Holbrook, Ramah gurus tabbed as Coach of the Year

WINDOW ROCK

After two winless seasons the Holbrook football team made a quick turnaround under the tutelage of third-year coach Chris Starkey.

“We were 0-10 my first year here and we were 0-5 last year during the shorten COVID season,” Starkey said. “We were able to turn it around and finish with a 7-3 record this year, and we were the region champs.”

That metamorphosis earned Starkey the Times’ Coach of the Year award. In addition to the Holbrook coach, Ramah’s Shane Evans was also named as co-coach of the year.

“It’s very humbling,” Starkey said of his award. “You know, Navajo County is filled with some amazing coaches: from coach (Bryan) Begay at Monument Valley and coach (Brandon) Guzman at Winslow.

“To be thought of in that realm at that level in the coaching tree is quite humbling, especially for somebody at my age,” he added. “I’m only 31 years old and I’ve been coaching for only 10 years, and only my third season as a head football coach and to be acknowledged in that sense is humbling.”

Starkey said the credit goes to both his coaching staff and players.

“I can only go as far as they take me,” he said. “They know that and I know that. It’s just something that I’ve made a point of as far as building relationships with my kids, building relationships with my coaches and earning that trust.”

Evans, who coached the Mustangs to the six-man football title game, was just as shocked as his selection.

“That’s pretty cool,” he said. “I mean, I never had thoughts about getting this. I’ve always thought about my kids being the ones that get the awards and whatnot.

“But I’d have to say it was a total team effort, like I’ve always told them,” he said. “We all work hard together and we celebrate together. That’s pretty neat.”

Under his direction, the Mustangs finished with an 8-2 record.

“We set a lot of goals and our number one goal was to be the district champion,” he said. “Then we set other little goals throughout the entire year and we kept working towards them.”

The overachieving Mustangs reached the state title game in hopes of avenging its earlier season setback to Roswell Gateway Christian.

“Things didn’t work out for us in the championship game and I put a lot of that on my shoulders,” Evans said. “We didn’t get the outcome we wanted but we had a cool year. I had a great group of boys and it’s cool that they went through that with me.”

The player of the year award went to Navajo Prep’s Dontrelle Denetso and Monument Valley’s Andrew Sheppard. Attempts to reach both players were unsuccessful at press time.

Sheppard led the Mustangs to an 8-3 record as MV won the 3A North Region title, which earned them a spot in the 3A state playoffs.

Sheppard finished the season with 22 passing TDs and 13 rushing TDs, becoming the first Mustang player to rush for 1,200 yards and pass for 1,700 yards in the same season.

Sheppard was awarded the 3A North Region Player of Year. His other accolades include being named as a two-time Navajo Times All-Area pick, a three-time all-region first-team offensive selection, and the Azsportsnetwork 1A-3A Freshman Player of the Year.

Denetso was equally impressive as he was named the New Mexico 3A Offensive Player of the Year.

He helped the Navajo Prep team to an 8-2 record, which included a District 1-3A title and a berth to the 3A state playoffs.

Denetso rushed for 1,420 yards and 23 TDs and in the air he completed 72-of-120 passes for 1,219 passing and 13 TDs.

According to Navajo Prep head coach Roderick Denetso, his pupil was ranked in the top 5 in individual stats regardless of class.

In addition to those exploits, he returned 426 yards in punts and defensively he had 18 solo tackles and eight assisted tackles.

“I’m sad to lose him because he makes me look good as a coach,” Roderick said of his nephew. “He’s so fast and so elusive. He makes broken plays look good.”

All-Stars

Armen Apachito, Alamo Navajo

Tlaston McNeal, Aztec

Trent Walker, Alchesay

Kakoa Upton, Alchesay

Frederick Colelay, Alchesay

Bucky Yazzie, Alchesay

Anthony Goseyn, Alchesay

Mark Armenta, Bloomfield

Diego Snell-Martinez, Bloomfield

Jesse Seitzinger, Bloomfield

Drew Perez, Bloomfield

Auggie Augular, Bloomfield

Mike King, Bloomfield

Robney Chesnut, Bloomfield

Jeremiah Sandoval, Bloomfield

Dion Tsosie, Chinle

Xander Henderson, Chinle

Luke Jones, Chinle

Tyrell Archie, Crownpoint

Navarro Burnside, Crownpoint

Kordell McMillian, Crownpoint

Markus Ignacio, Cuba

Kellen Murphy, Cuba

Davian Lechuga, Cuba

Chris Cassador, Dulce

Kai Cassador, Dulce

Santi Largo, Dulce

Nathaniel Becenti, Dulce

Jerome Peshtony, Ganado

Marquis West, Ganado

Marcus Oberriter, Holbrook

Izzy Ramos, Holbrook

Daniel Montijo, Holbrook

Kyle Smith, Holbrook

Malakai Johnson, Holbrook

Caden Tom, Holbrook

Teyton Begay, Holbrook

Curtis Talieje, Hopi

Zakk Thomas, Kirtland Central

Raymetrius Benally, Kirtland Central

Chase Gibbs, Kirtland Central

Andrew Sheppard, Monument Valley

Devaughn Poorman, Monument Valley

Caden Kescoli, Monument Valley

Roberto Flores, Monument Valley

Blane Begay, Monument Valley

Stephen Hale, Monument Valley

Tyson Atene, Monument Valley

Darnell Johnson, Monument Valley

Justin Parrish, Monument Valley

Nahvonie Gray, Monument Valley

Eder Yanez, Monument Valley

Dontrelle Denetso, Navajo Prep

Kyun Tate, Navajo Prep

Lucious Hale, Navajo Prep

Jeremiah Levington, Navajo Prep

Kyler Clitso, Navajo Prep

Daniel Yazzie, Navajo Prep

Dayton Yazzie, Navajo Prep

Jake Silago, Navajo Prep

Perry Ellerbe, Newcomb

Lane Wilson, Newcomb

Marcus Jake, Newcomb

Adakai Yazzie, Newcomb

Collin Joe, Page

Aidan Nix, Page

Conner Shirley, Page

Jimmy Alvarez, Page

Emmanuel Manygoats, Page

Tyrone Yazzie, Page

Verdale Yazzie, Page

Josh Holiday, Peoria

Joey Haskan, Pinon

Whelan Clawson, Ramah

Bowdy Evans, Ramah

McKay Evans, Ramah

Wyatt Clawson, Ramah

Tevin King, Red Mesa

Bradley Benally, Red Mesa

Lentrell Begay, Red Mesa

Lorin Curley, Red Mesa

DeAngelo Hunch, Tohatchi

Blane Long, Tohatchi

Wyatt Chischilly, Tohatchi

Matthew Tsosie, Tohatchi

Elias Moose, Tohatchi

Zachary Parsons, Tohatchi

Houston Garoutte, Thoreau

Dillion Butler, Thoreau

Tyrin Mann, Tuba City

Xander Mitchell, Tuba City

Papsiya Lomayestewa, Tuba City

Lavander Yazzie, Tuba City

Conner Begay, Valley

Devin Smith, Valley

Kyler Tabaha, Valley

Nicholas Begay, Valley

Taylor Begay, Window Rock

Theodore Dodson III, Window Rock

Tristion Thomas, Window Rock

Jayden Bia, Window Rock

Ryan Calvert, Window Rock

Lashawn Platero, Window Rock

Micah Johnson, Winslow

Gage Thomas, Winslow

Jace Lyons, Winslow

Bryan Larsen, Winslow

Rudy Gonzalez, Winslow

Keaton Kislingbury, Winslow

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