2022 Team Preview: Eldorado Eagles

Eldorado 2022 Preview   Head Coach: Charlie Dotson            Mascot: Eagles           Twitter: @EldoEaglesFB; @brendan_j_27; @BrandonOlivasQB   Colors: Texas Orange, Gold and White            2021 Record: 7-4 (6A First Round)                   Overview: Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='275430' first='Brandon' last='Olivas'] entered last season as the inexperienced backup to Elias Franco, but he ended up appearing in 8 games and attempting 105 passes with 7 touchdowns. Today he is Eldorado's presumptive starter (he's thrown the ball well during 7x7 season) although Josh Jackson, also a basketball player for the Eagles, brings unique skills and could have his own package of plays. Olivas has a strong arm but size (5-9) could be an issue as the season goes on.   Eldorado thought [player_tooltip player_id='138051' first='Nathan' last='Velez'] would be their No. 1 RB going into last season but he suffered a season-ending injury during the preseason scrimmage. Aidan St. John stepped in and rushed for 1,136 yards and 10 TD as a senior. Now a senior, the 5-foot-9, 195-pound Velez is back for one more season, although he' still not 100 percent yet less than one month before the season opener. The backup RB will be by committee. Three veterans return at wide receiver: junior [player_tooltip player_id='275436' first='Josiah' last='Mitchell'], senior Damien Lucero (team high 17 receptions in 2021) and junior Jessie Wells.      Eldorado has just one returning starter along the offensive line, senior Matthew Burke. Three or four underclassmen are expected to win starting roles. Moreover, the 2022 O-Line could be the smallest in Charlie Dotson's 16 years as Eagles head coach. Dotson prefers to play a physical brand of football and run the ball, but how much the Eagles are able to do that is a key question. As a result, Eldorado is still deciding how to handle pace of play and run/pass ratio. The Eagles' offensive identity remains a work in progress, and probably won't be fully known until the third or fourth week of the season.     Defensively, 6-foot-3, 215-pound all-district defensive end [player_tooltip player_id='335461' first='Brendan' last='Johnson'] (picked up first offer from Western Colorado earlier this week) returns after collecting 8 TFL and 6 sacks in 2021. He knows how to wreak havoc in the offensive backfield. The other two spots along the D-Line in Eldorado's 3-4 scheme will likely be by committee. Burke will see action at nose tackle. [player_tooltip player_id='138052' first='Mark' last='Pacheco'] returns to outside linebacker/strong safety after amassing 84 tackles last season. The other linebacker starting jobs will likely go to inexperienced players. Senior Cortland Dickman anchors the secondary.               Schedule: Eldorado begins the 2022 season with three straight home games, including a Week 2 ate Saturday morning tilt against Rio Rancho at Wilson Stadium. In the final seven games, the Eagles make two trips to the Four Corners and one to Clovis. The annual rivalry game against La Cueva is Sept. 30.     Aug. 19 CIBOLA   Aug. 27 RIO RANCHO (Sat.)   Sept. 3 ATRISCO HERITAGE (Sat.)   Sept. 8 at Piedra Vista (Thur.)   Sept. 16 at Clovis   Sept. 23 at Volcano Vista   Sept. 30 at La Cueva*   Oct. 7 SANDIA*   Oct. 14 Bye   Oct. 21 at Farmington*   Oct. 27 WEST MESA (Thur.)*   * District Game   Top Storyline: With so many young players along the offensive line and throughout the defense, will Eldorado achieve another 7+ win season and a 6A playoff spot?   Final Thoughts: Just like most other public high schools in northeast Albuquerque, Eldorado is battling a numbers game in a post-Covid world. Regardless, expectations are always high for the Eagles, especially when your arch-rival (La Cueva) is trending up. This summer, Eldorado has had 40 to 50 sophomores, juniors and seniors participating in summer workouts along with 35 freshmen. Since reaching the 6A Championship game in 2015, Eldorado seems to have settled into a 6-to-7 win program. In fact, the Eagles have 7 wins in three of the last four full seasons (2017-19, 2021). Declining enrollment will make jumping to the 8-win plateau very difficult. Dotson's dilemma, of course, is the often demanding Eldorado fan base expects more than just 7 wins and a first-round exit from the Class 6A playoffs. Youth and inexperience in the trenches is typically NOT a formula for success in football, so short term we'll see where this goes for the Eagles.   Coach's Comments: “We're going to be really young on the offensive and defensive lines because we don't have many returners. We have a few wide receivers and a quarterback with some experience. We have a new defensive coordinator and he's put in a new defense. He's done a great job. But whenever you put in a new system there's always a learning curve.” – Eldorado coach Charlie Dotson.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BrandonOlivasQB/status/1538671968299339776 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/brendan_j_27/status/1458868916432752646 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/EldoEaglesFB/status/1529277878273069056 </div></figure>                 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/EldoEaglesFB/status/1470817861744545797 </div></figure>

Eldorado 2022 Preview