Concho Valley Has Representation in 1A Preseason Rankings

SAN ANGELO, TX— The Concho Valley has some good representation in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football rankings for the 1A classification.

High school football season is closing in and some teams in the area are already getting high praise before a snap is even played. In the preseason rankings for 1A, Rankin, Menard, Water Valley, Sterling City, and Richland Springs are all ranked in the top 25 by the staff at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

For 1A-D1, the Rankin Red Devils, fresh off a state finals run, are ranked #1 in the state. Last season, Rankin upset ranked team after ranked team in the playoffs until they lost to the Gordon Longhorns in the state championship, 69-22.

This season, the Red Devils are returning 4 starters on both sides of the ball. Offensively, senior Matthew Ramos had nearly 1,000 yards (972) and 25 touchdowns last year. The Concho Valley will remember Ramos as he put up 202 yards and 5 touchdowns against Water Valley right here at San Angelo Stadium in the state semifinals. Rankin would go on to win, 54-46.

Ramos isn’t the only playmaker Rankin has on the roster. Kayin Hanna and Hunter Amthor also return. The two combined for 936 yards and 12 scores on the ground.

On the other side of the ball, Logan White and Kash Cuellar, who will be juniors this year, will cause problems along with Ramos, Amthor, and Hanna. Cuellar led the Red Devils in tackles (137) while Ramos led in sacks (6) and tackles for loss (15), and Hanna snagged a team leading 4 interceptions.

Rankin knocked off several ranked teams in the playoffs last season and looking ahead this year, will look to do the same through the regular season. In Week 1, they’ll scrimmage Lamesa Klondike, who is ranked 9th by Dave Campbells. In the regular season, the Red Devils play Water Valley in Week 2, Westbrook in Week 3, Borden County in Week 4, Sterling City in Week 5, and Grandfalls-Royalty in Week 6.

Ranked 13th, the Menard Yellowjackets had a rough time the past two seasons in the playoffs. As only 2 teams make it to the brackets out of each district, there are a ton of “best on best” games happening in the earlier rounds. For Menard, that meant running into the Gordon Longhorns, who had 3 D1 athletes on their roster. With those players graduated, and Menard moving into region 2, they won’t face Gordon until the state championship. Over the last two season, the Yellowjackets put up a 19-3-1 record and earned the 1st seed both years. The problem was the Gordon game in the second round of the playoffs.

Menard returns 3 starters on both the offense and defense but this offseason, added Cohen Ethridge to the team and his father, Harley Ethridge, to the coaching staff. Ethridge was at Richland Springs last season and put up 1,136 yard and 22 touchdowns on the ground while adding 17 catches for 266 yard and 5 scores through the air. He can also throw and went 38-53 for 708 yards and 13 touchdowns to only 1 interception. 

Defensively, he led the team with 106 tackles and had 2 sacks, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 safety, and 1 defensive touchdown. Ethridge was also an ace return specialist for the Coyotes.

While adding both Cohen and Harley helps the Yellowjackets, they also have some incredible players returning like Eli Weatherly, Hunter Squires, Wesley Compton, and Dario Gonzales.

Menard will be battle tested like Rankin as they have Zephyr, Water Valley, and Sterling City on their schedule this season.

The Water Valley Wildcats enter the season ranked 14th overall just one spot behind Menard. Last season, the Wildcats were state favorites but ran into a Rankin and has a key injury to one of their star players in the playoffs. While Water Valley only returns 1 starter on either side of the ball, that player is Branson Lacy.

Lacy was COVER1’s Newcomer of the Year last season and it was well deserved. He accounted for over 2,000 yards of total offense and found the endzone 39 times. Lacy was incredible defensively for the Wildcats with 115 tackles, 4 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 defensive touchdown.

On the field, Lacy is the only returning starter but, on the sideline, Trey Sisco also returns. Just a few seasons ago, Sisco led Sterling City to a state championship and the experience he brings cannot be measured. He’ll have to get the team up to speed fast as they play a stacked schedule with Rankin, Sands, Klondike, Westbrook, Menard, and Sisco’s old stomping grounds Sterling City to end the season.

The Sterling City Eagles come in at 23rd in the rankings as they return to 6-Man after playing 11-man last year. The Eagles saw it coming as only the varsity played 11-man while the junior high played a 6-Man schedule.

The Eagles struggled the past couple of seasons and have had a difficult time holding onto a head coach since Sisco left for Water Valley. Sterling City did find a new head coach in Dale Pustejovsky who will need to get his team ready fast. The Eagles get Grandfalls-Royalty, Westbrook, May, Rankin, Menard, and Water Valley this year.

Into D2, Richland Springs is the lone team representing the Concho Valley. Coming off a year where they lost in the state finals to Jayton, the Coyotes also lost their head coach and one of their playmakers in Harley and Cohen Ethridge.

Richland Springs just hired James McIntyre Jr. to be their head coach and return 3 players on offense and defense. Layne Ward, Evan Deeds, and Brice Roesler will hold down the fort as they’ll face Gustine, May, and Cherokee.

The rankings are as follows:

1A-D1

1. Rankin
2. Gilmer Union Hill
3. Jayton
4. Gordon
5. Aquilla
6. Borden County
7. Whiteface
8. Oglesby
9. Lamesa Klondike
10. Nazareth
11. Ackerly Sands
12. Newcastle
13. Menard
14. Water Valley
15. Medina
16. May
17. Abbott
18. Milford
19. Hermleigh
20. Jonesboro
21. Westbrook
22. Coolidge
23. Sterling City
24. Aspermont
25. Booker

1A-D2

1. Cherokee
2. Motley County
3. Benjamin
4. Richland Springs
5. Strawn
6. Oakwood
7. Zephyr
8. McLean
9. Balmorhea
10. Grandfalls-Royalty
11. Paducah
12. Turkey Valley
13. Mount Calm
14. Runge
15. Iredell
16. Three Way
17. Blanket
18. Gustine
19. Knox City
20. Guthrie
21. Miami
22. Ladonia Fannindel
23. Bynum
24. Hart
25. Lefors

Of all the districts in 1A-D1, District 8 has a ton of representation here. Menard, Sterling City, and Water Valley play in this district and only 2 make the playoffs. Also, should one of these teams make the state semifinals, they’d possibly run into the Rankin Red Devils before the state championship as Rankin is in District 6 on the same side of the bracket.

1A-D1 is spread pretty evenly in this top 25 ranking. If we look at the top 10, Rankin, Jayton, Borden County, Whiteface, Lamesa Klondike and Nazareth will be on the left side of the bracket while Union Hill, Gordon, Aquilla, and Oglesby are on the right side.

For 1A-D2, Cherokee, Motley County, Richland Springs, McLean, Grandfalls-Royalty and Balmorhea are in regions 1 and 2 while Benjamin, Strawn, Oakwood, and Zephyr are in regions 3 and 4.