GRIDIRON GLANCE ’25: Santa Anna Mountaineers

August 17, 2025 at 7:32 am Derrick Stuckly

SANTA ANNA – Again housed in a district with two of the Top 15 Class A Division I programs in the state, the Santa Anna Mountaineers will have an admittedly uphill climb in their bid to end an eight-year playoff drought.

Finishing 3-7 last year, and 0-3 in District 14-A Division I action, fourth-year head coach Jose Luna welcomes back nine of 16 lettermen, including three starters on each side of the ball, from the 2024 squad.

“Our expectations for this season for this group is mainly focused on the seniors – Brock Brown, Jordan Diggs and Jayden Gibson,” Luna said. “There’s going to be a lot expected out of them. They’re going to be playing both ways obviously and they’re going to be mainly trying to bring the young guys up to speed. They’ve been in the program since I’ve been here so they’re going to be our go-to guys for anything.”

Other players to keep an eye on in Santa Anna are Tony Blaine, Eddie York, Elijah Herrod, Donovan Jackson and Kain Watson.

“Our biggest strength is going to be consistency as far as us coaching them for as long as we’ve been here and them being in the program as long as they have,” Luna said. “They’re going to know what we say when we say it as far as football jargon. If we have to switch something up, they know where we’re trying to go and what we’re trying to switch up. As far as improvements, we have to make sure we get in the weight room. We’re kind of small so we need to make sure we see some gains in the weight room. Once we take care of that in the weight room, everything is going to start to fall in place for us.”

Looking ahead to the district race, Luna said, “May Jonesboro, and Lometa are in our district again and any time you have those guys it’s a tough district, one of the toughest in the state year in and year out,” Luna said. “I think we just need to focus on what we do and everything else will play out.”

Before the Mountaineers get to district they must first face Bronte (Aug. 29), Rocksprings (Sept. 5), Ranger (Sept. 12), Blanket (Sept. 19), Priddy (Sept. 26), Zephyr (Oct. 3), and Woodson (Oct. 10).

Regarding the early-season goals, Luna said, “The biggest key is definitely going to be getting reps for a lot of the juniors and sophomores,” Luna said. “If we get reps under them the improvement will start to show on game days. The past couple of years those juniors and sophomores didn’t play much because we had a big senior class we lost. We just need reps.”

Following a bye on Oct. 17, the district slate kicks off against No. 4 May (Oct. 24), then No. 12 Jonesboro (Oct. 31) comes to town ahead of a road trip to Lometa (Nov. 7).

“The main thing is getting better each day,” Luna said. “The main focus this year is going to be effort and discipline. We just want to focus on them giving us all out effort all the time and making sure we’re disciplined as far as doing the little things the right way, and doing them every time all out.”

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SANTA ANNA MOUNTAINEERS 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 29	at Bronte	7:30 p.m.
September 05	Rocksprings	7:30 p.m.
September 12	at Ranger	7:30 p.m.
September 19	Blanket	7:30 p.m.
September 26	Priddy#	7:30 p.m.
October 03	at Zephyr	7:30 p.m.
October 10	at Woodson	7 p.m.
October 17	OPEN
October 24	May*	7:30 p.m.
October 31	Jonesboro*	7 p.m.
November 07	at Lometa*	7:30 p.m.