2022 Team Preview: Artesia Bulldogs

<strong>Artesia 2022 Preview</strong> <strong>Head Coach</strong>: Jeremy Maupin <strong>Mascot</strong>: Bulldogs <strong>Twitter</strong>: @artesiafootball, @jeremy_maupin <strong>Colors</strong>: Orange and White <strong>2021 Record</strong>: 9-4 (5A Championship Game) <strong>Overview</strong>: Last year’s quarterback (Nathan Taylor) was a senior, continuing  a recent stretch of one-and-done starting QBs for the Bulldogs. Now it’s senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137932" first="Payton" last="Deans"]</strong>’ turn running the offense. Dean has been busy on the camping circuit this spring, absorbing all the information and instruction he can to boost his chances of leading Artesia to another state title. Last season he played mainly linebacker. At Artesia everything must be earned, so Deans will compete with 2024 QB <strong>Nye Estrada</strong> for the starting job. Estrada is also an excellent baseball player. Maupin hasn’t ruled out installing different packages for each QB and letting them both play. If the season started this week, that would likely be the case. Artesia must also find a successor to Jake Barrera, last season’s leading rusher. Maupin plans a running back by committee approach unless one of them grabs a hold onto the spot. Junior <strong>Jesse Leroch</strong>, senior <strong>Bradley Valenzuela</strong> and senior <strong>Benjamin Reza</strong> will compete for carries. Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="274793" first="Peyton" last="Greathouse"]</strong> comes into the season as Artesia’s #1 WR after an outstanding sophomore campaign in 2021. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138074" first="Devyn" last="Fierro"]</strong> will also play slot receiver. Senior <strong>Julian Rodriguez</strong> started last season at ‘X’ WR and returns to that same role in 2022. Junior <strong>Matt Saiz</strong> should  get his share of receptions along with big WR <strong>Cayden Joy</strong>. Along the offensive line, four guys who started games a season ago are back, led by right tackle <strong>Andrew Banguiano</strong>, who played center in 2021 and left tackle <strong>Kolby Wooten</strong>. <strong>Omar Salais</strong> is the new center. <strong>Jeremiah Gonzales</strong> returns at guard. Defensively, Artesia has struggled to stop opposing offenses in recent years, although the Bulldogs exhibited marked improvement in 2021. Maupin wants to see the Artesia defense continue to progress. <strong>Israel Calderon</strong> and <strong>Gage Donaghe</strong> return to the interior defensive line. Six-foot-3 DE <strong>Rylee Jarrett</strong> is back after leading Artesia in sacks last season. The Bulldogs secondary returns three of four starters. Junior safeties <strong>Jesse Armendariz</strong> and <strong>Phillip Finley</strong> are back. Finley ranked among the state leaders in interceptions last season. Two linebackers who tore ACLs last spring return to action in 2022 – <strong>Matthew Chavez</strong> and <strong>Ethan Ramirez</strong>. Both started as sophomores, so they’ll be welcomed back with open arms. OLB <strong>Diego Wesson</strong>, who started last season as a sophomore, returns to the second level of Artesia’s defense. <strong>Davian Molina</strong> is expected to move from safety to linebacker. <strong>Schedule</strong>: As always, Artesia opens the 2022 schedule with the Eddy County War against local rival Carlsbad followed by a trip to Hobbs in Week 2. Three of the first four games are at the Bulldog Bowl, but four of the final six are on the road, including trips to Cleveland, Goddard and Mayfield. Three of the seven non-district games are against Class 6A opponents. Aug. 19 CARLSBAD Aug. 26 at Hobbs Sept. 2 BELEN Sept. 9 DEMING Sept. 16 at Cleveland Sept. 23 at Lovington Sept. 30 SANTA TERESA Oct. 7 Bye Oct. 14 ROSWELL* Oct. 21 at Goddard* Oct. 29 at Mayfield* * District Game <strong>Top Storyline</strong>: After reaching the Class 5A state championship game in his first year as head coach, will Jeremy Maupin lead Artesia to its 31^st title in the long and proud history of the Bulldogs program? <strong>Final Thoughts</strong>: Jeremy Maupin enjoyed a nice first season as Artesia’s head coach, leading the Bulldogs to the Class 5A state championship game against Los Lunas. But at Artesia, that’s the expectation. [player_tooltip player_id="137932" first="Payton" last="Deans"] and [player_tooltip player_id="274793" first="Peyton" last="Greathouse"] have proven to be dynamic offensive players and both will be relied upon heavily in 2022. Among the biggest changes in Maupin’s first season was the improvement shown by the Bulldogs defense. It’s not totally back yet, but the number of points allowed dropped considerably. If the defense continues to progress, Artesia could make another deep run in the Class 5A playoffs. However, first they must survive their own district, one of the toughest in the state regardless of classification, and a challenging non-district slate. The Bulldogs will be fun to watch in 2022. <strong>Coach’s Comments</strong>: “I didn’t get here until May last year, so the biggest difference (between last year and this year) is having an entire off-season. We changed up a lot of things we were doing in the weight room and other things. We’re getting stronger and faster. Hopefully, that translates onto the football field. We believe it will. Being here the whole year has been good as we build the program up. [player_tooltip player_id="137932" first="Payton" last="Deans"] is a very good football player. Both of our quarterbacks do a lot of things. They’re different in how they play the game but we’re excited to have both. It’s possible they could both play. It depends on how the summer goes. They’re competing right now. We have a lot of guys at receiver that we’re excited about” - Artesia coach Jeremy Maupin. https://twitter.com/paytonDeans12/status/1541134254490259456 https://twitter.com/artesiafootball/status/1534670792348184576 https://twitter.com/PeytonGreathou2/status/1491892328088305683 https://twitter.com/jeremy_maupin/status/1535733373687185408