Youth and health. The 2025 Sandia Matadors had too much of the former and not enough of the latter.It was an often frustrating season under new coach Tylon Wilder. The Matadors, who had precious few players with concrete varsity experience, started 0-4 and never recovered, and an assortment of injuries to some key personnel prevented Sandia from truly flourishing.But Sandia firmly believes the puzzle pieces are arranged properly for them to become one of Class 6As success stories this fall.I believe we can make it to the state championship and I feel like we can make it far in the playoffs, senior quarterback Jahleel Lewis said.Sandia was among the nearly 125 football-playing schools in New Mexico that staged their first practices of the season on Monday.Solid recruiting from around the Sandia campus, with a large number of transfers spruced in, has left the program with Cleveland-esque participation numbers. Wilder pegs the number at about 130, enormous compared to what the Matadors usually draw, often fewer than 100 athletes.The biggest thing is, last year, with the youth and injuries, we just werent ready to go play varsity ball last year, Wilder said. These kids have a year in the system now, a year with me, weve had a great offseason, were older, were healthier well be able to compete at a higher level for sure.Wilder got a relatively late start last year, trying to get settled after coaching Espaola Valley, and Sandia struggled to find its footing from the start.It was so packed and so rushed, senior linebacker Aiden Maldonado said. He didnt know any of us. He had to learn us just as well as we had to learn him.Sandia won four of its last six, but missed out on the playoffs.These Matadors are going to be quick, athletic, and certainly more experienced. This team, Wilder said, will have quality depth across the board at just about every position. Offensive line remains a concern at Sandia, as it was last season.But tremendous optimism is percolating from within the Sandia locker room, which has about twice as many seniors (30) as it did a year ago.I see a lot of growth with this team, a lot of brotherhood thats been built over this past year, Lewis said.The aforementioned transfers half a dozen from inside the metro area and a seventh from the Houston area are certainly going to give Sandia a boost. How much of one remains unanswerable until the season kicks off.Skill athletes Deon Session and Jven Smith, both from Atrisco Heritage, transferred to Sandia this summer, and Lewis will be surrounded by terrific veteran weapons, a group that also includes returners Gad Harris and George Smith.The new faces are playing catch-up, however, as theyve only had a few weeks with this group.All the new faces are getting acclimated to what we do here, said Lewis. I feel like theyre starting to grow with the brotherhood.Harris, featured more heavily in the pass game, and Smith, a running back who transferred to Sandia from Robertson before last season, were emblematic of the Matadors injury problems last season as both missed considerable time. Smith and Harris are juniors and each is expected to have a big season in this Sandia offense.Unlimited potential for us, Maldonado said. Sandia opens the season Thursday, Aug. 20 against Cibola. We have to show up every day. If we live up to what our potential is, were gonna show a lot of people.Wilder largely agreed. Progress often is more visible with a new coach as that program segues from Year 1 to Year 2.They have the mindset to compete, he said. We have the right pieces, the right kids in the right spots, the maturity, the willingness to go out there and do the best they can.James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at @JamesDYodice.