2021 Season Preview: Cibola Cougars
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Cibola 2021 Preview Head Coach: Rod Williams Mascot: Cougars Twitter: @cibolafootball; @CoachRodWill Colors: Brown, Gold & White Enrollment: 1,847 Spring Record: 2-0 Star Players: QB Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM…
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Continue ReadingCibola 2021 Preview
Head Coach: Rod Williams
Mascot: Cougars
Twitter: @cibolafootball; @CoachRodWill
Colors: Brown, Gold & White
Enrollment: 1,847
Spring Record: 2-0
Star Players: QB Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM , RB Anthony Garcia, DE Brayden Mummert Brayden Mummert 6'3" | 220 lbs | TE Cibola | 2023 State NM , LB/DE Maverick Gracio Maverick Gracio 6'4" | 205 lbs | LB Cibola | 2022 NM , LB Caden Lowry.
Breakout Star: DE Brayden Mummert Brayden Mummert 6'3" | 220 lbs | TE Cibola | 2023 State NM .
Overview: Chavez, our No. 1 prospect in the state’s 2023 class, is the shining star. He’s in the final stages of recovering from a broken collarbone suffered in Cibola’s second and final spring game. He should be 100 percent healthy by the time fall camp opens in early August. Cibola’s best wide receiver, Elijah Spaulding, has graduated, so the Cougars must find somebody new to catch Chavez’s laser beams. Replacing Spaulding will be tricky since he was so good at catching 50/50 balls. It could be up to Chavez to spread the ball around to different receivers, sort of a receiver by committee approach. Three starters return on the offensive line. Productive running back Slayd Campos Slayd Campos 5'7" | RB Cibola | 2021 State NM has graduated as well. Senior Anthony Garcia rises to the No. 1 spot after playing behind Campos for a couple of years. Defensively, Cibola should be outstanding in the defensive front seven, a unit led by 2023 DE Brayden Mummert Brayden Mummert 6'3" | 220 lbs | TE Cibola | 2023 State NM , DT Justin Gonzales Justin Gonzales 6'3" | 265 lbs | OL Cibola | 2022 State NM , LB/DE Maverick Gracio Maverick Gracio 6'4" | 205 lbs | LB Cibola | 2022 NM and LB Caden Lowry.
Schedule: Cibola has one of the most challenging schedules in the state. It begins with a battle against La Cueva and features games against Las Cruces, Rio Rancho and Cleveland.
8/21 at La Cueva
8/27 Las Cruces
9/3 Bye
9/10 at Eldorado
9/17 at Los Lunas
9/24 Highland
10/1 at Rio Rancho
10/8 Cleveland
10/15 West Mesa
10/22 at Atrisco Heritage
10/29 Volcano Vista
Top Storyline: After years of struggle, is Cibola finally really to break through and join the elite of Class 6A?
Final Thoughts: Cibola hasn’t won more than seven games in a single season since 2007 when they went 10-2. But with Chavez – a generational talent – at the controls, the Cibola offense should be fun to watch. If the offense gets rolling, and the defense plays as well as the coaches expect, the Cougars should be a legitimate contender for a high seed and a threat to make a deep run in the Class 6A playoffs. But to get there, they’ll have to maneuver through a challenging regular season schedule featuring games against La Cueva, Las Cruces, Los Lunas, Rio Rancho, Cleveland, West Mesa and Volcano Vista.
Coach’s Comments: “We got on the right track last year, so it’s going to be a matter of whether we can keep it rolling. We bring back a lot of guys that took leadership roles last year. We’ve had some good teams and some high expectations in previous years, but this is the highest expectations we’ve had in a while. . .Aden is a great talent and a great student. He’s a very good leader. He does all the work. For him, it’s just about continuing to develop how he works. He has the work ethic. He just has to work on his technique and doing the same drills over and over to perfect that. I want him to be the best at every drill. He can’t get complacent. He has to outwork everybody on our team. The sky is the limit for him. He has to have a big junior season. . .For our defense, the key word is potential. If we’re going to be a good team, they have to be solid. The offense gets the limelight but last season our defense played lights out. The key will be how quickly they pick up the scheme and then executing it. We definitely have some talent on that side of the ball. I expect big things from those guys.” – Rod Williams.
@TexasTechFB Camp@cibolafootball @CoachRodWill @PrepRedzoneNM pic.twitter.com/2FqQNON6O2
— Aden Chavez (@AdenChavez08) June 14, 2021
TE & DE work today @TexasTechFB camp! Looong HOT day, but worth it to get better! @PrepRedzoneNM @nmpreps @cibolafootball @CoachRodWill pic.twitter.com/tKqtwlbSlz
— Brayden Mummert (@BraydenMummert) June 14, 2021
@PrepRedzoneNMhttps://t.co/AskOoAo57R pic.twitter.com/a00D9eZJXz
— Aden Chavez (@AdenChavez08) June 8, 2021
Congratulations to our All State Cibola football players!
-Elijah Spaulding 1st team WR, HM DB
-Aden Chavez 2nd team QB
Slayd Campos 2nd team RB
Maverick Gracio 2nd team DE
Castle Brownell 2nd team MLB
Donald Sells 2nd team DL
Justin Gonzales 2nd team OL
NathanLopez HM WR#dawgt— Cibola Football (@cibolafootball) April 22, 2021
Found on the @_NMAA YouTube Channel, Sounds of the game@cibolafootball @CoachRodWill
OLine Protection and @ELSpaulding6 pic.twitter.com/IbzM7CGxBn— Aden Chavez (@AdenChavez08) April 20, 2021