Ad
There usually aren’t too many surprises when it comes to the Los Lunas football team, which went 8-3 last season and reached the second round of the 6A playoffs.
That’s especially true on offense, where the Tigers try to pound the ball on the ground.
“That’s what we do,” said Greg Henington, LLHS coach. “We believe in being aggressive and hard-nosed, but heck yeah, we’re going to throw the ball to our good receivers.”
Those receivers, including Tegan Gallegos and Tayson Gaxiola, will have to make up for the production lost with the graduation of J’Den Howard, who caught eight touchdown passes. Throwing the ball as the starting quarterback for a second year is Kaiden Reese, who had 14 touchdown strikes.
“You can see on the field, the growth that took place over the offseason, the maturity,” Henington said about Reese.
While Reese led the Tigers in rushing yards last season as a junior, he enjoys flinging the ball.
“I like showing off my arm,” Reese admits.
Versatile weapon Jordan Howard is gone, but Los Lunas should still be able to move people off the ball. Opening the holes for the talents of Reese, running back Jagger Casillas and others, is a beefy and intense offensive line.
“We don’t get a lot of credit, but without us there’s no football,” joked senior center Alejandro Casas about the offensive line. “It’s just a mindset. We like to call it ‘hog sickness’ — go out there with intensity and play hard.”
One thing that has stood out to Reese over the summer was the defense.
Ad
“They are really improving a lot, especially the pursuing aspect,” Reese noted.
Defensively, it will be hard to replace linebacker Gage Marquez, who led the team in tackles while moonlighting as a tough to bring down fullback. Henington will look to a deep group that includes Andres Romero, Thaniel Padilla, Brad Mallory and Isaiah Barela.
“It’s time to go. The attitude is great,” Henington said after the first practice. “We lost a great group of seniors but I think we have enough depth with the younger (players) to set the tone.”
After winning the 5A state championship in 2021, Los Lunas moved up to 6A. With the likes of La Cueva and Cleveland, it has been difficult for the Tigers to climb into the upper echelon.
“Everybody is striving for those top two or three teams,” said Henington.
It may take more than talent to join them.
“The key is finding a very deep rooted sense of aggression and belief in each other,” the coach said. “If you do those things … good things will happen.”
The season kickoffs in Roswell, the defending 5A state champs, on Aug. 22.
