KIRTLAND – The drop from Class 4A to 3A for both Kirtland Central and Aztec football teams, for the most part, means the two teams can avoid almost certain losses at the hands of Bloomfield.
The Bobcats, two-time defending Class 4A champions, have won 15 straight contests against Aztec and Kirtland Central dating back to 2018. So the drop to Class 3A will have some immediate impact. The Tigers and Broncos will also avoid the likes of former district rivals Bernalillo, Taos and Moriarty every week during the season.
That said, the NMAA’s recent reclassification of football teams means the Broncos and Tigers will be part of a nine-team District 1-3A, which also happens to include St. Michael’s Horsemen, three-time defending champs and finalists each of the last five years in the classification.
Head coach Bob Shuttleworth isn’t concerned about those things. Entering his second season leading the Broncos, the veteran coach is convinced the team is going the right direction.
“We’re going to represent San Juan County really well. We’re going to be in the playoffs, guaranteed,” Shuttleworth said. “We’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
Shuttleworth took over the Kirtland Central football team early in the regular season last fall, replacing Travis Clary. Shuttleworth feels now that with a full offseason to enact the changes he wants to see on the field, the team will be better prepared for the upcoming season, which opens Friday, Aug. 21 at home against Shiprock.
“We’re quite a bit ahead of where we were last year. The participation we had this summer in our offseason workouts was a lot better than it was over the last couple of years,” Shuttleworth said. “The kids are buying in. And the nice thing about it is we’ve been able to put in more time, and we’re going to start the season with a lot more of what schematically that I like to run than we were able to do last year.”
Among the players Shuttleworth is most confident about are quarterback Chance Aspaas and running back Memphis Thomas.
Aspaas, now entering his senior year, completed 71 of 170 passes last season for 1,076 yards. He threw 10 touchdowns against 14 interceptions that season.
“From last season to this season, we gave him a little bit of freedom to be able to call stuff on the backside,” Shuttleworth said of Aspaas. “To understand what was happening with those routes and understanding what I call non-verbal communication with what the defense is telling you pre-snap.”
Thomas, also entering his senior season, carried the ball 35 times for 132 yards last season, but is expected to join with fellow senior Trenton Salt with significantly more playing time when the season opens.
“Both of them, you can see where their confidence is coming back,” Shuttleworth said. “They had a ton of reps this offseason. Part of the problem we had last year was confidence in these kids to understand that they can win. When you have a losing program, the hardest thing to do to change it is to get the mindset saying that we’re not losers, we’re just not executing.”
Aztec’s 2025 season was another difficult chapter for a once-proud program, as the Tigers finished 1-9 overall and endured a second consecutive one-win or fewer season.
The lone victory came in Week 1 with a 28-20 road win over Rio Grande before the Tigers would lose their final nine games. District play in Class 4A proved overwhelming as Aztec lost each of its games by a combined margin of 321-20.
Since their 7-5 playoff campaign in 2023, the Tigers have gone just 1-18 over the past two seasons. Looking even further back, Aztec is 17-46 over the last seven years while cycling through six head coaches since 2020.
Enter Colton Weaver, tasked with bringing the Tigers back to a place of prominence this season. Weaver was announced as the new head coach for the Tigers over Memorial Day weekend, putting the coach under added pressure to have a team ready for the upcoming season which opens at home Friday, Aug. 21 against Bayfield.
“We had a really productive summer,” Weaver said. “Between the weight room, afternoon practices and now two-a-days, our kids have put a lot of time into this, and I think we’re a better football team because of it.”
There is a solid young foundation already in place. The Tigers return several underclassmen who gained valuable varsity experience during last year’s difficult campaign, and the move to 3A should help accelerate the rebuilding process.
Like Shuttleworth, the job for Weaver will be to remind the Tigers team that the challenges are just beginning.
“I’m ready to see how we respond when it gets real,” Weaver said. “You learn a lot more about a team when something goes wrong on a Friday night than you ever will during the summer. I want to see how we handle adversity, how we finish games and what kind of football team we become as the season goes on.”
Senior quarterback Joseph Martin gained valuable experience last season. With a full offseason as the projected starter, he will be expected to take a major step forward.
The receiving corps is extremely young but talented. Parker Olguin and Alejandro Valerio both played as freshmen last season and should see much larger roles in 2026.
One of the more intriguing athletes on the roster is Brody Segotta. At 6-foot-1, Segotta brings versatility on both sides of the ball, contributing at linebacker, wide receiver and defensive end. He has the size and athleticism to become one of the team’s breakout players.
According to NMPreps.com, St. Michael’s remains the clear district favorite, while Robertson and Pojoaque Valley are established playoff programs.
West Las Vegas returns significant production, and Kirtland Central will also face familiar opponents Aztec and Gallup. Still, the Broncos should be better equipped to compete physically at the 3A level. The question is whether they can turn returning experience into more consistent execution.
Joshua Griñe contributed to this report. For more information on NMPreps.com, visit the website.