VALLEY FOOTBALL AT A GLANCE

Coach: Judge Chavez (4th year; 14-18) Last season: 7-5; beat Santa Teresa in 5A first round, lost to Roswell in 5A quarterfinals Returning starters: 1 offense, 1 defense

Key players: Andrew Lopez, jr. (5-6, 150, QB/ OLB); Jesse Murphy, jr. (6-2, 190, RB/ILB); Simon Moya, sr. (6-1, 180, TE/DE); Fabian Aranda, jr. (5-9, 155, OLB); Lorenzo Romero, jr. (6-3, 205, OT/DE); Rudy Juarez, sr. (6-2, 310, G/DT); Carlos Sanchez, jr. (5-8, 145, WR/DB); Aaron Perez, jr. (5-9, 210, OL).

Outlook: Chavez perhaps has never begun a season in his nearly quarter century as a head coach in Albuquerque — not at Highland, not at Cibola, not at Valley — with as many question marks as face him this season with the Vikings, who graduated a huge senior class after their playoff run last year. And that came in their first season after dropping into the second-largest division. Here’s what we do know: this will be an extremely small senior group (single digits), but there is a huge and impressive batch of sophomores, many of whom are going to be asked to start at the varsity level and contribute. There is some size here, and certainly a handful of good athletes, including Murphy who is new to high school football, but exactly how this group will look may be a mystery all the way until opening night. “A real strange year,” Chavez said. 2019 schedule (x-denotes District 5-5A game) Aug. 22, Albuquerque High (M), 7 p.m. Aug. 29, at La Cueva (W), 7 p.m. Sept. 6, Piedra Vista (M), 7 p.m. Sept. 13, at Miyamura, 7 p.m. Sept. 20, IDLE Sept. 27, at Highland (C), 7 p.m. Oct. 3, Del Norte (M), 7 p.m. Oct. 11, Rio Grande (M), 7 p.m. x-Oct. 19, Belen (M), 1 p.m. x-Oct. 25, at Los Lunas, 7 p.m. x-Nov. 1, at Valencia, 7 p.m.

Circle the date: All of Valley’s games last year (both wins and losses) were decided by at least 16 points. Let’s circle the meeting with Del Norte, another 5A playoff team from last season.