Under a new coach and a largely new roster, the Escalante Lobos hope to return to their recent greatness.
But in many ways, some players are just happy to have the chance to play after a year away from the game.
“It feels really great,” said senior Jose Torrez, Jr. “Not having a season last year due to COVID, it feels really good just to put on pads, to let the sun shine on our faces again, and run with my boys. I’m excited to play with my boys one last time.”
Thomas Royston will be in his first year as head coach of the football team. No stranger to the program, though, he has been an assistant coach since 2006.
But Escalante did not play a football season this spring when Escalante had remote school. Royston said he did not even see his players in person other than for track season. And he said the entire assistant coaching staff is new, Royston said.
Last time on the field, Dusty Giles’ storied coaching career (Escalante won state championships in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and were runners-up in 2017) came to an end with a 4-7 season, their worst in 15 years.
In the state tournament, still making a No. 8 seed, they lost on a fourth-quarter touchdown and a late turnover on downs to fall 21-20 to Santa Rosa.
Giles has moved on to Jal (multiple seniors mentioned Jal as a team they would like to face in a state tournament – looking for revenge against their old coach) but the Lobos will look to continue the success to which they have become accustomed.
“It was rough towards the beginning of the summer,” Royston said of becoming the team’s head coach. “But you have the kids that are really dedicated, and they wanted to come back.”
But the roster, as it stands currently, is small, especially compared to the behemoths of the state championship teams. Throughout practice, when units are split, coaches are used to fill in various positions for illustrating where a teammate or opposing player would be.
Royston said there were 13 athletes in the weight room over the summer. And while the roster number now is closer to 20, it is still a far cry from past numbers or potential competitors. Plus, some injuries could cost even more bodies.
“Our biggest challenges are having numbers,” Royston said. Senior offensive and defensive lineman Ruben Martinez also said finding numbers was the toughest hurdle for the season, and other players agreed.
Much of the practice is focused on installing plays and packages, rather than pushing as many reps as possible, often with long pauses between plays. Royston said they are using an extra week before their first game Aug. 27 to get as much experience for the starters as possible.
“It’s an adjustment for them,” Royston said. “Yeah, it’s a new coach, but it’s still the same program for them. For the younger ones, coming up, it’s a whole new thought process, faster game, and more responsibilities.”
“We’re really starting from the basics,” Torrez said. “We have to because most of these guys are new. We have a lot of freshman; it’s a freshman and senior team. And we have to really start from basics.”
The Lobos start their season with a road match at Tohatchi, a challenging first game with the Cougars coming off an undefeated season at a classification above Escalante. They face another challenging 3A Raton team a few weeks later. And the district will provide plenty of competition as well, with plenty teams similarly hungry after missing the 2020 season.
“I’m excited,” Royston said. “Last year, every football coach in the state that didn’t have football was kind of depressed. I was one of them. We have a new group this year, and we’re going to give it all we’ve got.”
Nearly every week in the schedule, it seems, carries meaning and a storyline to the team.
The team is most looking forward to their last-week matchup at home against Estancia. Their new district rival knocked the team out of the state tournament in 2018, the freshman year for the current seniors. They will also have a chance to rematch with the Santa Rosa team that ended their most recent season.
What stands out for the Lobos is the height, or lack thereof. Likely starting quarterback Isaac Archuleta stands 5-foot-9, for instance. Gilbert Martinez is three inches shorter, and the 2021 basketball roster has both listed at 140 pounds, and was taking some practice snaps at defensive tackle, though he will likely be the running back and play other defensive positions.
But Royston and players on the team are not worried about that.
“Here at Escalante, we’ve always been smaller in stature,” Royston said. “They’re just tough. They’re ranch kids. They’re strong. They don’t have a quitting bone in their body.”
Torrez and other seniors said they are used to being the smaller team, and know to work harder in the weight room and play their hearts out on the field.
Royston said Archuleta has been part of the team since eighth grade, and has “a drive to succeed.”
Martinez, Royston said, has been in the weight room nonstop.
“He’s small in stature, but he’s like a 6-foot-4 linebacker,” Royston said.
Several of the team’s seniors were eighth-graders on the 2017 team that came up short in the championship game, and have seen what a championship team looks like. Though they have a tough road ahead, the team knows where the final goal lies.
“The ultimate goal is always to win a state title,” Royston said. “Of course you want to have a winning season, but the ultimate goal is a state championship. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”
“This is it,” said senior lineman Ethan Stone. “One last chance to do what our brothers did.”
“We got one more time to take state,” Martinez said. “We don’t get it done, we never got it done”