Felix F. Chavez

El Paso Times

Editor's Note: The El Paso Times continues its high school football countdown with No. 6 Pebble Hills.

Outlook for 2021 season

After missing out on the playoffs in 2020, Pebble Hills coach Mark Torres has confidence his team will be in the hunt for a postseason berth. Torres has been the program's only coach in the five previous years on varsity and his overall record is 23-26. 

The Spartans are talented at the skill positions on offense and many of the top players are underclassmen. The big question will be: Can the Spartans make improvement on defense? If they do, they will be in the mix for a district title. Pebble Hills will get tested before the start of District 1-6A, including the season opener against Odessa Permian. 

A look back at 2020

Pebble Hills had a nice win last year against El Dorado, and two forfeits vs Franklin and Montwood before a one-point loss to Eastlake. Marin showed potential last season with 328 yards rushing. 

How the offense rates 

Sophomore Gael Ochoa or junior Jacob Ledesma will take leadership under center with high expectations. However, Torres is so pleased with both players' effort and talent level, that whoever is the backup QB could play at another position. Ochoa follows in the footsteps of his older brother Sebastian, who was a quarterback for the Spartans. 

The Spartans are strong up front with three-year starter Gabriel Olivas. Running back Erik Marin and receivers Jalile Bost, Diego Contreras and Marcus Torres will be solid targets for whoever wins the starting quarterback position. Torres is the son of coach Mark Torres.

 

How the defense shapes up 

Diego Munoz will be a leader at defensive back and Ricky Gallegos is expected to make an impact at defensive back or linebacker. In the trenches, expect Gustavo Renteria to step up at nose guard. He qualified for the state wrestling meet last spring. 

What the coach is saying

"We have good numbers and it's been great to have a lot of the guys back out here playing this year," Torres said. "We had a good spring and summer, and the guys are ready to play a normal schedule. We're working hard to be 1% better every day."

What the players are saying

"I really believe our offense will do some great things," Olivas said. "We have some really good skill people, and our offensive line has potential to do some good things. We just have to continue to take care of business every day and continue to play as a team."

Added Bost: "Our wide receiving group has lots of potential. We have good quarterbacks and believe in them. As a team, we're really excited and confident."

EL PASO, Texas – Tonight’s game at the SAC wasn’t supposed to be close on paper, even though when these two teams step on the field anything can happen. A budding East El Paso rivalry game between the Spartans and Aztecs was set with both teams trying to bounce back from losing seasons last year.

In the 2018 season opener, Pebble Hills took down El Dorado 44-13, the score this year would be in similar fashion. 

Early on it seemed like the game would be a back and forth battle but eventually Pebble Hills took off, leaving El Dorado in the dust. Around the four-minute mark into the game the Spartans drove down the field and strikes firs via a jet sweep handoff to Jalen Partida towards the right side which resulted in an 11-yard touchdown run. The rest of the quarter would be punts and failed fourth down attempts for both sides.

Pebble hills would have a long seven-minute drive in the second quarter capped off with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Davis. 

El Dorado wide-out Kris Martin would provide a spark in the second quarter with a 70-yard catch and run to put the Aztecs in the red zone. El Dorado would drive to get to the one-yard line inside a promising drive that started at their own 10-yard line would be stalled out by a fumble at the one-yard line recovered by Pebble Hills in the end zone. That would ultimately stop the Aztecs momentum for the remainder of the half. 

Neither team could do much as the first half would wind down. El Dorado despite their mistakes would hang around and keep the game close late in the first half.

Pebble Hills had the last possession of the first half and seemed content with going into the locker room up 14. They would run the ball with their Senior QB Sebastian Ochoa. Ochoa would break a couple of big runs in the final minute to put them within distance to take a shot at the end zone. With just under 10 seconds remaining and the ball 43 yards away from the end zone, Ochoa launched the ball and found Davis again near the end zone, Davis made two defenders miss as he scored his second touchdown of the game.

The second half would start a little better for the Aztecs, around six minutes in, Martin would catch a short pass and run for 10-yards to score the first touchdown for the Aztecs to put them right back into the game.

Isaiah Davis would be named our player of the game, but it was a close decision between him, and Sebastian Ochoa. Early on, the Spartans’ Kylar Sanchez and Jalen Partida made some plays that would also consider them. However, Davis would not be denied getting into the end zone 3 times. 

Next week Pebble Hills will travel to Grande Communications Stadium to face Midland. El Dorado will look to bounce back as the head west to face Coronado.  

Story by Christian Molinar

Ten fast-rising Texas high school football coaches to keep an eye on

Bill Knight, El Paso Times

Oct. 20, 2018

Pebble Hills scored early and often and finally scored enough to put away high-scoring Montwood 51-35 on Friday night at the Socorro Student Activities Complex. The two teams exchanged early scores but Pebble Hills led 28-14 at the half. Montwood scored to open the third quarter and the Rams trailed just 28-21. But Pebble Hills scored late in the third quarter, moving out to a 35-21 lead and never looked back. The Spartans improve to 2-0 in District 1-6A, while the Rams are 1-1.

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Mando “The Monster” Medina

The third week of Texas High School football pitted two teams ranked in the Top 5 of our Town Talk Sports EP Super Eight poll.

The Pebble Hills Spartans, ranked #1, defeated the #5 Chapin Huskies 34-14 on a beautiful night at Tony Shaw Field on the campus of Irvin High.

The Spartans were led by versatile dual-threat quarterback Sebastian Ochoa and Senior running back Caleb Gerber. Ochoa finished the night with 227 yards passing and 4 TDs. He also ran for another 65 yards.

