Dulce played in the 8-man division for the first time last year, and it took some time to adjust.
Not helping the matter was their first five games coming against the top five teams in the state, “monsters” as coach Brad Muniz often called them. All five games were 50-plus-point shutout losses.
But despite the drubbings, players kept showing up and working, and managed to turn the season around. Dulce finished the year with wins in three of their last four games, including a 50-0 win in their last game, and they can take that momentum into this year and look to improve on their 3-6 record.
Before last year, Dulce had only played a handful of games over the previous few seasons, dating back to 2017 as the most recent mostly-full season. The Hawks have not had a winning season since 2011.
From last year, Dulce loses seven seniors, including team leader Santi Largo, as well as running back Chris Cassador and backup quarterback Kai Cassador, who took over for the second half of the season after an injury to starter Bob Harrison Jr.
Chris Cassador did stop by early-season practices to share experiences before leaving for college.
“But there are some players that are improving,” Muniz said.
Harrison comes back from injury as the starter with a strong group of wideouts, including James and Jeron Johnson. Sophomore Phil Gomez also adds speed and athleticism to the offense.
“The biggest strength, what we have right now is speed,” Muniz said. “We’re not a big team in weight, how we were last year, so right now we’ve been working on speed drills. It’s starting to look like I’m going to have a fast team.”
Dulce gets a new opponent in Questa, who dropped down to 8-man after struggling to field a team in recent years.
Most of the football players, Muniz said, worked with the basketball program over the summer, then the coaching staff caught COVID-19 in July. Full practices did not start until early August. But now they have more than 20 players back in the fold.
“They’re pretty much the same solid bunch that doesn’t quit,” Muniz said. “Right now, they’re telling all the new guys, ‘We don’t quit. We push each other. We encourage each other.’ I’m already seeing team leadership, not only individually but as a team.”
Dulce’s season starts on Aug. 26 with a home game against Navajo Pine.