schedule: “We’ll stickit out this year. We havereally good teams that we’refacing. We’re working hardto overcome those teams.”

ENTENNIALHAWKS



LOOKING BACK > Roy Ge-rela took over after an 0-10season in 2011 and Gadsden

went 5 -5 and 2-2 in District3-5A play last year.

“We were probably over-achievers,”Gerela said. “Butit’s very possible to repeatthat if we stay healthy andthe quarterback has a goodseason.”

G erel a d i d n’t h ave t o worry about the quarterbackposition last year, as AaronGomez was the heart andsoul of the Panthers. Gomezended his football career

by ear nin g Most Valuab lePlayer honors in the North

vs. South All-Sta r game last

month.“Aaron also probably hadthe best hands on the teamand he also played safety,”Gerela said.

The Panthers started the

season with a 34-33 home vict ory over Hobbs, whichmarked a sign of things tocome for a program that ex-perienceda greatdealof suc-cess in 2012.

“When I f irst took the

job, I was wondering what Ihadgottenmyselfinto.But Isaw them develop in seven-on-seven,” Gerela said. “Ithought that if we won twoor three games, it would be

a great start.”Gadsden hadn’twon a dis-

trict gamesince2006 beforea 31-24 victory over Oñateat t h e F i eld o f D r eams .The Panthers then beat Al-amogordo the next week athome.LOOKINGFORWARD> CanthePanthers build o the suc-cess of last season?

WhileGomezwas a senior,Gadsden had a large sopho-

more class, which speaks well for the ne xt two ye ars.“We had a lot of sopho-

mores last year and a lotof them did very well,” Ge-

GADSDEN PANTHERS

Aer .500 season, Panthers look to build of success

ROBIN ZIELINSKI — SUN-NEWS

Aer a surprise season in 2012, head coach Roy Gerela and the Gadsden Panthers arelooking to build o momentum.

TEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Roy Gerela

2012season: 5-5, 2-2

District: 3-5A

“It’s verypossible torepeat that if westay healthy and

the quarterbackhas a goodseason”— Gadsden coach Roy Gerela

GADSDEN: PAGE 19

CENTENNIAL HAWKS

2013CENTENNIALSCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 @ Ruidoso 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 BYE

Sept. 13 vs. At ris co Her it ag e 7 p .m .

Sept. 20 @ Fabens 7 p.m.

Sept. 26 vs. Estancia 6 p.m.

Oct.3 vs. Hatch 7 p.m.

Oct. 12 @ St. Michael’s 2 p.m.

Oct. 18 vs. Ruidoso 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 @ Santa Teresa* 7 p.m.

Oct. 31 Chaparral* 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 @ Deming* 7 p.m.




Online: Videos on theCentennial team can

be found at LCSUN-NEWS.COM

46JaimeBalcazar

50ChaseAustin

61Jorge

Suarez

62Duncan

Gallegos

76JustinMauldin

55GerardoBermudez

66Levi

Melloy

97XzavionPatterson

73GeorgeNiño

52AdrienGarcia

64Scott

Glines

81TonyTello

78MichaelLuna

60AmaniThompson

70Justin

Williams

74LeonelOlivas

53AaronRigales

65Vincent

Rubino

88MarkVirgil

72SantiagoSosa

51ZekeHerrera

63Nicholas

Rosales

80GabePacheco

77VicMontoya

59CameronBurkley

67Joaquin

Melendez


ALAMOGORDO TIGERS




BILL ARMENDARIZ — DEMING HEADLIGHT

Deming High football coach Fernie Holguin said the Wildcat program has drawn 60

athletes and he was expecting as many as 10more once classes began in mid-August.

rela said. “We’re going tobe very young and inexpe-rienced, but the first groupgot to see some things lastyear.”KEY PLAYERS > One of thepreviously-mentionedsoph-omores was Arturo Sotelo,

who started last season inthe defensive backfield forthe Panthers. Sotelo stepsinto replace Gomezat quar-terback this year.

“He’s a great athlete whojust lacks the experience,”Gerela said.

Eric Lopez is a 6-foot-2,

260-pound defensive endand offensive guard whois one of the Panthers’ topreturners. Another top re-

turning playeris senior run-ning back/linebacker KevinLoera.

— Jason Groves

GadsdenFROMPAGE 18

LOOKING BACK > The 2012season was a struggle onceagain at Alamogordo, with

theteam finishingwell under.500 andthe eventual depar-ture of Tommy Standefer ashead coach.

The Tigers lone district win was agai nst Oñate, andtheteam electedfora coach-ing change at season’s end.Dale Hooper was the manhired to right the ship in Al-amo, a program that’s en-

joyed just one winnin g sea-son since 2007.LOOKING AHEAD> The 2013Tigers look to provide freshfaces and a youthful spirit.

Hooper, who’s spent thelast four seasons as GrantsHigh School’s head footballcoach (he was also a grad-uate of the school), said he

wants to build the AHS football program into one that will be competitive at the 5Alevel every year.

“I think we’re going to bereally successful,” Hoopersaid. “I really look forwardto the challenges ahead.”

The Tigers oensedoesn’treturn a single starter froma year ago. Defensively,Hooper is counting on hisnine returning defensive

vetera ns to hold down thefort until the oense comesaround.

Hooper said he’s an of-

fensive coach, and plans forthe Tigers to open thingsup with a spread oense -- a

vast departu re from previ-ous years under Standefer,

who preferre d the past twoseasons to go with a veerrun-first mentality.

“I’ve been a spread guyfor a long time, probably 12or 14 years,” Hooper said.“We do run a power game,

but I definitely try and coverthe whole field. I make peo-ple defend from sideline tothe other sideline.”KEYPLAYERS > Hooper hadhigh praise forJohn Matzke,

Alamo’s featured back whofigures to get plenty of touches. The head coach

also pointed to wide receiv-ers Andrew Yates and Key-shawn Gatson as big-playthreats.

Hooper said the quar-terback position’s up forgrabs amongst under class-men, while he pointed to

his defense’s overall expe-rience across the board as

a strength. He added the Ti-gers will run a 4-2-5 defen-

sive scheme in 2013.— Michael Johnson

LOOKING BACK > Demingmade it two-straight Dis-trict 3-4A football champi-onships with a 3-0 run to

the top of the league stand-ings. The Wildcats blankedRoswell in the first roundof the Class 4A Playoffs,36-0, and traveled to Belenfor the quarterfinals wheretheir season ended in a dis-appointing 58-6 loss.

Two of Deming’s losses

were to Belen (14-7 and 58-6final scores) and the other

was to A rtesia (49-14).Big wins came against

Class3A Silver (14-12), Class5A Al amogordo (29-28), El

Paso Cathedral (22-14) andDistrict 3-4A foe Santa Te-resa (21-14).

TheWildcatsran theball

eectively and the passingattack became more of afactor as the season pro-gressed. Coach Holguin

built a defense that playedloose between the 20s andhardened likecementinsidethe red zone.

ALAMOGORDO TIGERS

New coach to lead Tigers

DEMING WILDCATS

’Cats hope to go further ALAMOGORDO DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO

Alamogordo welcomes a new coach this year and hopes toput last season’s struggles behind.

TEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Dale Hooper

2012record: 3-7, 1-3 indistrict

District: 3-5A

TEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Fernie Holguin

2012record: 9-3, 3-0in

districtDistrict: 3-4A

“I think we’regoing to be reallysuccessful.I really lookforward to thechallengesahead.”— Tigers’ coach Dale Hooper

2013 GADSDENSCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 @ Hobbs 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 @ Rio Rancho 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 @ Eastwood 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 vs. Santa Teresa 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 vs. Chaparral 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 @ Roswell 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 @ Mayeld* 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 vs. Oñate* 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 @ Alamogordo* 7 p.m.

Nov.1 vs. Las Cruces* 7 p.m.Nov.7 BYE


2013 ALAMOGORDO SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 BYE

Sept.6 @ Los Lunas 7 p.m.

Sept. 14 @ West Mesa 1 p.m.

Sept. 20 vs. Carlsbad 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 vs. Socorro ( Texas) 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 @ Hobbs 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 vs. Deming 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 vs. Las Cruces High* 7p.m.

Oct. 25 vs. Gadsden* 7 p.m.

Nov. 1 vs. Mayeld* 7 p.m.

Nov. 7 vs. Oñate* 7 p.m.


DEMING: PAGE 20



LOOKING FORWARD > TheWildcats return eight start-ers on oense — includingthe entire backfield — andseven starters on defense —

including the entire second-ary.Twenty-five players who will open the season at BelenonAug. 30 sawvarsity actionlast year.

“We are a running team,

but we will throw more thisseason,” Holguin said.

The plan is to continue with the sprea d and pro- Ion oense and dig in a “50”or “3-5” — a variation of the3-4 front on defense.

