GRIDIRON GLANCE ’21: San Saba Armadillos

August 14, 2021 at 7:00 am Derrick Stuckly

SAN SABA – San Saba’s 2020 season ended a little sooner than has become accustomed in recent years, but the Armadillos are eager to begin another quest toward a lengthy postseason run as the 2021 campaign arrives.

Head coach Andreas Aguirre welcomes back 24 of 34 lettermen from last year’s 8-3 playoff squad, including five offensive and four defensive starters,

After a runner-up finish in District 4-2A Division I, the Armadillos are projected by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football to again finish behind Cisco in the league race. San Saba is expected to place in front of Coleman, Winters, Goldthwaite and De Leon.

“Our culture is strong, we’ve got a great coaching staff, and a great group of kids. We lost a strong senior class but they’ve been saying that the last three years,” Aguirre said. “These kids are winners, they’ve been through it, they love what it tastes like, what it feels like to win ball games. We have high expectations around here, high expectations for this coaching staff, for these kids, and myself.”

Among the players to watch for San Saba are DCTF District 4-2A Division I preseason defensive player of the year WR/DB Reagan Mejia who plays cornerback and receiver, RB Wesley Lackey, WR/DB Drake Bryant, DB Franco Franco, OL Leonel Aranda, QB Lance Taylor, OL/DL Christian Ramirez, and WR/LB Tyler Johnson.

“We have Reagan Mejia, he’s a six-sport athlete,” Aguirre said. “He’s going to be holding it down at the corner position. Franco Franco will be at the other corner. We have Lance Taylor running our quarterback position. We have a plethora of skill guys. We’ve got some big guys coming back like Christian Ramirez and Leonel Aranda who are holding down the lines. I’m excited about the kids we’re having back this year.”

Among the greatest strengths for the Armadillos, according to Aguirre, is the team camaraderie.

“It’s unreal,” Aguirre said. “They hang out together, they listen to music together, they go hunting together, they fish together, they eat together, they hang out in the locker room together. It’s crazy to the see the camaraderie this group has around here. We just have to execute and be able to execute when times get tough and battle adversity. These kids have a played a lot of meaningful snaps, a lot of ball games, but I want to see what they do as a group.”

San Saba opens the season against Eldorado, Rogers, Mason, Llano and Dublin which will provide stern tests ahead of the 4-2A Division I slate.

“It’s going to be tough,” Aguirre said. “I just want to see us play as hard as we can one play at a time. I’m not worried about the next game or the last game, or district, the playoffs or whatever, I just want to see us to continue to get better every day.”

Once district begins, San Saba will tangle with Goldthwaite in Brownwood on Thursday, Oct. 7 followed by Winters, De Leon, Coleman and Cisco.

“It’s a great group of coaches and the teams are well-coached with great cultures,” Aguirre said. “It’s going to be a battle and we just want to be there in the end.”

After playing 40 games the past three seasons, Aguirre said when asked how good this San Saba team can be, “The sky’s the limit with this group. We just have to continue to stay together when the times get tough and keep battling and moving forward and I think we’ll be in it in the end.”

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SAN SABA ARMADILLOS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 27 at Eldorado

Sept. 3 at Rogers

Sept. 10 Mason (homecoming)

Sept. 17 Llano

Sept. 24 at Dublin

Oct. 1 OPEN

Oct. 7 Goldthwaite* (at Brownwood)

Oct. 15 Winters*

Oct. 22 at De Leon*

Oct. 29 Coleman*