A La Joya ISD Football Preview
We’re inching closer to the start of the high school football season and all three of the La Joya ISD teams are getting prepared to prove somebody wrong. One thing they have in common: They have that dog in them. This means that all three of these teams have the heart and soul of a fighter. The Coyotes, the Lobos, and the Huskies still have a lot to prove in terms of finding success. Underdogs? Sure. That won’t faze them when they take the field on Friday nights.
La Joya Coyotes
Coyotes, Mauricio Mendoza #25 (RB), breaks through multiple defenders scoring the Coyotes first touchdown. But this was not enough to overcome Rowes huge lead. Photo by: Mario Magallon
The La Joya Coyotes finished the 2023 season in last place with a 0-5 record in District 31-6A. After two years of play in that district, the Coyotes were set to get reclassified into a new district, but were not and have remained in 31-6A. With that being said, their opponents didn’t change all that much. The good news is that they’re familiar with their opponents. The bad news is that their opponents are familiar with them.
The Coyotes will be facing off with the 5-0 district champions PSJA Bears, 4-1 Edinburg Bobcats, 3-2 Edinburg North Cougars, 1-4 Economedes Jaguars, and the newest addition, the Weslaco Panthers, who were undefeated district champions last season. It’s safe to say that they’ll have their work cut out for them as they take on such formidable district opponents.
The question is: What will the Coyotes be doing differently this season so they don’t repeat their 0-5 record? In previous seasons, their pathway to success was their rushing offense and their defense. The idea for this season would be to build on that, but with a district full of offenses that can light it up, it may be time for them to find a change of pace.
Progress Times got the chance to speak to the Coyotes head coach Reuben Farias about his goals for the offense this season, “Overall, we were young last year but we have a lot of guys coming back and we’re hoping to play with a lot more control. We want to limit weak plays. We need to limit our mistakes.”
The Coyotes will be returning their quarterback Owen Benoit for his sophomore season. Farias mentioned a couple of things that stood out about his quarterback, “He’s come in with another year under his belt and he looks very poised in his reps. It looks like the game is slowing down for him compared to last year. He has a great understanding of our offense and what we want to do.”
Returning with Benoit will be second team all-district junior running back Mauricio Mendoza. The offense has shown the ability to open up with his ability to create plays out of the backfield. The Coyotes will also be bringing back three linemen to help supplement that rushing and passing attack. Junior tackle Cesar Alaniz, senior guard Ruben Conde, and center Guadalupe Salgado.
Defensively, this Coyote team will be returning a number of individuals that are sure to make a big impact on the field come game time. Coyotes’ middle linebacker Joshua Flores will be returning for his junior season after a great sophomore season. They’ll also be returning a trio of junior defensive backs in Leonardo Maldonado, Darian Bocanegra, and Ezekiel Hernandez.
It’s obvious that this team is going into this season younger than a lot of other teams in the district. The great thing about this is that many of these kids have already played with each other and they still have time and space to make improvements. Farias told us, “This offseason and summer we hit it hard. The kids got active. They’ve been working hard and getting better. Our kids continue to play well and we hope that it all carries over. We’re seeing improvements each week.”
The Coyotes will kick off their non-district schedule on Thursday, August 29th in a Week 1 away matchup against the Rivera Raiders. They’ll stay on the road for Week 2 when they face off with the Lopez Lobos. Their first home game will come in Week 3 when they go up against the Pace Vikings. They’ll be back on the road for Week 4 and Week 5 when they play the Alice Coyotes and the Hanna Golden Eagles.
Their district schedule will begin at home in Week 6 against the Weslaco Panthers. They’ll travel to Edinburg to play the Bobcats in Week 7. They’ll be back at home for a Week 8 matchup against the Edinburg North Cougars. Following that, they’ll go against the Economedes Jaguars in an away game for Week 9. They’ll cap off their season in Week 10 at home against the PSJA Bears.
There are a lot of questions when it comes to the Coyotes. The ups and downs that they’ve faced are rollercoaster-like. Progress Times believes that this season will be an up rather than a down. If they play their cards right in this small six team district, they could even find themselves sneaking into the playoffs.
Palmview Lobos
The Lobos finished in 7th place in District 15-5A with a 1-6 record. Going into this season, they’ve been reclassified from District 15-5A to District 16-5A-1. The only change from their previous district is the inclusion of the 2-3 Mission Eagles and the exclusion of the PSJA North Raiders, who were the undefeated district champions.
With that being the only change in the district, the Lobos will be competing with the 6-1 Vela Sabercats, 5-2 Memorial Mustangs, 4-3 McAllen Bulldogs, 3-4 Rowe Warriors, 2-5 Rio Grande City Rattlers, 0-7 Juarez-Lincoln Huskies, and of course the Eagles.
The Lobos found success on the field last year when they ran the ball. The Lobos are known for their fierce rushing offense, but will that hold true in this upcoming season? They graduated both their first and second string running backs. A number of players could take those reigns such as the three seniors Kyle Bazan, Cristian Martinez, or Angel Chapa. There’s even a world where all three split the workload. There’s going to be a lot of touches in the backfield so whoever ends up getting the starting position should be set up for a monster season.
