The Ropes Eagles football team recently closed their season out, losing to Gruver 23-13 in the Regional Round of the playoffs.
Regardless of how it finished, the Eagles still had one of their best seasons going 11-2 and winning the District, Bi-District and Area Championships in the process.
And based on all available historical records, this season marks the first time in school history that Ropes has ever had back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins.
That’s no small feat by this team, but it’s not surprising when analyzing their team statistics this year.
The Eagles recorded 3,191 rushing yards, 52 rushing touchdowns, 1,407 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, a 56% completion rate, 1,674 tackles, 292 tackles for loss, 30 sacks, 17 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries, 490 kick return yards and 340 punt return yards.
One of the biggest contributors to those numbers was senior Victor Saenz who recorded 179 total tackles and 45 tackles for loss, both of which were a team high.
Five other defenders eclipsed the century mark in total tackles including junior Cason Kucel with 136, junior Kolter Dockery with 123, junior Jaivyth Cruz with 121, senior Jackson Lehnen with 114 and sophomore Tucker Corn with 109.
Along with Saenz, nine of his teammates also recorded double-digit tackles for loss including Kucel with 26, Lehnen with 24, senior Elijah Flores with 22, Corn with 21, Cruz with 19, junior Maddux Sierra with 19, senior Kanon Buckner with 18, senior Carson Clemens with 10 and senior Stetson Haden with 10.
Kucel led the team in sacks with five, followed by Lehnen with four, and Saenz and junior Kaden Riker both with three.
Junior Zayden Pittman and Kolter Dockery tied for the team lead in interceptions with four a piece, followed by junior Branson Simental and senior Ryland Kieth, both with three.
Offensively, Kieth was the leading rusher for the Eagles with 1,357 yards and 16 touchdowns on 198 carries, proceeded by Jaivyth Cruz with 759 yards and 11 touchdowns on 62 carries and Pittman with 441 yards and 13 touchdowns on 51 carries.
Senior Kade Franklin was Ropes’ leading passer with 880 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions, with a 54% completion rate. Pittman also threw for 372 yards and eight touchdowns with a 62% completion rate.
Kolter Dockery led the team in receiving with 410 yards and eight touchdowns on 25 receptions, followed by Pittman with 343 yards and seven touchdowns on 29 receptions and Branson Simental with 174 yards and two touchdowns on 11 receptions.
On special teams, Pittman led the way returning punts for 226 total yards and four touchdowns, along with Dockery who had 114 yards and a touchdown on punt returns, and 150 yards and two touchdowns on kickoff returns.
And finally, Kade Franklin was the Eagles’ best kicker with an 80% make rate on 37 PAT attempts, and Pittman was their leading punter with 171 punt yards with a long of 52 and an average of 42.8 yards.
Congratulations to all those individuals on stellar seasons and to the Ropes football program for making history this year.
It didn’t go unrecognized as the Eagles took home many awards in the 2A-2 District 3 honors, starting with the coaching staff of Beau Riker, Michael Pittman, Joey Ybarra, Nathan Flores, Cameron Copley, Tyler Benedict and Kaleb King, which won the Coaching Staff of the Year award.
Zayden Pittman was named the unanimous District MVP, Victor Saenz was named the Defensive MVP, Ryland Kieth was named the Co-Offensive MVP, Kanon Buckner was named the unanimous Lineman of the Year and Kolter Dockery was named the Utility Player of the Year.
First-Team All-District selections included Kade Franklin at quarterback and kicker, senior Broxton Varnell at offensive lineman, Jaivyth Cruz at running back and inside linebacker, Branson Simental at wide receiver and cornerback, senior Peyton Sawyer at offensive lineman, junior Mike Williams at fullback, Jackson Lehnen at defensive lineman, Elijah Flores at defensive lineman, Maddux Sierra at outside linebacker and Cason Kucel at outside linebacker.