Gerber broke a 36-yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter and finished with 128 yards rushing.

The Chapin defense led by Senior Lama Lavea, was able to hold the potent Spartan offense to 13 points at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Chapin senior running back Jason Cambra broke free for a 75-yard touchdown to close the gap but in the end the Spartan offense proved hard to defend.

Our Casa Nissan Player of the Night is awarded to Sebastian Ochoa.

Next up for Spartans is a long tough road trip to San Angelo Central next Friday. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Chapin as they drive up the road to play the Parkland Matadors also on Friday night.

Mark Mena Reporting

September 7, 2018

For the second straight week, the Pebble Hills football team got a strong team effort in knocking off Midland High, 42-38, on Thursday at the Socorro Independent School Socorro Athletic Complex. The Spartans are now 2-0 on the year. Last week, Pebble Hills beat El Dorado, 44-13. Midland High is now 1-1. Pebble Hills had to work extra hard for this one as Midland High nearly rallied from a 28-10 halftime deficit.

Pebble Hills junior quarterback Sebastian Ochoa continued his solid play for the Spartans in the young season. He threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more in the win. Against El Dorado last week he completed 15 of 20 passes. Ochoa also directed the final drive for Pebble Hills in Thursday's win which resulted in the Spartans keeping the ball for the final 7:33 of the game to seal the win.

"Sebastian is coming along well," Pebble Hills coach Mark Torres said. "He's playing within himself. He is getting better all the time and he's learning more and more each week."

Added Pebble Hills running back Caleb Gerber: "Sebastian is a natural leader out there. He did a good job and made some big plays all    game long. He's really come a long way for us." Gerber was solid for the Spartans once again. He scored a first half touchdown and also had a huge 23-yard run on the team's game- clinching drive. Gerber's run on 4th and 2 gave the Spartans a first down at the Midland High 21.

 

Pebble Hills came out strong in the first half, scored first and never trailed before taking a 28-10 lead at the halftime break. The Spartans defense did a good job in the first half in limiting big plays by the Midland offense. Pebble Hills outgained Midland, 305-160, in the opening 24 minutes.

By knocking off Midland, the Spartans earned their first-ever win against a team from out of El Paso. Last year, the Spartans lost to San Angelo Central in the state playoffs. Later this year, the Spartans will have a rematch with San Angelo Central.

 

August 31,2018

The El Dorado Aztecs and Pebble Hills Spartans, two old rivals from District 1-6A, got the high school football season started on Thursday night at the Socorro Independent School District Student Activities Complex. 

El Dorado, which was ranked No. 9 by the El Paso Times in the preseason rankings, shared last year's District 1-6A title but moved down to Class 5A in the University Interscholastic League realignment in February. Pebble Hills, which was ranked No. 3 in the El Paso Times' preseason rankings, made the playoffs last year in just its second year of varsity competition. 

Pebble Hills took the opener, 44-13, in front of a solid Thursday night crowd, especially on the Pebble Hills side. El Dorado football head football coach David Telas coached his first game for the Aztecs on Thursday night vs. Pebble Hills. 

He was previously the head coach at Horizon and has also been an assistant coach at Montwood and Del Valle. 

The Aztecs couldn't get much going on offense but quarterback Chris Bustillos had a couple of nice runs on broken plays and wide receiver Ray Blanks showed he could be a solid target all season long. Running back Christian Gonzalez also did some good things and scored the team's first touchdown in the third quarter. The Spartans had plenty of top performers on Thursday night. Senior running back Caleb Gerber rushed for 191 yards in the first half and had runs of 44, 36 and 20 yards. The 20-yard run was for a touchdown 

Junior quarterback Sebastian Ochoa, who won the starting spot with solid play in fall camp, looked comfortable with four first half touchdown passes. He also proved he could run the ball well when he had to. 

The Spartans look like they will have a very good receiving core as well. Sophomore receiver Devean Deal, a tough matchup for defenses at 6-foot-4, caught the first touchdown of the game. Junior wide receiver Isaiah Davis, senior wide receiver Noah Mendoza and junior wide receiver Arturo Salazar also caught TD passes.

"We played really well as a team and we had a great week of preparation," Pebble Hills coach Mark Torres said. "We responded well from our scrimmage last week vs. Eastwood. Our kids, our coaching staff did a great job. I thought Sebastian Ochoa did a good job. He played within himself. Our receiving core did a good job and we have good skill people. Our receivers made big plays and blocked well. Caleb Gerber was very good in this game. He is a leader for us." 

Pebble Hills issued a strong statement with Thursday's victory. The Spartans were sharp on offense and showed they have multiple offensive weapons. The Spartans, who won eight games last year, were ready to go on Thursday night and had a good balance on offense and defense. Pebble Hills has a good offensive system and it looked like the Spartans carried over the confidence they gained from last year into this year. The offensive line did a great job and gave Ochoa plenty of time to throw the ball and gave the running backs a chance to find room to run.

El Dorado has some things to work on going forward. Telas didn't have much time to work with the team since he was hired officially in July. The Aztecs have some pieces to work with and can build on some things going forward. The Aztecs have to be patient and continue to work on some things and eventually they could be fine. 

Both teams have major challenges next week. The Spartans will be at home vs. Midland High, while El Dorado will face another old District 1-6A rival in Coronado. Both games are on Thursday at the SAC. 

"It was a team effort," Ochoa said. "We really focused this week on getting better and we played well as a team. We had a lot of positive things happen and we did a good job throughout. We have a great deal of potential on this team."