Examining what’s new, what’s hot for the 2023 Centex soccer season

The UIL soccer regular season kicks off in earnest on Thursday. Area teams can take advantage of a few unseasonably warm late December days for their early-season matches before the inevitable January chill envelops the state.

The crowds may not quite rival those on a fall football Friday night, but passion for futbol remains high. So, as the season arrives, let’s address a few questions that local fans might be asking.

As with most high school sports, a fair amount of coaching turnover occurs every year on the soccer pitch.

Longtime Midway girls soccer coach Bill Sharp moved over to head up the school’s girls golf program this school year. Into his place steps Rodrigo Barrientos, who coached both the China Spring boys and girls teams to playoff berths in the 2022 season.

Down in Belton, a familiar name takes over the Tigers’ boys program. Carlo Mosnia inherits the reins, and he should have a vested interest in keeping Belton successful. Carlo was an all-state goalkeeper at Belton who graduated in 2013, and his father Tarcisio “Cizo” Mosnia served as Belton’s head coach for 12 years through the 2016 season. Cizo led Belton to a 211-59-23 record and nine district titles in that span, so the bar is high for young Carlo.

Jon Sabido, a former Super Centex defender at Midway, is the new head boys’ coach at China Spring, taking over for Barrientos, while Valerie Smith enters her first season as head coach of the Lady Cougars’ girls program.

Down in Class 4A, which also includes any sub-4A schools that might field a soccer program, District 23-4A should serve up plenty of fun, competitive local matchups. That loop consists of Cameron Yoe, Connally, Robinson, La Vega, Lorena, Mexia, Hearne, Marlin and Harmony School of Innovation. Harmony will only field a boys’ team while all the rest will feature both boys’ and girls’ teams.

In Class 5A, the annual Waco High vs. University match is a district duel now, since the Lions dropped down from 6A in last February’s realignment. The Lions and Trojans will compete in District 22-5A, along with Belton, Killeen, Killeen Chaparral, Ellison, Shoemaker and Lake Belton.

Midway also reunited with some old friends in realignment. It’ll face off in District 12-6A along with Temple, Bryan, Copperas Cove, Hutto, Harker Heights and Pflugerville Weiss.

Temple senior forward Eric Ortiz topped the Centex area in scoring last season with 33 goals and 15 assists, and is fully capable of turning even more net profits in 2023. He’s the reigning 12-6A MVP.

One of the most deft dribblers around these parts is Mexia senior forward Hector Sanchez. A two-time winner of the District 17-4A Offensive MVP honor, Sanchez is prone to befuddling three or four defenders at a time. He put up 29 goals last season, including four in the playoffs.

As a freshman last year, Midway’s Skylar Boast thumped 17 goals and helped the Panthers make an eight-win improvement, on his way to the Super Centex Newcomer of the Year honor. Boast should have even more reason to thump his chest as a sophomore.

Among the girls, several goal-driven strikers are back and ready to torch the nets again. Lake Belton junior Ella Wheeless put up a whopping 50 goals and scored 93 goals in her two high school seasons.

Across Belton ISD, Makenna Morrow of Belton won 12-6A MVP recognition on her way to a 47-goal season. And then back in McLennan County, Lorena’s Gretchen Marek should play a starring role for the Lady Leopards again. The junior midfielder is coming off a season in which she produced 39 goals and 23 assists.

Oh, and don’t sleep on China Spring’s KJ Billups. As a freshman making her varsity debut last year, Billups went for 20 goals and 12 assists while winning Super Centex Newcomer of the Year.

You have to start with the Lake Belton girls. They made the deepest playoff run of any area girls program a season ago, reaching the Region III-4A semifinals before falling to Lumberton, 3-0. That marked the only time the Lady Broncos were shut out all season. In Lake Belton’s short high school history, girls’ soccer may have established itself as the flagship program among a collection of highly successful sports. The Lady Broncos will move up to 5A this year, but don’t expect much dropoff, given all the returning talent.

Belton’s girls advanced to the third round of the postseason in 2022 before falling to Mansfield by penalty kicks. That was in 6A, and the Lady Tigers will be dropping down to 5A for this season.

And then in 4A, don’t ever count out Lorena. In addition to Marek, the Lady Leopards bring back key players like sophomore midfielder Yuri Lopez (18 goals, 8 assists) and senior defender Catalina Turner (12 goals).

For the boys, Mexia appears poised to make its first state tournament appearance in program history. The Blackcats made their deepest run ever last year by reaching the Region III-4A semifinals before being stopped by Stafford on penalty kicks. They enter this season ranked second in the region by TASCO behind only Winnie East Chambers.

La Vega also looks tough. The Pirates won their third straight district title in 2022 and totaled 19 wins overall. They have some scoring punch to replace, but remain especially sturdy defensively, headlined by senior goalkeeper Ivan Magdaleno (12 shutouts) and junior defender Juaquin Zarate, who was the Super Centex Newcomer of the Year two seasons ago as a freshman.

Eight area football players have been selected to play in the Texas Six-Man Coaches Association All-Star games.

In the Division I game, Blum’s Armando De Hoyos, Abbott’s Karsyn Johnson and Will Kazda, and Jonesboro’s Caleb Christel will all play for the East all-star squad. The Division II East roster includes four Centex players in Morgan’s Adrian Vera-Rico, Oglesby’s Brodie Fisher, Iredell’s Preston Robinson and Bynum’s Skyler Brisco.

The games will be played next summer on June 30 (Div. I) and July 1 (Div. II) at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

While many of the top football prospects in the Class of 2023 have made up their minds and signed on the dotted line, the recruiting process for the Class of 2024 is just beginning to pick up steam.

And Central Texas can boast some of the most highly coveted recruits in the state, if not the nation.

Three area juniors are ranked in Dave Campbell Texas Football’s top 30 recruits in Texas, including the No. 1-ranked and No. 3-ranked players overall, Lake Belton’s Micah Hudson and Connally’s Kobe Black, respectively.

Hudson, a 6-1, 195-pound receiver, won District 4-5A MVP honors in the 2022 season. The No. 1-ranked recruit made 65 catches for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for another two TDs. He’s been compared to NFL star Odell Beckham, and has offers from a slew of top programs, including Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU.

Black, a 6-1, 190-pound cornerback, made 36 tackles, nine pass break-ups and two interceptions for Connally in the 2022 season. He totaled 104 yards in interception returns, had 305 yards and five touchdowns on offense as a receiver, and also accumulated 165 yards and a touchdown in kick returns. The No. 3-ranked recruit in the state and No. 1 defensive back by DCTF owns offers from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Notre Dame and many others. His older brother Korie is a defensive back for Oklahoma State.

Meanwhile, Lorena’s Jadon Porter is the 30th-ranked player in Texas by DCTF for 2024. The 6-1, 185-pound receiver has been committed to Baylor since last April. He is coming off a season where he made 49 catches for 841 yards and eight touchdowns, while adding another three TDs rushing.