BANDERA, Texas—After a tough road loss last week, the Navarro Panthers hit the road again — still very much in control of their own playoff destiny — as they head to Bandera for a key District 15 battle.
Navarro fell 63-33 at Cuero last Friday night, a result that kept the Gobblers atop the district. Head coach Glenn Hill didn’t sugarcoat what the film showed.
“Unfortunately, that was an accurate prediction I had there,” Hill said, after saying post-game there would be things on film that would make the Panthers sick. “There’s just some opportunities missed. Get him in some third and medium, third and long situations, fourth and medium situations, and that just made the plays. At the end of the day, that’s the way it went. We got our butt kicked there.”
Defensively, Hill kept it simple.
“Yeah, just tackling. Just to keep it simple, we were in some good position. We were fitting things well, and just didn’t make the play,” Hill said. “Credit to them, they’ve got a great staff and they’ve got some great players over there.”
If there was a bright spot against Cuero, it was Navarro’s ability to run the football — an identity Hill wants to lean into as the weather gets colder and playoff football approaches.
That starts with the backfield duo of Julius Deleon and sophomore standout R.J. Pates. Navarro was able to push Cuero off the line and create seams for both backs.
“We’ve got some good running backs, and it all starts up front,” Hill said. “Our front five and tight ends and fullbacks are very confident, no matter what front they get or the level of talent that we’re playing. And if you can run the football, that’s how you can win when the weather starts getting cold. And that’s what’s going to win games: who can stop the run and who can run the football.”
Paving the way is senior offensive lineman Chris Ledezma, who will play for Gary Gutierrez’s Team Blue in this year’s San Antonio All-Star Game.
Ledezma, a three-year varsity starter and last year’s District Offensive MVP for offensive line, has been a cornerstone of the turnaround under Hill.
“It’s really good, and it’s much deserved. He’s a really hard worker. He’s a three year varsity guy,” Hill said. “He’s got a great frame, some God-given ability, but what he’s doing to improve himself is what allows him to be special.”
Hill added that Ledezma was one of the first to buy in when he took the job — helping set the culture for the rest of the team.
“We’ve got an amazing group of kids that there wasn’t really much resistance to anything, and we had a lot of guys buying into it,” Hill said. “When you got a good group of kids, it makes getting up and going to work fun.”
Hill said the team came in Saturday morning, watched the film, lifted, ran, and flushed it. Monday, it was all Bandera.
Two straight district games on the road brings its own challenge, but Hill believes his team’s non-district and district schedule has prepared them for high-stress environments.
“We’ve been in some very high-stress situations this year, and I think that’s good. You don’t want to just play a bunch of cupcakes,” Hill said. “We’re going to go into Bandera, and they’re a talented team. They’ve got some good players everywhere. They’re really sound in all three aspects of the game.”
One player Navarro will have to account for on every snap: Bandera’s Jaymin Klein.
“[Klein’s] all over the field. He’s playing receiver and running back and quarterback and safety and kicker and punter. He does it all,” Hill said.
For Navarro, the mission this week is clear — start fast, tackle better, and get back to playing the dominant defense they showed before Cuero.
“I would prefer us not to have a slow start. It would be nice if we went out there and hopped off the bus, and our guys were crisp and ready to go,” Hill said. “We’re not going to hang our heads. We didn’t have a great week last week, but we’re going to improve and we’re going to try to come back out next week and prove that we’re back on track.”
From where Navarro was a year ago to now being in the thick of the playoff race, it’s been a major step forward — and a win at Bandera would bring a postseason berth even closer.
Navarro at Bandera kicks off tonight at 7.