COMANCHE – Head coach Jake Escobar’s first season back at his alma mater was a trying campaign for Comanche Indians football, but he’s hopeful the second year leads to greater successes. The Indians will have an advantage of being extremely familiar with their District 5-3A Division II mates, as the league did not change at all during the UIL’s biennial realignment in February.
“The second year is going a lot easier,” Escobar said. “It seems like the practices have gotten a lot smoother. Our first night was one was the best nights I’ve ever had as far as a first-day practice. We did Midnight Madness and that was really good. Seems like we’re more efficient this year with our practice schedules and the way we’re moving. I felt last year we had to talk about how to practice in terms of tempo. They’d been running the wing T so they were a little slower lining up, and we want to be faster at getting lined up. That’s been a big difference this year, it seems like the kids have a better grasp of what we’re calling, the verbiage. That’s a big thing, if you can coach on the run and you’re using your verbiage it makes practice a lot easier.”
Comanche posted a 1-9 record last year, including a 1-4 mark in district, but was still mathematically alive for a postseason berth heading into the final game of the season. The Indians again will battle No. 23 Eastland, Jacksboro, Dublin, Millsap and Merkel in District 5-3A Division II action, where Comanche is projected to finish fifth by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.
League play begins Oct. 7 at home against Millsap followed by a trip to Jacksboro, a home game with Dublin, a road trip to Merkel and the regular season finale sees Eastland come to town.
“Last year every ball game was decided by seven points or less, so it’s going to be competitive again,” Escobar said. “Everybody does a great job in our district. There’s a lot of great coaches in our district that do a great job with their kids. It’s going to be competitive again. I’m ready to get after it. It’s fun competition and that’s what you live for. You want it to be like that to prepare you for the postseason.”
The Indians bring back 19 of 28 lettermen from last year’s squad, including six starters on each side of the ball.
“Our biggest strength is our unity,” Escobar said. “Our kids are closer knit this year and I think it’s because most of them played together last year, and they’ve been through offseason together. We also have a lot more depth. Last year I remember a lot of these guys as sophomores were playing. We didn’t have anybody behind them. Now they’re juniors and we have a couple of guys behind them. That’s changed a lot.
“Our weakness is probably our youth. We’re starting a first-year quarterback and first-year running back. They played varsity, but didn’t start and didn’t play those positions that much. Our quarterback was an outside linebacker who played receiver. That’s going to be our weakness right now, but if we do a good job coaching that’ll change.”
Players to keep an eye on for Comanche this season include Kyler Beaty, Layden Welch, Ethan Morin, Dom Rios, Miguel Martinez, and Sawyer Wilkerson, among others.
“Kyler is a receiver and defensive back and he was all-area last year and he’s gotten so much stronger,” Escobar said. “He’s developed mentality and had a great offseason. Layden is going to be our quarterback. He’s a tough kid, played outside linebacker for us. He’s gotten faster, ran track in the spring and didn’t do that the year before. Ethan is our left tackle, he’s all-area last year. He’s going to be a handful. He does a great job. Dom is our middle linebacker, he’s the heart and soul of our team. He brings it every day. He plays with passion, loves the game and does all the little things. Miguel is our little slot receiver, and wildcat quarterback, and he’s going to be a handful. And Sawyer, he’s our running back and he’s going to be a sophomore and he’s got some speed.”
Prior to the start of district, Comanche will tangle with Brady, Bangs, Early, Tolar and Albany.
“I just want to see them play hard,” Escobar said of the early-season goals. “We’re going to make mistakes, there’s no doubt about it. We’re still learning the offense and the defense. We switched from an odd front to an even front this year, we’re going to be a 4-2-5, so I just want to see them play hard, overcome mistakes, overcome adversity and then from there we’ll get better.”
As for what it will take for the Indians to make a playoff push, Escobar pointed to the ground game as being among the biggest keys.
“We have to able to run the ball,” Escobar said. “We’re going to RPO a little more this year so we’ll need to be able to complete passes here and there and be balanced to an extent. But being able to run the ball is always going to be key for us.”
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COMANCHE INDIANS 2002 VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
| Aug. 26 | Brady | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 2 | at Bangs | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 9 | Early# | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 16 | at Tolar | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 23 | at Albany | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 30 | OPEN | |
| Oct. 7 | Millsap* | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 14 | at Jacksboro* | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 21 | Dublin* | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 28 | at Merkel* | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 4 | Eastland* | 7 p.m. |
*District 5-3A Division II game
# Homecoming
