Photo by Zac Green

The Pampa Harvesters graduated several key players last year on offense, but Head Coach Floyd White, now in his third year at Pampa, does not see the year as a rebuilding year. Rather, he is excited to see what his younger pieces bring to the table.

“That freshman class the first year we got here was really a small group,” White said. “We knew that coming in. We have a lot of those guys that are really doing great things for us. (Junior) Jeryn Owens is playing quite a bit for us. 

“He and (Junior) Kenny Ryan are starting for us and doing quite a bit. We have some of those kids like (Junior) Hagen Hudson and kids like that really working and showing flashes of what they can do. It’s great watching those guys from where they started to where they’re at now. Some of them are night/day. It’s crazy to see.”

The Harvesters graduated four-year starting running back Max Neff and three-year quarterback Jarren Hill. 

“Everybody always talks about graduation and what graduation does,” White said. “But sometimes graduation helps you. It allows those younger kids that didn’t get the looks they needed to get out there and show what they can do.”

White added the coaching staff has been working diligently all offseason to set up this young group for success.

“We spent a lot of time as staff during the spring and over the course of summer looking at film studies to see how we can help ourselves both offensively and defensively tweak and get ourselves into better positions than we were,” White said. 

“Ultimately, if you don’t worry so much about the wins and losses but continue to worry about the processes that you’re going through and stay consistent in those, taking care of what we can control of it and putting our kids into better positions, those are all things to help into different results.”

The young squad will be led at quarterback by Sophomore Phoenix Lopez.

"Phoenix Lopez has been tremendous for us," White said. “A lot of kids just gravitate toward him because he's just a natural leader. He tells the guys ‘Let’s go throw some footballs,' and they go and throw some footballs. He says ‘Let’s go play putt-putt; they go play putt-putt.' He has been a tremendous leader for us across the board. It helps that he played varsity baseball last year.”

Along with Lopez, sophomore Cruise Godino will be playing wide receiver and defensive back.

“He’s played a little safety and a little receiver and is doing some really good things,” White said. “He has a mean streak to him I didn’t know he had. He’s done a tremendous job.”

Junior Aiden Hammond and Sophomore Paxton Daniels will also be in the mix more as new pieces.

“Aiden Hammond played some for us last year,” White said. “But now he’s kind of the leader of the defense. He got a lot of reps there at the end of the season, but he wasn’t the starter. He’s done a great job of learning how to be a vocal leader and direct everybody. He sits in the office with me and watches film to learn how to make checks and signals.

“Paxton Daniels is another one that’s going to play a lot for us. He plays receiver, and he’s going to play defensive back for us as well. Because of these young guys we are going to be able to throw and catch better than we ever have since I’ve been here. We can run the ball with pretty consistent results, but now we can throw the ball. It’ll be fun to watch.”

The Harvesters will be returning experience in the area that is most important to efficiency, the offensive and defensive lines.

“Up front, our offense is anchored by (Senior) Sebastian Garduno,” White said. “He is a great kid, a great player, and that steady force for us. This will be his third year starting for us. He does a lot of things that go unnoticed because he plays on the line. He does a lot of talking for us. So to have a man like him really makes that huge difference. 

(Senior) Evan (Orand) started a lot of games for us last year. It’s funny, we always laugh and joke with him; we see him running and doing those plays, and as we watch him run and do those things, we tell him, ‘You tricked us. You can do those things.’ Now we expect him to do it. So he gets out there and works his behind all of the time for us.

The Harvesters will also have familiar faces, Seniors Gunter Thomas and Jace Jones returning to the lineup. Senior Carter McLaughlin is also working back from injury.

“At receiver we have (Senior) Gunter Thomas,” White said. “He started the season for us as a ball of fire but then in that Plainview game got tackled on a kickoff return and tore his shoulder up. He was out for the rest of the season. So we are looking for great things for him as a senior starter. One of the other ones is Jace Jones. He looks the part. He is going to do a lot of things for us, not only on the offensive line but also a lot on the defensive line.”

The Harvesters' non-district schedule is made up of going to Plainview to scrimmage (this was held Friday, Aug. 14) and a scrimmage at home against Palo Duro on Aug. 20. They open the season at home against Caprock on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. 

The Harvesters then are at Dalhart on Sept. 4, at Perryton on Sept. 11, at Borger on Sept. 18, and then home against Canadian on Sept. 25 to round out non-district play.

The Harvesters then open district at home on Oct. 9 against Randall, host Hereford on Oct. 16, travel to Dumas on Oct. 23, host Canyon on Oct. 30, and go to West Plains on Nov. 6.

Randall

“We open with Randall here,” White said. “Everybody talks about West Plains in our district, but the reality is Randall is really good. Year in, year out. They won 10 games last year and went two or three rounds in the playoffs. Coach Sherwood does a great job with those guys, and they have a lot of guys returning. They also lost some pretty good ones. They will be a tough out.

Hereford

“Then we have Hereford at home that next week,” White said. “They have a new coach down there. They brought in a Coach Medley from Medina Valley and Medina Valley has been good the last couple of years. So it’s going to be interesting to see what they do.”

Dumas

“We go on the road to Dumas, which is always a tough place to play,” White said. “They’ve got a good quarterback and tailback back. They are going to throw the ball enough to keep you honest. They are going to be a tough one.”

Canyon

“We get Canyon at home. They are breaking in a new quarterback, but they’ve got a lot of good kids coming back. They are going to be a tough one; we’ve got a lot of tough ones at home this year.”

West Plains

“Then we finish at West Plains,” White said. “Everybody knows what West Plains is. They’ve got a new head coach there. Coach Lofton has been there as the defensive coordinator; now he’s the head coach. He’s going to continue on with what they’ve been doing. On our lower levels we’ve had some success with them; we’re excited about what we can do.”

This season will be a success if......

White was asked at the close of the interview the loaded question of “This season will be a success if….”

“We get more wins in that win column this year,” White said. “But if we continue to execute the way we have been executing all spring and all fall. If we do that. The wins will take care of themselves; I know that they will because we are going to have the ball more, and we’re going to be able to get stops. The wins and losses will take care of themselves, and I know that because of how our program is set up. By Year 3, we’re going to see better results. We are going to better results from our processes.”