PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: MORIARTY PINTOS
Coach: Joe Anaya (5th year; 31-14) Last season: 8-4; lost to Ruidoso in 4A quarterfinals
Returning starters: 3 offense, 2 defense Key players: Xavier Romero, sr. (5-9, 170, RB/ILB); DeHaven Hudson, sr. (5-10, 190, G/MLB); Caleb Flaming, sr. (6-2, 190, TE/ OLB); Santiago Montoya, sr. (5-10, 175, RB/ILB); Pete Sandoval, soph. (5-9, 145, LB/RB); Milo Trujillo, soph. (5-10, 200, OL); Bryan Wright, soph. (5-8, 140, LB); Michael Quinton, sr. (5-11, 210, OL); John Biscamp, jr. (5-9, 180, OL/DL); Tyler Ortiz, jr. (6-3, 180, TE/ DB).
Outlook: Under Anaya, the Pintos have been averaging more than seven wins a year, but this shapes up to be his most difficult season after Moriarty graduated about 20 seniors off last year’s squad. So, this will be a young and mostly inexperienced team that is undergoing a bit of a rebuild in 2018. Wright is just a sophomore, but already one of the Pintos’ top athletes, and he may end up playing quarterback for this team before too long. Romero is the true key ingredient here. He rushed for nearly 1,000 yards last season, and he’s going to be asked to shoulder a heavy load over the next three months. Hudson and Romero are the lone starters returning on defense. Anaya will be watching closely over the first half of the season, letting some of his newcomers try to find their way and calculate which of them are varsity ready when the calendar flips to October.
2018 schedule (x-denotes District 3/4-4A game) Aug. 24, West Las Vegas, 7 p.m. Aug. 31, Santa Fe, 7 p.m. Sept. 8, at Hope Christian (M), 5 p.m. Sept. 14, at Valencia, 7 p.m. Sept. 21, Capital, 7 p.m. Sept. 28, at Hot Springs, 7 p.m. Oct. 5, IDLE Oct. 12, Kirtland Central, 7 p.m. x-Oct. 19, at Lovington, 7 p.m. x-Oct. 26, at Portales, 7 p.m. x-Nov. 2, Ruidoso, 7 p.m.
Circle the date: After losing two close games to Ruidoso at the end of last season, including that playoff game, the Pintos who do return surely will be itching to get some payback.