“We’re similar teams,” said new Sonora head coach Kevin Sherrill, whose Broncos host the Punchers in a nondistrict contest at 7:30 p.m. at Bronco Stadium. “Mason has been there and done that and they’ve got that (state championship) experience. Our kids have won, not as much as Mason lately, but we feel good about lining up against them.”
Mason first-year head coach Michael McLeod has been impressed but not surprised with how quickly the Broncos have picked up the newly-introduced Slot T offense.
“They have the athletes and it’s really working for them right now, and they’re having great success,” said McLeod of the 2-0 Broncos.
A glance at the rosters for the 2019 teams quickly turns into a “who’s who” of West Texas multi-sport athletes.
For the Broncos, senior running backs Brock Aschenbeck and Wilson Johnson have been playing varsity football, basketball, baseball and running track at a high level since they were sophomores.
Junior quarterback Preston Gonzalez is following the lead of his upperclassmen, as he was added to the Sonora track and field relays mix last year as a sophomore.
For the Punchers, seniors Slone Stultz, Kyle Montoya, Klay Klaerner and Tad Kirby are very familiar to those who follow high school sports from August to June.
Stultz and Montoya were last year’s state runner-up in tennis in boys doubles, while Kirby is the defending state champion in the 200 meters. Klaerner and Montoya were top baseball players for the Punchers, who were regional semifinalists.
Stultz, a two-way lineman who was the defensive MVP of the state championship game, and Klaerner were both all-state picks last year for Mason.
The Broncos are coming off a 50-0 win over 4A Division II Lamesa last week and are playing a more physical brand of football on both sides of the line.
“I feel like our defense is kind of ahead of the offense right now,” Sherrill said. “The defense coach (Keith) Oldham is running is similar to what they did last year, but it’s more physical. Offensively, the kids are picking up the system, and attitudes have changed. They understand it’s a more physical style of offense.”
The Broncos have put up an average of 40-plus points a game and an average of 465 rushing yards behind 6-foot-2, 280-pound center Reagan Owen. Gonzalez, Aschenbeck and Wilson can throw a heavy gauntlet of runners at the Puncher defense.
Aschenbeck was the Built Ford Tough Player of the Week after a 306-yard, five-TD performance against Ozona.
“Their center is ginormous and their linemen are really good,” McLeod said. “(Aschenbeck) is athletic, strong, smart and has a high football IQ. He plays the game just like you want a kid to play the game.”
Johnson is a 5-11, 190-pound bruiser with sub-50-second speed as a quarter-miler and has been to the state track meet two times, while Gonzalez was a staple of the Broncos' always competitive relay teams.
There's no shortage of athletic talent on the other side of the field.
While the Punchers opened the season with a 47-7 loss to 3A DI Wall – which is now ranked No. 5 in the state – they rebounded with a 43-0 win over 3A DII Johnson City as Klaerner exploded for 178 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns.
While Kirby carried just twice, they both went for TDs. Montoya, who has earned himself a spot as a starting receiver and defensive back after being utilized as only a kicker last year, is almost perfect on extra-point attempts and nailed a 45-yard field goal last week.
In addition, the Punchers recovered an onside kick, and the defense did not allow a score.
Most of the top athletes for both teams will be playing on both sides of the ball.
The Broncos — who were also 2-0 going into this game last year but fell 27-0 to the eventual state champions — hope they can rise to the challenge their schedule brings as the beginning of district play looms.
“These next three weeks is kind of a gauntlet,” said Sherrill, whose team travels to Wall next and then hosts 4A DI Burnet before an open date. “Mason is a great team. Wall is a great team. So we’ll have to play hard and practice well, but the kids are working hard. I just want to see us getting better week to week.”
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