A year ago, there was no middle school football in Española.
Despite a strong year the year before, not enough eligible players signed up, and no coach could be found for the team.
Their return was quite triumphant in 2023.
The Carlos F. Vigil Middle School team finished an undefeated 7-0 season, and only allowed 24 total points on defense. They finished the season on Oct. 25 with a win against Milagro Middle School.
Team coach Javin Coriz said he, allowing with assistant Julian Trujillo, followed a group of now seventh-graders up from youth and elementary football to coach them in middle school for this year.
Coriz said the team of 29 players had about 85 percent seventh-graders, meaning they will be strong for another year. That group of players, Coriz said, has been playing together since they were six years old, and through youth football have always been at the top of their division. They show great leadership and accountability, he said, as well as great football talent.
It was the line play, Coriz said, that gave them the edge in a dominant season. He said their line has seventh-graders that are 6-feet tall and 215 pounds.
Stars on the team included quarterback Benny Trujillo, linemen Ezekiel Coriz and Nathan Westfall, plus running back Cody Trujillo.
“These kids, they know how to win,” Coriz said. “They’re not used to losing.”
In 2021, the Cardinals were 6-1. But they did not field a team the following year due to a limited number of players.
Their toughest game this year was their first, facing a good Santa Fe Indian team with bigger players. But the Sundevils rallied, and answered the Braves’ score, and won 18-6. A midseason game against Pojoaque became a so-called ‘trap game’, but after a slow start, the Cardinals rallied for a close win. And a game against Escalante became a night game at the last minute, and the cold somewhat got to the Cardinals, who won 18-0.
Other than those games, the Española team won via blowout every week.
Coriz said is hoping to add tougher teams and bigger schools to the schedule to provide bigger tests to the team.
In a year where the Española Valley High School football team won eight games and won a state playoff game for the first time in school history, football across the region appears to be on the rise. Many of the players on the team are likely to help out on the high school team next year.
“I just can’t wait,” Coriz said of these players playing on the high school team. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be spectacular to watch these kids on that level.
“We have a whole team of studs that are going to be moving up to that high school level in a few years,” he continued. “The sky’s the limit.”