The Caller-Times will preview the top 10 high school football teams in the area. Teams throughout the month of August as part of the Two-A-Days series. Previous stories in the series can be found at caller.com.
No. 9 Tuloso-Midway Warriors
District: 16-4A Division I
Record 2023: 8:3, 4:2
Head coach: James Villarreal
Top returnees
QB Braycen Beazell, RB/S Damian Figueroa, DL Shawn Burdick, DL Alexavier Hinojosa, FS Maddox DeLeon, WR/DB Ricky Hernandez, WR/DB Jonas Darby
What you need to know for the 2024 season
The Warriors continue to knock on the door of the program’s first playoff victory after making back-to-back postseason appearances. Defensive coordinator James Villarreal takes over as head coach after leading one of the state’s best scoring defenses last season (No. 2 in Class 4A DI, 14 points per game). TM held six opponents to single digits and shut out three opponents in 2023. QB Braycen Beazell returns with a young cast of skill position players led by All-South Texas RB Damian Figueroa (1,484 yards, 15 TDs). The defense will rely on Shawn Burdick and Alexavier Hinojosa returning to the offense while Maddox DeLeon moves to free safety and leads the defense.
Coach James Villarreal on the 2024 season
“It was exciting. I was already there and that made the transition (from defensive coordinator to head coach) easier. We’re going to focus on running the football. We have a really good running back and a lot of O-linemen back. We’re excited about how good our offense can be. Everyone knows how good our defense has been and we’ve graduated a lot of kids. But a lot of kids have played a lot of snaps over the course of the year. We don’t have too many brand new guys on defense. We have two really good defensive tackles and our best defender, Maddox DeLeon, is moving to free safety. We know we missed some opportunities last year and we used that as motivation in the offseason. These kids are excited to go out there and try to leave their legacy as the first team to win a playoff game.”
