A Sharyland Rattler and Pioneer Diamondback Football Preview
It’s one week closer to the beginning of the 2024 football season which means: You better get Richard Thompson Stadium lights ready for the Sharyland Rattlers and Pioneer Diamondbacks. Two of the most prestigious football programs will be back in action and proudly playing for their schools. These two teams share nearly identical colors, the same kind of animal as a mascot, a whole stadium, but most importantly they share the same amount of love and respect for the game they play. Here’s what these two teams are preparing for this upcoming season.
Sharyland Rattlers
The Rattlers finished last season in 6th place in District 16-5A with a 0-5 record. This wasn’t your typical winless season as they played every game with a winning mentality and came close to securing a win.
It’s not going to get easier for the Rattlers this season. They got reclassified from a six-team District 16-5A to a five-team District 15-5A. A smaller district means less room for mistakes. The good thing is that the Rattlers are very familiar with the majority of these teams. This district consists of their sister school rivals, the 4-1 Pioneer Diamondbacks, the 4-1 Veterans Memorial Patriots, the 4-1 Roma Gladiators and the newcomers, the 6-0 Alice Coyotes. The drawback is that all four of these teams placed gold balls in their trophy cases last season, meaning that they’re all championship contending teams, but the Rattlers are no stranger to winning chips.
Progress Times had the opportunity to speak to Rattlers head coach Craig Krell about this upcoming season, “Last year I thought we started the season well. Obviously we had a ton of injuries and we finished last in the district and fell short of the playoffs. Our goal right now, first and foremost, is to get back in the playoffs.” Krell went on to say, “I want to contend for that district championship and I think we have the guys here and our goal is to be there in the last game of the season fighting for that district championship.”
This team will have a lot of holes to fill, specifically at the quarterback position with Coach Krell’s son, Bo Krell, having graduated last year. This year the Rattlers will be trotting out junior Calvin Harris, a career multi positioned athlete that will be getting the reins to the offense under the center. Krell spoke to us about how Harris earned this spot on the Rattlers this season, “I know that Friday nights are nothing new to him, he’ll just be moving over to the quarterback position. He was already a great athlete and that’s why we had him at receiver last year. Now at quarterback, I know he’ll do a great job there. The kids have already bought into him. We selected captains and he’ll be one of our six which goes to show that our kids have faith in him and so do we as coaches.”
“His decision making, he’s a true student of the game,” Krell continued. “When we talk about watching film, listening, going through our playbook, and everything we expect, he’s a smart kid. You can’t just put a great athlete like him there if he’s not going to do what you want him to do and it’s been an easy transition for Calvin.”
Two key returning lettermen will be taking the field with Harris in senior running back Santiago Longoria, who led the team in receiving yards last year and senior Eduardo Mendoza. Both of whom will have a lot to prove in their final seasons.
Krell spoke about the improvements made to the offensive line for this upcoming season. Despite having a competent group of guys already, there’s always room for improvement. The best way for his line to improve is going up against the best of the best when it comes to defense. Their defensive group showed out last season and allowed a multitude of opportunities for the offense and they’re only getting better.
Krell told us more about this when he said, “I believe we have a very good group of linebackers coming back. I’m very excited to see how well they do. We have three seniors that are some of the best that I’ve coached in quite some time.”
Those three seniors that Krell referenced are the trio of Diego Guerrero, Diego Mendoza, and Ivan Ramirez. Guerrero and Ramirez led the team in total tackles last season as juniors and they’re only going to get better with a fully healthy Mendoza.
The Rattlers will be kicking off their season on August 30th on the road against the Weslaco East Wildcats. They’ll have a three game home stretch that will start in Week 2 against the Hanna Golden Eagles, Week 3 against the Mission Eagles, and Week 4 against the PSJA Southwest Javelinas. The Rattlers will end their non-district season with two away games in Week 5 and 6 against the Mercedes Tigers and the Los Fresnos Falcons.