The line on both sides of the football will be the big-gest Holguin has coached inthepastfive seasons. Theav-

erage weight iswellover200pounds and the personnel isathletic and mobile, accord-ing to Holguin.

Practices have been ef-ficient and productive, ac-

cording to Holguin.“It ’s a h ar d -wo r ki ng

bunch, a nd there really wasno o-season,” Holguinsaid.“They came in and hit the

weight s and played 7-on-7all summer long. That workethic continues in practiceand will get us ready for theseason.”K E Y P L AY E R S > SeniorNestor Ponce (6-0, 235) and

junior Juan Carlo s Wilso n(6-0, 225) figure to anchorthe offensive and defen-sive lines, along with junior

Aaron Garcia (5-10, 215), ju-nior Lalo Lerma (5-11, 220) junior Danie l Galva n (5-10,220) and sophomore JordanPerales (5-9, 210).

—Bill Armendariz

DemingFROMPAGE 19

“It’s a hard-working bunch,and there reallywas no off-season.”—Deming coach Fernie Holguin

2013DEMINGSCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 @ Belen 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 vs. Hot Springs 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 @ Santa Fe 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 vs. Artesia 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 BYE

Oct.4 @ Silver 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 @ Alamogordo 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 vs. Cathedral 7 p.mOct. 25 vs. Chaparral* 7 p.m.

Nov. 1 @ Santa Teresa* 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 vs. Centennial* 7 p.m.



SonBlazers quarterback Tristan Franzoy is a returning player with starting experience.

LOOKINGBACK>Mesilla Val-ley Christian had 19 playersonit’srosterlast yearunderfirst-year head coach MikeDraper.

The SonBlazers went 4-6overall and 1-3 in District3-2Aplay, butsnuck intotheClass2A playoswhere theylost to Tucumcari.

“Eunicehad toloseto HotSpringsforus togetin andIdidn’tthink itwouldhappen

but it did,”Draper said. “Ourloss in districtto Lordsburgput us behind the eight ball,

but othe r thi ngs fell intoplace. I was happy to makethe playos with 19 playerson the roster.”LOOKING AHEAD > Drapersaid the SonBlazers pro-gram has grown to 25 play-ers this year.

“They’re getting used tome and it’s taken some timefor them to learn from me,”Draper said. “(Previouscoach Charles Gleghorn)

was a popular coach. I runthe ball a little more thanthey did before.”

Mesilla Valley lost threekey contributors, but theSonBlazers did gain moreathletes from the school’s

basketball team who did notplay football last year.

“Iexpectfor usto bemore

L OOK IN G B A C K > A f t er

brea king into the win col-umn the past two years,Chaparral took a step backlastseason, going winlessin2012 while remaining win-less all-time in district play(the program’s entering it’sseventh year of existence).

Previous headcoach TomSmith won seven games inthree seasons at the school,

but aft er a four-w in cam -paign in 2011, the Lobos arenow hold a 7-51 all-time re-

cord in football.Chaparral’s closestgames

last year were a one-pointloss in the season opener atSanElizario anda one-pointdefeat to El Paso Jeerson.LOOKINGFORWARD> Assis-tantcoach MarkAguilarre-placed Tom Smith as headcoach. It’s Aguilar’s firstfootball head coaching job,

but he has previous experi-ence as a head track coachin the El Paso area.

“I’ve been at differentschools and every schoolthat is fairly new, it’s takena little while to get foot-

ball o the ground ,” Agui -lar said. “It takes numbersand confidence and build-ingtradition. I think thesoc-cer team winning the statechampionship last year hasreallykick-startedthings. Infact, some of them are kick-ingforus andare startersat

theskill positionsthis year.” Agui lar said the Lobos

had solid participation numbers this past offws easonand that such eort wasn’t

MESILLA VALLEY CHRISTIAN SONBLAZERS

MVCS continues to grow

CHAPARRAL LOBOS

Regrouping afer no wins

TEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Mike Draper

2012record: 4-6, 1-3indistrict (Lost in rst roundof Class 2A playos)

District: 3-2A

TEAMCAPSULECoach: Mark Aguilar

2012record: 0-10, 0-3indistrict

District: 3-4A


Chaparral’s Johnny Joya makes a one-handed grab duringa mid-August practice at the school.

MVCS: PAGE 21 CHAPARRAL: PAGE 21


SANTA TERESA DESERT WARRIORS




reflective of a team that’sstill looking for it’s first dis-trictwin in programhistory.

“If we play up to our abil-ity and try to do the rightthing in the classroom andon the field, the wins willtake care of themselves,”

Aguila r said.KEY PLAYERS >

The Lobosreturn five players on of-fense and defense. Agui-lar wants to balance the of-fense this year with moreof a ground attack featur-ing returning quarterbackRoy Lopez andfullbackRay-mond Garcia.

Senior receiver LakotaHuff is the team’s top re-turning receiver. Defen-sively, senior nose guard

Andres Castro and Garciaat linebacker are the team’stop returning players.

— Jason Groves

competitive,” Draper said.“We are a little more athleticatthe skill positions. We lostsome keyplayerson the lineandwe have to replace themon the oense anddefensiveside of the ball.”K E Y P L A Y ER S > TristanFranzoy started at quar-

terback three games intohis sophomore season andkept theposition for therestof the year. In order to bol-ster the losses on the oen-sive anddefensive lines, Mi-cah Gray and Zane Wagnerreturn up front.

From a skill-position

standpoint, Rene Medina isthe SonBlazers most expe-rienced running back and

wide receiver Nick Nunley

isoneof a handful ofbasket- ball players who are playingfootball this year.

— Jason Groves

2013MESILLA VALLEY CHRISTIAN SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIMEAug. 30 @ Anthony 7 p.m.

Sept.6 vs. Tornillo 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 BYE

Sept. 20 @ Mountain View 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 @ NMMI 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 vs. Hot Springs 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 vs. Hatch Valley* 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 BYE

Oct. 25 @ Cobre* 7 p.m.

Nov.1 vs. Tularosa* 7 p.m.

Nov.8 @ Lordsburg* 7 p.m.


2013CHAPARRALSCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIMEAug. 30 vs. San Elizario 7 p.m.

Sept.6 vs. Irvin 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 @ Jeferson 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 @ Roswell 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 @ Gadsden 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 vs. Mountain View 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 vs. Cathedral 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 BYE

Oct. 25 @ Deming* 7 p.m.

Oct. 31 @ Centennial* 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 vs. Santa Teresa* 7 p.m.


MVCSFROMPAGE 20 ChaparralFROMPAGE20

LOOKING BACK> With a se-nior-laden team and quar-terbackAlex Sedillo running

the offense, Santa Teresawas expected to do betterlast year than their 3-7 finalrecord. But injuries contrib-utedto a 1-6start and failingto reach the playos for thesecond-straight year.

When the Desert War-riors were healthy at theend of the season, they wontwoof their lastthreegameswith a 21-14 loss to District3-4A champion Deming.

“We were just snakebit alittle,” head coach Shae Vi-erra said. “Deming is one of the top teams in Class 4Anow. I think we can make arun at them or have a goodenough record to getintotheplayos.”LOOKING FORWARD > Un-like last year, Santa Teresais short on experience withfive returning starters on

oense and four on defense.All of the returning startersplay on either the oensiveor defensive line.

“We’re not as talented aswe were last year, but it’s amore cohesive group,” Vi-erra said.

Key games on the sched-ule include Gadsden, Roswelland Silver.

“Winning those games would put us in a good posi-tion to ... get an invite if wedon’t win the district,” Vi-erra said.KEY PLAYERS > The Des-ert Warriors do have someexperience at the quarter-

back position. Junior LukePerea started three gameslast year while Sedillo wasinjured. Running back Tris-ten Villegas was a starterlast year onbothsides ofthe

ball. In front of them will bereturning oensive linemen

Angel Nunez a nd Dav id A l-

dama, whoVierra is high on.“I feel like he’s one of the bette r oensive linemen inthestate,” Vierrasaid. “He’sstrong andhe’s a leader. He’simportant to what wedo this

year.”— Jason Groves

SANTA TERESA DESERT WARRIORS

Afer injury-laden season, a chance to rebound


Santa Teresa High School lineman Isaac Lara works on his game during a mid-Augustpractice at the school.

TEAMCAPSULECoach: Shae Vierra

2012record: 3-7, 2-1

District: 3-4A

2013 SANTA TERESASCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 vs. Fabens 7 p.m.Sept.6 vs. Austin 7 p.m.

Sept. 12 @ Irvin 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 @ Gadsden 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 vs. Roswell 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 @ Cathedral 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 BYE

Oct. 18 @ Silver 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 vs. Centennial* 7 p.m.

Nov.1 vs. Deming* 7 p.m.

