By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton High School football and volleyball teams took to the field and court in preparation for the upcoming fall sports season with both coaches expecting a tough year with good competition.
Talking to volleyball head coach Tina Dorrance she was excited about the number of girls that have come out to play volleyball this year. With 28 girls Dorrance is hoping to have a C-team this year that won’t have to swing for both JV and C-Team and allow some of the first time players to get a chance to play. While the teams are still young this year there are several returning players from last year’s rosters.
The girls have been able to practice for about a week when KRTN talked with Dorrance who noted that several of the girls had been in the gym during open gym time this summer and a lot of the rust had worn off their play while the new girls coming in were making progress.
Dorrance knows the season will be a tough one after they camp they went to a couple of weeks ago. The schedule is also a bit different this year for the girls as they will have a few games on Friday nights opposite football and this year volleyball homecoming will be on Saturday night instead of Thursday evening as it has been in the past.
Football finished up their two-a-days practice last week and began full get ready practice Monday. Tackling drills, defense and offense were part of the routine as the 18 players prepare for the season. Head Coach Tory Giacomo told KRTN that the boys that are playing this year are a dedicated bunch and have been preparing most of the summer. Again this year Raton fields a young team with mostly sophomores and freshman and a few juniors and seniors mixed in.
The team will be led by sophomore Dustin Segura at quarterback and last year’s Fab Five, the five freshman linemen will be returning 2 players to the line while the others are dispersed to other positions. One of the five has moved away during the summer.
He noted that the boys know they have to push it as most will be playing both sides of the line this year with little rest. To top that off District 2-AAA is one of the toughest in the state with the state champs Clayton Yellowjackets and the Santa Rosa Lions who played their way into the state playoffs.
The season begins with a football scrimmage in Raton Friday evening on the practice field while the girls begin their season with NACA on August 29 in Raton. The boys will travel to McCurdy in Espanola for their opening game on August 29th. Stay tuned to KRTN this season for schedule changes as coach Giacomo indicated that their games could be rescheduled on short notice due to a lack of referees.
Schedules VOLLEYBALL2015 FOOTBALL2015
