2023 Team Preview: Taos Tigers

Taos 2023 Preview   Head Coach: Art Abreu                    Mascot: Tigers                   Twitter: @abreu_art (Secured); @TaosSchools   Colors: Orange and Black                        2022 Record: 10-2 (4A Semifinals)                              Overview: You can count on one hand the number of New Mexico high school football teams that won 10 straight games in 2022. Taos is one of them as they ripped off 10 consecutive victories after dropping the season opener to St. Michael's in Santa Fe. They didn't lose again until November when they fell to eventual 4A champion Bloomfield in the playoff semifinals. The good news for Taos is after playing home games in Questa last season due to the installation of new stadium turf the Tigers will return to their rightful place in 2023.   That new field will see some new faces. Last season's quarterback Dameon Ely has graduated and the new QB will be rising sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='853710' first='Evan' last='Salazar'], who started every game at cornerback as a freshman in 2022 and finished with 38 tackles and 5 passes defended.  Top returning rusher [player_tooltip player_id='615432' first='Mateo' last='Salazar'] (359 yards and 6 TD on 96 carries, 2nd most on team)  ascends to the No. 1 RB position after a solid sophomore campaign in 2022. Who's the No. 2 RB? TBD. Right now, Salazar looks to be the guy for the next two seasons.   Last season's top receiver (Favian Cordova) has graduated but two-way standout [player_tooltip player_id='275570' first='Noah' last='Washington'] returns and he should be Salazar's top target in the passing game. He may be the best kept secret in northern New Mexico. Rising senior [player_tooltip player_id='592021' first='Lionel' last='Salazar'] – Evan's older brother - will provide support to Washington in the passing game. The left side of the offensive line returns in tact and should;dbe formidable (LT Jedrek “Big Yeti” Jozwiak & LG Lucion Martinez). [player_tooltip player_id='275598' first='Jerome' last='Martinez'] will play the other guard spot.   Defensively, Jozwiak returns at defensive end for his third year there as a starter. He started as a freshman in 2021. Tigers coach Art Abreu expects Jozwiak to make a big leap as a junior in 2023 by setting the edge and rushing the quarterback. 2026 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='853712' first='Saul' last='Hernandez'] is expected to win a job along the defensive line as well. Hernandez is highly regarded for his strength, toughness, quickness and coachability. He plays with a mean streak, endearing him to his teammates. Hernandez could be a star in the making. [player_tooltip player_id='275598' first='Jerome' last='Martinez'] and rising sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='853713' first='Reggie' last='Suazo'] headline the linebacker corps. [player_tooltip player_id='275570' first='Noah' last='Washington'] had 5 interceptions as the Tigers' free safety in 2022. He'll be joined by [player_tooltip player_id='592021' first='Lionel' last='Salazar'] and [player_tooltip player_id='853710' first='Evan' last='Salazar'] at cornerback.   Schedule: Taos hosts St. Michael's in the traditional season opener before hitting the road for two games at Los Alamos and Rio Grande HS in Albuquerque. Keep an eye on the consecutive matchups with Bernalillo and Aztec in late Sept. Those should be highly competitive, hard-fought games. District play begins Oct. 13 against Espanola Valley, the final home game of the season.     Aug. 18 ST. MICHAEL'S   Aug. 25 at Los Alamos   Sept. 1 at Rio Grande   Sept. 9 GALLUP (Sat.)   Sept. 15 Bye   Sept. 22 BERNALILLO   Sept. 29 at Aztec   Oct. 7 GRANTS (Sat.)   Oct. 13 ESPANOLA VALLEY*   Oct. 20 at Pojoaque Valley*   Oct. 27 at Moriarty*    * District Game        Coach's Comments: “With the new turf and a new team, I've got some new toys. Our two loses last season were to as state champion (Bloomfield) and a runners-up (St. Mike's in 3A). . .Even though Evan will be a fresh face for us at quarterback, he comes into this with some seasoned experience. He has had a heckuva offseason with everything we've done. He's a vocal leader and has a near perfect GPA. We graduated a big-time athlete at that QB position but we've replaced him with a kid who is mentally tough and is a high academic kid. . .Getting [player_tooltip player_id='615432' first='Mateo' last='Salazar'] back at running back is a big thing for us. He had a lot of carries at the varsity level. He stepped up when we lost one of our older guys. He was toting the ball 15-20 times per game as a sophomore. He really helped us out. . .Everybody should be talking more about [player_tooltip player_id='275570' first='Noah' last='Washington']. He's going to be good. He's going to be a heckuva receiver and we'll get him the ball in space to let him operate. I think he's a Top 50 player in New Mexico. This will be his third year as a starter. Last season we started going vertically to Noah and it worked. [player_tooltip player_id='592021' first='Lionel' last='Salazar'] is going to have a big year” – Taos coach Art Abreu.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/NoahWashing_1/status/1482863420298838016?s=20 </div></figure>

Taos 2023 Preview