In Week 7, the district season will begin at home and their opening matchup will be against the Veterans Memorial Patriots. The team will be taking a long road trip to Alice to face the Coyotes in Week 8. They’ll be back at home to go up against the Roma Gladiators in Week 9 followed by a Week 10 sister school rivalry matchup against the Pioneer Diamondbacks at Richard Thompson Stadium.
One thing about the Sharyland Rattlers is that you cannot count them out. Despite an underwhelming 2023 season, this team can and will be back in the running for a district championship under the tutelage of Krell. The question isn’t a matter of if, but when. And you can see it all begin to unfold in just a couple of weeks. Progress Times is excited to see what the Rattlers have in store for this season and hopefully the postseason.
Pioneer Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks finished their season tied for first place in District 16-5A with a 4-1 record. A district championship winning season for the Diamondbacks means expectations are going to be high this season if they plan to reclaim gold.
The path to glory is going to be a tough one. The Diamondbacks were reclassified from District 16-5A to District 15-5A. Despite the reclassification into a five-team district, it’s full of familiar faces. The district consists of their sister school rival, the 0-5 Sharyland Rattlers, the 4-1 Veterans Memorial Patriots, the 4-1 Roma Gladiators, and the newest addition to the district, the 6-0 Alice Coyotes.
Overall the Diamondbacks were phenomenal last season as they were led by stellar play at the quarterback position and a running game that came alive midway through the season. The Diamondbacks, who graduated their quarterback and a majority of their wide receivers, will have to rely on that running game a little more if they want to repeat the success they had on offense last year. It’s not going to be hard when you have the talent that is Dylan Tijerina. His sophomore season was one that raised eyebrows as he accumulated nearly 1,400 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. His explosiveness, power, and ability to take over the game at any given moment will hold true in his junior season where we expect that he will have yet another massive leap.
Filling the hole for the Diamondbacks at quarterback is always going to be a tough task, but Progress Times is sure that head coach Eddie Galindo will find the right guy to put under center. Furthermore, their quarterback will be working with two returning receivers in senior Matthew Maldonado and junior William Goodloe. These two saw some playing time for the Diamondbacks and made the most of their opportunities. Getting the ball to one of the three, Tijerina, Maldonado, or Goodloe, should pay out for the Diamondbacks this upcoming season.
On defense this team is going to be returning their top six leaders in tackles for their senior season. Jaykob Mendez, Marcos Rauda, Angel Villanueva, Andrew Rivera, Mario Rodriguez, and Chris De Leon are going to be playing huge roles on this defense. Rivera led the team in interceptions last season so he should be looked at to be the number one pass defender on this team as a senior. Rauda led this team in sacks last season so his return to the defense is going to be massive. Being able to return a majority of key players on defense is going to be something that may separate the Diamondbacks from the rest and they’ll need all they can get, especially in a district that features such high powered offenses.
The Diamondbacks will be kicking off their season with two back-to-back home games against the PSJA Raiders in Week 1 and the Rio Grande City Rattlers in Week 2. They’ll travel in Week 3 to the home of the Edinburg North Cougars. The Diamondbacks will be back home in Week 4 and Week 5 to face up against the Hanna Golden Eagles and the Porter Cowboys. To wrap up the non-district schedule, they’ll travel to Brownsville to play the Veterans Memorial Chargers in Week 6.
Pioneer will begin their district season in Week 7 against the Alice Coyotes followed by a road trip in Week 8 to go up against the Roma Gladiators. After that they’ll have their Snake Skin Classic game against the Sharyland Rattlers at Richard Thompson Stadium. The Diamondbacks will cap off their district season on the road in Week 10 against the Veterans Memorial Patriots.
When it comes to adding a gold ball in their trophy case, not only has this team already done it, but they plan on doing it again. The talent that surrounds the Diamondbacks is some of the best in the district and they’re in line to make even more noise this season. Progress Times is looking forward to hearing them loud and proud and hopefully that’ll hold true into the playoffs.