Confidence improves for Twentynine Palms

For the Twentynine Palms High School football team, the last two years have been tough — a combined 3-16 record after a year that saw a senior-led group reach the CIF-SS semifinals in 2021.

But the struggles they endured during those two years have been ironed out, and many of the players who were forced to play as freshmen and sophomores are now juniors and seniors. This year’s Wildcats are done with the rebuilding years. They believe they’re ready.

“We’re excited, the energy is high, the talent is there and all the guys have bought in,” third-year coach Eric Tili said. “I told the guys we’ve had to take the hard knocks, yes, but it’s made us better, stronger and closer together.”

The offense

Strategist Bubba Corney is back to lead the Wildcats as a junior after playing in four games for the Wildcats last year. He showed a knack for the big play last season, completing just 17 total passes, but seven of them resulted in touchdowns. His touchdown-to-interception ratio was an excellent 7-to-1.

“I feel like I’ve matured a lot, become a better player, a better teammate and a better leader,” Corney said. “We’re looking pretty good on the field, the line is playing really well. Overall, I’m a lot more confident going into this year.”

The Wildcats have nice depth at skill position players this year, especially with the emergence of Ayden Ogilvie at running back. Ogilvie, now a senior, has hardly ever played running back for the team before, but the tall running back possesses a rare combination of power and speed. The speed has increased by a few miles per hour due to his focus on track and field, where he is the team’s hurdler and sprinter.

He joins the seniors Will Herrera in the backfield, who was the team’s second-leading rusher last season.

The Wildcats are confident in their powerful running game, but if defenses pay too much attention to it, the receiver Jaden McNealty is a slender, quick receiving threat on the outside.

The defense

Tili has a lot of confidence in his defense this year as several of the team’s top tacklers return along with a few key transfers that will help him along the way.

Kruz Cueto is one of those new additions transferring from an Oceanside school, and he will help the Wildcats’ defense as a wrestler-turned-physical linebacker who Tili said plays with the right combination of “smarts and meanness.”

Looking for a second year student Antoine Gabrielwho got a taste of college action as a freshman last year, to pair with Cueto to form an elite pair of linebackers.

A big strength of the Wildcats that other teams don’t often talk about is their special teams. With an A+ level kicker Will Herrerawho regularly hits 50-plus yards in practice and is dedicated to the return game, expects Twentynine Palms to have the edge on special teams every night, which could turn a close game in their favor.

Coach Tili says

“One thing I know about this team is that the heart will be there,” Tili said. “We have the ambition to win the league and I don’t think that’s impossible. We want to be in the playoffs and I don’t think that’s impossible. We’re the little guy on the block and we’re in that underdog role and that’s okay. We haven’t given people a lot of reasons in the last two years for people to believe in us, but we like where we are right now.”

Our prediction

Sometimes you go to a high school team practice and every once in a while, a team has that look. That look where everything is clean, competitive, precise. I felt like the Wildcats had that look and I expect a major improvement over last year’s 1-9 team. Sure, they’ll be playing bigger schools and schools with more talent, but I think this beautiful new stadium in the high desert will see fans have plenty of reasons to cheer for them this season.

That being said, the Wildcats are one of the teams that I feel has been shortchanged by the new league setup. Being in a four-team league with perennial DVL powerhouses Coachella Valley and Yucca Valley means they will have to beat at least one of those two teams to earn one of the two automatic playoff bids. Whereas in the old eight-team setup, the Wildcats would be a very viable candidate for a top-three spot and an automatic bid.

But that’s still a ways off. Last year this team went 1-9, so they’ll have to learn how to win games in the non-league season and I’m excited to see how it all shakes out for this group of Wildcats.

Expected results for the regular season: 6-4

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Contact him at [email protected].

The program

(All matches start at 7pm)

August 29 (Thursday): vs Canyon Springs

September 5 (Thursday): in Victor Valley

September 13: to Rubidoux

September 20: vs. Hemet West Valley

September 27: at the Desert Mirage

October 4: in Desert Hot Springs

October 11: against the ban

October 18: to the Coachella Valley

Oct 24 (Thursday): against Indio

November 1st: against Yucca Valley