Two-A-Days: Christoval Cougars Reload for New Season

CHRISTOVAL— The Christoval Cougars were hit hard by graduation and now much reload and prepare for a tough district before an even tougher first round in the playoffs.

Last season, the Cougars lost a couple of district games extremely close at Forsan and at Reagan County, a game that went into several overtimes. Now, the Cougs have graduated several big men up front and their starting quarterback and running back. But don't count the Cougars out just yet.

On offense, Christoval has a couple of big questions.

Who will step up and replace the offensive linemen that graduated?

Who will be the starting quarterback?

The line does have two guys who will protect the quarterback in Rayden and Raythen Broadway. Make no mistake, the Cougars do have size that needs some experience.

At quarterback, Kyle Abilez was pushed into the starting role for much of the season last year when former Cougar signal caller, Kyle Loehman, went down against Grape Creek in week two. Abilez did not throw it a ton as Christoval leaned heavily on Ketcher Joiner, who also graduated. Another name at quarterback is Stanton McGlothlin and head coach Casey Otho won't commit to one or the other. Otho does adapt and both of these players could see time on the field this coming season.

It's not all questions as the skill positions have talent. Running back Manuel Riojas, who is going into his junior season, averaged 7.2 yards a carry last season and totaled 531 yards and six touchdowns. A few more players include Ethan Busch, Jake Edminston, and Tristen Alvarado.

On defense, Riojas leads the linebackers and Edminston leads the secondary. Riojas had 55 tackles, two sacks, and one interception while Edminston had 62 tackles, one sack, and three interceptions. Alvarado ended up with two interceptions on the backend.

Again, the big guys up front will need to step up to keep opposing linemen off the linebackers.

Don't count the Cougars out before the season starts. This team has all the makings of a "flying under the radar" type situation.