GRANDFALLS Arturo Rodriguez had an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

A job at a school with six-man football tradition and a chance to be closer to family.

The 23-year-old was hired as Grandfalls-Royalty’s head football coach in mid-July, replacing Clint Lowry.

“Knowing about the tradition and having a good group of kids coming back ... it is a good opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “It also puts me in the middle of all my family in Crane, Kermit, Odessa and Balmorhea.”

Rodriguez graduated from Balmorhea and was an assistant at Sanderson last season.

“Most people don’t expect me to be a head coach because of my age,” Rodriguez said. “I am fortunate to have a lot of experience with six-man.”

The Cowboys had high expectations last season and were ranked in the top 10 at the beginning of the year.

Injuries, however, shattered those dreams, sending the Cowboys to a losing record and a first-round exit in the playoffs.

“It wasn’t a condition problem, it was just getting hit wrong,” senior B.J. Santiago said. “I think with the players we’ve got we can be successful, with this offense and the conditioning we have been doing.”

Santiago was second-team all-state at linebacker last season and along with Nick Rodriguez, will be key leaders for the Cowboys.

“I want to lead the team farther into the playoffs,” Santiago said. “We lost eight seniors and all started in the playoffs. We have some size problems, but we’ve got speed so we are going to try to outrun teams and win games with our speed.”

Depth could be a problem for the Cowboys as well.

Grandfalls-Royalty has 18 players out, but only 10 have varsity experience.

“(The 10) have played plenty of football,” coach Rodriguez said. “We have to stay healthy and learn the new system and we should make the playoffs.”