Team Preview: Cleveland

<strong>Cleveland Storm 2020 Preview</strong> <strong>Head Coach</strong>: Heath Ridenour <strong>Mascot</strong>: Storm <strong>Twitter</strong>: @CHSStormFB, @Coach_Ridenour <strong>Enrollment</strong>: 2,450 <strong>2019 Record</strong>: 11-2 <strong>Star Players</strong>: QB [player_tooltip player_id="26185" first="Jeff" last="Davison"], RB/DB [player_tooltip player_id="26163" first="Trey" last="Ortega"], WR/TE [player_tooltip player_id="26156" first="Tre" last="Watson"], WR/CB [player_tooltip player_id="26158" first="Luke" last="Wysong"]; WR [player_tooltip player_id="26173" first="Trevon" last="Dennard"], RB [player_tooltip player_id="26178" first="Tyler" last="Jensen"], DB David Murphy. <strong>Breakout Star</strong>: DT Phattboy Loveless. <strong>Overview</strong>: What does the reigning Class 6A state champions do for an encore? Get better. First, nearly every major contributor on offense returns in the spring, and to that array of weapons the Storm adds La Cueva transfer Tyler Jenson, who has overcome cancer and a severe leg injury the past two years. QB [player_tooltip player_id="26185" first="Jeff" last="Davison"], going into his third season as the Storm starter, hopes to stay healthy after missing five games last year with a shoulder injury. He returned in time for the playoffs and helped lead Cleveland to the title. He certainly has plenty of guys to throw to down the field. Two have already committed to FBS schools – [player_tooltip player_id="26156" first="Tre" last="Watson"] (Fresno State) and the speedy [player_tooltip player_id="26158" first="Luke" last="Wysong"] (New Mexico). Watson missed seven games in 2019 with a broken arm. He’ll line up at a variety of spots. Wysong is the fastest player on the team, making him a major threat vertically and on fly sweeps. [player_tooltip player_id="26173" first="Trevon" last="Dennard"] will play at the next level as well. Defensively, DT Phattboy Loveless is a member of the All-Name team. [player_tooltip player_id="26163" first="Trey" last="Ortega"] and David Murphy are a strong safety duo in the secondary with [player_tooltip player_id="26158" first="Luke" last="Wysong"] at cornerback. <strong>Schedule</strong>: TBA. Season opener is Thur., March 4 at Los Lunas. <strong>Top Storyline</strong>: Can anybody stop the ultra-talented Storm offense? Unless a defense brings its A-plus game, probably not. You’ll need a calculator to keep track of the points scored by Cleveland. <strong>Final Thoughts</strong>: The season opener at Los Lunas is one of the most intriguing games of the scheduled opening weekend (March 4-6) in the spring. Not only will we get out first look at the vaunted Storm’s offense, but they’ll go up against the state’s top defensive player – Los Lunas DE [player_tooltip player_id="26153" first="Tyler" last="Kiehne"], who is committed to UCLA. Davison doesn’t have any offers yet but a big senior year could turn some heads. He has rarely lost a game since becoming Cleveland’s starting WB in 2018. How Jensen, who stunned the Albuquerque high school football community with his move from La Cueva to Cleveland, impacts the Storm’s offense is a fascinating storyline. It’s not as if the Storm were lacking in running backs (two return from 2019 – senior Demetrius Banks and junior Lucious Dickson), and with so many talented wide receivers, how many touches will Jensen get in a game? Good question. With so much talent in NW Rio Rancho, it would be an upset if Cleveland didn’t reach the 6A state championship game for the third straight season. <strong>Coach’s Comments</strong>: “We can’t dwell on last year’s success or last year’s failures. You have to find your process and stick to it. We have a 12-month process here at Cleveland. We’ll tweak a few things, but we’re not fat and happy in any way from last year’s championship. We’re still pretty hungry to get back onto the field and prove we can do it again. We have a lot of experience on our coaching staff. They will set the tone for our kids. Getting to the top is tough but staying there is even tougher. Therein lies the challenge. We just have to focus on the process. We preach that all the time.” - Heath Ridenour. https://twitter.com/SportsFanaticP1/status/1298819305635643392 https://twitter.com/CHSStormFB/status/1282000758217424898