SILVER FIGHTING COLTS ARE “STILL HUNGRY”
When you lose a majority of your offense from the previous high school football season, it might raise a level of concern. Silver High School football coach Jerome Ortiz doesn’t sound worried. “There’s been a lot of talk about how do we replace our three-headed monster at running back, and replace our quarterback, and offensive line” said Ortiz. “We had so many talented players last year. Honestly, I think we’re going to be just fine.”
Last season, Silver lost to Bloomfield 13-7 in the Class 4A State Championship. Silver was senior heavy with running backs Aiden Granado, Ricky Vasquez, and Mason Lockett, along with quarterback Emeliano Jimenez, carrying most of the load on offense. This year, Adan Jacquez, who took a large majority of snaps in the state championship game, will be under center. Landon Sandoval should get a lot of touches at running back. “He took last year off for wrestling, but he’s back this year,” said Ortiz. Zeke Torres and Diego Lucero will also carry the rock for the Fighting Colts. “They have all the potential to do what our backs did last year.”
Ortiz says he doesn’t expect this year’s team to be any different when it comes to the style of play, but he will have to adjust to a little more speed. “We have speed everywhere,” Ortiz said. “My line is fast, my quarterback is fast, everybody has speed. That helps me in the different plays I can run, that maybe I couldn’t run last year.”
Ortiz says coming up short in last year’s title game is a motivating factor for his group this season. “It’s definitely a chip on their shoulder,” he explained. “Hats off to Bloomfield, they were the better team that day, but it keeps me hungry for sure.”
Silver will open the season August 18th at Alamogordo.
