Tour of Northern New Mexico: Looking and feeling good, Capital Jaguars hungry to play
Jaguars have deep roster of healthy, experienced players, including arguably the best running back in the North
Afew questions about the Capital football team were answered with crystal clarity Thursday night in Bernalillo.
We’ll get to running back Luke Padilla in a second because, let’s face it, no Capital football story can be told without mentioning the guy who arguably has been the best running back in all of Northern New Mexico the last couple of years.
For starters, there’s definitely some fight in those cats. The Jaguars had their three-way scrimmage with Bernalillo and Albuquerque Highland cut short when emotions boiled over between a handful of Capital players and coaches and their counterparts from Bernalillo.
Jaguars head coach Bill Moon predictably ripped his players afterward and spoke a few minutes later about the need for maintaining control and letting cooler heads prevail. There were no referees or game officials, making it easy for things to escalate quickly.
In truth, it showed that this year’s Jaguars
aren’t going to back down. They’re going to engage anyone who thinks it’s OK to kick sand in their face.
“It did show we play with emotion, but that emotion has to be directed in a way that’s not going to cost us 15 yards or have one of our players or coaches sent to the locker room after an ejection,” Moon said. “I’m OK with the emotion as long as it’s done the right way.”
Consider Thursday a learning experience for a team entering 2019 with a chip
on its shoulder.
Second, health is (knock on wood) not an issue. More than 60 players are in the program, and with one week to go before the season opener, they’re still upright and able to play. That includes the projected starter at quarterback, Dion Martinez. The junior was supposed to be the opening-night starter last year but broke his collar bone during a scrimmage on the same field as Thursday’s scrimmage.
Other returners include the rest of the starting backfield, three offensive linemen and at least two skill players to the outside.
“Yeah, I’m not going to talk about that,” Moon said when asked about the potential of his team’s offense. “We’re healthy and that’s all I’m going to say.”
So about that offense. Padilla — a chiseled 5-10, 180-pound junior who looks like he was created in a lab — is the marquee back in Moon’s run-happy scheme, but expect junior Gio Muñoz to get plenty of carries. The pair forms a formidable 1-2 punch out of the backfield, making life easier on Martinez and skill guys like wideout Dominic Martinez and 230-pound tight end Julian Sanchez.
It’s no secret that the entire operation revolves around Padilla. Opponents know it, the team knows it and so does Padilla. It’s a big reason he spent the last nine months conditioning himself for the meat grinder that is the 10-week regular season in which he could easily get 200 carries.
“It takes a lot to get through a whole year, and when I think about all the things I was dealing with last year. It made me rethink the way I had to get myself ready,” Padilla said. “The physical stuff is something I had to work on a lot, just getting my body ready, being more disciplined about the way I trained in the offseason, things like that.”
Padilla’s first two carries in Thursday’s scrimmage produced about 11 yards. His third attempt was a 65-yard jailbreak that ended with him standing alone in the end zone. It’s reasonable to assume that scenario will repeat itself multiple times over the next two-plus months.
Defensively, the Jaguars have more size and speed than in the past. Part of that is due to younger players dedicating themselves to the weight room, another is the added depth that allows the offensive and defensive players to operate independently of one another. There are still a number of iron-man types on the team; just fewer than in years past.
The linebacking corps have a trio of heavy hitters in Sanchez and seniors Sean Ulibarri and Robert Page. Among the newcomers in the secondary is junior Daniel Ray Roybal, or “D-Ray“to his teammates. He’s generously listed at 5-6 but that didn’t stop him from picking off a pair of passes Thursday and dropping a third.
For those familiar with Capital football, Roybal sat out the majority of last season after suffering a brutal concussion that left him, his family and those around him worried about permanent health issues. Roybal said he had a hard time focusing in class and coaches said it created lingering affects that made some question if he’d ever return.
“I definitely think about it a lot and I do worry about it happening again, but I wanted to play and the doctors cleared me so, yeah, of course I’m going to be out here,” Roybal said.
Roaming the field as one of the scariest safeties you’ll see is Munoz. Up front on the defensive line are two-way players like Steven Hernandez, James Veleta, Miguel Valencia and Jonathan Casteñeda, all of whom are on the plus-side of 200 pounds to compliment edge rushers like Andres Alvarado and Frankie Hadley.
“Do I like this team? I love this team,” Moon said. “We’ve got a lot of the right people in all the right spots. If we can get them to play with the intelligence I
believe we possess, I think we will be able to accomplish some things.”
And finally, about the team’s new look. The program splurged this offseason, buying new Nike jerseys for less than half the retail value. Gone from the pants and jerseys is any trace of the teal highlights often used in Capital uniforms. The silver numbers for both home and away jerseys are sewn on and they have a reflective sheen to them.
“Pretty great look, right?” Roybal said, running his open hand across his chest. “Best look we’ve ever had.”
In short, the Jags look good, they feel good and they’re clearly ready to fight.
What happens next is up to them.