2022 Team Preview: Valley Vikings

Valley 2022 Preview   Head Coach: Billy Cobos             Mascot: Vikings            Twitter: @ValleyFB54; @CoachCobos77   Colors: Maroon, Gold & Gray             2021 Record: 4-7 (5A Playoffs First Round)                    Overview: The first major decision new Valley head coach Billy Cobos must make is who will start at quarterback. Last year's QB Caeden Jojola has been away most of the summer playing baseball. In his place, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1595733' first='Julian' last='Butkivich'] has taken most of the snaps during 7-on-7 season, and is steadily progressing towards earning the starting job. But he'll have to earn the spot in preseason camp. If Butkivich gets the nod, Jojola will likely move to running back. He rushed for 485 yards last season, finishing second on the team to returning senior RB Rickey Henderson (576 yards rushing + 8 TD), who serves as the jack-of-all trades for the Vikings from both a playing and leadership perspective.   The third RB will be junior Tazhe Wilson when he's not playing wide receiver.  Junior Natavious Stallworth has showcased impressive WR skills during 7-on-7 season and could emerge as the Vikings' top pass catcher in his 1st season with Valley. Junior Charles Lopez-Burton and [player_tooltip player_id='275556' first='Ezekiel' last='Ramos'] round out what could be a very good WR quartet. Three returners bolster the offensive line: junior Tomas Tafoya, junior Nicco Gomez and senior Tobias Troncoso.   Defensively, Henderson will spearhead the Valley defense from his LB spot in Valley's 4-2-5 scheme. He made 73 tackles last fall. Sophomore Christian Powell (31 tackles as a freshman in 2021) is the front-runner to play the other LB spot alongside Henderson. The lone returning starter on the defensive line is junior Alec Giron. In the secondary, junior [player_tooltip player_id='275594' first='Justin' last='Vigil'] will play strong safety after a stellar sophomore campaign (63 tackles). Joel Rodriguez should contribute to the secondary as well. Stallworth could play both ways, contributing to the defense at cornerback. Michael Ramos should be the free safety.      Schedule: Valley plays four if its first five games on the road, although the farthest they have to go is Belen in Week 4. After that stretch, the Vikings have four straight at home, including a non-district matchup with Piedra Vista. Their di  strict rivals are Del Norte, Los Alamos & Manzano.   Aug. 18 at Bernalillo (Thur.)   Aug. 26 CIBOLA   Sept. 2 at St. Pius X   Sept. 9 at Belen   Sept. 15 at Rio Grande (Thur.)   Sept. 24 PIEDRA VISTA (Sat.)   Oct. 1 PORTALES (Sat.)   Oct. 8 MANZANO* (Sat.)   Oct. 13 DEL NORTE (Thur.)*   Oct. 21 at Los Alamos*   * District Game   Top Storyline: Will Valley be able to take the next step and win a Class 5A playoff game in Billy Cobos' first year as head coach?      Final Thoughts: Led by the legendary Judge Chavez, who announced his retirement a few months ago, Valley qualified for the Class 5A playoffs last season. Many of those same players return this season under Cobos. Over the past decade, the Vikings have been on a roller-coaster ride. Up one year, down the next. Cobos will try to make the Valley program a consistent winner and an annual presence in  the 5A playoffs. So far, he's off to a nice start.   Coach's Comments: “Seven-on-7 gave our quarterbacks a good look at what they're probably going to face this season. [player_tooltip player_id='1595733' first='Julian' last='Butkivich'] has really turned the corner. He can really contribute to the success of this team. We hope Julian nails down the No. 1 QB job because we want Caeden Jojola to be our No. 1 running back. We're finally getting numbers as far as the varsity is concerned. It looks like we'll have a C team and possibly a JV team. We've been averaging 45 to 50 kids at summer workouts. Our kids are finally getting over Covid and parents are letting them do a little more. They're excited about what we're presenting to them. In order to be successful as a team, we need to have guys with a team-first attitude and be willing to play the positions we put them in. That's what the guys are showing us right now. They're starting to understand the brotherhood and what it takes. They're having fun.” – Valley coach Billy Cobos.                           <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ValleyFB54/status/1550555507089219584 </div></figure>

Valley 2022 Preview