Rams Hit the Gridiron Early to Take on the 2022 Season
By Amy Bearden
If the early bird gets the worm, then maybe the early athlete gets the win!!!
Mineral Wells High School footballers beat the sunrise this morning for their first official day of practice. Kids hit the turf at 5:30am and went hard for over two hours.
2022 Ram Preview
Head Football Coach Seth Hobbs has thirty lettermen returning from last season which includes eight offensive and nine defensive starters.
Last year the Rams had five wins and six losses and were 1 and 3 in district play and were a 4A Bi-district finalist to make the playoffs.
A key loss for the Rams will be Tristan Gray but keep an eye out for quarterback Mason Facteau (5-10, 185, 4.7), LB Blake Blue (5-10, 190, 4.7), ATH Jovan Ramirez (5-9, 165, 4.5), OL/DL Hunter Menchaca (6-3, 250, 4.9), WR/DB Jonathan Hammer (5-10, 170, 4.6), OL/DL Omar Galvan (6-3, 275, 5.3). Top juniors to watch for include brothers RB/LB Braden Ethridge (6-1, 190, 4.7) and OL/DL Clayton Ethridge (6-1, 240, 5.1). Ram fans can also expect big plays by top sophomore Preztynn Harrison (6-5, 195, 4.7).
Other athletes expected to play well are OL/DL Jake Wilcox, RB/DB Jose Garcia, RB/LB Fabian Martinez, LB Uriel Bueno, OL/DL Brandon Gray, TE/LB Peyton Light, OL/DL Cayson Wells, and WR/DB Jase Freeman.
Texas Football expert Dave Cambell’s website has this to say about the Mineral Wells 2022 Ram football season:
“The Rams lost their offensive focal point in Gray, but they have an experienced quarterback ready to pick up the slack. Facteau (950 yards, 11 TDs passing) will look to get the ball in the versatile Ramirez’s hands, while the offensive line led by Menchaca and Galvan should be a strength. Blue and Ethridge (75 tackles, 3 sacks) provide stability at linebacker. The Rams are jumping up a division, but they have the experience to compete for a playoff berth.” ~ Dave Cambell’s Texas Football Preview
UIL realignment for 2022-2023 has the Rams playing against a well-known power house program in the new district match ups. According to Coach Hobbs, Springtown will likely be near the top of the district, considering their deep advancement into last years playoffs.
“Springtown, obviously, being a regional final team this last year, you know, you expect them to be good. I think they’re still going to be good. I don’t know that they’ll be quite as good or quite as deep as they were this last year because they graduated a really good class. But you know, just looking at what they’ve done in the last four or five, six years I would definitely say you should expect them to be a very solid team. A ver, very worthy opponent,” Hobbs stated.
His next pick might surprise you.
“The one that I think is kind of flying a little bit under the radar, but I think is going to be very talented and very well coached, is Decatur. I think Decatur is going to be very good. Their coach came from College Station High School. They played in the state championship game and lost last year. He started a program from the ground up as a brand new high school.”
“To me that’s a lot about what you can do, organizationally and motivationally and building a tiered structure that represents good leadership. So I think they will be really tough, but anytime you change a whole staff, there’s always some bumps in the road, but I feel like they’re good enough. And he’s good enough to where by the time we play him in District, I think they’ll have those bumps ironed out. I think they’ll be very tough,” he said.
So if Hobbs says Springtown and Decatur will be the teams to beat, where does that leave the rest of the district?
“I’m going to say Burkburnett and Wichita Falls High are definitely wildcards in the district for a few reasons,” stated Hobbs, “but our chances at success may look better than in the past.”
Coach Hobbs attributes his confidence in his team to a deeper field of skilled athletes in almost all positions compared to the last few years.
“Our main thing that’s kept us from from being successful has been a lack of depth. So we’ve had some good players, but they’ve either been young or they didn’t have a backup. So if you had any kind of injury issue or an eligibility issue or anything like that, and the next guy behind him was a significant drop off in skill. Whether it was because they were super young or not as talented or experienced or whatever,” Hobbs said.
“This year, even though we do have some holes still that that will get filled with younger guys, we feel a lot better about those and I feel a ton better about the depth that we have. If one guy’s down for whatever reason, the next guy that is coming in, they’re just way more skilled or similar to the number one, as opposed to a drastic drop off,”explained Hobbs.
The Rams have their first scrimmage set for August 12 against Bridgeport at home and then a scrimmage in Breckenridge on August 18. The home opener will be against Castleberry on August 26 and district play begins in Mineral Wells on October 12 against Wichita Falls. Homecoming is set for September 9 and Season Tickets to watch the Rams can still be purchased at MWISD.
The community is invited on August 2nd to “Meet the Rams” for Spirit Night. The annual pep rally is set for 6:30pm in the high school gym and is a free event for families to come meet the Ram and Lady Ram athletes playing this season.
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