Much like the rest of the state of Texas, football is king in Monahans.
Located about 35 miles southwest of Odessa, Monahans (pop. 7,836) is one of the many small communities located in West Texas. In those communities, Monahans head coach Fred Staugh said the residents tend to rally around their local high school football team.
“You’ve got a lot of great folks who are willing to do anything for you,” Staugh said. “The town really thrives on how we do on Friday night. They want to see the Loboes win and so do I.”
Last season, the town got to enjoy plenty of Lobo victories as Monahans made it to the third round of playoffs for the first time since 2016.
It was a roller coaster of a year as the Loboes started 6-0 for the first time since 2010 before going 1-3 in district play, leaving them as the four seed heading into playoffs.
However, the Loboes embraced the role of the underdog, knocking off Lubbock Estacado 31-28 and Van Alstyne 35-28 in order to make their first third round appearance in 5 years. And although Aubrey defeated Monahans convincingly 42-7 in its third round matchup, Monahans still finished with an impressive 9-4 record.
FG is good for Monahans!!
43 yd FG just crosses over the bar and the Loboes take the lead again!
5:11 in the 4th
Monahans 31
Lubbock Estacado 28@806HsscConnect pic.twitter.com/l5VG92A4ki
— S. Valerio (Red checkmark) (@TXHSEducation) November 12, 2021
“You know, on paper, there’s no way we should have won [against Estacado], but man our kids played hard and ever since then, I think our kids believed, ‘Hey, we can win against anybody,’” Staugh said. “It was an incredible year. It was a great turnaround for us.”
Monahans will hope to carry last year’s momentum over to this season with nine starters returning from last year’s team.
One of those returning starters is dual threat junior quarterback Cheno Navarrette (2,432 passing yards, 1,232 rushing yards, and 35 total touchdowns in 2021). With Navarrette now having nineteen starts, including four playoff games, under his belt, Staugh is excited to see what he can do leading the Loboes this season.
“We put a lot on him as far managing the game, knowing what everyone’s doing at all times, and it’s a roll that he’s really taken on,” Staugh said. “Everybody looks to him to be the leader, and he does a great job with it.”
Joining Navarrette is the backfield is senior running back Adan Saucedo (605 rushing yards, 465 receiving yards, and 12 total touchdowns in 2021), who is also the leading returning receiver for the Loboes. Staugh said he does a great job of making plays in space and breaking tackles.
In the passing game, Staugh said he is expecting big things out of senior receivers McClay Ortega (287 receiving yards) and Ben Cordova (178 receiving yards) as well as tight end Trey Cox (220 receiving yards).
In addition to the talent out at the skill positions, Staugh said the offensive line will lean on the experience of seniors Joseph Vowles and Drew Coker. He said both will need to have big seasons to steady the Loboes offensive front.
On the other side of the ball, senior Ryan Ramirez (102 total tackles) will look to anchor the secondary from his free safety position.
But the most impressive story of the Lobo defense has been the meteoric rise of Bryan Bejarano. After playing on the JV B team, he used a big spring last year to propel himself to a varsity spot. He quickly showed why the coaching staff was so high on him by racking up 99 total tackles and earning second-team all-district honors in 2021.
“Ever since having a good offseason last year, we knew that [Bejarano] had a chance to be dang good, and he certainly has shown that,” Staugh said. “He’s a hard worker. Big-time program guy.”
This season, the Loboes will be competing in a new-look District 1-4A Division II. The three teams they lost to a year ago (Snyder, Midland Greenwood, and Sweetwater) have all departed with Clint, Clint Mountain View, Fabens, and Fort Stockton replacing them the mix. Pecos is the only other holdover from a year ago.
4A DII
Ft. Stockton, Pecos, and Monahans are reunited, but will now travel west to the El Paso area for other district games.
Meanwhile Greenwood will face teams all east/northeast of our viewing area. Rangers flying solo as far as West Texas goes. #UILRealignment #txhsfb pic.twitter.com/2bitCY6Ffq
— Jakob Brandenburg (@Jakob_BburgTV) February 3, 2022
As is the case in West Texas a lot of the time, the Loboes will have some serious road trips to take as Fabens and the two Clint schools are about 220 miles away.
“I think it’s going to be a battle week in and week out,” Staugh said. “You’re going to have various things that you got to overcome. We’re going to see tough competition.”
And as the Loboes go in search of their first district title since 2016 and more playoff victories, Staugh said his team is living by the motto “dream big, work small” as they look to reach their goals in 2022.
“We can have a goal of winning a district championship; we want to win gold footballs,” Staugh said. “We’re going to dream big, but we’re going to work small. So every day that we show up, we’re going to work on the small things that are going to help us hopefully have an advantage on Friday nights.”
2022 Monahans Loboes Football Schedule
(Bold Designates District 1-4A Division II Matchup)
8/26 at Shallowater
9/2 vs. Andrews
9/9 at Big Spring
9/16 vs. Snyder
9/23 at Denver City
10/7 Pecos
10/14 at Fort Stockton
10/21 vs. Fabens
10/28 at Clint Mountain View
11/4 vs. Clint
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