LENORAH - When motorists drive by Grady ISD they notice a wonderful new facility being built, but if they would look a little closer they would see the heartbeat of a rural country school being built as well.
The 2020 Wildcat varsity football team as been hitting the grid iron for the past couple weeks in preparation for the first scrimmage of the season on Friday at 9 am in O’Donnell.
Senior running back Caden Hayes will anchor the offense for Grady this season.
He will be running behind an experienced group of linemen that includes senior Arath Alarcon and juniors Cobe Cortez and Cooper Wallin.
“It’s great just having trust in the linemen and just having a brick wall in right in front of you,” Hayes said. “It’s sweet. It’s very nice. It’s what a running back wants to see.”
Cortez will be playing center for the Wildcats and Grady interim head coach Chris Short had nothing be praise for Cortez stating “He is a center who stands out with his quick feet.”
Joining Hayes in the backfield will be senior Isaiah Ontiveros, junior Frankie Jimenez and freshman Kody Cates.
Hayes is coming off a noteworthy 2019 season when he carried the ball 86 times for 661 yards and 10 touchdowns for a Wildcats team that finished 3-7.
“He’s not real big, but he’s very shifty,” Short said of Hayes. “He reminds me a lot of Barry Sanders of how he sees the holes and gets through it. He has a lot of heart. He had some injuries last year and fought back. As a senior, I’m really expecting and thinking big things from him this year.”
This season the Wildcats will lean on a freshman quarterback Hunter McAnally, who shined in the junior high program. Short lauds McAnally for his ability to throw, run and block, and calls him a hard worker with a big heart.
Although the Wildcats have some depth at running back and offensive line, Short says the 10-man roster means players are going to have to learn every position.
“We will force the issue with defensive coordinator Daniel Cates. Cates wants to be aggressive, using the defense’s quickness to disrupt the backfield more often,” said Short. “Ontiveros and Jimenez are the standouts of our defense. Both can play linebacker and cornerback and were two of the team’s leading tacklers last season. They may not be the biggest guys but they’ll come up and strike you,” Short said.
Short says the offensive line depth will benefit the Wildcats on defense too with their three-man front.
Grady will look to score some easy points with an experienced kicker in Alarcon.
This season the Wildcats will aim for one of two postseason spots in a challenging District 6-1A Division I, which includes 2019 state semifinalist Rankin, perennial power Garden City and first-year program Midland TLCA.
Grady is accustomed to playing stiff inter-district competition after competing against Borden County the previous two years.
“It’s going to be a very competitive district,” Short said. “We’re not really worried about that right now. We’re taking it one game at a time. Our main goal is to get better each week, just get better each practice and see whatever happens.”
“It gives us that mentality knowing that we have to outwork all of our opponents and just be prepared,” Hayes said of playing in a tough district. “It really gets us going. I think it’s good for us.”
Grady’s last playoff appearance was in 2018. The Wildcats lost to Ropes, 58- 12, in Class 1A Division I bidistrict round.
Grady will scrimmage an old district foe in O’Donnell on Friday morning at 9 a.m. in O’Donnell.
The Screamin’ Eagles will be a true test for Grady as they return 10 starting positions for a team that made the Class A DI playoffs in 2019.
Grady’s defense will look to corral O’Donnell running backs Caleb Lowe and Juan Renteria and hope to disrupt the chemistry between quarterback Blaze Garces and wide receiver Jochi Rodriguez.