Nov.8 @ Chaparral* 7 p.m.


| b ll |



LOOKINGBACK> The Fight-

ing Colts have progressedover the years, and lastseason saw them reach theClass3A statechampionshipgame.

S i lver h ad ju st t h r eelosses all year, and two of them came to St. Michael’sHigh School — one of which

was a 10-7 road defeat forthe state title. The Colts didhave their chances in thatparticularcontest,but somekey turnovers and a fail-

ure to get into the end zonehaunted them throughout.Silver’s other loss came torival Deming — a Class 4Aschool — by a final score of 14-12.

Silver had little troublegetting to the championshipgame with wins over Albu-querque Academy (49-10 fi-nal) and Ruidoso (37-10 fi-nal). In District 3-3A action,the Colts rolled to anothertitle, beating Socorro, 42-

14, and then pounding HotSprings, 45-6.LOOKINGFORWARD > There

were some key pers onne l

losses on both oense anddefense, but the Colts willlook to reload.

Dakota Bencomo and Ne- vada Bencomo graduated af-ter playing a big roles on of-fense (both came out of the

backfield)and defense (atthelinebacker position).

The Colts also lost Ish-mael Jacquez at wide re-ceiver, and Justin Trewern

at linebacker.Silver will put 14 seniors

on the field, and it begins with the quarterback Derek

Salas. He’s in his third yearasa starter, andled theColtsto a state championship last

year. He also helped the of-f ens e aver age abou t 3 3points per game throughoutthe season.

“He’s about as close as you can get to a coach on thefield,” Branson said. “And,that’s a tremendous plus forus. We’re looking for him totake care of the football andmake some good decisions.”

Silver’s schedule provesto be a tough one again.The Colts open at home

with cross- county rival Co- bre High, but an early bye won’t see Silver on the football field aga in until a trip to

Albuq uerque to play HopeChristian.

Games with Grants,

SILVER FIGHTING COLTS

Year afer reaching championship, Colts reload

PHOTO BY DANNY UDERO — SUN-NEWS

Silver High senior quarterback Derek Salas will attempt to lead his Colts back to the Class3A state championship when the season opens up.

TEAMCAPSULE

Coach: Butch Branson

2012record: 10-3overall,2-0in district (Lost in Class3A state championship)

District: 3-3A

LOOKINGBACK > In his first year at the Clas s 2A level,Hatch Valley head coachJack Cisco led the Bearsto the Class 2A semifinals,

wher e the y lost 34 -20 tostate champion Santa Rosa.The Bears finished with an8-4 overall record and a 3-1mark in District 3-2A.

“It was where we belongfrom a size standpoint,”Cisco said of his program’sclass affiliation. “We playagainst schools in towns

with no Walmar t and if wemove up, we will be playingagainst schools where thereis a Walmart and we don’t

have a Walmart.”LOOKING FORWARD > Nowthat Emory and Jim Cole-man have both worked their

way throu gh the Tula rosaprogram, the Bears couldovertake the Wildcats atopthe District 3-2A standings.

“I feel like we’re at leasteven with Tularosa now,”Cisco said. “I feel very goodabout our chance to win thedistrict.”KEY PLAYERS > Hatch Val-leyreturnssix starters onof-fense and eight on defense.Chase Carsonis a three-yearstarter at quarterback, anda first-teamAll-State player

last year.“Myfirst three yearshere

there was a dierent quar-terback each year,” Ciscosaid. “Now we can call any-thing and (Carson) gets theteam to execute.”

MikeGonzalez is a 6-foot-3 , 3 0 0 -p ou nd A l l -S tat eplayer on the oensive anddefensive lines, while juniorTyrell Harrison is a three-

year sta rter on both line sand a first-team All-Statenose guard last year as asophomore. JR Carraza isa three-year starter at full-

back and linebacker a nd se-nior Marcos Olivas is a re-turning player at defensivetackle. In orderforthe Bearsto be successful, it will takesome of the younger playersto be productive, Cisco said.

“We have some youngerathletes who have to growup, but we have a chance to

be bet ter from a skil l stand-point,” Cisco said.

— Jason Groves

HATCH VALLEY BEARS

Hatch Valley eyes district title and beyond in 2013TEAMCAPSULECoach: Jack Cisco

2012record: 8-4, 3-1(Lostin Class 2A semifnals)

District: 3-2A

“He’s about asclose as you canget to a coachon the field. ...We’re looking forhim to take careof the footballand make somegood decisions.”— Silver coach Butch Bansonon quarterback Derek Salas

2013HATCH VALLEYSCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 NMMI 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 @ Estancia 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 @ Texico (@ Estancia) 7p.m.

Sept. 20 Silver 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 West Las Vegas 7 p.m.

Oct.3 @ Centennial 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 @ Mesilla Valley* 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 @ Tularosa * 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 BYE

Nov. 1 Lordsburg * 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 Cobre * 7 p.m.


SILVER: PAGE 24


NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES




By Teddy [email protected]@TeddyFeinberg on Twitter

LASCRUCES> A new coach,an independent playingschedule and similar chal-lengesthat haveforever sur-rounded Aggie football.

That’s what New Mex-ico State faces in 2013, ayear after the team finishedwith another poor record

(an 1-11 mark), lost its headcoach (DeWayne Walker leftto take an NFL assistantcoaching job) and is start-ingfrom scratch once again.

First-year head coachDoug Martin is literallybuilding fromthe ground up,

coaching the team through

a 2013independent schedule before the program joins theSunBelt Conference in 2014.

Here, we take a position- by-position look at the Ag-gies, as they enter a historicseason for the program:

Quarterbacks A week into fal l camp,

the team moved TravaughnColwell, who was thought to

have a slight edgeinitially forthe startingquarterbackjob,to the widereceiver position.

In turn, NMSU appointedsenior AndrewMcDonald toNo. 1 quarterback and ele-

vated true fres hman KingDavis III to No. 2.

McDonald took a handful

of snaps in a blowout loss atOhio (not only did he not seethe field the rest of the way,

but his junior year of eligi - bility was burned in the pro-cess). Expect him to supplysimilar attributes to whatMatt Christian brought two

years ago — a good knowl-edge of the system, a gooddecision-maker and an un-derrated runner with the

football.Withthat,the move ofCol- well was made as much forDavis’ progress. The coach-ing sta is high on him, and

would like to g room a quar-terback of the future.

Therefore, he’ll be thepri-mary backup.

Colwell will remain No.3 on the depth chart andnow the Aggies couldhave aunique oensive package in

place:three quarterbacks onthe field simultaneously.

Running backsLast year’s starter Germi

Morrison is a proven player,a pounder andtough runner

between the tackles. He’ll beflanked by Brandon Betan-court, a Mayfield High grad-uateand NMSUjuniorwho’sdisplayed a burst, and couldprovide some big-play pop.

The Aggies brought infreshman Marquette Wash-ington, a player who putup good numbers at Kai-ser High School in Fontana,Calif. The team also addedJermichael Selders (a trans-fer from City College of San

Francisco) before trainingcamp. True freshman andLas Cruces High graduateXavier Hall has also gottensome work during Augustpractices.

Wide receiversThis is a unit that’s devel-

oped some very good play-ersin recent years — TaveonRogers, Todd Lee, KemonteBateman and Austin Frank-lin were all talented pieces.

This year, there doesn’tappear to be one singleplayer that encompassessuch skills — Franklin, of course, would have beenthat player, but theteamwasdealta big blowwhen hewas

ruled academically ineligibleearlier this month.

With that, a collectivegroup takes shape, withplayers such as Joseph Mat-thews( junior), Jerrel Brown(junior), Adam Shapiro (ju-nior), and Jordan Bergstrom(transfer from Santa RosaJunior College) having tostep up to fill the void. Andeven while players such asMatthews and Brown haveshown potential, none seemto have the game-breakingability that Franklin pos-sesses (he was one of theteam’s few big-play threatsentering the year).

One intriguing player isTravaughn Colwell, a quar-

terback-turned-wide re-ceiver who has the physi-cal tools to play the position— listed at 6-foot-3 and justover 200pounds,Colwell hasgood hands,speedandis oneof the team’s top athletes.

Martin has spoken highlyoftight endPerris Scoggins,andthe junior college trans-fer from a year ago has al-

ways looked the part (listedat 6-3, 242 pounds).

Offensive lineThis unit already looks

improved after a poor 2012campaign. Three solidifiedstarters return to the oen-sive front — senior

A new lookHighlighted by an independent scheduleand a frst-year head coach, NMSU

enters a historic season on the gridiron


Freshman quarterback King Davis III (foreground) will likelysee playing time during the upcoming year.


Jordan Bergstrom is one of a handful of Aggie wide receivers who will need to step upin 2013.

AGGIES: PAGE 2

NEWMEXICOSTATEAGGIES

| Foot a |24 S AUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013SUN-NEWS



Deming, Ruidoso andSt. Mi-chael’s will testthe Colts be-fore theDistrict3-3A seasonbegins.

