MENARD, TX-- Last year the Menard Yellowjackets surprised a lot of people by beating Iraan, going 9-3 and claiming their first district championship in 12 years.
Head coach Jayson Wilhelm’s squad returns eight starters on each side of the ball from that team, which has created a buzz in the small town of Menard.
“I think anytime you have that many kids coming back, there’s going to be excitement,” Wilhelm said. “Obviously, with the year we had last year and having that many coming back, there’s an added level of excitement. Everybody here in town is super excited. They’re really looking forward to it. But at the same time, we know we’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s not going to just happen for us...Everybody is going to be ready for us.”
Ready for that challenge is running back Christian Salazar, who rushed for 1,750 yards and is regarded by Wilhelm as someone who can “score from anywhere.”
However, Wilhelm is more excited about having four of his five offensive linemen back in their run-heavy offense.
“We just have to replace one lineman,” Wilhelm said. “I’m confident that we’ve done that already. Anytime you have four of your five linemen returning, you set yourself up to be pretty successful regardless of who you have carrying the ball.”
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Mason Stanley, a 6-foot-5, 295-pound behemoth, will anchor the line. Wilhelm says Stanley has improved each year since arriving his sophomore year.
The improvement for the massive lineman was helped with the hiring last year of Cagen Chaney, who played collegiately at Texas Lutheran University.
“He’s taught [Mason] a lot of the little stuff,” Wilhelm said. “So, he’s improved tremendously since last year.”
Wilhelm also highlighted DB/WR Brody Baugh and lineman Gabriel Guerrero as leaders for this team. Baugh received praise after a good year last year. Guerrero will enter his third year as a starter for the Yellowjackets in 2018.
Junior Rito Lozano also enters his third year starting at outside linebacker for the Yellowjackets.
“That’s a tough place to play,” Wilhelm said of the outside linebacker spot. “But he’s been playing that spot since he was a freshman. Early on this year, he’s looked phenomenal. He’s much stronger, much faster. For a junior, he’s really stepping up into a big role and taking on some of that leadership also. So, I’m excited about him.”
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In their Area Round loss to Lindsay, who fielded more players than Menard, the two teams were tied at zero after the first half. Wilhelm says the team laments missed opportunities from that game and they have used that as motivation this offseason.
“As soon as football was over, we started talking conditioning,” Wilhelm said. “We hit that real hard in the spring. It’s paid off. The guys have come in in great shape this year, just because of what we did in the spring and summer.”
That conditioning is “huge” in Wilhelm’s eyes. Menard is one of the smallest Class 2A teams in the state with an enrollment of 87. So, they typically face teams with larger numbers in the playoffs.
“We’re going to run into teams with 40, 50, 60 kids. We’re going to have to be able to go four quarters with them,” Wilhelm said. “I think [the Lindsay game] really opened our eyes to that part of it.”
The Yellowjackets are favored in District 8-2A Division II with Christoval, Eldorado, Irion County, Miles and Rocksprings making up the district.
The Yellowjackets open the season on the road at Cross Plains on Friday, Aug. 31.
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