Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
LOGAN — The Longhorns football team have been placed in a new district and a new format as they begin the season Friday with a road game at Magdalena.
The Logan Municipal Schools board voted in late 2023 to go from eight-man football to six-man for at least two years due to declining participation in the sport.
Dwayne Roberts, in his sixth season of guiding the Longhorns, said 18 are participating in high school football this year, including a couple who didn’t play last season.
“It’s an OK number,” he said during an interview Thursday. “It’s not great, but at least we can play offense and defense. In eight-man, we needed 16 to do that. So we still have enough this year.
“But I’ve got eight seniors on the team. Next year, you lose eight right off the top of that.”
Roberts said his team’s biggest weakness so far is making the mental transition to six-man football.
“They’re getting more confident with each practice … starting to look a lot better as we go,” he said. “Our biggest we have right now is just learning. As far as athletes, I don’t see a lot of holes, but it’s just a different game.”
Regardless, the Longhorns should be competitive. Logan perennially qualified for the postseason, including last year. The Longhorns finished 7-4 last season in the toughest eight-man district in the state.
Aydin Kotara, a junior, moved from being a 900-yard, 13-TD receiver last season to being the quarterback.
In the backfield are Stratton Schoonover, a sophomore who played varsity as an freshman and gained over 300 yards, and senior Haden Judd, who won several championships at May’s state track meet.
Devin Kotara, a senior, will be one of the wide receivers. He had 15 receptions for 397 yards and six touchdowns last season.
“We’re really fast,” Roberts said. “Six-man is a speed game, and we’ve got a lot of speed.”
On the line, Roberts said he has junior Mason Wallin, senior Jace Jackson, sophomore Marshall Ortega and senior Payson Nials, who he labeled as “probably one of the leading defensive guys in the state.” Nials led the team last year with 204 tackles and 13 sacks.
Other returning starters on the squad include senior Bill DeLuca and junior Mitchell Wall.
Logan hosted a scrimmage last Friday against squads from Roy-Mosquero and Elida. Robert said on Saturday that it went well.
“Showed some things we need to work on and some things we do well,” Roberts stated in a text. “Boys all performed well. Very proud of how they are making the transition.”
Along with the change in format, the Longhorns are in a new district with Floyd, Dora, Elida, Grady, New Mexico School for the Deaf and defending state champ Roy-Mosquero.
“In our district, you can’t overlook Roy and you can’t overlook Grady,” Roberts said. “I just know that Roy and Grady were both in the semis last year. Roy ended up winning it, but they had to beat Grady and they barely got that done.”
Logan’s first home game will be at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 against non-district foe Mountainair, which Roberts was an assistant coach years ago.
District play begins on Sept. 6 at Grady. The regular-season finale — and possible district-clincher — will be at Roy-Mosquero on Oct. 18.