GRIDIRON GLANCE ’24: Comanche Indians

August 19, 2024 at 7:52 am Derrick Stuckly

COMANCHE – Perhaps no football team locally is experiencing a greater change in their surroundings from 2023 to 2024 than the Comanche Indians.

After competing in District 5-3A Division II the last four seasons – the entirety of head coach Jake Escobar’s tenure – against Jacksboro, Millsap, Merkel, Eastland and Dublin, the Indians have moved up to Class 3A Division I and will be heading out west.

The UIL has placed Comanche in District 3-3A Division I with Sweetwater, which is dropping down from 4A Division II, and perennial powerhouse Jim Ned, along with playoff contenders Clyde, Breckenridge and San Angelo TLCA.

“It’s going to be a tough district,” said Escobar, who guided Comanche to an 8-5 mark last year and is 19-16 in three seasons with the Indians. “Everybody’s going to be well-coached. You’ve got a team dropping down from 4A in Sweetwater and they’re always going to be good, and I think everybody in the district is. They’re all going to be physical, we just have to be able to handle that and handle adversity. There’s going to be some of that early on, but that will help us come district time.

“But our expectations are always going to be the same. There’s a standard here that we have to live up to, way before I got here. Coming in here I knew there was a standard to win and be successful and have kids that play hard and play tough. That carries over and our kids do a good job of that. We’re going to play as hard as we can play and that’s all we can control.”

Part of the adversity Escobar eluded to was finding the right mix on a roster that returns just four offensive and five defensive starters from a team that played 13 games the season prior.

“We lost some starters we’ve had for three years so people are wondering what we’re going to do,” said Escobar, who owns a 26-40 career record as a head coach. “All I can say is our kids are going to play hard. We graduated 19 seniors, but we also have 19 seniors in this group. We are working on running back depth, we have a lot of sophomores there so they’re going to be young and we have to hope they can handle the physicality of it and handle the Friday night lights.”

Players to watch for the Indians this season include quarterback Cayden Davis (22-299, 3 TDs as a receiver last year), receiver CT Buford (13-289, 3 TDs receiving) and Alex Terrell will get the first look at running back, a new position for him after playing tight end in the past. Up front, Comanche is led by Christian Anaya and Badger Sanchez, among others.

Defensively, key returnees include Chance Boswell (110 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INTs, 2 FRs), Manuel Ortiz (55 tackles, 2 FRs, 1 INT), Kazdon Thedford (52 tackles, 11 for loss, 5 sacks) and Anaya (40 tackles, 2 sacks).

“Our quarterback Cayden Davis has been a great leader and done a great job in the offense,” Escobar said. “Running back, we’re putting in some guys that have never played running back on varsity, but we think they’ll do a great job for us. CT is our slot receiver and a weapon on the offensive side and on the defensive side. Our tight end and defensive end have been with us for a while, and we’re going to try and set the tone on the line where Badger Sanchez and Christian Anaya have been two-year starters.”

Prior to district Comanche will battle Poth in the Alamodome to open the season Thursday, Aug. 29, followed by games with Llano, Eastland, Tolar, and Early.

“No. 1, I want to make sure we’re getting better every chance we get,” Escobar said. “We have a tough pre-district schedule with Poth, Llano, Eastland brings everybody back, we know what Tolar has, and Early always plays us tough. I think we’ve done a great job getting our schedule ready for district. I’m excited to see what we can do.”

The District 3-3A Division I slate features Jim Ned and Sweetwater visiting Comanche right out of the gate, a trip to Breckenridge, a home outing with San Angelo TLCA and a date at Clyde to wrap up the regular season.

Comanche is picked to finish fourth behind Sweetwater, Jim Ned, and Clyde, and ahead of Breckenridge and San Angelo TLCA, by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

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COMANCHE INDIANS 2024 SCHEDULE

Aug. 29	Poth (at Alamodome)	7 p.m.
Sept. 6	Llano	7 p.m.
Sept. 13	at Eastland	7 p.m.
Sept. 20	at Tolar	7 p.m.
Sept. 27	Early#
Oct. 4	OPEN
Oct. 11	Jim Ned*	7 p.m.
Oct. 18	Sweetwater*	7 p.m.
Oct. 25	at Breckenridge*	7 p.m.
Nov. 1	Abilene TLCA*	7 p.m.
Nov. 8	at Clyde*	7 p.m.