The storyline for the 2025 Yucca Valley Trojans is pretty clear. It will be the first year since before the pandemic without Michael Ramos Jr. as the quarterback.
The four-year star graduated and while many talented Trojans will return, there’s no doubt that it will be an adjustment without Ramos back there.
The task of following him will fall to senior Aiden Shannon, who has been a receiver on the team and knows the offense inside and out.
He has the full confidence of the team, and his coaches love that he already knows the offense and all the reads like the back of his hand. He’s also got the perfect mindset when it comes to the unenviable task of following the school’s all-time best quarterback.
“I don’t really feel any pressure, because I’m just going to be me,” Shannon said. “Those are big shoes to fill, and I’m not going to try to fill them. I’m going to be me and try to carry the team, maybe some nights they’ll carry me. I have a lot of faith in this team, and I think I have a good grasp on what it takes to lead us to wins.”
Coach Jeremy Johnson: Sixth season
2024 record: 4-5 overall, 2-1 in DVL
The offense
Coach Jeremy Johnson is confident that Aiden Shannon has all the tools to lead the team to victory, but there is still that unknown about what he’s going to do when the lights are shining on him that first Friday night.
“He knows the system well enough that I’m able to tell him a play and he knows where to get everybody lined up and how to run the play and all the reads, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do,” Johnson said. “He can lead this team.”
He’ll have some talented players around him, including receiver Aiden Pope who had 39 catches for 547 yards and three touchdowns last year. Pope, who also ran for a touchdown last year, is the type of player that Johnson will be looking to get the ball to in a variety of ways.
Along with the Aiden-to-Aiden connection, the Trojans will count on a trio of running backs, but the No. 1 ballcarrier will be Clyde King who has a nice mix of speed and power.
Speaking of speed, another weapon for the Trojans will be junior speedster Ian Jarrett. The reigning DVL 100 and 200-meter champion, Jarrett will be a receiving threat who can get separation against almost anyone.
The defense
Returning is all-league linebacker Brody Herrera, who led the team with a whopping 139 tackles in 2024. He’ll be entrenched in the middle of the defense and though it may be hard to average 14 tackles a game again, I wouldn’t put it past him.
Seth Mauk moved up from the JV late last season as a sophomore and will be a Day 1 starter for the Trojans this year in one of the linebacker roles.
On the defensive line, look for senior Francisco Garcia and junior Christian Underwood to provide size and athletic ability. Underwood is big and tall and has fast feet as a seasoned wrestler.
“I like our defense this year. To me, I think this will be the best defense we’ve had here in the last few years,” Johnson said.
Our prediction
This should be a fascinating season for the Trojans and tough to predict. Ramos leaves a void, there’s no doubt, but the collective team might be better this year than last year’s group. Shannon has the perfect mindset for the job, and once he gets comfortable, should be able to manage this team to a lot of wins.
It’s also a tricky team to project a record for because their non-league schedule is so different. Interestingly, the Trojans will play a lot of low-desert teams in the non-league, including the additions of DEL combatants La Quinta and Xavier Prep to the schedule. Next year, don’t forget, they’ll all be in the same league, the 14-team Desert Athletic Conference, and Johnson said he wanted to see how they stack up.
They’ll also face Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs and Banning of the Sun Valley League, so five of their seven non-league contests are against other desert teams.
An improved defense, reliable skill positions and coaching continuity make me think the Trojans are in for a successful year, perhaps with a return to the top of the DVL standings.
As Shannon put it: “It’s going to be a challenge, but we like challenges up here.”
Predicted regular season record: 7-3
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
Trojans 2025 schedule
(All games at 7 p.m.)
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Yucca Valley football replacing an all-time great QB, but don’t count out these Trojans
Reporting by Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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