It was a special season for McCurdy football, as the Bobcats ended a playoff drought that dated back to 2016.
But the team was not happy with the way that playoff game went — a 54-30 loss to No. 8 seeded Navajo Prep on the road. And that’s fueling the Bobcats to strive for more this season under new head coach De’Jor Curtis, who was bumped up from his role as an assistant.
“That was really important,” Curtis said of the playoff appearance. “Experience is everything. They understand now and when the moment comes, it won’t be too big for them. They’ll be ready.”
Local fans may remember Curtis, a football and basketball standout at Española Valley who graduated in 2015. He played some college basketball before earning a teaching degree from Adams State and then returning to Española.
After two seasons as an assistant with McCurdy, Curtis is anxious to put his stamp on the Bobcats.
“I’ve been doing everything I can to keep them together with a new offense, new defense,” he said. “I want to be ready for all aspects for the season so we can adjust to whatever comes at us.”
The offense, in particular, will have more flair, with a greater emphasis on attacking downfield, Curtis said.
And the players like that just fine.
“Last year we were a big running team,” Julian Nino-Vigil, a 5’8”, 160-lb. junior, said. “This year, we’re going to be a lot more of a passing team, a threat through the air this year. I think it’s really nice. Definitely, I like passing a lot more than running the ball and I think we’re definitely going to be able to do that.”
The team also returns plenty of experience, with seven starters back on both sides of the ball. That, coupled with the playoff familiarity the players gained, has the team primed for more.
“It was nice to be good for once and go to the playoffs,” senior offensive lineman Patrick Lovato, who stands 5’9” and weighs 190 lbs., said. “It gave us a lot of confidence knowing that we could actually make it. Just making it to the playoffs was a good feeling. It was a good experience knowing that we could actually do it. It gives us more expectations that we can make it farther and go for more, get past the first round.”
The goal is pretty simple, senior runningback JJ Vigil (5’6”, 150 lbs.) said.
“To take it all,” he said. “To have fun, make sure we’re all having fun and to make sure we have a very successful season. Making it to the playoffs last year shows that this season we can do it again and maybe even possibly go farther. It gives us more motivation this season after seven years of that (playoff) drought.”
It’s amazing what some success can do for the team, senior runningback Marius Sanchez (5’4”, 150 lbs.) said.
“I think it brought a lot of energy and confidence to the team,” he said. “It made the team feel good that we could compete with these other, bigger schools and have a fighting chance at a state championship. My expectations are to have a good season all around, for everyone to do their personal best, especially our seniors and, obviously, make it make to the playoffs. I expect to make it out of the first round and maybe even the semis and the ultimate goal is a championship.”