2024 Look Ahead: Sandia Matadors

Prior to the 2023 season, Sandia hadn't won more than seven games in a season for a decade, a streak dating back to 2013 when the Matadors reached the Class 5A playoff quarterfinals.   So, Sandia head coach Chad Adcox's message to his team a year ago at the beginning of summer workouts was clear – the time had come for the Matadors to escape the 4-to-6 win rut and make some noise in Class 6A.   Needless to say, his players heeded the call to arms.   Sandia finished the regular season 8-2 and earned the No. 4 seed in the 6A playoffs before being ousted by Rio Rancho in the quarterfinals. Can the Matadors do it again?   “Last year I was finally able to get the team and the culture the way I wanted it,” said Adcox, who took over the Sandia program in 2019. “It took me a while. Covid really set us back. This past year, we finally got the kids to buy into what we had been trying to establish as a culture.   “With that buy-in, we were able to win some close games. I'm sure we surprised some teams. I thought we could be fairly competitive. Obviously, we're still trying to get to that next tier. But I like where we're going. We're going in the right direction of being a tough team to play.”   Sandia was 4-0 in games decided by 8 points or less in 2023.   In order to sustain the success the Matadors experienced last year, they'll need to replace a talented core of graduating seniors led by Hunter Maldonado, Grayson Frederich, Jacob Adcox and QB Cruz Rivera.   Rivera's successor will likely be 6-foot-3, 210-pound rising sophomore Jahleel Lewis, last season's backup.   “He has all the physical tools,” Adcox said of Lewis. “He'll have to develop mentally, learn how to play quarterback and learn to play at a higher level. Once he does that, he'll be very good. But sometimes you never know with a sophomore. They can step right in and be fine and other times you take your lumps.”   Rising senior Cyruize Galbreath was Sandia's second-leading running back last season behind Maldonado, but he suffered a neck injury in the final regular season game against Cibola. He'll be closely monitored when Sandia practices in pads for two weeks. He'll compete with rising senior Lucas Hoswell and rising freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1613382' first='Gad' last='Harris'], a basketball standout (he played varsity as an 8th-grader), for the starting job. Rising sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1155132' first='Aiden' last='Maldonado'] should be in the mix as well after 24 carries for the varsity in 2023.   Rising senior [player_tooltip player_id='1119683' first='Joey' last='Harris'] (35 receptions for 541 yards and team high 6 TD) inherits the No. 1 WR role with Jacob Adcox and Frederich both graduating. Rising senior Isaiah Chavez was the No. 4 WR last year with 23 receptions. He'll see a lot more balls thrown in his direction in 2024. Rising sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1679790' first='Hayden' last='Frederich'], younger brother of Grayson, will compete to get on the field.    “Last season Joey saw a lot of single coverage and did a great job with his opportunities,” Adcox said. “Now he's going to see  a lot of double coverage. Isaiah will probably move inside and play some slot for us.   Three of last season's five starters on the offensive line return. Six-foot-4 LT Demetri Smith, 6-foot-2 RT Avren Hanway and 6-foot-1, 280-pound C Robert Deherrera all return. Smith has started for two years. Both guard spots are open.   “I feel more confident about the offensive line going into this year than I did last year,” Adcox said. “We had a lot of young guys on the O-Line last year and we had to mix and match throughout the season. I think Deherrera is really going to take a step forward. He had to learn to be more physical. He's a junior, so after this season he's going to start getting some looks. We're going to have some decent size on the O-Line this season compared to last year.   Defensively, the leader will be MLB [player_tooltip player_id='1259042' first='Jeremiah' last='Bustillos'], who had a team-high 87 tackles in 2023. He's entering his third season as a starter. First-Team All-Metro OLB [player_tooltip player_id='1259059' first='Thomas' last='Adams'] (6-3, 185) is also going into his third year as a starter. Adams is very athletic and an outstanding basketball player with at least one college offer.   The biggest question mark on defense is at cornerback, where both starters (Hunter Maldonado and Juanito Cruz)  from last season must be replaced. However, safeties Preston Richey and [player_tooltip player_id='1267021' first='Israel' last='Lopez'] are back.   The defense line must replace two starters from a season ago. The lone returning starter is rising senior Steven Quezada.               2024 SANDIA FOOTBAL SCHEDULE   Aug. 24 PIEDRA VISTA (Sat., 1 p.m.)   Aug. 30 at Cibola (7 p.m.)   Sept. 6 at Volcano Vista (7 p.m.)   Sept. 13 LA CUEVA ( 7 p.m.)*   Sept. 20 SANTA FE (7 p.m.)*   Sept. 27 ATRISCO HERITAGE (7 p.m.)*   Oct. 4 Bye   Oct. 11 at Eldorado (7 p.m.)*   Oct. 18 WEST MESA (7 p.m.)*   Oct. 25 at Albuquerque High (7 p.m.)*   Nov. 1 at Los Lunas (7 p.m.)*   * District 6A-2 Game   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Isaiah_A_Chavez/status/1779270516580442486 </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/JahleelLewis1/status/1792589793785749998 </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/Quezada9Steven/status/1774240812152275100 </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/_ATrain_33/status/1793383816117334099 </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/joey_harris88/status/1774158257017311743 </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/SandiaMatadors/status/1736576702594330907 </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/SandiaMatadors/status/1736576548805992549 </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/adams_thomas11/status/1776284120114434216 </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/CoachAdcox/status/1728230442703487240 </div></figure>

Prior to the 2023 season, Sandia hadn't won more than seven games in a season for a decade, a streak dating back to 2013 when the Matadors reached the Class 5A playoff quarterfinals.