2024 Look Ahead: Atrisco Heritage Jaguars

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The NMAA handed Atrisco Heritage an early Christmas present last December.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As part of its realignment of New Mexico high school football, the NMAA shifted Atrisco from District 6A-1, which includes Cleveland, Rio Rancho and Volcano Vista, to the 8-team District 6A-2. The Jaguars are now in the same district as Albuquerque High, Eldorado, La Cueva, Los Lunas, Sandia, Santa Fe and West Mesa.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Atrisco Heritage has gladly accepted the gift from the NMAA. The last two seasons they've concluded the regular season schedule with the Cleveland, Rio Rancho and Volcano Vista gauntlet. They managed to slip into the playoffs in 2022 as the No. 12 seed but were denied in 2023. Both seasons they finished the regular season with a 5-5 record.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“When they told me that we were out of that district, I said, ‘Wow, really?,' Atrisco Heritage head coach Howard Knezevich told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “It didn't matter to me if we moved out or stayed in.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Considering Atrisco's first two games are against Rio Rancho (Aug. 22) and Centennial (Aug. 30), the Jaguars have as challenging a start to the season as any team in the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rising senior quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1021201' first='Landon' last='Griego']</strong> took over as the Jaguars' signal caller last season when Dean Marquez was unable to play as a result of a serious shoulder injury suffered in Atrisco's playoff game in 2022. Griego threw for over 1,700 yards and 17 TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Being a senior, Landon will be expected to lead,” Knezevich said. “We've changed our playbook a little bit. We think Landon is going to have a breakout season. We're working on his release to make it faster and having him see the entire field instead of just focusing on one receiver. His arm strength is great.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season's leading rusher Andres Villalobos has graduated, so the Jaguars are seeking a new No. 1 running back. Multiple ball carriers are vying to take on the coveted role, including rising junior <strong>Josiah Lopez</strong> (injured last season), rising sophomore <strong>Alijah Lee</strong> (last season's backup RB) and transfer<strong> Josiah Marquez</strong>, along with a couple of freshmen. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Atrisco Heritage has one of the top wide receiver corps in the Albuquerque Metro Region, led by rising seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611116' first='Latavious' last='Morris']</strong> (also a standout hoops player) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615453' first='Chauncey' last='Lane']</strong>, 6-foot-3 rising sophomore <strong>Deon Sessions</strong>, rising senior <strong>Gabe Franco</strong> (played CB in 2023) and several promising rising sophomores.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The latter group includes <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1272752' first='J'ven' last='Smith']</strong> and <strong>Jose Sanchez</strong>. Smith competed at the Prep Redzone Combine in Grants in April and impressed the coaches with his physical and route-running skills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six-foot-2, 250-pound rising sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1155059' first='Dominick' last='Lewallen']</strong> is one of the top young offensive linemen in the state and he'll be one of the leaders for the Jaguars at that position. <strong>Anthony Cabrera</strong> returns after a knee injury forced him to miss the entire 2023 season and will be the center.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Linebacker Joziah Lopez graduates after making 124 tackles in 2023 but most of the contributors from last season are back. Six-foot-2 CB <strong>Kadarious Sims</strong> leads the defensive backs. The opposite CB spot is up for grabs. The safeties are untested but possess good size.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rising junior <strong>Marcos Chavez </strong>(36 tackles, 8.0 TFL, 3 sacks and 10 QB hurries in 2023) moves from defensive line to linebacker to take better advantage of his speed. Rising senior DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611058' first='Elycio' last='Roybal']</strong> had a staggering 22.0 TFL, 16.5 sacks and 26 QB hurries in 2023. Promising DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615515' first='Judah' last='Nichols']</strong> returns after missing last season (and most of 2022) with a serious knee injury that has taken more than a year to heal.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I expect our team to be a lot better than last year, just based on experience,” Knezevich said. “We only lost a handful of seniors. We have most of our players back.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024 ATRISCO HERITAGE SCHEDULE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 22 RIO RANCHO (Thur., 7 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 30 CENTENNIAL (7 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 7 at Rio Grande&nbsp; (Sat., 6 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 13 Bye</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 20 ALBUQUERQUE HIGH* (7 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 27 at Sandia* (7 p.m.)*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 4 at West Mesa (7 p.m.)*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 11 at Santa Fe (7 p.m.)*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 17 at La Cueva (Thur., 7 p.m.)*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oct. 25 LOS LUNAS (7 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nov. 2 ELDORADO (Sat., 11 a.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/PrepRedzone/status/1703872926003433718","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/PrepRedzone/status/1703872926003433718 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/jvensmith09/status/1779325939844862411","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/jvensmith09/status/1779325939844862411 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/5starDominick/status/1749540421557186659","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/5starDominick/status/1749540421557186659 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/lane_chauncey/status/1742048292765069683","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/lane_chauncey/status/1742048292765069683 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->