2024 Look Ahead: Pojoaque Valley Elks

In the five previous seasons prior to Zeke Villegas taking over as Pojoaque Valley head coach, the Elks won more than two games just once – 2021 when they went 5-4. In the four other seasons (2022, 2017-19) PVHS was a combined 5-34.   By comparison, Pojoaque Valley's 3-7 record in 2023 (first year for Villegas) seems exemplary.   Make no mistake, everything about the Elks' program shouts progress. The numbers are up, the commitment level is up and so is the optimism. NINE Pojoaque Valley players made the five-to-six hour round trip to Grants for the Prep Redzone Combine in April.   Clearly, the PVHS players and the coaches want to get better, and they aren't satisfied with just three wins. The caveat, of course, is Pojoaque Valley has moved into Class 3A's toughest district and will compete against St. Michael's, Robertson, West Las Vegas, Hope Christian and Santa Fe Indian School for at least the next two years.   “It's Year 2 in the weight room,” Villegas told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “Our max lifts are way up over last year. We're having a real offseason and it's making a difference. And we have leaders and captains this year, which we didn't have last year. Injuries and lack of depth hurt us last year. Hopefully, we won't have those problems this year.”   Nineteen of 22 starters from last season are back.     Pojoaque Valley will have a new quarterback in 2024 after Ethan Meloy graduated. Sophomore Johua Gonzales and senior Mario Baros are spending the summer competing for the starting job. Both saw limited action at QB last season. Baros missed a portion of last season with a torn ACL but looks fully recovered at recent 7-on-7 events.   Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1129687' first='Jonah' last='Villegas'] has the potential to become one of the most dynamic running backs in northern New Mexico. Last season he gained over 700 yards rushing and averaged 203.3 yards per carry. He had 3 games of 100+ rushing yards. He showed good speed at the Prep Redzone Combine in April and will only get faster over the next few years. He also returned kicks and was the Elks' leading receiver.   “Jonah has been one of our leaders and captains,” Villegas said. “He's brought a winning mentality to our program. He continues to do that in the locker room. He will definitely double his number of carries this year.”   [player_tooltip player_id='1129687' first='Jonah' last='Villegas'] is also one of the Elks' top returning defenders after making 62 tackles with 6 passes defended as a defensive back in 2023.   Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1259062' first='Corey' last='Gonzales'] is slated to be the No. 2 RB for Pojoaque Valley after playing slot WR and LB in 2023. Six-foot-3, 210-pound senior Luke Pacheco will be the fullback. Sophomore Jaden Leyba-Mora will fill the scatback role along with Villegas. PVHS plans to add some RPO and speed option packages into their base run scheme.   Six-foot senior Killian Medina will be a slot receiver and he will be joined by three tall receivers: 6-foot-4 Andrew Martinez, 6-foot-2 Joshua Urioste and 6-foot-6 Serafin Mendez. Few schools anywhere will have a taller WR corps than Pojoaque Valley. Tight end AJ Talache stands 6-foot-2.   From a depth perspective, offensive line has probably shown the greatest improvement on the Elks. PVHS lost two starters from 2023. Senior right tackle [player_tooltip player_id='1248670' first='Ethyn' last='Boyd'] (6-3, 250), senior center Marcus Sandoval (5-11, 270), sophomore LT [player_tooltip player_id='1248684' first='Michaelangelo' last='Leapingwolf'] and senior LG [player_tooltip player_id='1248669' first='Dylan' last='Brandenburg'] anchor the offensive line. 6-foot-1 freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1827334' first='Jeremiah' last='Ortega'] has the edge at right guard. Talache has excellent blocking skills at tight end.   Defensively, Sandoval will be the nose guard in the middle with 6-foot-1 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1791354' first='Roman' last='Gonzales'] and Talache lining up at defensive end. Gonzales will be one of the outside linebackers with newcomer Joseph Garcia on the opposite side. Pacheco and [player_tooltip player_id='1248716' first='Matthew' last='Romero'] are the inside linebackers in Pojoaque Valley's 3-4 scheme.   Villegas returns at free safety. Strong safety is brewing to be a battle between several contenders. [player_tooltip player_id='1248675' first='Joaquin' last='Baca'] (2nd team All-District in 2023) and Medina are the cornerbacks.   Pojoaque Valley moves to Class 3A from 4A and opens the 2024 season with consecutive home games against Crownpoint, Hot Springs and Los Alamos. District 3A-2 plays begins in early October at Robertson.   “If not this year, I feel like in the following year we can be very competitive in our district,” Villegas said. “Class 3A is where we should be. We just have to weather the storm with some of those teams and compete this year and give ourselves a shot. If we're competitive, we have a chance to make the playoffs this year and get a taste of it.”           2024 POJOAQUE VALLEY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE:   Aug. 23 CROWNPOINT   Aug. 30 HOT SPRINGS   Sept. 6 LOS ALAMOS   Sept. 13 at Dexter   Sept. 20 HOZHO ACADEMY   Sept. 27 Bye   Oct. 4 at Robertson*   Oct. 11 HOPE CHRISTIAN*   Oct. 18 at Santa Fe Indian*   Oct. 25 ST. MICHAEL'S*   Nov. 1 at West Las Vegas*   * District 3A-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/CoachZekeV/status/1805979176366960841 </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/CoachZekeV/status/1804975589759316039 </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/Jonahv_23/status/1785834613471957341 </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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1779273753937264804 </div></figure>

In the five previous seasons prior to Zeke Villegas taking over as Pojoaque Valley head coach, the Elks won more than two games just once – 2021 when they went 5-4. In the four other seasons (2022, 2017-19) PVHS was a combined 5-34.