FARMINGTON – The calendar may say otherwise, but summer is clearly underway on local football fields.
Farmington, Kirtland Central and Navajo Prep football teams took part in 7-on-7 drills Monday at Hutchison Stadium, more than two months before the start of the high school football season.
Teams across San Juan County will be opening their summer offseason training schedule this week, with additional 7-on-7 drills camps slated for locations across the Four Corners, including Fort Lewis College and Monument Valley, Arizona.
“Summer’s already finished,” quipped Navajo Prep head Roderick Denetso before returning members of his team began scrimmages with Kirtland Central and Farmington on a warm late afternoon in front of coaches and handfuls of fans.
“For football coaches, our summers begin in November and run through February,” Denetso said. “We use these events for conditioning and and learning. Our skill guys are actually putting what they practice into play here. Seeing the different coverages so the quarterback’s eyes are in the right place.”
Navajo Prep is coming off a 9-3 season and a second place finish in District 1-2A last year. Their season came to an end in a Class 2A postseason loss on the road to eventual state champion Texico.
The Eagles will be playing in a slightly realigned district this season, which includes Shiprock, Crownpoint and Tohatchi.
“We’re pretty excited about all these guys out here now. A lot of them started last year as freshmen, and now they’re all they’re all older,” Denetso said. “Of course, our quarterback (Aden Clah) is a senior, but all our skill guys are are juniors. Now it’s just putting them together and playing for one another and stuff like that, just team cohesion.”
Kirtland Central, which will open its season on Friday, Aug. 21 at home against Shiprock for second year head coach Bob Shuttleworth, is preparing for a new challenge in a new classification.
The New Mexico Activities Association’s recent shuffling of athletic classifications finds the Broncos, as well as Aztec, dropping from Class 4A to 3A for the next two seasons.
“It doesn’t matter to me. We’re getting ready to play the best teams in the state. If we sit there and say we’re in an easier classification, then we’re setting ourselves up for failure,” Shuttleworth said. “There are some good teams, so you can’t say it’s an easier district. It’s just a different district.”
Farmington High, which will remain in Class 6A this season, lost three games last season by a combined margin of 14 points and finished with a record of 1-9. Head coach Jeff Dalton is excited about the challenge of again competing against some of the state’s top programs.
“I really do believe we’re right we’re right where we belong, and we were competitive, but we don’t take those we don’t take moral victories,” Dalton said. “We’ve got to find a way to get to the next level, and and it’s addicting, and that’s what we want to do.”