Monarchs return 15 starters from last season
Team has experience, confidence as it prepares for 2016
Chad Adcox gets it. And so will Jordan Byrd — get, as in more time with the football.
“Without a doubt, he needs to get the ball more in his hands this year,” Adcox, Manzano’s football head coach, said of his junior standout.
With 15 starters returning — including Byrd, the twotime defending 100-meter state champion — Manzano, which was a state quarterfinalist a year ago, understandably has some good vibes percolating through the program.
It starts with Byrd, a running back/slot receiver/kick returner with an abundance of well-documented, gamebreaking abilities. But — it is important to note, Byrd said — it does not end with him.
“I like to hear that,” Byrd said, when told what Adcox said, “but we have a lot of skill guys.”
Although Manzano, the Journal’s No. 5 preseason team in the metro, will be new at quarterback — Michael Roybal looks like he has the inside track — the Monarchs feel they’ll have other weapons to assist Byrd. That includes receivers Andrew Erickson and Alex Nash, and running back Alejandro Vallejos. Nash and Erickson both stand at least 6-foot-1.
“When Jordan is off, we’re gonna have to be able to step up and beat our man,” said Erickson.
Manzano returns three offensive line starters, and this is an area where Adcox ties in this unit’s success to the team’s overall success. As for Byrd, Manzano will move him around. Out wide, in the slot, in the backfield. And probably plenty of motion.
Adcox’s defense might be where this season finds its legs, with only two starters having graduated. Cornerback Ryan Moore already has an offer from Eastern New Mexico.
“I think we’re coming in very confident and very excited to start the season,” Erickson said.
Coming Sunday: No. 4 in Journal top-5 metro countdown