Demons ignore the past, work to change their legacy
Seniors emerge as strong leaders who work hard
It is not an enviable task that firstyear head coach Andrew Martinez has before him. The Santa Fe High School football team is rushing headlong toward the sort of notoriety that no program wants.
The Demons’ losing streak stands at 24, the longest in the state, but a good two seasons shy of Albuquerque High’s record 43.
But Martinez, who was the longtime defensive coordinator at St. Michael’s, where winning is an ongoing tradition, doesn’t want his players thinking about that as he instills a new offense, a new defense and, most importantly, a whole new attitude.
“The only thing I preach is the past is the past,” he said. “It’s done and it’s gone. All we’re worried about is tomorrow is a new day. We’re going to win that day. I don’t worry about what happened.”
The Demons’ slide into mediocrity coincided with their bump into 6A and being slotted into two tough Albuquerque-metro area districts.
That has changed as Santa Fe has gone independent for at least this season, giving it the freedom to choose a schedule that’s more in line with the actual numbers of players it has available.
Too often in past seasons, freshmen were getting thrown into the varsity fray to go up against players bigger, stronger, more mature and more experienced.
It was leading to frustration and injuries.
“Some of them have come back out raring to go, some are a little gun shy,” Martinez said. “Those are the things that we have to work on. We’re not going to have you playing varsity if you’re not ready to play varsity. You don’t want a serious injury if they’re not ready.”
Still, it left the players feeling disappointed that school officials had lost faith in the team.
“More than anything, the people that believe in us didn’t think we were capable of competing and that was a big frustration,” said senior middle linebacker Jared Jones (5 feet, 8 inches, 180 pounds). “Every day we go in the weight room, I know that we’re capable and want to prove to the rest of Santa Fe that we can be successful.”
The Demons sports 24 seniors, a group that has now been tested in the crucible of those defeats and has emerged as strong leaders wanting to change the culture of the program, Martinez said.
“Those guys really work hard,” he said. “It’s a strong senior class and they’re good leaders. They’ve bought in. It’s always good to have that accountability in the locker room. It’s one thing to hear it from coaches, but it’s another to hear it from their peers. I’ve been pleased with that.”
The seniors are driven to change their legacy, Jones said.
“We were wondering why we weren’t able to be successful when we were putting in the work, why we couldn’t get people motivated,” he said. “This summer has been huge, it’s setting a base. The program is shifting and we want to be the starting line to the turnaround.”
The shift will begin with formations as the Demons will move to a pistol-spread formation on offense, while mingling in a lot of run concepts, and the defense will have a four-man front and five defensive backs to try and thwart today’s highflying offenses.
In addition to Jones, Martinez is expecting big things from fellow seniors Zach Russell (6-3, 185) and Jonah Baca (6-4, 185), a pair of bookend wide receivers with good size. Levi Lopez (5-10, 165), who has a big arm, will be taking over as quarterback for his first season under center, and halfback will belong to speedy Isaiah Fordham (5-8, 140).
Defensively, Jones will be the anchor as Martinez said “he’s probably the strongest kid on the team.”
So there’s an aura of optimism as the team heads into its hardcore summer workouts.
“You can’t quit because you’re there for them,” Jones said of his teammates. “You have to be there for them, have to be there for them. You can’t quit, it’s not an option. We want to win games, be successful in the games.”