GRIDIRON GLANCE ’25: San Saba Armadillos

August 20, 2025 at 8:03 am Derrick Stuckly

SAN SABA – After finishing in second place in the District 14-2A Division I standings a year ago, behind perennial state power Mason, the San Saba Armadillos in 2025 intend to make a run for their first league title since 2019.

“The sky’s the limit with this group,” said San Saba head coach Andreas Aguirre. “We’re in a tough district, a tough region, we all understand that. There’s some very good coaching staffs, very good athletes, big, fast and physical. I think if we stay healthy and take care of the ‘Dillos, we’ll have a chance to play for a district championship in the end, if we take care of business every week. But we’re not focusing on the road later on down the season. We’re focusing on the here and now. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed and our kids understand that. We can’t be focusing on anything else but ourselves.”

Coming off a 6-5 campaign a year ago that featured a 21-15 loss to Crawford in the bi-district round of the playoffs, Aguirre spoke about what’s impressed him most about the Armadillos heading into the 2025 campaign.

“Our kids are understanding we’re trying to get better each and every day, one percent better each and every day,” Aguirre said. “Our hard work, our kids paying attention to detail, our coaches’ effort, and our energy has been unbelievable. Just the positivity around here has been amazing. The community support, rallying after the floods, it’s been amazing. Our community is coming together once again and you just love to see those kinds of things, especially during football season.”

The Armadillos welcome back eight starters on each side of the ball, and Aguirre discussed the team’s strengths and what he most wants to see improved.

“They’re just a tight knit group, a brotherhood who understands that they’re doing it for somebody else,” Aguirre said. “They’re paying attention to detail and are probably one of the hardest working groups I’ve had here in San Saba. They love the weight room, they love the physicality. We’ve changed up some things to go with our players and our culture and our program.

“Things I want to change are no turnovers. We’ve had a couple balls on the ground during our weeks of practice and we want to clean that up. We also need to get lower pad levels and be more physical.”

Key returnees for San Saba include Luke Tharp (1,889 rushing yards, 21 TDs; 781 passing yards, 8 TDs), who is moving from quarterback to running back, running back/linebacker Jason Everett (115 tackles, 18 for loss, 1 sack; 321 rushing yards), lineman Kolton Pierce, receiver/defensive back Cash Bryant, lineman Omar Landeros, tight end Danny English, and linebacker Juan Patino. Meanwhile, Jayden Romero will be stepping into the quarterback role this season.

“Up front we have Kolton Pierce, our senior that’s leading our linemen,” Aguirre said. “In the back field we’ll have a trio of running backs between Jason Everett, Luke Tharp and Graden Lebow, and Jayden Romero will be at the helm. We’ve got a solid tight end that can block down and kick out and catch balls as well in Danny English. And of course you have Cash Bryant who can catch balls out there, too.”

The Armadillos’ season begins with a trip to Grape Creek (Aug. 29), a home date with Junction (Sept. 5), and road trips to Goldthwaite (Sept. 12) and Katy St. John (Sept. 19) follow before a visit from Hamilton (Sept. 26) in the pre-district finale.

“I want to see us finish off games,” Aguirre said of the pre-district goals. “We have to have that championship mentality and do everything like a champion does. That means practice like a champion, prepare like a champion, clean up the locker room like a champion and mostly finish the game like a champion. That’s what I want to see is us continue to get better each and every week, each and every day. I’m excited about our pre-district schedule because there’s no cupcakes on that schedule.”

San Saba’s District 14-A Division I schedule includes home games against Johnson City (Oct. 10) and Thorndale (Oct. 17), a trip to Harper (Oct. 24), the home finale against Holland (Oct. 31) and the regular season finale at reigning district champion and 12th-ranked Mason (Nov. 7).

***

SAN SABA ARMADILLOS 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 29	at Grape Creek	7 p.m.
September 05	Junction#	7 p.m.
September 12	at Goldthwaite	7 p.m.
September 19	at Katy St. John	7 p.m.
September 26	Hamilton	7 p.m.
October 03	OPEN
October 10	Johnson City*	7 p.m.
October 17	Thorndale*	7 p.m.
October 24	at Harper*	7 p.m.
October 31	Holland	7 p.m.
November 07	at Mason*	7 p.m.