Things will be different at Morton Ranch this year.

Nick Cavallo came in this winter as the new head coach of the Mavericks and immediately started working with a young group that will have to grow this year, getting in early in the year in 2024 and having time to put things into practice before this fall.

The Mustangs return 21 players this year from last year's team that only went 2-8, but the team was competitive in many games, losing five by one possession. Cavallo came in and focused on the positives, the talent and fight that the team brings back and is determined to turn those results around. 

“I was able to get in and get both of my coordinators here before spring so to have that and be able to instill stuff in spring ball was huge for these guys,” Cavallo said.. “You could see the buy in from them every day and how they were excited about what’s going on here now. It was so important to get that basic stuff in during the spring. We’re still going to go through a process of learning, you can’t avoid that, but getting 15 or 16 practices and implement things in the spring and that is going to help so much.”

If there’s one thing that Morton Ranch has lots of it is talent at the skill positions. Jerome Ryans will be a huge piece to the team and will be counted on in all three phases of the game, while Tyler Williams and Tyler Gilmore are both playmakers on offense that can make a difference and Adrian De La Garza is a talented offensive lineman up front to build off of. But Morton Ranch will need others to step up as well on that end of the ball. There will be a battle at quarterback leading into the season and a number of players have showed potential so far in the spring and summer.

“Those guys on offense, they’re just pushing each other and competing every day,” Cavallo said. “The improvement from first day I was here to now has been so fun to watch and every spot guys are just battling to start at. We have a lot of talent and that is going to be a fun group.”

Defensively, Charles Fleming will headline that side of the ball and is a senior who is one of the stronger defensive backs in the area, Melvin Shepard and Great Obikili are two other big names to watch out for. Morton Ranch is usually a team that has to have players both ways, but early in the season the Mavericks had over 60 players suiting up for the varsity and they are excited about the buy in they have received from the whole school.

 “Charles Fleming has one of the best motors I have ever seen at any level, including college,” Cavallo said. “He’s really set the tone on that side of the ball and it’s risen everyone elses level because of it. He only has one speed and so everyone else knows ‘hey, we have to match that.’ It has been awesome because he motivates all those other guys. We have a lot of guys who can be really good in the secondary and are leading things as well.”

The Mavericks will face Nimitz and Magnolia West in non-district play to start the season before getting a very tough start to their district schedule, going up against all four of last year’s playoff teams in their first five district games and opening with games against Katy and Taylor to start district. Cavallo knows this team will have to grow up early and he is sure they will be ready.

“It’s huge any year but I think that first month is even more important this year to us,” Cavallo said. “We can really cement what we’ve been working on if we are successful that first month of the season. We’re trying to get that buy in and winning helps a lot with that. We want to be tested, but on top of that we want to get that excitement and those fans back. Our goal is to go into week three 2-0 and I really think we have the squad to be able to do that.”