2021 Season Preview: Roswell Coyotes

<strong>Roswell 2021 Preview</strong> Head Coach: Jeff Lynn Mascot: Coyotes Twitter: @CoyotesRising, @JeffJeffLynn1 Colors: Dark Crimson, Black and White. Enrollment: 1,309 Spring Record: 2-2. Star Players: QB <strong>Richard Arreola</strong>, RB <strong>Christian Hernandez</strong>, OL <strong>Joseph Renteria</strong>, OL <strong>Juan Carlos Alvarez</strong>, DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138207" first="Remi" last="Villa"]</strong>. Breakout Star: DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138207" first="Remi" last="Villa"]</strong>. <strong>Overview</strong>: Lynn likes to employ senior quarterbacks, and it’s <strong>Richard Arreola</strong>’s turn to lead the offense. He is better known for his accurate throwing arm than anything else. But he’s fast and can run. Look for the Coyotes to play to Arreola’s strengths with more power runs, zone read and gun option plays on offense. The top running back is junior <strong>Christian Hernandez</strong>, who will likely see his first significant action at running back for the varsity this season. Sophomore <strong>Bryce Nanchez</strong>, known for his bruising running style, is the backup. <strong>Jonah Gamboa</strong> fills the fullback/H-Back role. Sophomore <strong>Gordon Weathersby</strong> is an emerging wide receiver. <strong>ARay Lucero</strong> will get his share of catches as well. The offensive line figures to be a strength. The unit is led by 6-foot-1, 260-pound senior <strong>Joseph Renteria</strong> and senior <strong>Juan Carlos Alvarez</strong>, arguably the strongest player on the team (he can squat 500 pounds). Most of the other OL spots are up for grabs. Defensively, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138207" first="Remi" last="Villa"]</strong> will make noise at defensive line. Like most quality D-Linemen, he’s big (280-290 pounds) and can move. That makes him a legitimate prospect for the next level. Senior <strong>Jeff Irish</strong> will make plays too. The linebackers are largely inexperienced at the varsity level. As you might expect, there’s plenty of competition. The secondary was also hit hard by graduation, including Eastern New Mexico signee Talon Sanders. <strong>Schedule</strong>: Roswell isn’t backing down to anybody with their 2021 schedule, hosting Class 5A bowl winner Farmington at the Wool Bowl in the season opener on Aug. 20. They also face Lovington, Hobbs, Los Lunas, Carlsbad and Mayfield in non-district play. The annual battles with Artesia and Goddard highlight the late October schedule. Aug. 20 FARMINGTON Aug. 27 at Lovington Sept. 3 at Hobbs Sept. 10 LOS LUNAS Sept. 17 at Carlsbad Sept. 24 MAYFIELD Oct. 8 at Dumas (TX) Oct. 15 ARTESIA Oct. 22 ALAMOGORDO Oct. 29 at Goddard (Wool Bowl) <strong>Top Storyline</strong>: After an up-and-down spring, will Roswell regain the championship form from 2018 and 2019? <strong>Final Thought</strong>s: Roswell won back-to-back Class 5A titles in 2018-19 with tough, hard-nosed, smashmouth football. Now they’re looking to regain that championship-winning form with numerous new faces. The Coyotes will look a little different with a slightly different scheme on offense and a rebuilt defensive back seven. Regardless, the Coyotes expect to win every time they take the field, and even if the 2021 season serves as sort of a transition year, Roswell should be back battling for championships soon. That’s the DNA of the program. <strong>Coach’s Comments</strong>: “We have about 110 to 120 players in the program, but we’re young. We only have about 12 or 13 seniors that will contribute, which is different for us. The last two or three years we’ve had 20 to 30 seniors. So, we’re a little short on our senior class. But we have a real good junior class and maybe the best sophomore class since I’ve been here. We might take our lumps early, but we have some talent. We need to coach ‘em up and get them going. . .Richard Arreola doesn’t have a big arm and he’s not real big, but he’s quick. We might be a little different offensively but he’s very capable. He’s a good leader. We’re excited about Richard. He’s been in the program for four years and he’s paid his dues. It’s his turn. . .The schemes may change but we’ll always be a run-first football team. . .Christian Hernandez is unproven but he’s very athletic and quick. When he gets out into the open field he can strike up the band and sing the fight song. He can run. . .We’ll usually play two running backs at all times. . .We’ve been a very junior/senior oriented team but since our senior class is thin, some of our younger guys will have to play. . .We have some big boys on the offensive line like Renteria and Alvarez. They’ll both be very good for us. We’re looking for leadership from those guys. We have competition at some of the offensive line spots, so we have to figure out who is going to earn those spots. . . We lost our entire secondary and that’s probably the biggest question mark on our team, who’s going to play on the back end. We have talent there, so it will be interesting to see who steps up and claims those starts. We may start sophomores back there. . .This is a different group. We’re taking a little bit different angle. I don’t think we’re the favorites going in. But we have a very good coaching staff. Those guys know what we have to do. They’ll have us there at the end.” – <strong>Jeff Lynn</strong>. https://twitter.com/CoyotesRising/status/1411703358222520324 https://twitter.com/CoyotesRising/status/1409148478752628736