Aga in, the re’s just twoteams in thedistrict,so bothcontests will prove to be im-portant once again.KEYPLAYERS> QuarterbackDerek Salas will anchor theoense.

“Derek’s a guy that can

certainly play at the nextlevel,” Branson said. “I’mnot lookingforhim to runorthrow the football. I’m look-ing for him to take care of the football. His experience

will certain ly h elp u s out i nthe big games we will facethis year.”

Gabe Morales is a seniorthat should be Salas’ go-totarget in the passing game.Moralesmade some bigscor-ingcatcheslast year, andthequarterback-wide receivercombo haveexhibiteda tight

bond on the field.

J u ni or r u n n in g b a ckFrankie Castillo will haveto take on the load that theBencomo brothers car-ried last year. He exhibitedgreat speed and the abilityto carrythe footballbetweenthe tackles, as well as on theperimeter, last year.

“If he can remain healthyfor us and take that pound-ing heis going toget, wearegoing to get a lot of yardagefrom him,” Branson said.“Last year he missed fivegames because of injury.We are going to try and see

where he will be at this year,and take it from there.”

Jorge Rodriguez andManuel Ortega are the mostexperienced linemen Silver

wil l have on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, Michael Ma-ria Jr., Joe Rivera, ShawnGutierrez and Shane Perryare all fighting for the line-

backing spots that were left vacant from graduating se-niors.

Branson said all will getplaying time on defense.

—DannyUdero

2013SILVER SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 30 Cobre 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 BYE

Sept. 14 @ Hope Christian 1 p.m.

Sept. 20 @ Hatch 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 @ Grants 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 Deming 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 @ Ruidoso 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 Santa Teresa 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 @ St. Michael’s 7 p.m.

Nov.1 Socorro* 7 p.m.

Nov.8 @ Hot Springs* 7 p.m.


SilverFROMPAGE22

Davonte Wallace (left tackle),sophomore Andy Cunning-

ham (guard) and junior Va-lerian Ume-Ezeoke (center)— under first-year assistantcoach Bart Miller.

The other starting po-sitions figure to be helddown by Isaiah Folasa-Lu-tui (guard) and Dada Rich-ards (tackle).

But perhaps more impor-tantis an improved oensivescheme, which will help theline both in run blocking and

pass protection. Gone is lastyear’s dropback passing at-tackand straight-ahead run-ning philosophy. In its placeisa more variant oense fea-turing the quarterback-op-tion, which will look to getthe QB out ofthe pocketandon the move as a runner.

Defensive lineThis personnel group ac-

tually has some quality tal-ent. It starts with Mayfieldgraduate Matt Ra mondo(who transferred to NMSUfrom Michigan State twoyears ago) and Willie Mob-ley (a fifth-year senior fromthe University of Arizona),two BCS-caliber playerswho could both play signifi-cant roles for the Aggies.

NMSU also has somedepth on the defensive front

this year, with players such

as Kalvin Cruz and KevinLaudermill filling the gaps.The coaching sta has also

been high on junior-c ollegetransfersMason Russell andJay Fisher James.

NMSU will move to a 3-4defense that will act moreas a 4-3 in function — threedown lineman, withone out-side linebacker playing es-sentially as a standup de-fensive end.The linemen willplay an aggressive, slantingstyle, designed to get quick,undersized players to knifethroughthe line. TheNMSU

defense struggled stopping

the run during spring andfall practices, however.

LinebackersTwo outside linebackers

haveshown good pass-rush-ing skills for the Aggies —that being senior TrashaunNixon and redshirt soph-omore Stephen Meredith.They add to the improvedskill along the defensivefront-seven.

Kalei Auelua joins Mer-edith as the boundary line-

backer (agai n, ess enti all ya standup defensive end),

whi le the midd le wil l be

mannedby senior Bryan Bo-nillaand Melrose,NM nativeClint Barnard.

SecondaryFormer Aggie head coach

DeWayne Walker made it apoint during histenureto re-cruit talent to the defensive

backfield and such a trendremains apparent today.

This year’s group is high-lighted by senior corner-

ba ck s Da ri en Jo hn so n,Cameron Fuller and Win-ston Rose. The safety com-

binationof George Callender

and Davis Cazares is a good

one on paper.NMSU will play more

zone defense in the second-ary than in years past and,in turn,will utilize more zone

blitzes up front. The idea isto create more turnovers

— pressuring the opposingquarterback, with defensive backs facing the ba ll in cov-erage in an attempt to picko hurried throws.

Whilethe ideais tocreatethe big play for the defense,the hope is the Aggies won’t

be susceptible to the big playin return.

Special teamsOne ofthe team’s topplay-

ers last year was punterCayle Chapman-Brown, andhe returnsforhis senior sea-son. The Sydney, Australianative punted 70 times fora 44.3 yards-per-punt aver-age in 2013.

The team also returnsplace-kicker Maxwell John-son and kicko man BrockBaca.

One thing the Aggiesneed: improvement in thepunt-return game, as last

year the tea m average d apaultry 1.2 yards on 15 re-turns(a statisticthat rankedNo. 119 out of 120 Division Ifootball schools, just aheadof the University of Idaho).Upon his hire, Martin an-nounced he’d coach the Ag-gies special teams units in2013, a job title he held forfive years as an assistant

coach at East Carolina.

Coaching

Martinseemsto be a goodfit for theNMSU programatthe right time, a resourceful

coach who actually workedat the school before(as oen-sive coordinator at NMSUin2011).He brought in a qualitycoordinator in Brandon, andtheNMSUoense asa wholeshould be better.

Defensively, David Elsonreturnsto run the show, and

will have a chance t o imple-ment his scheme — again, aslanting technique up front,increased blitzing and morezone defensein the back-end.TheAggieswould like to cre-ate more turnovers in 2013.

Overall, the team neededa breath of fresh air and anew start under a first-yearhead coach. With that beingsaid, this year could very

well be a bui lding season forthe program, with an inde-pendent schedule will likely

be very dicult to manage

for the mid-major program.

AggiesFROMPAGE23


Senior cornerback Cameron Fuller, lef, and wide receiver Joseph Matthews run throughdrills recently during practice at NMSU.

Martin seemsto be a goodfitfor theNMSUprogramat theright time,a

resourcefulcoachwhoactuallyworkedat theschoolbefore.

SUN-NEWSAUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4 2013 25S| Football |




PROGNOSTICATINGONTHE 2013 INDEPENDENTSCHEDULE

The Aggies will be “playing

up” throughout the 2013college football season, anindependent schedule ontap for an FBS program try-ing to nd it’s footing.

The tasks: beginning theyear on the road at theUniversity of Texas, followedby a home game againstMinnesota of the Big Ten;the team’s two rivals (UTEPand New Mexico), as well asPac 12power UCLA and asolid San Diego State team

on the schedule — and thatall comes before the Aggies’bye week in early October.

From there, the scheduledoes get a bit more man-ageable, and hopefully somewins will be in the cardswhen the dust settles.

For now, all we can do isprognosticate. With that,we take a look at the Aggies2013competition:

Week 1Aug. 31at Texas

Scouting report:What away to start. The Longhornsare going to have top-leveltalent across the board and,as if that’s not enough, headcoach Mack Brown is onthe hot seat entering thenew year. A Top-25team inthe preseason polls, don’texpect Texas to go easy on

the opposition in this one.Rather, they’ll look to takethings right to the Aggies.

Week 2

Sept. 7vs. Minnesota

Scouting report:This isgoing to be an importantcontest for Aggie foot-ball — home opener, goodcrowd and a new coach(Doug Martin) running anNMSU team with a new

vision. Certainly it wouldbe nice if the Aggies wereto be competitive, and givethe locals something to feelgood about. But it won’t

be an easy task. Minnesotais still a Big Ten team, andfor those pointing out theAggies beat the GoldenGophers in 2011, understand

these are two dierentclubs from that point intime. For one, Minnesotanished 6-6last year, andwent to a minor bowl gamein the process (MeinekeCar Care Bowl). Also, theteam returns virtually theirentire starting lineup fromlast season, and some ofthose returnees just mightremember NMSU’s 28-21upset win in Minneapolistwo years ago.

Week 3

Sept. 14vs.UTEP

Scouting report:Anotherkey game for the Aggies,because it’s one they cancertainly shoot for. TheMiners nd themselves witha rst-year coach of theirown — former UTEP playerSean Kugler took over thereigns from Mike Price this

oseason. They’re breakingin a new quarterback (sucha factor could dictate theentire season for the Miners)and new starters across theboard on defense. The teamcould look to run the ballmore in 2013— Kugler is aformer oensive lineman,and has coached the posi-tion in the college and NFLranks. Aggie head coachDoug Martin has been point-ing to the program’s rivalry

games since the day he gotthe job, and will get his rstchance at one here.

