Last year’s 55-7 championship game loss to Fort Sumner/House High School means nothing to Escalante High School head coach Dusty Giles — it’s been strictly business since that last official day of the 2017 season.
“The end of last year was the end of last year,” Giles said before a three-team scrimmage against Española Valley and Socorro High School on August 11 at Española. “We never really carry anything over whether it’s the good part, bad part or whatever it may be. We’re moving onto 2018 and so we really haven’t talked (about it). Matter of fact, we haven’t talked at all about last year’s game.”
The loss to the Foxes denied Giles his fourth state championship at Escalante in the school’s four state title appearances since his tenure began in 2011.
Now the obstacles to return the championship have significantly grown in the reclassified Class 2A, which now features 19 total teams as opposed to just eight.
“It’s different, very different,” Lobos’ running back and middle linebacker Anthony Ulibarri said. “Because now we’re going from four playoff teams to 12. It’s going to be a different challenge, but we can overcome it.”
Giles is excited about the new Class. In particular, the opportunity to play against schools he’s familiar with going back to his days as the Estancia High School head coach from 2008 to 2010.
“We’re pleased with it,” he said. “We’re playing up and that’s one of the reasons why we co-opted with Coronado. Our numbers don’t actually put us in 11-man 2A, so that’s why we co-opted with them. And even with their school, I mean shoot, we’re still near the bottom (of the 2A enrollment requirement). But you look at the teams, it’s going to be a little more competitive near the top with the Eunices, Estancias, of course Fort Sumner’s always been there and the Santa Rosas.”
The co-op has made major headlines, but the impact on the field will be minimal. Giles expects around 15 total players from Coronado to come out by the time the season begins. Most of the players have no football experience, so they will serve as projects and provide some more depth.
“That helps because our numbers have been a little less than what I had expected them to be,” Giles said.
The Escalante defense loses its top-four tacklers from a year ago and three first-team all-state players, but Giles strongly believes his defense will be the superior group in 2018.
“Defensively, I think that’s going to be our best unit,” he said. I think that we got a really solid linebacking core now. It’s a new core, but we’ve got some really good players there.”
Ulibarri played defensive end last season but will now move to middle linebacker to lead the core that also includes Sam linebacker Cory Gallegos and Will linebacker Brendon Giles.
“I like it way more,” Ulibarri said about the switch. “Every play is coming directly to me and I like to be involved as much as I can.”
Ulibarri was involved heavily last season on offense, rushing for 708 yards and 11 touchdowns on his way to earning first-team all-state honors.
Other offensive weapons lost are slot backs Cody Russom and Anthony Paul Martinez, but Dusty Giles is confident in the skill positions that will align around senior quarterback Esteban Archuleta. Two of those players who will pick up the slack are familiar faces in Dante Salazar and A.J. Blea.
“Dante Salazar will be one of our slot receivers and we’re real excited about him,” Dusty Giles said. “He’s one of the strongest kids we got on the team and fastest too. He’s definitely going to be a big part of what we do. Then A.J., he’s been starting for us since he was a sophomore, a three-year starter. He’s another one of those fast kids so I think we’re in a real good spot on the right side and the left side on those skill spots.”
The biggest concern for the head coach was the offensive line, which has come along steady and faster than Giles thought they would have.
“We got the running back and the quarterback coming back and so those guys have sort of taken off and they’re good to go,” he said. “The worry was the offensive line and we’ve looked pretty good, so I think the outcome for us this year will be pretty favorable.”
Its no surprise that the line will be thin in size, it’s been an Escalante trademark for years, but there will be some strong players to watch, including senior left tackle Randy Ferrell and guard Walter Bustos.
“Size, we never really had size,” Archuleta, the quarterback, said about the offensive line. “What they lack in size they make up in heart – It’ll be the same with this group of guys, nothing but heart. They’ll get it together, I know they will.”
Archuleta had to get things back together himself after missing a majority of last season with a knee injury, but the senior quarterback couldn’t be more excited about the new year’s opportunity.
“Anthony (Ulibarri), A.J. (Blea), Dante (Salazar) and even Brendon (Giles), we’ve all been putting in work this summer so we’ve all bought in and we’re ready to go,” he said. “The timing is pretty much down, it’s just a matter of getting everything down with everyone else and our o-line. But, we’re a unit. One of us messes up it looks bad on all of us, so one guy messes up, we all mess up. One guy scores, we all score, we’re all in this together.”
2018 Schedule
Aug. 24 – Tucumcari, 7 p.m.
Aug. 31 – at Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
Sept. 7 – at Estancia, 7 p.m.
Sept. 14 – at Pojoaque Valley, 7 p.m.
Sept. 21 – Albuquerque Academy, 7 p.m.
Sept. 28 – at Dulce, 7 p.m.
Oct. 5 – Mission Achievement and Success, 7 p.m.
Oct. 12 – McCurdy, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19 – Questa, 7 p.m.
Oct. 26 – at Newcomb, 7 p.m.
*Times, dates and location subject to change