Talented Del Valle football team faces life in tough new district
One of the most impressive teams around town during the 2017 football season was Del Valle, but their talent will be tested in 2018.
The Conquistadores posted a 10-2 overall record and were perfect in district play behind players such as quarterback Raymond Montez and wide receivers Karch Gardiner and Danny Cortez.
All three are retuning in 2018, but that doesn’t mean they are automatically going to be district champs again. In fact, the Conquistadores are now part of a new district that added some powerhouse teams, including two former 6A squads (Eastwood and El Dorado).
“Oh, you know what, it’s exciting for our district. Our district was realigned and it’s a lot tougher,” said head coach Jesse Perales. “We’ve got new schools in El Dorado, Eastwood, and Chapin coming in. And then we’ve still got Eastlake.”
Throw Bel Air into the mix and you’ve got a highly competitive league. But Cortez says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Those are big schools. I’m just excited to play them,” said Cortez. “Eastwood, we used to scrimmage them. It’s good to play them for homecoming. And El Dorado, we’ll play them here as well. So, it’s gonna be fun. I love to compete against good teams.”
In addition to the tough district slate, Del Valle will also be playing teams from multiple states.
In fact, Del Valle has teams from both New Mexico (Mayfield) and Arizona (Salpointe Catholic) on their schedule. The Conquistadores also have a 600-mile road trip within Texas to play Hutto in week three.
