​RANKIN, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – The Rankin Red Devils are aiming to get back to the State Final, where they were a year ago.Last season, the team had a 12-3 record and claimed the 6-1A Division I district title. In the playoffs, the Red Devils took down Borden County, Nazareth, Whiteface, and Water Valley before falling to Gordon in the State Title game.Check out the rest of our Basin Gridiron Training Camp coverage!The Red Devils are bringing back eight starters from last season, including Matthew Ramos and Kash Cuellar, who are the preseason offensive and defensive MVP’s for the district.“Honestly, I don’t feel like I deserve it,” Ramos said. “There’s a lot of people out there that I feel really put in the work and could have got it, but I’m really blessed and glad they gave it to me. I’ll just try to live up to that and do my best to show out again.” “Just all my hard work paying off,” Cuellar said. “Summer offseason, going to the weight room (and) coming up to the field.” As if that’s not enough, head coach Garret Avalos was also the preseason coach of the year. He credits the coaching staff for helping him get to where he is today. “I really believe I’ve got the best coaching staff in the state,” Avalos said. “They make my job easy, I can’t brag on those guys enough, I’ve got a tremondous staff. Some of us have been together for quite a while now. I think a lot of that is just a team deal, those guys are tremondous, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.” Dave Campbell’s Texas High School Football Magazine predicts the Red Devils to finish first in District 6-1A Division I.Rankin opens the season on August 27 on the road against Rocksprings.To see the full preview, watch the video above. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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