Hanks Knights: High School Football Preview

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The Hanks Knights finished up last year with a 3-7 record and haven't had a winning season since 2019, but with a new coach at the helm, spirits and hopes for this season are higher than ever.

"I just told the kids to look forward," Hanks head football coach Scott Veliz said. "I don't care about what happened last season and what's happened before. All that matters is now and looking forward, and we want to be a playoff team that's what we're heading towards. We want to try and win every football game and progress week to week." 

Veliz returns to his hometown of El Paso to coach the Knights after spending the last four seasons as the offensive coordinator at Naaman Forest in the Dallas area.

"This new coach has brought a whole new atmosphere, working hard and pushing us to a whole new level honestly," Senior defensive line Christian Sandoval said.

"He showed us what he was about and we followed it," wide receiver and linebacker, Christian Rodriguez said. "All we have to do is follow his plans and hopefully we go far into this season."

The Knights have a lot of experience with at least seven seniors on both sides of the ball which Veliz says is a huge strength, but a key to doing well this season will be for the players to learn how to win again.

Hanks kickoff the Veliz era on Friday, Aug. 25th at home against the Bowie Bears. You can catch all the highlights that night on the Borderland Blitz.