DISTRICT PREVIEW: Crazy Big 2A District Could Produce State Contender

SAN ANGELO— The first half of the High School Football season is nearly over and teams in the Concho Valley will be looking to dominate district play to hit the playoffs running. The Sonora Broncos and Reagan County Owls have a rivalry that is set to playout early in district play.

This district preview will look at 2A-1 Region I District 3, which is one of the biggest and weirdest districts in Texas as it includes Anthony High School on the other side of El Paso and teams right here in the Concho Valley.

OVERALL

1. Sonora Broncos: 5-0
2. Forsan Buffaloes: 4-1
3. Reagan County Owls: 4-1
4. Anthony Wildcats: 2-2
5. Christoval Cougars: 2-3
6. Ozona Lions: 2-3

The Sonora Broncos aren’t taking prisoners this season and have Jerry’s World in their sights. Sonora lost to the eventual state champion Hawley Bearcats in the third-round last season and returned a good number of young players including quarterback Jaime Buitron. But then disaster struck before the season ever started and Buitron went down. The Broncos turned to senior running back and linebacker Edgar DeLuna, who has gone off this season. Also, as of last week, Buitron returned to the field. This team is on a mission this season.

DeLuna has been an absolute monster for the Broncos, rushing for 1,307 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground and 70 tackles, 11 for loss, two sacks, and three interceptions on defense. Quarterback Juan Castillo has added 318 yards and four touchdowns while receiver Kam Aguero has caught 16 passes for 248 yard and two scores.

Forsan dropped the first game of the season to an up-and-coming Coahoma Bulldog’s team then went on a four-game win streak. The Buffs beat the Kermit Yellowjackets this past week 40-32. Junior quarterback Nicholas Holloway has thrown for 706 yards, eight touchdowns to three interceptions. They’ve got a three-headed monster at running back with Hutson Stockton, Kevin Kilgora, and Grant Roman, who have 988 yards and 11 touchdowns. Teams should stay away from Stockton on defense who has three sacks and Joshuah Rios, who has two interceptions.

The Reagan County Owls are coming off their bye week and facing Kermit. Reagan County has to deal with being in a bad location on the outside of the Concho Valley, so they might not get the coverage they deserve but make no mistake, the Owls can play. Junior quarterback Kason Brown has thrown for 989 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He is the leading rusher on the team with A.J. Avalos behind him with 207 yards. Raymond Saldibar and Jarrett Brown, Kason’s brother, are the big-time receiving threats. It’s a family affair for the Owls as the two playmakers are brothers being coaches by their father, head coach Kyle Brown.

This defense has no problem getting to the quarterback as they’ve got seven sacks on the year plus, they’ve got eight forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, and two interceptions.

In the very far corner of Texas, on the other side of El Paso, sits Anthony, Texas. Where New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas meet next to the UTEP football stadium. From San Angelo to Anthony, it is 424.4 miles, which makes it a six hour and 13-minute trip. Also, there is a time zone switch.

Being so far out west, Anthony has to play who they can, so they’ll get a few New Mexico high school teams on their schedule. The Wildcats have given up 95 points over five games, which is 19 points a game and they’ve scored 23.6 points a game.

Back in the Concho Valley, the Christoval Cougars are coming off a big win over the Brady Bulldogs. The Cougars are an inexperienced team as they graduated a lot of players this past year. But they do have a young quarterback and a good run game fueled by junior running back Manuel Riojas.

The defense gets after it and has six players with over 30 tackles, 29 total tackles for loss, five interceptions, 10 forced fumbles, and seven fumble recoveries.

The Ozona Lions are a much better team than their record indicates and have played some good football teams. The Lions lost a close one to the Miles Bulldogs last week and have beaten TLCA San Angelo and Grape Creek. Ozona has lost to Wink and Mason, two top teams in Texas. Junior quarterback Hudson Fowler has built off of last season, throwing for 990 yards, 12 touchdowns to six interceptions.

Fowler and Dusty Smith really handle the rushing duties while Michael and Matthew Daniels and Chris Ramirez are the receivers out wide. Michael Daniels is first one the team in tackles with 60. Six players have seven sacks, and Ozona has eight interceptions on this season so far.

District Leaders

Passing Yards

1. Hudson Fowler- Ozona Lions- 990
2. Kason Browns- Reagan County Owls- 989
3. Nicholas Holloway- Forsan Buffaloes- 706
4. Juan Castillo- Sonora Broncos- 530
5. Stanton McGlothlin- Christoval Cougars- 325

Rushing Yards

1. Edgar DeLuna- Sonora Broncos- 1307
2. Kevin Kilgora- Forsan Buffaloes- 524
3. Manuel Riojas- Christoval Cougars-501
4. Kason Brown- Reagan County Owls- 333
5. Juan Castillo- Sonora Broncos- 318

Receiving Yards

1. Raymond Saldibar- Reagan County Owls- 385
2. Matthew Daniels- Ozona Lions- 331
3. Hayden Bowlin- Forsan Buffaloes- 281
4. Michael Daniels- Ozona Lions- 272
5. Jarrett Brown- Reagan County Owls- 264

Total Yards

1. Edgar DeLuna- Sonora Broncos- 1477
2. Kason Brown- Reagan County Owls- 1325
3. Hudson Fowler- Ozona Lions- 1139
4. Juan Castillo- Sonora Broncos- 863
5. Nicholas Holloway- Forsan Buffaloes- 751

Scoring

1. Edgar DeLuna- Sonora Broncos- 124 point
2. Raymond Saldibar- Reagan County Owls- 46 points
3. Jarrett Brown- Reagan County Owls- 38 points
4. Kevin Kilgora- Forsan Buffaloes- 37 points
5. Dusty Smith- Ozona Lions- 36 points
6. Hayden Bowlin- Forsan Buffaloes- 36 points

Tackles

1. Edgar DeLuna- Sonora Broncos- 70
2. Michael Daniels- Ozona Lions- 60
3. Dustin Spalla- Forsan Buffaloes- 51
4. Tristen Alvarado- Christoval Cougars- 49
5. Issac Espino- Forsan Buffaloes- 45

Sacks

1. Jacob Lopez- Anthony Wildcats- 12
2. David Correa- Reagan County Owls- 3
3. Huston Stockton- Forsan Buffaloes- 3
4. Conner Lusk- Forsan Buffaloes- 2.5
5. Andres Quiros- Ozona Lions- 2
6. Dailen Luna- Sonora Broncos- 2
7. Edgar DeLuna Sonora Broncos- 2
8. Grant Roman- Forsan Buffaloes- 2

Interceptions

1. Chris Ramirez- Ozona Lions- 3
2. Edgar DeLuna- Sonora Broncos- 3
3. Isreal Bogs- Christoval Cougars- 3
4. Ethan Campos- Anthony Wildcats- 2
5. Michael Daniels- Ozona Lions- 2
6. Joshuah Rios- Forsan Buffaloes- 2
7. Rigo Treto, Frank Ozuna, Matthew Daniels- Ozona Lions- 1
8. Roberto Rodriguez, Josh Lozano, Casen Boggs, Caleb Sanchez- Sonora Broncos- 1
9. Raymond Saldibar, A.J. Avalos- Reagan County Owls- 1
10. Ethan Busch, Blaze Webber- Christoval Cougars- 1
11. Brycen Cervantes- Forsan Buffaloes- 1

Next Game

• Ozona Lions @ Sonora Broncos- 10/6
• Forsan Buffaloes @ Reagan County Owls- 10/6
• Christoval Cougars @ Anthony Wildcats- 10/6