The La Joya Coyotes are heading into the new season off a 5-5 regular season record and a playoff appearance.

The team opened last year with a three-game winning streak in non-district play. After a slow start to district play, the Coyotes finished strong and locked up a playoff spot.

This year, the team is counting on younger players to step up on defense.

"Right now, we have some young guys. I know that [Leonardo Maldonado]'s leadership in the secondary will help build it up on the front line. We've got some young guys that I think they're pretty tough," Coyotes head coach Reuben Farias said.

Senior safety Leonardo Maldonado said the younger players are putting in the work.

"They have big shoes to fill, obviously our linebacker core, all of it left. So these newer guys are building on it. They go into the weight room every day, they try to learn, they ask the older guys for help and we're always willing to help," Maldonado said.

On offense, the Coyotes lost their star running back from last season but return quarterback Owen Benoit and wide receiver Dante Perez.

The two helped the team go from scoring less than 17 points per game in the first three district games to more than 50 points per game over the final three.

"I think over the season we grew a lot of confidence," senior quarterback Owen Benoit said.

Senior wide receiver Dante Perez said the connection between the two was key to that offensive surge.

"We had this chemistry where it was unbreakable. We bonded on and off the field we had this connection to where we were able to connect on the passes, connect on the blocks and be able to motivate each other to keep pushing through," Perez said.

La Joya starts the season by battling with Zapata, Wall, Brownsville Pace, Sharyland, and Brownsville Veterans in non-district play. District play starts after a bye week on October 9th with Edinburg North. The district finale comes on November 5th against Economedes.