Week 4

Sept. 21at UCLA

Scouting report:This issimilar to Texas — powerteam from a power confer-ence in a heralded awayvenue. The Bruins wereimproved last year under

rst-year head coach JimMora Jr. This big-moneygame will be another chiefchallenge for the Aggies onthe 2013schedule.

Week 5Sept. 28vs.SanDiego State

Scouting report:Anotherchallenging contest for theAggies, as San Diego Stateis a quality team underformer University of NewMexico head coach RockyLong. For those familiarwith Long, they’ll know theAztecs will bring in a soliddefense and should be pre-

pared. A veteran roster willalso be in tow. If the Aggiescould get this one, it wouldbe a huge win for their foot-ball program.

Week 6

Oct. 5at NewMexico

Scouting report:Can theAggies beat UNM? Whynot? Aer all, they’ve doneit three of the last four

years. But the Lobos wereimproved in 2012under headcoach Bob Davie (one oftheir four wins was againstthe Aggies, 28-14, in LasCruces) and this year’scontest will be in northernNew Mexico. This in-staterivalry aair also comesaer a gauntlet of gamesfor the Aggies. A winnablecontest? Sure. But far froman easy one.

Week 7

Oct.19vs.Rice

Scouting report:Ricewas a bowl team last year,

nishing with a 7-6overallrecord (4-4in ConferenceUSA), and return a solidcore. Expect the Owls tobe hunting for bowl eligibil-

ity again in 2013. Again, atough one at home for theAggies.

Week 8

Oct.26vs. AbileneChristian

Scouting report:NMSUhas to win this footballgame over an FCS pro-gram that recently playedDivision II football. AbileneChristian does have somehistory behind it’s program,and has put some playersin the NFL over the years.While on paper it looks like agame the Aggies should win,the Wildcats might not bepushovers once they cometo town.

Week 9

Nov. 2at Louisiana-Lafayette

Scouting report:This isa high-quality team folks.Aer nishing 9-4and win-ning the New Orleans Bowllast year, the Ragin’ Cajunswere picked to win the SunBelt Conference entering

the 2013campaign. Aggiehead coach Doug Martinsaid this would be a keymeasuring-stick game forhis program — the Aggies

will be in the Sun Belt in2014, and will compete inthe same Western Divisionas Louisiana-Lafayette. Butmake no mistake: the Ragin’Cajuns look to be a bowlteam once again.

Week10

Nov. 9vs.Boston College

Scouting report:Can theAggies pocket a win here?It’s not out of the question.

Boston College was nota good team last season,nishing with a 2-10record.While the Eagles were com-petitive in some of thosecontests, they also had aloss to Army on their re-sume. Martin was oensivecoordinator at BC in 2012,and should be familiar withthe opposition. And whilethe Eagles will make the tripto Las Cruces, they’ll also doso between two ACC homegames on their schedule —vs. Virginia Tech and vs. NCState. Yes, they’re still aBCS team. But they’re alsoa beatable one.

Week 11

Nov. 23at Florida Atlantic

Scouting report:Again,perhaps a winnable gamefor the Aggies, as FloridaAtlantic went 3-9lastseason. The only issues:it’s an away game, and whoknows where the Aggies willbe from a health standpointat this point of the sea-son. With that being said,certainly one NMSU canshoot for.

Week12

Nov. 30

vs. IdahoScouting report:Similarto Abilene Christian, thisseems like a game theAggies have to win. Theyget the Vandals at home,and Idaho’s in a similarposition in 2013: a programthat should be scratch-ing for wins while playingan independent schedule.Who knows where thesetwo clubs will be when theymeet in Las Cruces for the

last week of the season. Theunderlying factor here couldbe which team holds thebetter health.

— Teddy Feinberg


Strong safety Dior Moore, le, and linebacker Dele Junaid stay hydrated during practicerecently at the New Mexico State University practice elds.

Thetasks: beginonthe roadatTexas, followed

byMinnesotaathome, rivalsUTEPandNewMexico,aswellasUCLA— andthat’sall beforetheAggies’byeweek inearlyOctober.

SUN-NEWSAUGUST 29- SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 25S| Football |

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES > ROSTER

| Foot a |26 S AUGUST29- SEPTEMBER4, 2013SUN-NEWS



NO. NAME POS. HT./WT. C LASS HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL)

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1 W in st on R os e C B 6 -0 /174 J r. I ng le wo od , C al if . ( Lo s A ng el es V al le y C ol le ge)

2 G re go ry H og an W R 6 - 1/ 18 2 F r. H ou st on , Te xa s (S um me r C re ek H ig h S ch oo l)

2 Tr as hau n N ixo n L B 6 -1 /2 35 S r. Ox nar d, C ali f. (Ve ntu ra Co ll eg e)

3 K in g D av is I II Q B 6 -1 /2 00 F r. M es qu it e, Te xa s ( No rt h M es qu it e H ig h S ch oo l)

3 C am er on F ul le r C B 5 -1 1/ 17 5 S r. R ic hm on d, C al if . (C on tr a C os ta C ol le ge )

4 A us ti n F ra nk li n W R 6 -2 /1 84 J r. D al la s, Te xa s ( Ki mn ba ll H ig h S ch oo l)

4 D ar ie n J oh ns on C B 5 -9 /1 85 S r. F on ta na , C al if. ( Bi sh op A ma t H ig h S ch oo l)

5 G eor ge C al le nde r S S 6 -1 /2 05 S r. Mi ami , F la . (D ura l Ac ade my)

5 J os ep h M at th ew s W R 6 - 2/ 20 3 J r. Tu cs on , A ri z. ( Ri nc on H Ig h S ch oo l)

6 J os hu a B ow en W R 5 -1 0/ 17 5 S o. A lb uq ue rq ue , N M ( Ma nz an o H ig h S ch oo l)6 D el e Ju nai d L B 6 -1 /219 S r. Hou sto n, Te xa s (Ea ste rn A ri zo na C ol le ge)

7 C ay le C ha pm an - Br ow n P 6 - 5/ 2 31 S r. S yd ne y, A us tr al ia ( Sn ow C ol le ge )

7 Ada m S hapi ro WR 6 -1 /1 92 Jr. Rio R an ch o, N M (Ri o Ran ch o Hi gh S ch ool)

8 B ar ry Co ff man QB 6 -3/ 20 0 Fr. Al bu qu er qu e, NM (S and ia Hig h S ch oo l)

8 Ju sti n S mi th F S 6 -2 /20 5 S r. S af fo rd , A ri z. (S af fo rd Hi gh S ch ool)

9 Evan C aval ie re D B 6 -1 /1 90 S o. Atl an ta , Ga . (D ean C oll eg e)

10 Kedeem Thomas-Davis CB 5-10/170 So. El Paso, Texas (El Dorado High School)

10 Br en non S hay WR 6 -3/ 20 4 S r. Far min gto n, NM (We st Texa s A &M)

1 1 Tr e W il co xe n S S 6 -0 /1 98 F r. I ng le wo od , C al if . ( In gl ew oo d H ig h S ch oo l)

1 1 J or da n B er gs tr om W R 5 -1 0/ 18 0 J r. P or tl an d, O re . ( Sa nt a R os a J un io r C ol le ge )

1 2 B ry an B on il la L B 6 -1 /2 40 S r. P om on a, C al if . ( Di am on d R an ch H ig h S ch oo l)

1 2 A nd re w M cD on al d Q B 6 -2 / 20 5 S r. New po rt B ea ch , C al if . ( Sa nt a A na C ol le ge )

1 3 J us ti n A ll en W R 6 - 0/ 19 0 J r. H ou st on , Te xa s (C it y C ol le ge o f S an F ra nc is co)

1 3 C li nt B ar na rd L B 6 -3 /2 40 R Jr. M el ro se , N M ( Ne w M ex ic o H ig hl an ds U ni ve rs it y)

1 4 M at t J ar am il lo D L 6 -3 /2 50 S o. A lb uq ue rq ue , N M ( We st M es a H ig h S ch oo l)

1 5 A nt ho ny J oy ne r T E 6 -3 /2 50 R Jr. S an D ie go , C al if . (P oi nt L om a H ig h S ch oo l)

16 Kawe Joh ns on D B 5 -8 /17 7 Fr. Kah uk u, H aw aii (Ka hu ku H ig h S ch ool )

1 6 P re s to n S ch ol la nd er T E 6 - 0/ 20 0 F r. L os L un a s, NM ( Lo s L un a s H ig h S ch oo l)

17 J er re l B ro wn W R 6 -0 /1 90 J r. I ng le wo od , C al if . (S t. J oh n B os co H ig h S ch oo l)

1 8 M ax we ll J oh ns on P K 5 -1 0/ 18 5 J r. A st or ia , O re . ( Or eg on S ta te U ni ve rs it y)

