CHRISTOVAL, TX — After taking a big hit from graduation, Christoval head coach Tanner McLean knows his team might be a bit overlooked this season.
He’s hoping to prove any doubters wrong.
Though the Cougars return only four starters on offense and five on defense from last year’s 4-7 team, McLean believes a strong foundation was laid last season that will pay off this fall.
“A lot of last year we had to teach kids how we’re going to do things, not just what we do but the way we do it,” said McLean, who is heading into his second year with Christoval. “A lot of the year was spent trying to coach the culture up and the program up more than coaching ball.
“So I think it was a good foundation year for us. And coming into this year, now we’re finding ourselves getting to coach the game.”
Christoval also has an important building block with the return of junior quarterback Ty DeBusk. The 5-foot-8, 190-pound athlete threw for 1,443 yards last year and added 589 more on the ground.
DeBusk’s first year at QB also included some growing pains as he threw 15 interceptions and completed only 47% of his passes.
McLean said the negative stats don’t tell the full story.
“Him having that year under his belt is huge. He made a lot of big-time plays for us last year, but he made a lot of young-guy mistakes, too, and I think he handled those in stride. I think he took to coaching well,” McLean said. “When you look at those interceptions, a lot of those were thrown when the other team knew we had to throw the ball in a bad spot in the ball game. A lot of those weren’t his fault. …
“I’m excited about him coming back. I expect him to make really big strides. He had a really good offseason and a really good summer, and now you can just kind of feel he’s a little more confident. … He stepped into a leadership role last year, and I think that said a lot about him, because it was a pretty senior-laden locker room. And when he spoke, they listened.”
DeBusk will return his second-leading receiver from last year, senior Kanin Green, who had 27 catches for 355 yards.
“He’s one that seems to be a pretty bright light,” McLean said. “He has good hands and decent speed, and he’s a good route runner. … He’s one we’re going to look to, to lean on quite a bit until some of the less-experienced guys get some more playing time under their belt.”
Senior Danny Alfaro is expected to take over as the featured running back.
“He played for us last year at tight end, and he had one of the better offseasons and summers I’ve seen a kid have,” McLean said. “He looks like a totally different kid. He had a great track season building his speed, and he had a great summer and spring in the weight room. He bulked up a little bit without losing any speed … We’re pretty excited for what he’ll put on the table.”
The biggest question mark for Christoval heading into the offseason was its offensive line, which graduated all but one starter, but McLean said he feels much better about that unit now.
Returning senior Evan McKenna (6-2, 230) is expected to lead the way along with Tony Perea and Isaiah De La Cruz.
“We’re not nearly as big as we were last year, but I think they make up the size difference with the way they get after it,” McLean said.
Christoval’s defense will be led by safety Kreed Kirkland, who McLean said is similar to DeBusk in that he leads with his actions on and off the field.
DeBusk will pull double duty as a linebacker along with Alfaro.
“The defense is kind of like our offensive line. They’re not as big as we were last year, but our overall team speed is better. And on defense, speed will kill you,” McLean said. “Anytime you’ve got a defense where you think you can get everybody to the football, it makes you feel like you have a chance.”
Christoval will be in District 4-2A Division I this season with all of its former rivals from last year — Ozona, Sonora, Forsan, Reagan County and Colorado City — along with newcomer Ballinger.
Christoval took fourth place last year to earn the district’s final playoff spot, and that’s where the Cougars were picked to finish again by Texas Football.
McLean said he expects a wide-open district race.
“It’s kind of up in the air if you ask me who’s in those 1 through 4 spots. I could see it kind of going a bunch of different ways, so I’m excited,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to play our best week to week, but you’d be hard pressed to tell me we’re not going to be in a good position to go into the playoffs.”
Christoval will open its season at home Friday, Aug. 28, against longtime rival Eldorado. The Cougars will begin district play Oct. 2 at home against Sonora.
Christoval Cougars
2026 schedule
Aug. 28 Eldorado
Sept. 4 Miles
Sept. 11 at McCamey
Sept. 18 vs. Littlefield (at Lamesa)
Sept. 25 OPEN
Oct. 2 Sonora*
Oct. 9 at Ozona*
Oct. 16 Reagan County*
Oct. 23 at Ballinger*
Oct. 30 Forsan*
Nov. 6 at Colorado City*
*District 4-2A Division I game
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