The Lobos won’t have to search for someone to play under center this season. That’s because they’ll be returning quarterback Mateo Garcia for his senior season. The question is: How will the Lobos get the most out of him? There’s no doubt that he can pass the ball, but will he be able to keep up with the stacked offenses in this district?
Speaking of the district, the Lobos defense is going to have to be on their toes against the explosive offenses. Being able to contain all of these offenses is going to be a challenge in itself. The Lobos’ defense will have a good mixture of returners and new players. Despite graduating a number of key players, they’ll still have players such as the junior trio of Leonidas Chapa and Osbel Flores Jr. and Joseph Martinez. These three will have to step up in a big way if the Lobos want to keep their opponents from running up the score.
The Lobos will kick off their non-district schedule on August 30th in an away game against the PSJA Southwest Javelinas. They’ll be at home for Week 2 and Week 3 as they go up against the Roma Gladiators and the Lopez Lobos.
In Week 4, they’ll start their district schedule on the road against the Rowe Warriors. They’ll come back home to take on the Rio Grande City Rattlers in Week 5. Week 6 will see them face off with the newest addition to the district, the Mission Eagles in an away game. Following that, they’ll play a home game against the McAllen Bulldogs in Week 7. Next, they’ll play a sister school rivalry game on the road against the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies in Week 8. The Lobos will close out their district schedule with two tough opponents at home against the Vela Sabercats in Week 9 and away in Week 10 against the Memorial Mustangs.
Despite facing a number of challenges last season, the Lobos showed that there was no quit in them. Progress Times is looking forward to seeing what the Lobos have in store for us this season.
Juarez Lincoln Huskies
The Huskies finished in 8th place in District 15-5A with a 0-7 record. Just like the Lobos, the Huskies were reclassified from District 15-5A to District 16-5A-1. The only change from their previous district is the inclusion of the 2-3 Mission Eagles and the exclusion of the PSJA North Raiders, who as stated before, were the 2023 undefeated district champions.
With that being the only change in the district, the Huskies will be competing with the 6-1 Vela Sabercats, 5-2 Memorial Mustangs, 4-3 McAllen Bulldogs, 3-4 Rowe Warriors, 2-5 Rio Grande City Rattlers, 1-6 Palmview Lobos, and the newcomers, the Mission Eagles.
One thing about this district is that once any of these offenses catch wind, it’s hard to slow them down. The Huskies, much like the Lobos, will have to be play solid defense and amazing offense in order to keep them in games. Being faster, smarter, and more consistent will be major points for this team to succeed on both ends. Head coach Danny Cortez told Progress Times, “We’re going to be putting our best 11 athletes on the field at all time. The kids are buying into playing football. They don’t play offense, they don’t play defense, they don’t play special teams. They play football.” One big difference that you’ll see out of this Huskies team is that you’ll be seeing their players all over the field, no matter their position.
The offense finds the most success running the ball against their opponents. Last season, Pedro Menchaca was their leading rusher, their leader in receiving yards and their leader in total touchdowns. It is safe to say that whoever is going to be in the backfield for the Huskies is going to get a ton of usage. They’ll have to fill that massive hole in the offense now that they graduated Menchaca. Cortez told us, “Right now we have a little group of running backs that I think are going to be pretty good.” Coach mentioned how he projects the starting running back to be junior Ramiro Olivarez, but that won’t be a done deal until they see everyone’s work.
The Huskies may be able to shift their offense into a balanced attack. They’ll be returning quarterback John Menchaca along with wide receiver Sebastian Lopez for their junior season. Getting the ball in the air could benefit the Huskies as they’ll be playing against high powered offenses. Coach Cortez told us, “John has been the leader there. He knows the scheme and what we want to do.”
The Huskies will kick off their non-district schedule in a home game on August 30th against the Lopez Lobos. They’ll have back-to-back away games in Week 2 and Week 3 against the Donna North Chiefs and the Economedes Jaguars, respectively.
Their district schedule will begin with three consecutive home games against the McAllen Bulldogs in Week 4, the Rowe Warriors in Week 5, and the Vela Sabercats in Week 6. All will be tough matchups but home field advantage is massive. Week 7 will see the Huskies traveling to McAllen to take ont the Memorial Mustangs. They’ll play against their sister-school Palmview Lobos in Week 8 at home. Following that game, they’ll travel to Rio Grande City in Week 9 to face off with the Rattlers. They’ll cap off their district schedule at home against the newest team in the district, the Mission Eagles, in Week 10.
Year in and year out, the Huskies have shown how much love they have for the game. It’s been a tough run for them in past seasons, but that’s never stopped them from wanting to win. Coach Cortez spoke more on that, “It’s been a team thing. What we’re preaching is to help each other and take care of each other. Positive vibes equals positive energy which equals positive results.” Cortez capped that off by saying, “What can we control? We can control the environment we’re in and that’s what we’re trying to do.” This season can be the one where we see the Huskies take a massive step forward and Progress Times is sure that all their hard work will pay off sooner rather than later.