2021 Season Preview: Alamogordo Tigers

<strong>Alamogordo 2021 Preview</strong> Head Coach: AJ Cisco Mascot: Tigers Twitter: @AlamoFootball, @CoachCiscoAHS Colors: Black, Gold, White Enrollment: 1,419 Spring Record: 3-2 Key Players: QB [player_tooltip player_id="134979" first="Anthony" last="Mello"], RB [player_tooltip player_id="137929" first="Amarius" last="Wedlow"], OL John Cunningham, OL/DL Jonathan Audette, WR/DB Michael Metcalf, LB [player_tooltip player_id="138069" first="Ryan" last="Stovall"], LB Damon Mayberry. Breakout Star: LB [player_tooltip player_id="138069" first="Ryan" last="Stovall"]. Overview: Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134979" first="Anthony" last="Mello"]</strong> is now a senior and has taken on a larger leadership role. Mello is still a secret to many around the state because he sat out his entire sophomore season with an injury and his junior year was limited to five games.  Sophomore <strong>Elijah Montoya</strong> will be the backup. The biggest change for the Tigers comes at running back where [player_tooltip player_id="26190" first="Sean" last="Hays"] has graduated after a prolific prep career. Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137929" first="Amarius" last="Wedlow"]</strong> is most likely to become the new No. 1 RB. He made his first career start against Artesia in the spring and ran for over 125 yards on 20 carries. Wedlow will compete with senior <strong>Joshua Sanchez</strong> for the starting job. Alamogordo is tweaking the offensive scheme to better fit the skill sets of Mello, Wardlow and Sanchez. Even though Alamogordo still wants to run the football, the new look offense will be built more around space and speed. Most of the Tigers’ wide receivers have graduated as well. <strong>Michael Metcalf</strong> and <strong>Elias Matta</strong> should be two of Mello’s top targets in the passing game. Wedlow will catch some passes as well out of the backfield. One returning starter returns on the offensive line – center <strong>John Cunningham</strong>. But he will likely be moved to offensive tackle.  Last season’s tight end, <strong>Jonathan Audette</strong>, is being moved to O-Line to help fill the void. Defensively, ILB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138069" first="Ryan" last="Stovall"]</strong> is one of the top 2023 prospects in the state for a reason. He’s big, strong and can run. <strong>Damon Mayberry</strong> is the other ILB. Together, Stovall and Mayberry run the defense. Junior Maison Tripp anchors the defensive line along with Audette. Metcalf is the only returning starter in the secondary. Schedule: Alamogordo plays three of its first four games at home, including a matchup against Lovington that follows a road trip to Los Lunas. After a well-timed bye, Class 5A-4 district play begins with a home game against Goddard. The Tigers conclude the regular season with road trips to Roswell and Artesia. Aug. 20 VALENCIA Aug. 27 at Los Lunas Sept. 3 LOVINGTON Sept. 10 SANTA TERESA Sept. 17 at Gadsden Sept. 24 DEMING Oct. 1 at Chaparral Oct. 8 Bye Oct. 15 GODDARD Oct. 22 at Roswell Oct. 29 at Artesia Top Storyline: How will the Alamogordo offense fare without workhorse RB [player_tooltip player_id="26190" first="Sean" last="Hays"] with a different scheme built more around speed. Final Thoughts: Alamogordo has come a long way since going 0-10 in Cisco’s first season at the helm in 2017. Since then, their winning percentage has steadily increased every year. The Tigers qualified for the Class 5A playoffs in 2019 and finished the shortened spring campaign above .500 (3-2). Like many programs around the state, the numbers are down a bit since 2019 because of covid. The senior class is small (12-15 players) compared to previous seasons, but the junior (2023) and sophomore (2024) classes are bigger in numbers, extremely talented and filled with promise, a good sign moving forward. In fact, many of Alamogordo’s best players this season are underclassmen. Coach’s Comments: “[player_tooltip player_id="134979" first="Anthony" last="Mello"] has had to take on a leadership role because he’s one of the few seniors we’ve got. He’s had to be a leader to all our young kids to help them grow up. We’re going to be dependent on those sophomores and juniors to play on Friday. He grew up in the spring. We were a little unsure how he would do because of his injury s a sophomore, but he made some nice throws for us that we haven’t had since I’ve been here. . Anthony is a big, strong kid that works hard. He’s starting to relish his leadership role. . .We’re going to be a little different on offense this season. Last season there was no secret what we were going to do. We were going to give the ball to our big running back (Hays) and hammer people 30 to 35 times per game. Our new running backs are a little more explosive. We are going to try to be creative and get them into space. . .Our wide receivers are going to have to grow up and play. Nobody outside of our program has probably heard of them. But they’re going to have to play fast and play well.  . .Our kids know we win games based on our linemen. They have to grow up, be physical and buy into our culture. . .Our inside linebackers run our entire defense. Everybody listens to them and it’s their show. They do a great job with it. . .We play in the SEC of Class 5A in New Mexico” – <strong>AJ Cisco</strong> https://twitter.com/CharlesWiniecki/status/1422551980552060930