LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – One of the Hub City’s greatest rivalries will kick off their 2026 season tonight as Monterey takes on Coronado. As always, both head coaches agree their teams needed very little motivation going into this evening’s crosstown matchup. Watch live 7 p.m. on the KCBD Streaming App and kcbd.com, a broadcast produced by LISD-TV.
While the Coronado Mustangs are anxious for a new chapter after last year’s 1-9 campaign, the Monterey Plainsmen are looking to build on last year’s 7-5 run which landed them into the second round of the playoffs.
Coronado head coach Andrew Roy says records disappear when these two teams collide
“Yeah, it’s fun, it’s a non-district game, so we get to throw everything at them. Week one, rivalry, can’t ask for much more,” he said. “They know each other. You know, we did 7-on-7 with those guys all summer. There’s friends on both sides, but for this week, it’s wild and you throw everything out the window and you go compete.”
“You don’t have to give very many pep talks for this week, that’s for sure. It’s going to be a fun one,” replied Monterey head coach Jason Sims. “We’re going to have to play really clean football. We can’t turn the ball over, we need to establish our run game. force them into being one-dimensional. They’re going to want to throw it a lot, but we’re not going to come out and try and stop pass first. We want to stop their run game and then see if their quarterback can beat us in the air.”
While Monterey’s veteran QB Jonah Reed continues to recover from injury, the Plainsmen will start freshman QB Hayden Dewbre. Coach Sims says this should provide Dewbre with solid experience going into the future.
“It’s exciting because you know your future has potential to be in really good hands. You hope they grow and develop and get better as the years go on,” he said. “It could have been worse. If he stays healthy and if he progresses, he’s going to be known around the state, not just Lubbock.”
Coach Roy says while he expects the Mustangs to apply defensive pressure on the freshman signal caller, he’s also excited to see what his own playmakers can do on offense.
“Rebel Beckham, man, he’s going to be one to watch out for! He’s a junior, and he’s another leader for us. Parker Bottoma is a tall, fast receiver that’s going to play outside for us. Cam Miller, Shakori Cross, he’s another junior that’s going to play the slot and just athletic is all get out, so we have some skill guys that can catch the ball and get going.”
Sims believes this year’s Mustang squad is much-improved from 2025.
“They’re different, their offense looks much improved. They look more comfortable in the Air-Raid. They got out of their multi-set, they were multi-formational shifts, run game, things of that nature, and they just went to pure Air-Raid. It looks like it fits them better.”
Tonight’s action gets underway at PlainsCapital Park. Last year, Monterey won 42-7. Coronado’s last victory over the Plainsmen came in 2022.
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