TIGERS FOCUS ON PLAYOFFS
Taos team brings back most starters
With all but three positions filled with returning starters from last season’s playoff team, the Taos High School football team is as strong as it’s been in some time.
“I can’t wait,” said coach Art Abreu Jr. as he enters his third year as head coach. “The puppies are growing up to be some dogs.”
Or, at the very least, some Tigers.
Last year, the team passed an important crucible. At the beginning of district play, perennial championship contenders Robertson and St. Michael’s knocked them down, but Taos finished with three straight wins to earn a playoff berth.
The postseason run was short, however, as the Tigers fell in a second-half burst by Ruidoso.
“Definitely after the losses to Robertson and St. Michael’s, we had to refocus as a very young team,” Abreu said. “We had to get their mindset as to what was at stake. We really got on the guys to get their heads on straight. They had to realize that just because we couldn’t be district champs doesn’t mean we can’t go further into the playoffs.”
And the Tigers responded better than the coaching staff could have hoped, setting the stage for this season, he said.
“The kids really hunkered down and got into it.” Abreu said. “They began pushing themselves harder. Last year’s seniors were taking bigger leadership roles, and the juniors were following along and the sophomores showed that they were maturing.”
It was a good thing to see, he said.
“As a head coach, that puts a smile on your face,” Abreu said.
The team’s offensive and defensive lines also put a smile on his face as they’re loaded with size and experience.
Seniors Amos Duran (5 feet, 10 inches, 255 pounds) and Shea Martinez (6-5, 255) will be the anchors on the defense, while juniors Esteban Valerio (5-8, 190) and Tyler Gomez (5-10, 260) are the bellwethers on the offensive line.
The latter two will be busy protecting returning senior starting quarterback Jude Sauzo (5-10, 165).
“He got a lot of key reps last year in pretty close games and those games really helped him out and to mature,” Abreu said. “Hopefully, he’ll become a better decision-maker and manage the game a lot better from the quarterback position.”
Sauzo said that’s what he expects from himself.
“I got a lot more experience through the games that I played,” he said. “I learned a lot about the game. I learned a lot about my teammates. We have a lot of my teammates coming back next year, and I learned that we can fight through ups and downs and stay together as a team. And most of all we got experience.”
Senior receiver Mateo Sisneros (5-11, 155), junior wideout Anthony Maestas (5-10, 165) and senior tight end Santiago Cortez (5-11, 185) give Sauzo plenty of weapons.
Cortez said he would like to have the same impact on the team this year that the seniors did in getting last season turned around.
“Our three senior starters and our captains helped us get motivated and lead us to making that run,” Cortez said. “Being a senior this year, hopefully I’ll be able to do the same thing and show that kind of leadership.”
It also helped the team to have its playoff appetite whetted last season, Valerio said.
“Our expectations are the playoffs and to see how far we can get,” he said. “Playing Ruidoso, it was a great experience, I thought. It showed us the passion of playing on a bigger stage than just a normal game.”
It leaves the Tigers wanting to have a long playoff run this season.
“Our expectations are through the roof,” Suazo said. “We have so many players coming back, we don’t expect anything but to be great. But we want to take it game by game and not get too far ahead of ourselves.”