How Sotomayor became winning Texas high school football program in second year

From 1-9 to 4-2, Sotomayor is building something special in San Antonio Northside ISD

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - The future is bright for the Sotomayor High School football program.

On Friday night, the Wildcats made a statement to the rest of the San Antonio area that they are a threat at earning a top-four playoff spot in the playoffs. 

Despite a 44-38 loss to TX-6A District 29 rival Harlan, Sotomayor pushed the undefeated Hawks to double overtime. 

The Wildcats are in their second year of existence, doing things unbefitting of a program at this stage of infancy: Winning.

How has Sotomayor spurred such a strong start — and achieved such immediate success?

Head coach Juan Morales breathes confidence into his young team with a strong, never give up attitude, and no moment is too big.

"For us to be able to compete in double-overtime is just an honor in itself," Morales said. ""We will learn something from this game as well, these seniors will help us get to the playoffs."

Sotomayor showed against Harlan that despite being a young team that they can compete with any team in the district. 

"I think this game shows our growth, we put in a lot of work in the offseason," Morales said.

TRADITION AND LEGACY

The Wildcat head coach has been around the Northside district since 1999 and has seen the growth of many teams as the district continues to grow.

Sotomayor does not need to look to far to see how to build a successful program as they can look at their neighbor in Harlan, which opened up just seven years ago and has yet to have a losing season.

"I have been in the NISD since 1999-2000, and I have had a chance to watch it grow up," Morales said. "I have had some great, mentors coming up; such as Larry Pullin, John Campbell, and Stephen Basore.

Basore, who is the head coach of the Brennan Bears worked with Morales, while they were both at John Jay. Brennan under Basore reached the state championship game in just their third year of varsity play.

"In just four years at Brennan, they were able to take the Bears from a 5A level to a TX-6A level, and reach to the state finals in 2013," Morales said. "Watching some of the other schools; Cibolo-Steele and [San Antonio] Johnson with Ron Rittiman and the successes they have had. It is awesome to see San Antonio grow and be that successful."

LEARNING FROM MISTAKES

Last week, the Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season after a 4-0 start.

"We wanted to win this one for the seniors, and one of the biggest things we learned from the last game against Jay was we stepped on our foot time after time," Morales said. "You just can not do that against a good team. When we had that interception [against Harlan] we told the guys we are not going to fall back on that so we learned from that game. 

"I think this game shows our growth, we put in a lot of work in the offseason, said 2024 nose tackle Xaden Aucion. "We knew we wanted to come back stronger than ever. It showed the growth with the teams in the district, and we just need to keep this momentum to keep on going."

WILDCAT SENIORS LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Aucion and senior running back Jayden Gutierrez led the Wildcats through offseason strength training, and made it a point to push the underclassmen.

"We just made our offseason intense, we had that mindset of 1-9 was an embarrassment to us, and we should not go 1-9 again," senior Jayden Gutierrez said. "To almost be undefeated this year, it all just means a lot to us."

The senior anchor on the defensive line, Aucion, mimicked his fellow senior's words.

"It is very special to being apart of the first senior class in Sotomayor history," Aucion said. "I think we can go far this year because of the traditions we made in the offseason and from how hard we worked to get better."

These two seniors not only led the offseason workouts with helping make the Wildcats better, but have continued their leadership on the field so far this season.

"Those seniors have been great all year and have had great contribution all year," Morales said of Aucion, Gutierrez, and junior linebacker Samuel Garcia. "He and [Xaden] were able to break us out tonight after the double-overtime loss to Harlan, he understands the importance and how to be able to get the young guys better every day."

FRESHMEN, SOPHOMORES CALLED ON EARLY

In the early years of a program, it is important to be able to develop the freshmen and sophomores to provide key contributions to gain much needed experience. 

Against Harlan, a slew of younger talent provided a spark.  Gutierrez credited key contributions to sophomore Evan Fine and freshman Chauncey Moon — both quarterbacks — along with freshman athlete Cameron Grady.

"[Moon and Grady] learned tonight that they need to keep on pushing," Gutierrez said. "You cant let the score scare you, just keep on going, and keep pushing the chains."

BATTLING FOR PLAYOFF SPOT

The Wildcats are currently sitting in fifth place in District-29, one game out of a playoff spot. If Sotomayor is able to build on successes from this game, Morales and his senior leaders are certainly confident that they can fight for a top four playoff seeding. 

"We showed tonight [against Harlan] that we can compete with any team in the city," Aucion said. "We were able to put Sotomayor on the map, tonight.

Morales and his Wildcats will be back in action on Saturday October 14 against current four seed in District 29 against the Taft Raiders.

-- Ryan Childers | ryanchilders0455@gmail.com | @sblivetx

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