Few football programs can finish a season where they won just a single game, and turn that around to seriously entertain talk of a state championship run the very next season.
The Española Valley High School football team, after finishing last season 1-9, is poised to surprise teams in 5A, carrying some of the momentum they picked up at the end of last year.
Head coach Jesus Maes came to the program in July 2016, taking over a team that lost a core group of talented seniors from the year before. He had about a month-and-a-half to prepare his team for the start of the season.
Undoubtedly, they got off to a rocky start. The Sundevils dropped their first six games, which included blowouts to teams like Moriarty High School, 55-8; Miyamura High School, 38-0; and Portales High School, 52-0.
After Española beat Albuquerque Academy in October 2016, they gained momentum to carry forward, losing to Capital High School by six, and to Los Alamos High School by one point, brought about by a last-minute hail mary.
Now, the Sundevils are poised to make a mark on their class and district competition with a year’s more experience for the young team, and a year’s more guidance under Maes.
“This team is looking great,” sophomore quarterback and safety Arlen Garcia said. “We’re going to have a great season.”
Late additions
Maes picked up two new assistant coaches in the last couple of weeks, as he neared close to the season and realized he was short of staff.
A coach whom he thought might be his defensive coordinator came for the summer, but left after contractual disputes, in which the school could not match what the coach was demanding.
Some of Maes’s other assistant coaches from last year failed to acquire the proper licensing to start the season, so he was left with few options.
“I showed up to coaching clinic and it was just me and (Athletic Director Paul) Roybal pretty much,” Maes said. “We were the only ones there. My whole staff didn’t show up. It was kind of disheartening, they didn’t have their licenses. So, I asked coach Roybal if he knew anybody that can help me out.”
The newly-hired athletic director connected Maes with two coaches that he knew from when he was the head football coach at Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas — Ron DuPree and Jack Young.
DuPree will serve as the offensive coordinator and Young will coach special teams. Roybal has also taken a more hands-on approach as athletic director, as opposed to former athletic coordinator Eric Vigil.
Roybal can be found on the field, as active as any other coach.
Both DuPree and Young were assistants under Roybal at Skyline, and Young followed Roybal to Hobbs High School, where he was the head football coach, after his stint at Skyline.
DuPree has made a number of head coaching stops of his own, throughout the country, including Texas, North Carolina and New Mexico.
He was also a college head coach at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., and Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kan. According to The Daily Leader of Brookhaven, Miss., DuPree is also the author of two books, one on football and the other on athletic training.
New offense
Last season, Maes essentially operated as the coordinator for offense, defense and special teams. Now, with the appointments of DuPree and Young, he is focusing primarily on the defense, a system his players know well.
DuPree has enacted an entirely new offensive scheme since coming to Española — one that focuses primarily on the variation of the “I” formation called the “Maryland I.”
This is a run-heavy formation, in which three running backs line up behind the quarterback.
For Española, those three are DeAntrae Curtis, the tailback; then Damian Velasquez behind Curtis, and the biggest player on the team, Nicolas Martinez, behind Velasquez. Curtis said that the system better fits the personnel that the team has.
They showcased around six of those plays, Aug. 16, in a scrimmage against Gallup High School at Española’s football field. They won 56-12, providing an insight into some of the running domination they will employ when the season begins.
One of the keys for this offense to work is for the offensive line to block sufficiently for the run. Against Gallup, they opened holes with ease, giving Curtis, Velasquez and Martinez plenty of space to command the field.
“I’m confident in our offensive line,” Curtis said.
Quarterback competition
During the summer, two quarterbacks were competing for the starting position — Garcia and Jacob Trujillo. As the season neared, Maes chose Garcia for the starting role, an accurate-passing sophomore who also fills in at safety on defense.
“Jacob (Trujillo) has all of the tools to be special,” Maes said. “He is going to be pushing Arlen every step of the way. That’s good. I don’t like anyone being complacent.”
Curtis said he enjoys playing with them, although Garcia is moreso the outspoken, leader type.
“They’re both very good,” he said.
Trujillo has more accuracy for deeper passing, while Garcia’s bread and butter is with precise, short passes that need quick decision-making.
Taking a few hikes against Gallup, Trujillo connected on one play of around 30 yards.