2025 Team Preview: Bernalillo Spartans
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<p><strong>2025 BERNALILLO SPARTANS PREVIEW</strong></p>
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<p><strong>OVERVIEW</strong></p>
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<p>Bernalillo has been on an upswing over the past two seasons after suffering through a 2-8 record in 2022. They reached the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs in 2023 (8-4) before earning a top four seed and advancing to the semifinals last fall, finishing 9-3. The Spartans expect to be involved in the championship chase again.</p>
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<p>“We're definitely going to throw our name into the hat again this year,” Bernalillo head coach John Cobos told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “Our kids remember the feeling when they walked off the field at Bloomfield (after 65-14 mercy-rule loss in semifinals). How do we respond? We know we have to step up our game. We've tried to solidify our program and be contender every year. I think we've done that.”</p>
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<p>The Spartans lose their starting quarterback and most productive running back from last season, but return several other major contributors on both sides of the ball.</p>
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<p><strong>OFFENSE</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Top 3 Players: [player_tooltip player_id='1752436' first='Anthony' last='Willie'] </strong>(QB), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599893' first='Joseph' last='Duran']</strong> (WR), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853757' first='Ulisses' last='Castro']</strong> (WR).</p>
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<p>Bernalillo must replace three-year starter Uriel Castro at quarterback. Castro threw for nearly 6,000 yards and 71 TD for the Spartans, so he'll be difficult to replace. That responsibility falls to rising senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1752436' first='Anthony' last='Willie']</strong>, who has thrown the ball well and displayed tremendous accuracy during 7-on-7 season.</p>
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<p>“Anthony has really been chomping at the bit and looking forward to his time to be our quarterback and lead our offense,” Cobos said. “It comes with great responsibility. Anthony knows the things we accomplished under Uriel. Anthony is very coachable. He understands the checkdowns. Anthony is a very good progression quarterback. He'll go through his reads, provided we give him the time.”</p>
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<p>Bernalillo was close to being evenly balanced between runs and throws in 2024. Cobos, though, would like to see the Spartans run the ball a little more this season. The Spartans' top two rushers graduated and nobody returns who had more than 85 rushing yards in 2024.</p>
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<p>“I thought we underutilized our running backs out of the backfield last season,” Cobos said. “It was because of the dynamic that Uriel loved to get the ball down the field. I felt like we should have given our running backs more opportunities. Our offensive line is going to dictate a whole lot of that. We need to respond if the defense tries to dictate us one way.”</p>
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<p>Bernalillo will rely heavily on the rising senior twosome of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267039' first='Josh' last='Barajas']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853756' first='Mario' last='Molinar']</strong> to carry the football this season. Cobos described them as ‘Thunder and Lightning.' Barajas isn't a big guy but he's plenty fast (runs 100 meters in about 11 seconds) and possesses great quickness and burst. Molinar is a tackling machine at linebacker but he also saw time at RB last season, carrying 16 times. Rising sophomore <strong>Timoteo Martinez y Marr</strong> has promise.</p>
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<p>“We're really looking forward to seeing Mario run the football,” Cobos said. “It would be very good if we could establish the run more and make it easier to get the ball down the field in the passing game because we have a great receiving corps coming back.” </p>
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<p>Willie has plenty of wide receiver weapons at his disposal. In fact, last season's top four receivers return. Class 4A First-Team All-State WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599893' first='Joseph' last='Duran']</strong> is back after catching 37 passes for 941 yards (25.4 yards per reception) and 12 TD. The dynamic Duran possesses great speed and stretches defenses vertically.</p>
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<p>Six-foot-3, 200-pound rising junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853757' first='Ulisses' last='Castro']</strong> (younger brother of Uriel) is a tall target and possesses freakish athleticism. He's one of Prep Redzone's top 2027 prospects in the state. Last season he led the Spartans with 38 receptions for 591 yards and 6 TD. Castro and Duran give Bernalillo one of the best WR duos in the state this season.</p>
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<p>But there's more. Rising seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599971' first='Kenneth' last='Saiz']</strong> (18 receptions in 2024) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599962' first='Ivan' last='Ruiz']</strong> (21) add quality depth and experience to the WR position, and both should get plentiful opportunities to catch the football.</p>
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<p>“All those weapons are back for Anthony,” Cobos said. “We're looking forward to seeing what he can do with that.”</p>
