SHIPROCK – Despite getting the 2022 season off to a fast 3-1 start, the numbers – or lack thereof – were bound to catch up to the Shiprock High School football team.
After a solid opening month to the season, the Chieftains lost five of its next six games, winding up 4-6 on the season and still looking for more athletes to add to its roster.
Now in his fifth season on the job as Shiprock High School football coach, Anthony Clah has had to navigate a program’s slow progression back to relevancy.
There have been a number of factors along the way, including the realities of a slow recovery due to the pandemic.
The Chieftains football program, as well as much of the athletic departments at Shiprock High, were devastated by the pandemic, shutting down for the entire 2020 season and only being able to field a minimalistic roster in each of the last two seasons.
in 2021, the Chieftains lost all of its games, going 0-9 on the season and being outscored by more than 400 points.
According to MaxPreps, the roster for Shiprock’s football team topped out at 36 players in 2021. Those numbers only slightly increased last season, with 41 players on the roster.
With roster numbers and participation slowly on the rise, the Chieftains showed signs of turning things around.
Clah is hoping that progression carries forward into the upcoming season.
“We’re seeing more participation this summer, both with returning players from last year as well as newcomers,” Clah said. “My hope is that we’ll continue to see those kids coming in.”
Standouts from last season like Jarvis Begay, who scored 17 touchdowns, and Logan Pioche, who accounted for more than 440 all-purpose yards, have moved on thanks to graduation. That leaves room for not only newcomers but returning players to fill some big holes on both sides of the ball.
“It’s important that the kids who are coming back understand what we’re in the process of rebuilding,” Clah said.
Shiprock will be looking for its first winning season since 2017, when the team went 8-4 and won the District 1-4A title before being eliminated in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Clah has been impressed with a few of this season’s returning starters like senior Austin King, who has been effective both on offense and defense. Also slated to have a strong campaign this season is Alexavier Yazzie, who caught 20 passes last year for 364 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Clah will also be looking to improve up front, where a number of crossover athletes will be looking to make their mark on the gridiron.
Among those crossover athletes are Hyrum Shorthair, who was a state qualifier in powerlifting for the Chieftains last spring. Shorthair, who competed in the state’s championship meet held last March in Rio Rancho, is expected to be one of several athletes who come in from other sports.
“It’s really one of those things where college recruiters are looking for athletes who play more than one sport,” Clah said. “And having those kids on the roster means it’s easier for them to get into football shape since they’re used to staying in shape for the other sports they’re already in.”
The Chieftains applied with the New Mexico Activities Association to play their football schedule as an independent, largely because the team was lacking in roster size and participation. Shiprock will play as an independent, or freelance team, again this season with the hope of returning to a classification in 2024.
“I hope the NMAA will look at the numbers and move us into Class 3A when the time comes to assign that sort of thing,” Clah said. “But playing as an independent again this season means we can still kind of determine our own schedule and build this program.”
The Chieftains will open the season with a pair of home games, starting Aug. 18 against Tohatchi, followed up one week later at home against Crownpoint. The following week will mark the team’s first road trip with a game at Cuba. Shiprock has a combined record of 22-7 against those three schools.
Shiprock Chieftains 2023 Football Schedule
Home games in ALL CAPS
Friday, Aug. 18, 7 p.m. TOHATCHI
Friday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m. CROWNPOINT
Fri., Sept. 1, 7 p.m. @Cuba
Fri., Sept. 8, 7 p.m. @Monument Valley, Utah
Thu., Sept. 14, 7 p.m. ZUNI
Fri., Sept. 22, 7 p.m. @Newcomb
Fri., Oct. 6, 7 p.m. @Gallup
Fri., Oct. 13, 7 p.m. RIO GRANDE
Fri., Oct. 20, 7 p.m. @Hozho Academy
Fri., Oct. 27, 7 p.m. MONUMENT VALLEY, ARIZONA
