2021 Season Preview: West Mesa Mustangs

<strong>West Mesa 2021 Preview</strong> <strong>Head Coach</strong>: Anthony Ansotigue <strong>Mascot</strong>: Mustangs <strong>Twitter</strong>: @mesa_school; @AAnsotigue <strong>Colors</strong>: Scarlet, Royal Blue and White <strong>Enrollment</strong>: 1,698 <strong>Spring Record</strong>: 3-0 <strong>Star Players</strong>: QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26242" first="Daniel" last="Ayala"]</strong>; WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26249" first="Tim" last="Drennan"]</strong>; WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138047" first="Chris" last="Johnson"]</strong>; RB <strong>Elijah Espinoza</strong>, DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135086" first="Angel" last="Segovia"]</strong>, OLB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134965" first="Josiah" last="Escobedo"]</strong>. <strong>Breakout Star</strong>: QB [player_tooltip player_id="26242" first="Daniel" last="Ayala"]. <strong>Overview</strong>: West Mesa has finished above .500 in a full season just once since 2012 (7-4 in 2017), but the spring’s 3-0 mark demonstrates the Mustangs are headed in the right direction under Ansotigue. The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Ayala is our No. 1 QB prospect for the 2022 class, and should find an opportunity to play at the next level. He made two trips to Florida for a 7x7 tourney and a QBUniverse Leadership summit in late spring. He’s also been offered by St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. Chances are, that’s just the first of multiple offers. With West Mesa losing its top two running backs, Ansotigue plans to switch to a more passing-oriented attack to take advantage of Ayala’s impressive skill set. Best description of Ayala: a ‘coach’s dream.’ Junior <strong>Elijah Espinoza</strong> is the new No. 1 running back, but several others could see action as well. Espinoza also serves as the Mustangs’ placekicker. The wide receiver corps is talented with three-year starter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26249" first="Tim" last="Drennan"]</strong>, who’s been offered by Iowa Wesleyan, leading the unit. Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138047" first="Chris" last="Johnson"]</strong> returns after catching two TD passes against Sandia along with junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138090" first="Anthony" last="Rodriguez"]. </strong>Four starters return along the offensive line. Defensively, West Mesa returns it top three tacklers from the spring. DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135086" first="Angel" last="Segovia"]</strong> and OLB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134965" first="Josiah" last="Escobedo"]</strong> are the leaders of the defense. <strong>Schedule</strong>: West Mesa opens the season with road games at Belen and Centennial (Las Cruces) before three straight home games against Los Lunas, Sandia and Rio Grande. After a bye, the challenging district schedule kicks in. The Mustangs host Rio Rancho on Oct. 8, potentially one of the key games of the year in Class 6A, then have road tests at Cibola and Cleveland. 8/20 at Belen 8/28 at Centennial 9/3 Los Lunas 9/9 Sandia 9/17 Rio Grande 9/24 Bye 10/1 at Volcano Vista 10/8 Rio Rancho 10/15 at Cibola 10/22 at Cleveland 10/30 Atrisco Heritage <strong>Top Storyline</strong>: Will the momentum generated from the unbeaten spring record carry over into the fall for West Mesa? <strong>Final Thoughts</strong>: After going 3-17 combined in 2018-19, West Mesa opened eyes in the spring. The expectations for the Mustangs are the highest they’ve been in years. Right now, it’s all about changing the narrative, a process that started in the spring. Certainly, anything short of the Class 6A playoffs would be considered a mild disappointment. Ayala is the real deal and he’ll get an opportunity to showcase his skills in the fall as West Mesa tweaks its offensive scheme to fit his talents as a passer. He’ll have three or four nice targets to throw to. We know the offense will score points, so if West Mesa gets the job done defensively, they’ll make some noise in arguably the state’s toughest district. A mid-level playoff seed would be a positive step forward for the Mustangs. <strong>Coach’s Comments</strong>: “We made a lot of progress in the spring. We had guys who stepped up and played really well. We were more efficient with our time. We learned quickly. We know the expectations are high. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. . . [player_tooltip player_id="26242" first="Daniel" last="Ayala"] is truly a coach’s dream, especially as a quarterback. He’s our hardest worker, our smartest kid and he does everything we ask him to do. He lives football. He’s done very well at the camps he’s gone to. He wants to be good. . .The transition to the new offense has gone very well. It was apparent we had the skill set to cater what we want to do. We have some good receivers, so we have to figure out how to get them the ball out in space and take advantage of the width of the field. We want to take advantage of Daniel’s athleticism and good decision-making and get him outside the pocket. . .Elijah Espinoza has a similar body type to Ja’Calvin Newsom. He’s a straight north-south, one-cut running back. He’s strong and physical. . .[player_tooltip player_id="26249" first="Tim" last="Drennan"] had a big spring. [player_tooltip player_id="138090" first="Anthony" last="Rodriguez"] worked his tail off to get into the mix and he produced. We like what we have at receiver. We’re going to let them be playmakers and make some plays.  . .This is the first year since I’ve been here that we have returning starters at offensive line. It’s probably our most improved unit. . .We’re excited about the strides we’ve made on defense too. . .This year’s seniors are the first group of freshmen I had. They are willing to do what we ask. They’ve followed the plan and pushed forward. People are beginning to realize we can back up the talent we have with hard work and effort and we’re making progress. We don’t have a lot of depth, but we do have enough talent to compete with our schedule. After going 3-0 in the spring, our goal is to get into the playoffs, which hasn’t happened a whole lot.” – Anthony Ansotigue. https://twitter.com/danielayala444/status/1406732420477562880 https://twitter.com/drennan_timothy/status/1394737357287350274 https://twitter.com/danielayala444/status/1396112286796898304 https://twitter.com/drennan_timothy/status/1396902461747564545 https://twitter.com/danielayala444/status/1391935250691858433