1 8 Br ayd en Pri ce QB 6 -2 /20 5 Fr. Hob bs , N M (Ho bbs Hi gh S ch ool )

1 9 B re nd en B ar ke r C B 5 -1 1/ 18 0 F r. A lb uq ue rq ue , N M (S an di a H ig h S ch oo l)

1 9 X av ia n B ra nd on W R 6 -3 /1 85 R Sr. D ul ut h, G a. ( No rt hv ie w H ig h S ch oo l)

2 0 S am ue l O ye nu ga C B 5 -1 1/ 18 0 S o. R ow le tt , Te xa s ( Ro wl et t H ig h S ch oo l)

2 1 B ra nd on B et an co ur t R B 5 -1 0/ 18 7 J r. L as C ru ce s, NM ( Ma yfi el d H ig h S ch oo l)

2 1 A nt ho ny E dw ar ds S S 6 - 0/ 19 0 S r. L an ca s te r, C al if . ( An te lo pe V al le y C ol le ge )

2 2 Xavie r Hal l RB 5 -8 /1 80 Fr. L as Cr uc es , N M (L as Cr uc es Hi gh S ch oo l)

2 3 J er ri on B ur to n D B 5 -1 1/ 16 3 F r. R ia lt o, C al if . (E is en ho we r H Ig h S ch oo l)

2 3 J er mi ch ae l S el de rs R B 5 -1 1/ 19 7 J r. H ou s to n, Te xa s (C it y C ol le ge o f S an F ra nc is co )

24 Jos h S mi th L B 6 -0 /2 27 S r. In gle wo od , Ca li f. Mo rni ng si de Hi gh S ch ool )

2 4 M ar qu et te W as hi ng to n R B 5 -1 0/ 21 5 F r. F on ta na , C al if . ( Ka is er H ig h S ch oo l)

2 5 G er mi M or ri so n R B 6 - 0/ 19 5 R Sr. P an or am a C it y, C al if . ( Lo s A ng el es V al le y C ol le ge )

2 5 T ho ma s W ar re n C B 5 -1 1/ 17 5 F r. Ph oe ni x, A ri z. ( Mo un ta in P oi nt H ig h S ch oo l)

2 7 B re eo n M or en o C B 5 -9 /1 87 J r. S al in as , C al if . (E as t L os A ng el es C ol le ge )

2 8 Ch ri s Ji nn a CB 6 -0 /17 5 R Sr. We st C ovi na , C al if. (Ci tru s C olle ge)

29 Lewis Hill CB 5 -10/175 So. Frisco, Texa s (Monroe College)

3 0 Yo la nd us P ra tt R B 5 -8 /1 98 S r. H ig h P oi nt , N C (H ud so n V al le y C ol le ge )

3 1 D av is C az ar es F S 5 -1 1/ 19 0 S r. M on ro vi a, C al if . ( Bi sh op A ma t H ig h S ch oo l)

3 2 D yl an D av is L B 6 -0 /2 30 S r. Ve nt ur a C ol le ge (S t. B on av en tu re H ig h S ch oo l)

NO. NAME POS. HT./WT. C LASS HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL)

3 4 Je ss e F or te RB 5 -11 /20 0 Jr. Atl an ta , G a. (Pa rk vie w Hi gh S ch ool )

3 5 Z ac he ry B ake r L B 6 -1 /2 20 Jr. L as C ru ce s, N M (L as Cr uc es Hi gh S ch ool)

3 6 Gi no S atr ia na P 5 -10/ 18 0 S o. Ri o R an ch o, N M (R io Ra nch o Hi gh S ch ool )

3 7 J er em y F ie ld er R B 5 -7/ 18 6 S r. S af fo rd A ri z. (S af fo rd H ig h S ch oo l)

3 8 I saa c Le on L B 5 -10/ 20 0 S o. A lbu qu er qu e, N M (St . Piu s X Hig h S ch oo l)

4 0 R ob er t W ag ne r L B 6 -1 /2 34 R Fr. O nt ar io , C al if . (C ol on y H ig h S ch oo l)

41 Br oc k Ba ca PK 5 -10/ 215 S o. L as C ru ce s, N M (May fie ld Hi gh S ch ool)

4 2 Jake C apr ar o P 6 -1 /21 5 S r. Cla rem on t, C al if. (Da mie n Hi gh S ch ool )

4 3 A nd re w Z ap ie n L S 5 -1 0/ 22 1 R So . L as C ru ce s, N M (M ay fie ld H ig h S ch oo l)

4 4 M ik e K ai se r L S 6 -2 /2 47 S r. C ar ls ba d, C al if. ( La C os ta C an yo n H ig h S ch oo l)

4 5 D al to n R oc ha L B 6 -1 /2 32 F r. Ve nt ur a, C al if . (S t. B on av en tu re H ig h S ch oo l)4 5 E du ar do R od ri gu ez K 6 -1 /2 40 J r. V en tu ra , C al if . ( Ea s t L os A ng el es C ol le ge )

4 6 Dior Moore LB 6 -1/222 Jr. Las Vegas, Nev. (Butte College)

4 7 A nd re w Ke nn ey L S 6 -0 /2 22 F r. C ha nd le r, A ri z. ( Pe rr y H ig h S ch oo l)

4 7 C ha nc e R ob er ts D L 6 -4 /2 43 S r. L os L un as , N M ( Lo s L un as H ig h S ch oo l)

4 8 Kal ei Au elu a D E 6 -2 /24 0 Fr. Ho nol ul u, Hawai i (St . Lo uis H ig h S ch ool )

4 9 L ar ry B utl er L B 6 -0/ 23 3 Jr. B at on Rou ge , L a. (Ea ste rn A ri zo na C ol le ge)

5 0 A br am H ol la nd O L 6 -2 /2 70 R Fr. R io R an ch o, N M (C le ve la nd H ig h S ch oo l)

5 1 T ho ma s M cG wi re O L 6 - 5/ 2 82 F r. R an ch o C uc am on ga , C al if . ( Lo s O so s H ig h S ch oo l)

5 2 J ay E ak in s D E 6 -2 /2 75 J r. A pp le V al le y, C al if . (S an B er na rd in o V al le y C ol le ge)

5 3 R od ne y B ut le r L B 6 -1 /2 12 F r. P al m S pr in g, C al if . (P al m S pr in gs H ig h S ch oo l)

5 4 S pe nc e U el i- Fa at oa li a O L 6 -1 /3 0 8 F r. L a M ir ad a, C al if . ( Pa lm S pr in g H ig h S ch oo l)

55 Valerian Ume-Ezeoke OL 6-3/295 Jr. Garland, Texas (Garland Lakeview Centennial High School)

5 6 K ev in L au de rm il l D L 6 -2 / 27 7 S r. L os A ng el es , C al if . ( We s t L os A ng el es C om mu ni ty C ol le ge )

5 8 H ec to r C az al es J r. L B 5 -1 1/ 22 5 J r. L os A ng el es , C al if . ( Ea st L os A ng el es C ol le ge )

6 2 I sa ia h F ol as a- Lu tu i O L 6 -3 /3 09 S o. C or on a, C al if . ( Sa nt ia go H ig h S ch oo l)

6 5 R ya n A rb el ae z O L 6 -1 /2 95 J r. S an D ie go , C al if . ( Mi ra M es a H ig h S ch oo l)

6 6 D ad a R ic ha rd s O L 6 -3 /3 07 S r. Pi tt sb ur gh , C al if. ( Di ab lo V al le y C ol le ge)6 9 A le xa nd er T ru ji ll o O L 6 -2 / 28 5 S o. S pr in g, Te xa s (C en te nn ia l H ig h S ch oo l)

7 0 A nd y C un ni ng ha m O L 6 -3 /3 08 S o. F ri sc o, Te xa s ( Fr is co H ig h S ch oo l)

7 1 D us ti n L amb OL 6 -6/ 320 Fr. Li ns ay, C ali f. (L in ds ay Hig h S ch oo l)

7 2 P et er F or em an O L 6 -4 /2 95 S o. H ou st on , Te xa s (S t. T ho ma s H ig h S ch oo l)

74 D av on te W al la ce O L 6 -4 /31 5 S r. E l P as o, Te xa s ( Ir vi n H ig h S ch oo l)

7 5 A nt on io O rt eg a O L 6 -3 /2 93 R Fr. V ad o, N M (G ad sd en H ig h S ch oo l)

7 7 H ou st on C le me nt e O L 6 - 4/ 3 03 S o. H on ol ul u, H aw ai i ( St . L ou is H ig h S ch oo l)

8 0 P er ri s S co gg in s T E 6 -3 /24 2 S r. F on ta na , C al if . ( Mt . S an J ac in to C ol le ge)

8 1 J am es O ot en W R 6 - 3/ 18 0 F r. P er ri s, C al if . (C it ru s H il l H ig h S ch oo l)

