CORTEZ – Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni and his Super Bowl champion Eagles bristled at the idea of being labeled “defending” champions.
With a new season, shifting roster, and new expectations, the Eagles made it clear – they were entering the 2025 season in full “attack” mode.
Montezuma-Cortez’s second-year head coach, Tyler Worley, conveyed a similar message to his Panthers, right from the first day of official practice.
“The first five minutes of our first team meeting of the season was ‘last year was last year, now we’ve gotta go make it happen again,” said Worley of the team’s focus on a title pursuit.
Optimism is high in the opening days of the season after the Panthers took down their first Intermountain League title as members of the conference this past fall. While graduation left some starting lineup vacancies, the Panthers enter the upcoming season with aspirations of making it an encore performance.
M-CHS posted their second winning season in the past three years with a 7-3 mark last season, leaning on a defense that collected four shutouts and an offense that scored over 34 points six times.
With a senior class nearly a dozen athletes strong, Worley is excited about what he has returning on both sides of the ball, especially with plenty of starters returning in the linebacking core and defensive secondary.
“We had a lot of our guys in the weight room during the offseason,” said Worley, noting that returning all-conference athletes like senior Wyatt Oliver led the charge to get the Panthers in shape. Oliver joins classmates Rusty Snyder and Parker Conrad as part of the anchor in the middle of the M-CHS defense.
M-CHS will look to fill in some of the holes on the offensive and defensive lines, with senior Jasper Gilliland, sophomore Zane Coffey, and incoming transfer Nathan Brown looking to emerge as leaders for the Panthers up front.
“We’re going to scheme our offense around the skills that our team possesses – we know we can’t turn around and hand the ball to (graduated senior) Tay Wheat every time anymore,” said Worley, “and we’re confident that we’ve got a lot of skill on the edges to make plays.”
Conrad will take on the bulk of the carries out of the backfield, while the Panthers look to be more of an aerial attack in order to utilize their speed at the tight end and receiver positions. Seniors Isaac Dozal and Cooper Sopha looks to lead an experienced receiving core, providing junior starting quarterback Cody Case one of many options when the Panthers go to the air.
“Cody grew a lot over the summer, he’s making smart decision, and we really like his arm strength,” added Worley.
All told, the Panthers possess threats from every position group, and to Worley, it’s just a matter of having it all come together on the field. He looks forward to seeing the continued growth from his Class of 2027 and 2028, which saw significant action last fall.
M-CHS won’t shy away from premier competition in the opening month of the season – after facing Crownpoint (New Mexico) on Friday, Aug. 29, to open the season at Panther Stadium, M-CHS will take on two top 10 teams in the 2A in back-to-back weeks, with a road trip to Strasburg on Sept. 6 before a home game against the state runner-up Wellington on the following Saturday. League play gets started with a Homecoming bout against Gunnison on Oct. 3, before meetings with the rest of the IML occupy the rest of October’s slate – capped with a rivalry clash on Halloween at Bayfield.
