Bucks want to be known for more than just skills

ALPINE At the skill positions, Alpine is pretty much set.

There’s senior dual-threat quarterback Dominic Scott, a first-team all-District 4-2A pick last year; senior receivers Carlos Mendoza and Alfredo Armendariz, both first-team members; and senior defensive back Saul Ordonez.

They combined to help Alpine reach the final of the West Texas Aerial Football League’s 7-on-7 small school championship game this summer.

They are set, and two-way senior lineman Havier Vargas knows this. And he knows Alpine’s season may come down to how quickly the new faces in the trenches — the Fightin’ Bucks have two returners on the O-line, just one on the D-line — come together.

“Yeah, with every game it’s gonna be like that,” Vargas said. “But it feels like our offense is in a better position to understand the plays than last year. We got the speed — we’re not as big — but we can still block.”

Alpine is counting on younger linemen to step up and fill the shoes of those who’ve departed.

“We got most of all our skill kids back on offense and defense,” head coach Shad Hanna said. “Linebackers, we return two of three, so we’re solid at those positions. At the O-line and D-line, those kids are just going to have to grow up. And we have young kids that are stepping up just like I’d expect.”

Still, there are eight starters returning on offense and six on defense. A few days into two-a-days, the Fightin’ Bucks were already seeing the benefits.

“We’ve got a lot of plays in this year at this point that we weren’t even close to doing last year,” Hanna said. “Plays that we had to wait three or four weeks to put in that we’ve already got in because we ran them all summer, in 7-on-7 and in the spring with guys who are familiar with them. We’ve been able to get it in and go.”

Just as importantly, Alpine is out to not repeat last season’s ending.

The Fightin’ Bucks were undefeated going into a Week 9 crucial matchup against Kermit with district title implications and led the road game 28-7 at halftime before the Yellow Jackets came back for the win.

Alpine then ended its regular season with a thud, losing 58-0 to visiting Crane in the finale, and dropped its first-round playoff game against Idalou.

“It was great to be 8-0, but it sucked to be 8-3,” Hanna said. “We’ve talked about it since the last game. We talked about kickoff return, how the kickoff return cost us against Kermit. The kids have dedicated themselves to not stumbling at the end.

“We want to finish strong.”