8 2 T ho ma s S he pa rd D L 6 -4 /2 25 R Fr. D en ve r, C ol o. (D en ve r S ou th H ig h S ch oo l)

8 3 Te ld ri ck M or ga n W R 6 -0 /1 85 S o. H an ov er, M d. ( Me ad e H ig h S ch oo l)

8 4 Z ac h J on es T E 6 -4 /2 60 R Fr. H ig hl an ds R an ch , C ol o. ( Th un de r R id ge H ig h S ch oo l)

8 6 R ay ve an M oo re W R 5 -1 0/ 16 8 R Fr . Tu cs on , A ri z. ( Tu cs on M ag ne t H ig h S ch oo l)

87 Prentavious Morehead WR 6-3/165 Fr. Dallas, Texas (Justin F. Kimball High School)

8 8 J oe C or do va W R 6 -8 /2 51 S r. M ar ie tt a, G a. ( Bl es se d Tr in it y C at ho li c H ig h S ch oo l)

8 9 A nd re w D ea n T E 6 -3 /24 4 J r. C am ar il lo , C al if. ( Ad ol fo C am ar il lo H ig h S ch oo l)

9 0 Ni ck Oli va D L 6 -5/ 25 5 S r. S au gu s, C ali f. (C oll eg e o f th e Ca nyo ns)

91 Kal vin Cr uz D L 6 -2 /274 S r. Li tt le ton Co lo . (Ve ntu ra C oll eg e)

9 2 M as on R us se ll D L 6 -5 /2 60 S r. Tu rl oc k, C al if. (S an J oa qu in D el ta C ol le ge)

9 3 Mat t Ra mon do D L 6 -5/ 310 S o. L as C ru ce s, N M (Mi ch ig an St ate)

9 5 I nu ka R ha he ed D L 6 -2 /2 85 S o. F t. P ie rc e, F la . ( We st wo od H ig h S ch oo l)

9 8 W il li e M ob le y D E 6 -2 /2 82 S r. E de n P ra ir ie , M in n. ( Un ive rs it y o f A ri zo na )

9 9 S te ph en M er ed it h D L 6 -3 /2 40 R So . G ar de n G ro ve , C al if . (G ar de n G ro ve H ig h S ch oo l)

The Associated Press

Depending on the per-spective, New Mexico’s 4-9seasonin 2012 canbe viewedas another failure, oras a re-sounding success. The wintotal was actually one morethan the Lobos had com-piled in the previous threeseasons combined, so fromthat aspect there was quitea bit to like.

What’s more, New Mex-icowas competitive in nearlyevery game, which could nothave been said about theLo-bos in previous years.

Last season, “we showed

we can play w ith anybody,”said senior defensive line-man Jacori Greer. “But wedon’t want to be close this

year. We want to win thosegames.”

Five things to watch asthe Lobos continue to try toclimb back to respectabil-ity under second-year coachBob Davie:DEFENSIVE STOPS > NewMexico’s opponents aver-aged 30 points a game andgained 444 yards per out-ing. That was toomuch for ateam reliant on its runninggame, no matterhow strongit may be. “That’s one of the

bigg est empha sis ,” Gre ersaid. “We want to be themost improved defense. Wethink we can.”AERIALATTACK> New Mex-ico managed just 895 yardsthrough the air, less than 70per game. The Lobos com-pleted just five touchdownpasses all season while al-lowing 33. “We know wecannot survive like that this

year,” s aid oensive coordi-nator Bob DeBesse. “We’vegot to be more diverse. Wecan’t be this predictable. So

we’ve had to tweak our of-fense.”STOP THE BLEEDING > New

Mexico closed outthe season with six consecutive losses. And in half of those losses,the Lobos had second-half leads that they lost. “All of us want to see tangible im-provement,” Davie said.“Last year we came close ina lot of games. That doesn’tnecessarilymean weare go-ing to come close again.”GROUNDANDPOUND> As im-potent as the passing was,the rushing attack was ster-ling, finishing with morethan 300 yards a game, fifthnationally.Kasey Carrier av-eraged 122.4 yards, 12th na-tionally. “He’s really a good

fit in what we do,” Daviesaid. “Our third-down pass-inggame wasKaseyCarrierrunning the ball. I bet there

was not a backin the countrythat converted more third-down-and-four or more

yards for first downs.”NUMBERS, NUMBERS, NUM-

BER S> The Lobos are justrecovering from a proba-tionary period that cost thesquad 15 scholarships over athree-year period, while ad-ditional players left the pro-gram upon Davie’s hiring,leaving it short in many ar-eas. Numbersat all positionsare much better, Davie said,

creating competition anda hunger for playing time.

Althou gh depth was an is-sue across the board, it wasparticularly tellingin the de-fensive backfield and undercenter. “We’ve got depth,”defensive coordinator Jeff Mills said. “When you havedepth, you have competi-tion. When you have compe-tition, it pushes each personto evaluate the things theyneed to work at becausethey’re all hungry. Theyhave a little bit of intensitythat they’re bringing it eachday and I think that’s mak-ing each guy better.”

NEW MEXICO LOBOS

5 ways for the Lobos to win this year, not just get close





For the past several sea-sons, theWesternNew Mex-ico University football teamhasn’t finished where itwanted to be in the RockyMountain Athletic Confer-ence standings. But, thisyear, head coach AdamClark is ready to changethat around, have a break-out year and earn some re-

spect in the RMAC.T h e M u st a ng s w er e

picked to finish seventh inthe conference, which was aspot further than last year’spreseason selection. West-ern finished the year at 4-7overall and had a great op-portunityto winat least fourmore games.

The oense had a greatseason,scoring an average of 29.2 points per game. Quar-terback Mitch Glasmannhad a breakout year, andClark expects himto bethatmuch better this season.

Glasmann is coming off a banner year that saw himnamedconference OensiveFreshman of the Year, set-

ting Division II-era (since1993) school records forpassing yards and touch-downsin a season.He threwfor 3,139 yards and27 touch-downs, completing 249-of-426. Hebrokethe marksthat

were previously set the year befo re by Dav id Ing ram , who amas sed 2,92 7 yard spassing and 24 touchdowns.Glasman had two games

where he threw for over 400 yards a nd thre e others that went for over 300.

His favorite target should be junior wide receiver Don-

ald Byrd, who was namedto the Third-Team oense.Byrd was second on theMustangs in receiving cat-egories, including catches

with 65, yards with 847 andtouchdowns with seven.

Onthe defense, Junior de-fensive end Zachary Dem-

brows ki roun ded out the

Mustangs on the All-Confer-enceteams, ashe was namedto the Third-Team defense.He was stellar along the de-fensive linefor WNMU,lead-ing the team in total tackles

with 69, tackles for loss with11.5 for 79 yards and sacks

with nine for 68 yards. He was also second in the con-ference in sacks.

“We are happy to be backout on the field,” Clark said.“We have some leadershipthat we have never had be-

fore,and wehopethat trans-lates onto the football field.”

Western’s schedule is go-ing to be a dicult one, asthe Mustangs will be onthe road for the first threegames.

“It’s going to be tough be-ing on the road for us forthe first month,” Clark said.“But, we have a real goodopportunity to win some of these games, andcome homeready to play.”

—DannyUdero

ESTERNNEWMEXICOMUSTANGS

Mustangs look to fnish better, earn respect

COURTESY PHOTO

Western’s running game is going to have to step up thisyear to take some of the load o the passing attack.

2013WESTERNNEWMEXICOSCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Sept.7 @ University of San Diego 7p.m.

Sept. 21 @ CSU-Pueblo 2 p.m.

Sept. 28 @ Fort Lewis College noon

Oct. 5 Colorado School of Mines 1:30p.m.

Oct. 12 @ Colorado Mesa University 2p.m.

Oct. 19 Western State College noon

Oct. 26 @ Adams State University 1p.m.

Nov. 2 Chadron State College noon

Nov. 9 @ Black Hills St ate 1 p.m.

Nov. 16 New Mexico Highlands noon

“Wehave someleadership thatwehaveneverhadbefore, andwehope thattranslates ontothe footballfield.”—WNMUhead coach AdamClark

5 KEYSTO THE SEASON

With New Mexico State’scollege football seasonless than two weeks away,we take a look at ve keysentering the new year:

1Survive and advance:Lets just say it — the

Aggies are over-scheduledfor the 2013season. Withthat, keeping the team’shealth and condenceintact through the year willbe a top priority for thecoaching sta and play-ers. There’s some winnablegames on the independentdocket — Abilene Christian,Idaho, UTEP and Florida

Atlantic, to name a few.But the team will need tobe ready for such competi-tion once it rolls around,

and needs to capitalize ifit wants to avoid anotherone- or two-win season. Notgetting beat down physi-cally and mentally by elitecompetition will be a chiefchallenge.

