Hornets return five starters to tough region

GANADO

The Ganado High football team opens the season on Aug. 25 at Holbrook, which was a state playoff team last year.

Win or lose, Ganado coach Adriel Shirley said they can always improve as the Hornets will play in a tough 3A Northeast Region.

“I’m looking forward to that game,” Shirley said of Holbrook. “I like to see how we respond because they were a playoff team last year. We don’t know anything about them, so it will be interesting to see how we match up with them.

“It’s a game that we can learn from,” he added.

Shirley returns five starters including senior Jayden Brown, who completed 52 of 160 pass for 767 yards and five touchdowns.

“He’s pretty knowledgeable at that spot,” Shirley said. “He understands that it’s his time and he’s going to go 50/50 under center and in shotgun.”

The Hornets also return junior Wyatt James (tight end/wideout), senior Tanner Guy (cornerback/wideout), senior Dylon Denetso (cornerback/slot) and junior Keshawn Brown (slot).

“We got most of our skill guys back, but we lost our whole line last year,” Shirley said. “We’re putting the pieces together right now and I’m not too concerned with our passing game.

“The kids already know that system,” he said. “They pretty much know what to do. They know their routes and they know how to run the offense.”

Last year, Denetso was a favorite target as he caught 18 passes for 480 yards.

“He did a lot for us,” Shirley said of Denetso, who hauled in four TDs.

With a plethora of experience on the offensive end, the Ganado coach is expecting some of his kids to have a breakout year.

“We have some good running backs, who run hard every time,” he said. “I can’t say who they are right now, but they’re all working hard, and they’re hungry.”

Defensively, the Ganado coach said they’re looking good at key positions as his starters will play on both sides of the ball.

“We got our corners, safeties and linebackers back,” he said.

Shirley said they’re going to change some of its schemes this year due to the personnel they have, particularly at the line.

“We’re pretty young at the line, so we’re going to run some things that were comfortable with,” he said. “We want to try and work with our strengths.

“Right now, our linemen are trying to get their blockings down,” he said. “That’s the main thing. Other than that, everything is coming together. They’re working hard, and they trust each other.”

Ganado will play two other freedom games as they will host Hopi on Sept. 2 and Tuba City on Sept. 9 before they dive into 3A Northeast play at Round Valley on Sept. 16.

Ganado will continue region play at Blue Ridge (Sept. 23), then they’ll host Show Low (Sept. 30). The Hornets will conclude region play at Monument Valley (Oct. 7), Page (Oct. 14), at Window Rock (Oct. 21) and Winslow (Oct. 28).

“It’s going to be challenging,” Shirley said of the newly aligned conference. “The (former) 3A East teams are always good in football and they’re all powerhouses. They go year round and, you know, they have lifting programs and summer programs, so it’s going to be tough.

“We just have to see how we do,” he added. “It’s going to be interesting in how it all turns out. We’re going to prepare for it as best as we can. It will be good for us in the next couple of years, and we’ll know what to expect every year.”

Besides the four leftover teams in the former 3A East, the Hornets will continue to play its traditional rivals with Monument Valley, Page and Window Rock.

“We always look forward to playing Window Rock, MV and Page,” Shirley said. “We’ve played them all these years, and when we play each other it really doesn’t matter who has the better record because the kids play hard against each other and that’s what makes it fun.”

On Friday, the Hornets will host a three-team scrimmage with Alchesay and Chinle in a tune-up with Holbrook.

---