TAFT, Texas — The UIL 3A-DII Taft Greyhounds made history last season, advancing to the third round of playoffs for the first time in 40 years. The Greyhounds are looking to continue building off their momentum, but this time with a new head coach.
There's just something special about going back to your hometown, especially for Joe Riojas.
"You know I don't take it for granted. I wake up everyday and I pinch myself that I you know, I once played here," Riojas, Taft first-year football head coach, said. "A lot of the coaches on the staff we went to school together and we all played here."
1997 Taft graduate and first-year football head coach Joe Riojas will lead the Greyhounds this fall.
"You know, he's just a fun guy to be around. He's always going to bring the high intensity into a practice," Johnny 'J.J.' Acosta, Taft senior quarterback, said. "He's always going to bring the high energy, but at the end of the day he's going to treat you like a father."
Riojas inherits six returning starters on offense led by senior quarterback Johnny Acosta, who finished last season with 4,269 passing yards and 40 touchdowns, but the Greyhounds did graduate two key receivers.
"You can see the urgency. You can see it in their face that they want to be the next Josh (Suarez) or the next Efrain (Ozuna) and contribute to this offense because we still got Enrique," Riojas said. "Who's going to be the next man up, and so far in camp I like what I see."
Acosta's go-to receiver will be Enrique Rodriguez, who is one of the fastest athletes in UIL District 16-3A DII.
"He's a big target for me. He's always been a big target for me. You know, we've always worked out together outside of this so we have a lot of chemistry with each other," Acosta said. "You know, we have a couple new faces that the new teams are going to be able to see this year."
Taft's new coaches, offensive coordinator Rick Elizondo and defensive coordinator Mike Flores, are also Greyhound grads. Flores will teach an attacking defense with seven returning starters that are able to adapt.
"This year's defense there's a lot of intensity," Alfredo Gomez, Taft senior linebacker, said. "Our goal is to play fast and go out and hit another team in the mouth."
Something you can't teach is playoff experience, and now the Greyhounds have a taste of what it takes.
"Their biggest thing is they want to run it back. They want to try get back to the same round they were in last year," Riojas said. "They want to get back to the quarters, and that's been their motivation all summer."
The Taft Greyhounds start their season with a road trip to Skidmore-Tynan. Kickoff is set for Thursday, Aug 24. at 7 p.m.
