Hawks improve to 2-0 with pair of shutout wins

WINDOW ROCK

The prep football season is entering its third week and of all the teams in District 5-3A, Thoreau is the only unbeaten team.

The Hawks improved its record to 2-0 after defeating Tucumcari, 40-0, last week. Two weeks ago, they shutout Zuni by a 50-0 count.

“We graduated all of our heavy hitters, so I think a lot of people, including myself, kind of figured it might be a rebuilding year,” Thoreau coach Erik Loera said.

“This is my first year as a head coach,” he said. “I’ve been, you know, head coach at the junior high level for two years and then I was an assistant coach for like four years on the varsity team, but it’s my first year as a head coach.

“Of course, going into the first game of the season, you always have your doubts,” he said. “You ask yourself, ‘Is the team ready? And am I ready for this?’ That kind of runs through your head, but I knew we’d beat Zuni.

“I just didn’t know it would be like that,” he said.

While Thoreau ran its record to 2-0, the other district teams – Crownpoint, Cuba and Wingate – have compiled 1-1 records.

“We’re the only undefeated team in the district, but it’s still early in the season,” Loera said. “What really surprises me is I watched Wingate play against Navajo Prep and Wingate totally destroyed them. They got a passing attack and they’re the ones I’m worried about.”

Last season, Cuba beat Thoreau 20-19 for the district title. Zuni overpowered that same team last week as the T-Birds won 28-6 over Cuba.

“I have no clue what happened to Cuba against Zuni,” Loera said. “I still have to watch film in that game to see what happened.”

Loera said he has a really young team that is mostly made up sophomores and juniors. Running back Ray Long is one of those underclassmen that has really stood out.

“I think he’s top five in the state as far as rushing,” the Thoreau coach said of Long. “He had 193 yards of rushing against Zuni. I’m sure he had over 100, or close to 100, against Tucumcari. He’s scored multiple touchdowns in both outings.”

Junior Isaac Bear Eagle is another underclassman that is showing promise at the quarterback position.

“It’s his first year starting varsity football,” Loera said. “He’s a thing to notice. He’s a left arm quarterback and you don’t see that very often. And he’s pretty darn accurate.”

On the defensive end, senior Harvey Charley is leading the team in tackles.

“He plays outside linebacker and he’s really impressed me,” Loera said. “The defense as a whole has been very impressive. Coy Harlan is another standout player. He plays on both sides of the ball and he’s a team captain.”

Loera said defensive tackle Isaiah Perry has been a beast on the D-line.

“He’s an animal,” he said. “He makes it hard for the other team to run it up the middle.”

Thoreau will get its stiffest test in the young season when Kirtland Central visits the Hawks tonight.

“That’s a gauging stick for us,” Loera said. “I think it’s going to set the tone for the rest of the season. You know, Kirtland is a 4A school and we’re barely a 3A school, so they have more athletes that we do.

“They got a new coach and we watched their game film (on Monday) and they looked like they really struggled with Silver,” he added.

“But, you know Silver is a pretty good team,” he said. “They beat Miyamura too. It’s really hard to say how we’ll match up with them, but we’re going to do our best.”

On Sept. 24, the Hawks will travel to West Las Vegas and Loera said that contest will be another measuring stick for his squad.

“We’re going to go in there with the mindset of winning,” he said.

Going into today’s game, Loera said they need to clean some things up if they want to compete with KC.

“We made a lot of mistakes against Tucumcari,” he said. “We had a lot of dumb penalties and missed blocking assignments. We should have mercy-ruled them.”

Loera, who is originally from Southern California, moved to the area when he was a teenager. His dad ran the IHS hospital in Crownpoint for nine years and he graduated at CHS.

He played one season under Gary Lunsford in his sophomore season when Crownpoint was a playoff team.

His junior and senior year, he was coached by Tim Garro as his high school team finished at 6-3 both seasons.

“I played under some really good coaches and it stuck with me,” he said. “I learned what worked and what didn’t, and I’m applying that as the head coach.”

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