2Aggie defense: Springand fall practices saw

the Aggie oense haveconsiderable success run-ning the ball on the NMSUdefense. While it does signalan improved attack in 2013,it’s also worth asking: If theAggies are having troublecontaining the run duringpractice, how will it stopthe University of Texas in

Week 1? In the secondary,while an experienced groupdoes return, the unit willnot be coached by DeWayne

Walker and Mike Rutenberganymore, who now both tu-tor defensive backs for theNFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.The entire Aggie defensewill be tested throughoutthe season, and it at leastneeds to be a respectable

unit that can keep the teamin games.

3Aggie oense: NMSUis implementing a new

oensive scheme as well,albeit one that appears tobe improved from recentyears. The quarterback-option run game is a focalpoint, and with that therushing attack and oensive

line has looked better duringspring and August practic-es. Such a performance willneed to transfer over into

the season, however. If thequarterbacks t the schemewell, and the Aggies cangenerate a more balancedoense with a productiveground game, the teammight be able to win sometime-of-possession battles.

4Special teams: TheAggies at least seem

adequate in the kick-ing game. Punter CayleChapman-Brown was agood player for NMSU in2012, and the team plans onhaving Maxwell Johnson asplace kicker and Brock Bocahandling kicko duties.Who’ll handle punt returns?

That’s an entirely dierentquestion, although the Ag-gies need to nd someoneto ll the role. Last year the

team averaged just 1.2yardsper return, which ranked No.119our of 120FBS teams.One thing to watch: Headcoach Doug Martin will becoordinating such units in2013, so hopefully an uptickin production will follow.

5The 2014season: Inmany respects, this

upcoming campaign is asmuch about the future as itis the present. Aer playingan independent schedule in2013, the Aggies will moveinto the Sun Belt Confer-ence as a football-onlymember in 2014, a moresuitable t for the program

to begin with. The hope isthat in the Sun Belt, NMSUwill have a shot at a .500season (even if that particu-

lar conference is consider-ably improved from yearspast as well). That meansthis year could be used asmuch as a spring boardthan anything else. If theAggies can pocket a handful

of wins and be competi-tive in some other contests(tall orders nonetheless),it would provide consider-able momentum headinginto their new league. That,and perhaps the upcomingyear will give the program achance to get young playerson the eld against qual-ity competition. In short,as much as the Aggies are

playing for today, they’realso playing for tomorrow.

— Teddy Feinberg




By [email protected]@TeddyFeinberg on Twitter

LAS CRUCES >> Uponhis return to Las Cruces,this time as a first-yearhead coach, Doug Martin

brought an air of positivityand a fresh start to the Ag-gie football program.

We sat down with Mar-tin for a recent interview to

get his thoughts on the up-coming year, and all things

Aggie football:

SUN-NEWS > What’s yourperception of Aggie footballtoday?

DOUGMARTIN> My percep-tion of Aggie football is un-tapped resources....There’s alotof potential here. There’sa lot ofpeople here that want

you t o suc ceed. In the com-

munity, former players, al-ums....The administration....

And I see all that, maybe forthe first time in a long time,

bei ng on the sa me pag e,and moving forward andhaving a direction. I thinkit’s kind of been a rudder-less ship, maybe, before....Ithink that’s myjob,is todic-tate what direction we wantto go in, what we want theprogram to look like in allphases, and then get every-

body else on board with it. And I real ly like where weare right now.

SN > In your estimation, when ta lki ng bowl gam e,how long do you think it’lltake to get the program tothat point?

DM > I don’t ever talk to theplayers about bowl games.

And I don’t ta lk to themabout winning seasons....I

be lie ve th is .. ..U TEP an dUNM: that is the measur-ing stick....You beat thosetwo teams in the same sea-son, that winningseason and

bowl game.... is going to takecareof itself.Justlook atthe

history....Every year, whenNew Mexico State has wonthose twogamesin thesameseason,it’s beena greatyear,it’s been a winning year, it’s

been a championship y ear.

SN > What will Aggie football do dierently that hasn’t been done before, on a nd o the field?

DM > Really, we’ve alreadyaccomplished that off thefield. Withall thecommunityservice thingswe’vedone- Idon’t even know how manyhours we’ve done, but it’s alot. We’ve had a lot of suc-cessful camps, we’ve kindof re-engaged the community.Our players have really en-

joyed that....I think the otherthing is toget this campustoembrace us. The students....

And then I thin k the thing

that hasto bedierent isthe way we play footbal l... .Theidentity ofwhatwe want thefootball team to look like....Ihave a vision in my head of

what our football team is go-ing to look like one day: it’sgoing tocome runningdownthat tunnel, it’sgoingto be afast, physical football team,plays with a lot of passionand a lot of discipline. Andit’s justa very athletic team.

And team in every sense of the word. We don’t have alot of great star power here.

And that’sOK. The best foot-

bal l tea ms I’ve ever bee naround were just that - they

were team s. And I’m afte rguys that are willing to givethemselves to eachotherandplay for each other.

SN > As you see it, what arethe incremental steps in de-

veloping a quarte rback?

DM > No. 1 is, you gotta havea guy who has confidence,or moxy, or whatever you

want to call it. That ‘it’ fac-tor....There’s just somethingspecial about a real quar-terback. They just have adierent air about them....

The other thing is....a youngquarterback like King (Da-

vis III), you can ruin a kidlike that real early if youput him in a lot of bad sit-uations….(It’s) developing aquarterback.

SN > How many of your cur-rent players could play atBoston College?

DM > I would say (Davonte)Wallace could play at BC,

(Valerian) Ume(-Ezeoke)could play at BC, (Perris)Scoggins could certainlyplay. A lot of the receiverscould play, that’s what theyhadthe hardesttime gettingat Boston College....I thinkKing (Davis III), obviously,could play there. Defen-sively, our secondary would

be pretty eective....They’vegotpretty good linebackers,

but Tra Nixon’s a guy whocould certainly play there.

SN > W ha t a re y ou rstrengths as a coach?

DM > I think organizationand having a vision....Hav-ing a plan that I won’t de-

viate from... .The cl assroomespecially. I’m really ada-mant that we are going to

be g reat i n the classroom... .Quite honestly, we’re notgood enough in the class-room right now to meet my

standard....I don’t believe you’ll ever be successf ul onthe field until you’re suc-cessful off the field. I willout-stubborn them on thatissue....And I’d like to thinkI know something about of-fensive football. And how toscore points....I have a lot of enthusiasm for young men.My college coaches had agreat impact on me, I enjoydoing that, and hope thatcomes across on the play-

ers that I really care aboutthem.

SN > When you looked atgame film last year, what

were your thoughts?

DM > The negatives thatI saw, particularly defen-sively, was the lack of turn-overs(nine total)....AndI feltlike we were very predict-able on defense. You weregoing to play man cover-age, and you were going toget a 4-3....I think with ourtalent and what we have,

we need to be really diverseand really multiple, and be

able to put our guys in a lotof dierent situations to beable to succeed....And thenoffensively....I thought theskill players really had a lotof potential. Germi Morri-son, I thought was a reallygood back, andobviously thereceivers I really like....Myfeeling was that the oen-sive line was better than it

was when I was here b efore. And I think that’s turned outtobe true, watching them up

to this point.

SN > What’s your assess-ment ofregional footballtal-ent,particularlyin Las Cru-ces and El Paso?

DM> I think there’scertainlygoing to be one or two play-ers,obviously,in those areasthat we would oer and re-cruit. And we’ve done thatthis year. Now whether ornot they want to come is a

different issue....I will saythis: I want kids that wantto be here. I don’t wantsomebody that I have totalk them into coming here,or they come here becausethey didn’t get the oer thatthey wanted from some bigschool.....I want the kid that

wants to pl ay for New Mex-ico State. Because that guy

will want to be coached, he’llplay here with passion....We’ll win with the guys that

want to be here.

Sports Editor Teddy Fein-berg can be reached at 575-541-5455

NEW MEXICO STATE FOOTBALL

Q&A: Aggie coach ready to tackle questions


Aggie head football coach Doug Martin draws up a play from the NMSU coaches oces

last week.

Online: Read morequestions and answers

from Martin at WWW.LCSUN-

NEWS.COM

• 0-0 at New Mexico State(rst-year head coach of theAggies)

• 29-53record as headcoach at Kent State (2004-10)

• Martin served as oensivecoordinator at NMSU in2011, and also has coordi-nating experience at Boston

College (2012), East Caro-lina (1996-2002) and EastTennessee State ( 1989-91)

• Martin was a four-yearletterwinner at the Univer-sity of Kentucky (1981-84)

• Born on Feb. 4, 1963,Martin and his wife Vickihave a daughter, Molly, andtwo sons, Cory and Bobby

DOUGMARTINBIO

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2013 Southern NM Football

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