Sports
Lady Pintos Turning Support Role Around

Young Pinto Wins Moriarty Practice Meet

Pintos Finish Opening Tournament in Fourth Place

Sports Shorts

Moriarty Kicks Off Against Pius

Manzano Starts With New Coach

Monarchs Ready for Season

Monarchs Want To Build on 6th-Place Finish at State

Freshman Gives Softball Ol' College Try

EMHS Excited About Gym

More
Sports

HOME	CLASSIFIEDS	OBITUARIES	SPORTS	OPINION

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Bears To Start Against Lobos

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      Joseph "Dusty" Giles, a modern-day Kit Carson of sorts, will once again traverse the trail up the Rio Grande Valley into northern New Mexico.
    Estancia High's new athletic coordinator and football coach, who recently returned from taking the Bears to a voluntary workout 7-on-7 tournament at McCurdy in Española, will lead Estancia to his old stomping grounds in Tierra Amarilla to play Escalante on Aug. 30 for both teams' first game of the 2008 regular season. Giles coached the Class 1A Lobos to back-to-back 8-3 records in 2006 and '07.
    Going back to the Rio Arriba County seat for the Bears' 2008 season opener wasn't Giles' idea. Originally, Escalante was to come to Estancia for the game.
    Giles shrugged his shoulders in a it's-not-a-big-deal kind of way.
    "(Mike) Draper (who has since retired as the EHS athletic director) changed it," Giles said. "They called and said they needed another home game, and Draper changed it."
    Giles is aware that there are a few fanatics in our midst, regardless of their place of residence, who consider a successful coach leaving on his own accord a treasonous act. But Giles is really too busy to even think about it, though the Lobo fans' reaction to his return could ultimately prove to be interesting.
    "I'm still trying to figure out what we're going to do (with the Bears' football team)," he said. "We've got a few positions locked in, but we've got a lot that's still up in the air. Most of them won't be decided until we start two-a-days."
    Plus Giles has other matters to deal with, including an ongoing search for a new boys basketball coach in the wake of the resignation of former boys and girls coach Mike Trujillo, now at Clayton. He said Estancia is close to naming a new girls coach but wants to hold off on announcing the coach's identity until a contract is signed.
    "I've been learning a lot," Giles said. "This is the first time I've ever done it (being an athletic coordinator). The big thing is we're still looking for a boys basketball coach."
    Giles also got the ball rolling with the local fans when he asked Nick Sedillo to head the revived Estancia athletic booster club, officially titled Da Bears.
    Giles' headlights click to high beam when the subject returns to football. He knows that Estancia's placement in District 2-2A for at least the next two years — along with the likes of Santa Rosa, Texico and Tucumcari — will make for a difficult task.
    Santa Rosa's Lions, famous for their use of the single wing, is the reigning state Class 2A champions. They defeated Texico 46-7 in the state finals at the Wolverines' field on Nov. 30.
    Tucumcari advanced to the quarterfinals, during which Santa Rosa beat the Rattlers 48-0 at the Lion's field on Nov. 16. The 2007 Bears (1-8, 0-3 in District 3-2A), under former coach Richard Walker, did not qualify for the playoffs after having made it to the semifinals in 2006.
    "I'm more worried about Texico," Giles said. "Santa Rosa, if you can figure out the single wing, you can beat. But Texico does so many things. Texico can spread things out, or it can do a double tight. A lot of times, teams that run multiple options aren't very good; they don't have time to learn all of them well. But Texico has got it down."
    Back in March, Giles said he was considering the use of a spread offense at Estancia. That still seems to be where the team is headed.
    "I was at fullback last year," said the Bears' 5-foot-7, 205-pound senior-to-be Stefan Newsom, who probably will work on the offensive line and at defensive linebacker this season. "But we're going to do a spread offense this year. It'll let athletes be athletes."
    Estancia hosted a 7-on-7 voluntary workout with Moriarty on July 22.
    John Torres-Jaquez, last year's starting quarterback, took his turn throwing the ball for the Bears.
    "It's different this year, but I love it," said Torres-Jaquez, a 5-9, 154-pound rising senior. "David Maldonado is doing a good job snapping the ball. He does it fast. We just need to keep working."
    The field conditions at Bob Bell Field were poor during last week's 7-on-7 event. The receivers frequently found themselves slipping and sliding in mud after the recent heavy rains.
    "They killed it (the grass)," Giles said. "The field was looking good in June. They sprayed it with something — there were dandelions or something — and it killed it. We may end up playing on a dead field."
    But the groundskeeping mishap hasn't dampened the Bears' spirits.
    "I'm excited," said junior-to-be Noah Sedillo, a 5-6, 135-pound inside slot receiver and weakside linebacker. "The main thing is to continue to improve and have some fun. It is a little different this year, but every coach has a different persona."
   

---