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<p>Rising senior center <strong>Tarynce ‘TJ' Pino</strong> anchors the Spartan offensive line. Rising junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1787868' first='Xavier' last='Lucero']</strong> will be the left tackle. The right tackle spot should be filled by 6-foot-4, 270-pound rising senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1752446' first='Warren' last='Cooper']</strong>, who is being recruited by several D2 schools in the region. Six-foot-2, 380-pound rising junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1787881' first='Avery' last='Gutierrez']</strong> will be the left guard. The right guard spot is up for grabs between rising freshman <strong>Emiliano Trujillo</strong> and rising sophomore <strong>Mathais Samuel</strong>. </p>
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<p><strong>DEFENSE</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Top 3 Players: [player_tooltip player_id='853756' first='Mario' last='Molinar'] </strong>(LB), <strong>TJ Pino</strong> (DL), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853757' first='Ulisses' last='Castro']</strong> (LB). <strong> </strong></p>
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<p>Rising senior inside linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853756' first='Mario' last='Molinar']</strong> is the undisputed leader of Bernalillo's ‘Goon Squad' defense. In three years, Molinar has amassed 223 tackles, including 99 last year, 21.0 TFL, 6 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles. He was a 4A First-Team All-State selection at ILB. Simply, Molinar has an exceptional nose for the football and makes plays.</p>
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<p>Alongside Molinar at ILB will be rising junior <strong>Dusty Debeer</strong> (49 tackles last year as backup). <strong>Timoteo Martinez y Marr</strong> (see above) will backup Molinar and Debeer at inside LB. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853757' first='Ulisses' last='Castro']</strong> (65 tackles, 13.0 TFL, team high 10 sacks, 13.0 QB pressures) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267039' first='Josh' last='Barajas']</strong> will be the outside LBs.</p>
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<p>It could be defensive line-by-committee for the Spartans. <strong>Tarynce ‘TJ' Pino</strong> (see above) will be the leader. He has started on the D-Line since he was a sophomore. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1752446' first='Warren' last='Cooper']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1787881' first='Avery' last='Gutierrez']</strong> should also see action along the D-Line. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1787868' first='Xavier' last='Lucero']</strong> will be one of the defensive ends. Essentially, most of the projected starting O-Line will also play D-Line.</p>
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<p>Continuing the two-platoon theme, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599893' first='Joseph' last='Duran']</strong> (77 tackles and 3 INT in 2024) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599962' first='Ivan' last='Ruiz']</strong> (52 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 4 INT) will be the two starters at safety. Rising junior <strong>Nicholas Garcia-Guillen</strong> will be one of the key backups at safety.</p>
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<p>The cornerbacks are rising seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1316121' first='David' last='Abeita']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599971' first='Kenneth' last='Saiz']</strong> (4 INT in 2024). Rising junior <strong>RJ Fleets</strong> and rising sophomore <strong>Riley Tafoya</strong> will compete for playing time there. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1752436' first='Anthony' last='Willie']</strong> was one of Bernalillo's best cornerbacks last season but he'll stick exclusively to QB this season. </p>
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<p><strong>2025 Bernalillo Football Schedule:</strong></p>
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<p>Aug. 21 at Valley (Thur., 7 p.m.)(Community) </p>
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<p>Aug. 28 at Highland (Thur., 7 p.m.) </p>
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<p>Sept. 5 at Portales (7 p.m.) </p>
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<p>Sept. 12 at Moriarty (6 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>Sept. 19 Bye </p>
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<p>Sept. 26 ESPANOLA VALLEY (7 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>Oct. 3 at Kirtland Central (7 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>Oct. 10 AZTEC (7 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>Oct. 17 BLOOMFIELD (7 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>Oct. 24 at Grants (7 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>Oct. 31 TAOS ( 7 p.m.)* </p>
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<p>* District 4A-1 Game</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">End of 2024-2025 season highlights <br>Offense <br>-591 receivers yards<br>-37 Rec<br>-6 Td<br>-15.6 Avg<br>Defense <br>-55 Tackles <br>13 TFL<br>-8 Sacks<br>-11 Qb hurry<a href="https://twitter.com/BernalilloF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BernalilloF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/j2cobos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@j2cobos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jarmaine94?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jarmaine94</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/theblakemiller7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@theblakemiller7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/coachbuttsUSU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coachbuttsUSU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachMJohns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachMJohns</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mjgaynor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mjgaynor</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NMrecruits?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NMrecruits</a><a href="https://t.co/paGGDiqG0b">https://t.co/paGGDiqG0b</a></p>— [player_tooltip player_id='853757' first='Ulisses' last='Castro'] (@UlissesCas09) <a href="https://twitter.com/UlissesCas09/status/1866959721225421059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
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2025 BERNALILLO SPARTANS PREVIEW
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