{"id":33323,"date":"2023-06-21T18:22:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T00:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/broncos-bring-back-talented-group-for-upcoming-season\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:08:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:08:54","slug":"broncos-bring-back-talented-group-for-upcoming-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/broncos-bring-back-talented-group-for-upcoming-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos bring back talented group for upcoming season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Kirtland
Kirtland Central running back Demusico Edsitty (46) looks for a gap in the Montezuma-Cortez defense late in the third quarter on Sept. 9, 2022, at Bill Cawood Field. (Curtis Ray Benally \u2013 Turkeyboy Photography\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Curtis Ray Benally<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

KIRTLAND \u2013 Entering the second season on the job as Kirtland Central head football coach, Travis Clary is aware of the added pressure of keeping a program headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Coming off a 4-6 season last fall, which included back-to-back losses in both the regular season finale and in the first round of the postseason, Clary is optimistic the team can turn things around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the numbers I\u2019ve seen in the weight room for workouts is up from last season,\u201d Clary said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of kids who want to be a part of the team and that\u2019s coming out more and more every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clary took over the Broncos football team following the resignation of Jeff Schaum at the end of the 2021 season. The losses at the end of last season may have been crucial to show how far the program has come.<\/p>\n

Kirtland lost its district finale to Aztec by a final of 56-14 before getting eliminated in the first round of the postseason by Moriarty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the kids that our goal was to make it to the playoffs, get that experience of what it\u2019s like to play for the community on a bigger stage,\u201d Clary said. \u201cThe losses were a tough way to end, but I think we are showing we can build from that.<\/p>\n

\"Kirtland
Kirtland Central defensive tackle Nickolas Billie (58) sacks Montezuma-Cortez quarterback in the end zone for a safety in the third quarter on Sept. 9, 2022, at Bill Cawood Field. (Curtis Ray Benally \u2013 Turkeyboy Photography\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Curtis Ray Bennally<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Clary has a talented group of returning playmakers who he hopes can continue to progress this offseason before the 2023 campaign opens at home Aug. 18 against Valencia.<\/p>\n

Junior Bryle Matthews scored more than a dozen touchdowns last season, including eight rushing scores and four through the air. Receiver Noah Dineyazhe caught 25 passes last season for 464 yards and five scores as a junior last season, while DeMusico Edsitty averaged nearly 5.5 yards a carry as a junior last year, rushing more than 650 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\"Kirtland
Kirtland Central running back Bryle Matthews gains yardage before being tackled by Bloomfield linebacker Auggie Salazar near the 20-yard line in the third quarter on Oct. 14, 2022, at Bill Cawood Field. (Curtis Ray Benally \u2013 Turkeyboy Photography\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Curtis Ray Benally<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cAll of those guys are not only contributors on the field, but they\u2019re part of the heartbeat of the team,\u201d Clary said. \u201cThey\u2019re all leaders on and off the field and a big reason why we\u2019ll hopefully be successful this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing in District 1-4A, which happens to be the home district for Class 4A state champion Bloomfield, is also something that Clary hopes will stoke the competitive fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure we all know that there\u2019s a greater emphasis on this district and really the whole Four Corners area,\u201d Clary said. \u201cThe coaches and the staffs and the players are really learning to play for the communities they represent, and I think that\u2019s helped us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team recently took part in 7-on-7 drills with a number of area and local high schools. Clary was happy with what he saw from a competitive and communicative standpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really do get after each other, and they want to learn,\u201d Clary said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the thing you really want to come away with when we have those drills is being able to communicate and make reads and learn from each play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirtland Central will have a bye week immediately following the season opener, before another home game against Thoreau on Sept. 1. The Hawks are coming off a 9-3 season last year and are defending champions in District 5-3A.<\/p>\n

Kirtland Central 2023 Football Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

Home games in ALL CAPS<\/p>\n

Fri., Aug. 18, 7 p.m. VALENCIA<\/p>\n

Fri., Sept. 1, 7 p.m. THOREAU<\/p>\n

Fri., Sept, 8, 7 p.m. @Montezuma-Cortez<\/p>\n

Sat., Sept. 16, 1 p.m. @Rio Grande<\/p>\n

Fri., Sept. 22, 7 p.m. GRANTS<\/p>\n

Fri., Sept. 29, 7 p.m. ESPANOLA VALLEY<\/p>\n

Fri., Oct. 6, 7 p.m. @Pagosa Springs<\/p>\n

Fri., Oct. 13, 7pm, @Bloomfield<\/p>\n

Fri., Oct. 20, 7 p.m. GALLUP<\/p>\n

Fri., Oct. 27 7 p.m. AZTEC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kirtland Central football looks to fare well in strong district<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1707,2429,1870,642,1815,3531,36,1709],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aztec-high-school","tag-bloomfield-high-school","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-kirtland-central-high-school","tag-maxpreps","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-new-mexico-activities-association"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82151,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33323\/revisions\/82151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33323"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}