2024 Look Ahead: Legacy Academy Boldly Jumps To 11-Man Football

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three years ago, Legacy Academy coach (and former Lobos player) Bryan Clampitt and school administrators had a dream of fielding a competitive football team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the past two years, Legacy Academy has competed at the 8-man football classification, finishing with a 7-2 record and earning a spot in the playoffs in 2023. The debut season was in 2022.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But now the Silverbacks boldly dare to go where few teams have gone before – making the gigantic leap from 8-man to 11-man football. They will compete in Class 2A against District 2 rivals Capitan, Cloudcroft, Estancia, Raton, Santa Rosa and Tucumcari. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The high school has only had three graduating classes, ever,” Clampitt told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “But football was always on the radar. Two years ago, we decided at a meeting to pull the trigger. I was working at the church, so I said, ‘I'll coach.' I was able to put together a great coaching staff. It has worked pretty seamlessly.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Legacy Academy didn't have a weight room or practice field when the football team was established. Instead, the players worked out at a nearby local gym and practiced at a local park. Eight-man football was the logical starting point. Clampitt said the numbers rose dramatically for Year 2 in 2023, planting the seeds of moving to 11-man football in 2024.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We almost doubled our roster last season,” Clampitt said. “We had a lot more interest. A lot of young guys wanted to play. We ended up with almost 40 guys on the roster and even played a couple of JV games. Our vision for the school is to keep growing and make a bigger impact. It made sense with the involvement going up to make the jump to 11-man football.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Legacy Academy plans to build an on-campus stadium but for the 2024 season the Silverbacks will play their home games at Bernalillo High School.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We believe moving up to 11-man football is going to help get exposure in the community for the school,” Clampitt said. “It helps get our name out there. We think we have a great school.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From a scheme standpoint, Clampitt says the biggest challenge Legacy Academy faces is depth.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“In 8-Man Football, having a 30-man roster meant we were pretty deep,” Clampitt said. “Now that we're 11-man, we're going to be stretched a little thinner. We'll be praying against injuries and we'll be trying to get more kids involved. We're very hopeful, overall, considering we have a couple of years under our belt and we have some good returning players.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In terms of X's and O's, Clampitt believes the difference between 8-man and 11-man football is minimal, so he expects the learning curve for Legacy's eager players won't be steep.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I don't expect it to be much different,” Clampitt said. “The 8-man game is basically just two less linemen and one less wide receiver. The way we scheme on offense and defense is not terribly different from 11-man. The biggest adjustment is we'll have to call on some guys with less experience.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The group of returning standouts include rising junior all-district defensive linemen <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1006736' first='Zachary' last='Perea']</strong>, a two-year starter with next level aspirations, RB/LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1595652' first='AJ' last='Quesada']</strong>, 2026 QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1600087' first='Lorenzo' last='Sedillo-Urban'] </strong>and rising senior TE/DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1595657' first='Noah' last='Sanchez']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Perea has been invited to camps by Montana Tech, Calvin University, Hardin-Simmons, University of St. Thomas and North Texas.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We have some good weapons,” Clampitt said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sedillo-Urban is a dual threat QB who threw for 1,343 yards, rushed for 374 yards and accounted for 28 TD as a sophomore in 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I'd say we're going to be pretty balanced offensively,” Clampitt said. “We want to run the ball and establish the run game and be a tough, physical team. But we'll take our shots down the field as well.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Legacy Academy is off to an encouraging start in the weight room during the off-season. The Silverbacks finished fourth recently in Class A-3A at the state powerlifting championships.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024 LEGACY ACADEMY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 23 at Laguna Acoma</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 31 at Hope Christian (Sat.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 7 HOZHO ACADEMY (Sat.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 13 at Santa Fe Indian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 20 McCURDY</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 27 Bye</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 5 RATON (Sat.)*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 11 at Capitan*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 18 ESTANCIA*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 26 TUCUMCARI (Sat.)*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nov. 1 at Santa Rosa*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>* District 2A-2 Game                </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/perea_zach/status/1722435069808423413","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/perea_zach/status/1722435069808423413 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/perea_zach/status/1774219808936259955","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/perea_zach/status/1774219808936259955 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->