The Escalante Lobos are back in the playoffs.
“My phone started blowing up as soon as the bracket got released,” said coach Rico DeYapp. “Everyone’s just excited. This was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year.”
Escalante is in the field in 2A as the No. 8 seed, and will play top-seeded Jal in the first round on the road — traveling about eight hours by bus — on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Escalante finished 5-5, with their strongest win coming over Tohatchi early in the season. They disappointed in their last game, losing 50-0 to Santa Rosa, who earned the No. 3 seed.
Their matchup with Jal has intriguing storylines. The Panthers are coached by Dusty Giles, who led Escalante to state championships in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and who DeYapp considers a mentor. The Panthers had no trouble going through a 10-0 regular season, winning all but one of their games by 36 or more.
“I know how well coached they are,” DeYapp said. “We definitely have our work cut out for us.”
Escalante was last in the playoffs in 2019 as the No. 8 seed, having just missed the field last season, and they lost their first-round game 21-20 to No. 9 Santa Rosa. Current seniors, with only a few on this year’s team, were freshmen that year. Several juniors were eighth-graders on the 2019 roster but did not make big contributions.
Jal is led by a rushing game that averaged nearly 200 yards per game during the year. The team also scored a whopping nine touchdowns this season on interception returns, as they averaged 52 points per game.
“I wouldn’t say they have very many weaknesses, if they have any,” DeYapp said.
Española’s Six Wins Not Enough
Meanwhile, the Española Valley Sundevils missed out on a playoff opportunity. Despite a 6-4 season, they failed to make the bracket.
“I think it’s a bunch of crap, to be honest with you,” said Española coach Tylon Wilder. “There’s six losing records in the playoffs, and we’re sitting here at 6-4 not in the playoffs. It’s a little ridiculous, and I think it needs to get looked at again. But it is what it is, I don’t make the rules.”
St. Pius X claimed the final No. 12 seed after a 2-8 season with a stronger strength of schedule, though their two wins were over teams with zero and one win.. Per state ranking criteria, the decision seems to have come down to coach input. Española had a better overall record, but St. Pius X was just barely higher on MaxPreps algorithmic rankings. They did not play head-to-head, neither beat any district champions, and both finished third in their district.
In fact, six of the 12 playoff teams had sub-.500 records, including Bernalillo as the No. 11 seed at 2-7, though they beat the Sundevils by 30 this season.
“Everybody’s a little upset, everybody was expecting to get at least a 12 seed into the playoffs,” said Española coach Tylon Wilder. “But at the same time, they told me they’re hungry for next year and they want to go prove the doubters wrong.”
After two winless seasons, the Sundevils under first-year coach Wilder turned the program around for a 6-4 year, capped with a 52-7 win over Pojoaque. Wilder said he found that Española has won about 20 percent of its games in school history, and is looking to change that.
“The things that they were able to accomplish this year, man it was amazing,” he said. “We fell short from the playoffs … and I want it to be a motivating thing going forward. Let’s keep the momentum going.”
Española was looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015, and according to Wilder just the third time in school history. In 2015, they were the No. 5 seed, but lost 48-20 to No. 12 seed Farmington.
“We’ve set the foundation for what we want to accomplish in the future,” Wilder said. “Let’s keep building on it… They know that they can be successful. And now that they know how to win, now we can take it to the next level.”