Meet the Preps

Parents petitioning to oust Eastwood football head coach

Eastwood High School parents have found yet another target for their disapproval within Trooper athletics.

Last spring, parents were up in arms against varsity girls basketball coach Endi Vargas, and a year earlier, they tried getting boys basketball coach Gary Pippen removed.

Both coaches got to keep their jobs.

This time, it's football head coach Wade Ardoin.

And as they did with Pippen, the parents reportedly are circulating a petition asking for Ardoin's removal.

I got a call from a concerned parent today informing me of the petition and their efforts to have Ardoin relieved of his head coaching duties.

I won't go into detail of the conversation other than to say that this parent felt Ardoin wasn't fulfilling his duties as a head coach.

When I called the Ysleta Independent School District, public relations director Patricia Ayala said she hadn't heard anything "officially from parents" about a petition.

When asked whether Ardoin would be re-evaluated, she replied, "Right now, the only thing I understand is that every coach always is evaluated at the end of the season."

And whether there would be any upcoming meetings involving Ardoin, "Not to my knowledge," she said.

I called Ardoin and YISD athletics director Mike Williams and left voice messages, but my calls were not returned as of 8:06 p.m. today (Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008).

I can imagine that Eastwood football's losing record this season and the previous two years has much to do with the effort to oust the longtime Trooper coach.

For some background, the 50-year-old Ardoin has been at Eastwood 25 years and is in his 10th season as football head coach.

He holds a 38-60 overall record leading up to Friday's home game against Americas.

Eastwood's last two playoff appearances were in 2005 and 1999.

Here's how Eastwood has fared during the regular season over the past four seasons:

2008: 0-6 (0-4 in District 1-5A).
2007: 2-8 (1-8).
2006: 3-7 (2-6).
2005: 6-4 (4-3), playoffs.

No doubt we're going to hear much, much more on this issue, as we did for so many weeks with Pippen and Vargas ...

Bubble teams for Week 6

The top 10 poll came out this morning, and here is a look at the rankings as of Oct. 9:

1. Austin
2. Franklin
3. El Dorado
4. Montwood
5. Hanks
6. Coronado
7. Chapin
8. Parkland
9. Canutillo
10. Burges

The only team that lost last week was Coronado, who had their homecoming spoiled by Hanks. Now this week is sure to see interesting games with No.2 Franklin getting maybe their first real test against Hanks, and Montwood and El Dorado battling for what could eventually be the district championship. Parkland will have it's hands full Del Valle, who will be looking to get back in the top 10 after being bounced by Ysleta. Speaking of...

Del Valle - The Conquistadors got back on the winning track in a big way by beating rival Riverside, who now is far away from where they want to be. However, with Ysleta looking lost against Mountain View, Del Valle is still outside the top 10 with the weather getting colder and the season getting shorter. They are still favorites for the district and win against Parkland could very well decided it and get them back into the top 10. However the bigger picture is the three-way race, for the 2-4A title, that could ensue between Del Valle, Parkland and Canutillo.

Mountain View - While the Lobos have been winning, it has been against weaker team, and a loss to Horizon hurt them. However, 4-1 is still 4-1 and on any given Friday, an upset can occur. So the fact that Mountain View is running the ball to victory has earned them much respect. They have a tough test against Riverside this week. It is rare that a 1-4 team will give a 4-1 team their best test of the year, but Riverside has been in some tough games this year. But winning breeds confidence and the Lobos are looking ever so confident. A win against Riverside will not only prove that the Mountain View is legit, but it might put them a big step closer to where they want to be come November -the playoffs.

Something to note: Ysleta and Riverside both loss last week.

For Ysleta, a team that upset district 2-4A favorite Del Valle, it killed any momentum they may of had and placed them in a questionable situation.

Riverside, who once again dropped a tight game to a tough team, may still be one of the better teams in their district, but they will need to get back to at least .500 if they want to get placed higher.

Socorro beat Americas last week, which improved their record to 3-3, 1-3 in district. However the win was against a winless Americas and they needed a late two-point conversion to do so. The Bulldogs needed a convincing win to turn heads. This week they are off and will have chance next week to put points up against Eastwood. Until then Socorro is off the bubble.

Talking high school football, volleyball

The latest high school football podcast is now available.

KTSM's Beau Bagley joins Lenny Jurado, John Erfort and Aaron Bracamontes from the El Paso Times to talk about the week in El Paso high school volleyball and football.

To listen to or download the podcast, click here.

Bubble teams for Week 5

The top 10 poll came out this morning, and here is a look at the rankings as of Oct. 2:

1. Austin
2. Franklin
3. El Dorado
4. Coronado
5. Montwood
6. Hanks
7. Chapin
8. Parkland
9. Canutillo
10. Burges

Well after weeks of being on the outside looking in, both Parkland and Burges made their way into the top 10. Parkland punched their ticket by upsetting Canutillo at home. If your a Mustang fan you have plenty to be happy about as Burges finally cracked the top 10 with a dominating 69-14 win over Bowie. They had some help with Ysleta upsetting Del Valle and Socorro dropping it's third straight.
After seeing two bubble teams make it in, there are always others who are looking to knock them out too, and here are a look at some of those team.

Del Valle - A loss to the Indians has the Conquistadors in a position they did not want to be in, 0-1 in district going into their rivalry game against Riverside. Ysleta exposed weakness in Del Valle that Riverside will look to attack. However, Del Valle coming into last week was considered one of the teams to beat in district 2-4A and could rebound quickly. Their only other loss was to No. 3 El Dorado. Expect coach Perales to get his team ready.

