Blue powder flies, the crowd yells “who’s your daddy?” when the opposition drops the ball. Clearly everyone is excited to be back at Conquest Stadium. The varsity football team has had quite a season, exciting and full of energy from coaches, to players and the crowd.

“I am excited about coaching this year’s teams. The varsity team captains have shown that they have the ability to lead by example and there are many talented players on our varsity that will be back next year,” safeties coach Rick Fette said.

The team cooperates well with each other.

“I feel great about the team, we are doing amazing. Everyone is doing their job and it’s working out perfectly for us,”  running back Kristian Martinez said.

The team sustained a positive attitude.

“I think we’ve had an amazing season and we could just finish it off with the next few games and go into the playoffs,” left tackle Gilbert Hortsman said.

The Conquistadores won the first away game against Coronado High School, 27-7,   August 27th.

“You can really tell how the team slowly progressed to now,” Hortsman said.

At the first home game against Pebble Hills. The Conquistadores won 31- 45 against the Spartans.

“We were very confident. We were hyped up. It was our first home game with our audience, due to COVID, it was a surreal moment. A moment we were all waiting for. Even more because we would have a whole year of playing at home, but our audience was not there to get us motivated, we were happy to have our first home game,” Hortsman said.

The student section is back and a cheering crowd can have a real impact.

“I was hyped, because we could see everyone who supported us,” Martinez said “It feels amazing, seeing everyone cheering for us. The energy is amazing and it helps us play,” 

The team did have its challenges.

“Amarillo, Canutillo, were our hardest games, but you know we fought to the end, and we didn’t get the outcomes we wanted. El Dorado came close to beating us, but we knew what had to be done so we got it done,” Hortsman said.

The last game against the Sandies ended the season 21-45, Amarillo.

“We had our hopes up, we were confident at the beginning of the game. They just wanted it more than we did. We beat them a few years ago, so they wanted it more than we did,” Hortsman said.

The team took 2nd in district standing 2-1 district, 7-4 overall.

“The best part was just playing football, socializing, or getting to know people better,” Hortsman said. “I know I’ve gotten to know a lot of kids better and I’m extremely grateful for that.“