Falcon veterans pushing for deeper playoff run
The Abbotsford Falcons football team will be heading into the 2025 season with their eyes set on battling for the top of the conference and a playoff run as they return a large number of their starters from last season’s squad that went 7-2 in the regular season and 8-3 overall.
For a fourth straight season, Abbotsford started off strong last year, rattling off six straight wins to start the year. While road bumps against Auburndale and Edgar continued to be a thorn in the Falcons’ side, they still played well enough to earn a fourth seed in the Division 6 playoffs and thoroughly dispatched Nekoosa in the first round. In the second, they faced off against the number one seeded Coleman squad and very nearly pulled off the upset. Despite an impressive final drive in which the Falcons were able to drive all the way down the field to their opponent’s twoyard line, time was not on Abbotsford's side. Penalties nullified two potential goahead scores and the Falcons saw their season come to an end in the second round.
With many of the players from that team returning this season, last year’s second round exit serves as motivation heading into this season.
“Our freshman year, we didn’t make it to the playoffs,” senior quarterback and linebacker Irvin Aguilera said. “Sophomore year, we made it to round one and last year we made it to round two. So this year, we’re looking to go further. Hopefully make it to level four or even state; we’re definitely capable of it and we’ve got a lot of returners coming back. Losing by one point isn’t easy, so this year we’re hungry. It’s tough losing like that, so we’re just trying to make it further than we did last year.
“Obviously, we lost by one, so obviously that sucked and we don’t want to have to go through that again,” returning running back and defensive back Christian Fuentes said. “I think that’s made us work way harder this year.
“The guys we brought in this year are really hard workers and they saw last year, a lot of our lineman were hard workers and I think they see that,” he added. “I think that we are really prepared.”
Aguilera and Fuentes, now seniors and leaders for this year’s Falcons, served as Abbotsford’s primary one-two punch in the offensive backfield last season. Fuentes, who has been part of Abbotsford’s rushing attack since his freshman season, once again led the Falcons in ground yards gained last year, racking up 973 yards on just 105 carries. He averaged 9.3 yards per carry and logged a team-high 10 touchdowns. The performance earned him first team all-conference honors.
Aguilera was right behind him, picking up nine touchdowns on the ground while grinding out 734 yards rushing. The quarterback also had 591 yards passing for the Falcons and had nine passing touchdowns to just three interceptions, earning an allconference honorable mention award for his offensive play Abbotsford’s experience in the offensive backfield doesn’t end there, however, as their third leading rusher from last season, senior back Chase Boller, also returns for the Falcons. Boller averaged 7.1 yards per carry in 2024, running for 548 total yards and collecting four touchdowns. Jesus Reyes, Jaxon Ploeckelman and Carter Cihlar all saw some varsity snaps in the backfield for Abbotsford last year and will be back once again.
“With our experienced backfield, we can spread out stuff and give more guys the ball,” Aguilera said. “They ask a lot of questions, they want to get better. They always want to be at the field and stuff, so that’s really helpful, knowing that they want to be part of this team.”
While the Falcons will have plenty of experience at many of the skill positions on the offensive side of the ball, they will have to look to replace some important pieces along their line. First-team all-conference selection and conference lineman of the year Dan Davila graduated, as did second team-all conference lineman Andrew Hirsch, second-team all-conference end AJ Brodhagen and honorable mention lineman Payton Schreiber. While their leadership and skills will certainly be missed, the team is confident that they will have players who are up to trying to fill those needs along the line. Seniors Angel Tzintzun and Marcus VanLuven both have varsity experience and will be the elder statesmen on the line.
“I think we’ll be just fine,” Fuentes said of filling in some holes left by last year’s seniors. “Last year, our older guys and us were very good at getting ahead in games and we gave a lot of younger guys opportunities to get into the game to get a feel for it and learn.”
It’s a similar tale on the opposite side of the ball. With many playing both ways, Abbotsford returns a solid number of key starters and roleplayers from last year’s defense, but will still have a couple holes to fill. Davila was a first-team all-conference end for the Falcons in 2024, Brodhagen was a second-team all-conference outside linebacker and both were in the top five in total tackles for Abbotsford. Linebacker Emilio Escalera, who earned an all-conference honorable mention, also graduated.
However, many of the same faces that made contributions to the Falcons on offense last year and are returning this season were also big contributors to the defense. Four all-conference defensive players, Aguilera, Tzintzun, Fuentes and Boller will all return for Abbotsford this season. Aguilera, Boller and Fuentes were all in the top-four in total tackles for last year’s defense and Tzintzun had 30 as an interior lineman, along with one sack.
Seniors VanLuven and Irvin Davila will also be returning, as will juniors Reyes and Luis Gonzales and sophomore Josue Tzintzun, who all saw action on defense last year.
While there is plenty of experience on both sides of the ball, the Falcons will have to get past two of their conference rivals, Auburndale and Edgar, if they wish to pursue a Marawood/CWC conference title. The two squads have proven to be tough opponents late in the season for the past two years and getting victories over their rivals would not only improve their chances for a conference title, but give them momentum heading into the playoffs.
“We play in a really good conference,” Aguilera said. “I feel like we’ll be competing for a conference championship. Last year we lost against Auburndale and Edgar, but I feel like we have enough players back that we can compete against anybody.”
“I think we are definitely top three,” Fuentes added. “Obviously you know Edgar won state last year, but at the same time we’re all kind of on the same [level]. So I think we can compete with anyone in the conference.”
If the Falcons wish to continue their trend of hot starts to the season, their first challenge will be the likes of Loyal/ Greenwood. Abbotsford has dominated this affair in recent years, winning their opening matchup against the co-op each of the last four seasons and doing so in lopsided fashion. Last year, the Falcons came out on top 32-16.
The first game will be in Abbotsford on Friday, August 22. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