Socorro - While the Bulldogs have not looked anything like a top 10 team lately, they had three tough games and were just in the top 10 last week. That said there is always room for Socorro to jump back in there and they can start this week with a win over Americas, but it will take a few more victories to get back to where they want to be. Expect the Bulldogs to try to build back up.

Riverside - While the Rangers have been out of the top 10 for quite some time now, and their only win is against the admirable Eagles of San Elizario, Riverside has a chance to take a huge step this week against Del Valle. In a match-up that features two of the best quarterbacks in the area, the winner can gain more momentum that the win-loss record will show. It might still take more than a win at Conquistador stadium to get back to the top 10 but this week may be the first step towards it.

Ysleta - A week ago the Indians were not even close to a consideration for the top 10. However a big win against Del Valle calls for attention. The Indians will need to keep winning if they can be considered a possible candidate. However, they have a decent match-up against Mountain View, who was 3-0 before last week. If the Indians are the real deal they should be able to beat the Lobos. After that they will host Horizon for their Homecoming. A 3-0 district record will definitely earn Ysleta respect, but a loss to either team will kill their chances of becoming an elite team.

It should be noted that with this weeks schedule all four of these teams see a very small chance of advancing into the top 10, but every Friday has the possibility to be as unpredictable as the last. On the other hand, if any of these four teams suffers a loss this week, their top 10 hopes might fade away. As the season dwindles down, it is quickly becoming gut-check time for everyone.

Talking high school football

The latest high school sports podcast is now available.

KTSM's Beau Bagley, plus Aaron Bracamontes and John Erfort from the El Paso Times talk about the coming football action.

To download or listen to the podcast, click here.

Can El Dorado football avoid going "three-and-out" at No. 3?

And ... here we go again.

I blogged last week about no football team being able to defend its No. 3 city ranking this season, and the eerie trend continued, as Hanks went "three-and-out" in losing 35-14 to Montwood.

This week's contestant is El Dorado (3-1, 2-0 in District 1-5A), which currently is riding a three-game win streak. Coincidentally, the Aztecs were one of the teams to knock off former No. 3 Socorro a couple weeks ago.

Here's how our No. 3 teams have fared since opening weekend:

Zero Week: Coronado gives up 307 rushing yards to John De La Rosa in losing to Canutillo, 31-12.

Week 1: Canutillo gives up 14 unanswered points in the final three minutes to lose to Austin, 28-23.

Week 2: Socorro fails to convert a fourth-and-1 deep in Aztecs territory during the waning moments and loses to El Dorado 28-21.

Week 3: Hanks carries a 14-14 tie with Montwood through nearly three full quarters before turnovers helped change the complexion of this one.

El Dorado's challenge this week is none other than the Knights (3-1, 1-1), who play host to the Aztecs on Friday at Excalibur Stadium.

The Aztecs have to be really high on themselves, especially after huge wins over former No. 2 Del Valle (14-3) and Socorro. Obviously, they have the moxie to pull out the big games.

Meanwhile, the Knights needed five turnovers to slip past Parkland 22-21 in opening-night and couldn't hang with the Rams late in last week's game.

However, Knights head coach Jeff Cleveland said the score wasn't indicative of the type of game that was played, and Hanks appears to be improving each week.

Expect a close one Friday, and it's anyone's guess as to who will prevail. You can make cases for each side, and this could turn out to be one of the top games of the year.

El Dorado certainly has the momentum, but if you're superstitious ...

Bubble teams for Week 4

The top 10 poll came out this morning, and here is a look at the rankings as of Sept. 25:

1. Austin
2. Franklin
3. El Dorado
4. Canutillo
5. Coronado
6. Montwood
7. Hanks
8. Del Valle
9. Chapin
10. Socorro

After beating Hanks last Thursday, Montwood was able to move up to the No. 6 spot, while Hanks falls to No. 7. Socorro is hanging on to their place in the top 10 after losing their second straight district game. They might be in danger of falling off as they face No. 2 Franklin this week. As always here are some teams who are looking to step up to take their place.

Parkland - The Matadors are 2-1 and a win this week would almost guarantee a spot in the top 10, especially since their opponent is the No. 4 Canutillo. Earlier this year Parkland almost pulled out a victory against Hanks, can they knock off the Eagles and make a good case for the district title? More than just a top 10 spot will be on the line, as the Eagles try to avenge last years 8-6 loss.

Andress - Even though the Eagles have dropped their last two games, they can make a big jump this week if they can upset the No. 1 team in El Paso, the Austin Panters. A win against the Panthers would definitely have impact on the top 10 standings. Not only would it end Austin's winning streak, it would give Andress the edge in district.

Burges - A loss to Santa Teresa is still fresh in the record books, but a convincing win against Bowie may give the Mustangs a chance to make everyone forget the loss to the Desert Warriors. However at 2-1 Bowie will be looking to upset the Mustangs.

Teams of note: Mountain View is yet to lose a game, and this week they begin district play against Horizon. The Lobos are trying to be a surprise team and if they can keep winning they will gain more attention.

Who would have thought district 2-4A play would being and Riverside would still be winless? They are favored against San Elizario this week, but the Eagles were able to pull an upset last year against Parkland and have two things that the Rangers don't have - wins. The big question here is if Riverside can get one in the win column and how much momentum will it give them?

Weekly preps podcast

El Paso Times staffers John Erfort and Lenny Jurado discuss El Paso preps sports.

Listen to the podcast here.