A season filled with frustrating losses, untimely injuries and missed opportunities kept Enterprise football from reaching its potential in 2025.
In the first game of the season, Enterprise held a 27-0 halftime lead over Corning before allowing the Cardinals to storm back and win the game 42-40. By midseason, the Hornets had lost two of their most experienced skill players and a few key linemen to injury.
The Hornets finished 3-8, and one of those wins was retroactively awarded after an opposing team was penalized for playing an ineligible athlete.
“No one is going to feel sorry for you in this game,” Enterprise coach Chris Combs said. “Football is a lot of preparation, a lot of skill, a lot of desire. That’s a huge part of it, but you still got to get kind of lucky. We had some injuries at some untimely times in the season that may have hurt us with win/loss, but you look at the other side of it and go, ‘OK well, this kid got more opportunities. Now that kid is starting for us this year.’”
The Hornets had more talent on their roster than their 3-8 record suggests, but the youth of that talent was a significant factor in what held the Hornets back. They made mistakes that experienced teams don’t, with the loss to Corning being the biggest example.
“All these kids, when they first step on a varsity football field, they have to acclimate to it,” Combs said. “To their credit, they did a very good job of that, but coming into this year, I think things are slowing down for them.”
With much of that talent back and valuable experience gained, Combs and the Hornets are confident that this year’s squad will change the tone and have more success in 2026.
“Outside of maybe one guy, we pretty much have all of our starting skill guys back,” Combs said. “Even the guys that didn’t start last year, they got a lot of game reps … they know what we want to accomplish as a team, so now it’s just about refining it.”
Junior running back Koby Johnson headlines the list of returning Hornets in 2026. Johnson emerged as one of the top players in the section after rushing for over 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore.
“I’m trying to improve my speed, be a more elusive running back instead of trying to run through everybody,” Johnson said. “Last year we were a young team, I was a young running back still learning the high school game, and now I’m here. I’m a junior. I’m an upperclassman now, so it’s my time to shine.”
Heading into the new season, Johnson believes this Enterprise offense has only gotten stronger.
“Our whole offense is well-rounded,” Johnson said. “We got good receivers, we got a good running back duo in me and Rylee (Johnson), the best returning quarterback in the league and the best returning running back.”
Senior Izaiah Mikell is one of few expected starting quarterbacks with varsity experience. Last season, Mikell finished third in the Eastern Athletic League for passing yards and placed in the top 10 for rushing. Mikell’s No. 1 target from a year ago, Trason Fuller, is also set to return for his senior season.
“They’re all hard-working kids, they’re all competitors, and they’re very athletic and skilled on top of that,” Combs said of Johnson, Mikell and Fuller. “Just them having an extra year in the system and all of them are playing their second or third year of varsity level football is huge.”
Mikell has already noticed a difference in this year’s team, and it starts with how they approach practice.
“Our energy has been way better than it was last year,” Mikell said. “Last year, we kind of just goofed around because it was mostly juniors, but now that we’re seniors, we’re locked in.”
Johnson, Mikell and Fuller lead Enterprise as some of its most experienced players, but the Hornets also brought up a new class of sophomores and juniors from last year’s junior varsity team.
Combs cited some younger players who he expects to have an impact, including linemen Brennan Villarruel, Francisco Estrada-Rios and Isaac Saint-Louis. Cane Cervantes, an all-EAL selection a year ago, will also be back to solidify the line.
“I’m excited to see what these guys do,” Combs said. “They’ve worked hard enough to have some success, but that’s not a given just because you worked hard. You still got to go achieve things.”
The Hornets play in the unforgiving EAL, and they know that no game is an easy one. The first five games of the season will be crucial in determining whether or not the Hornets will be competitive in the race for a league title.
“We’re not going to let up the leads that we had,” Mikell said. “We’re going to stay locked in and actually perform and blow them out, not just let them come back.”
The Hornets have their first test on Aug. 28 when they open the season against Corning. Another big goal for this squad, as it is every year, is to defeat Shasta in Redding’s iconic River Bowl rivalry. The two schools will face off on Oct. 23, and Enterprise is looking to notch its third consecutive win over the Wolves.
They plan on taking it game by game, but the Hornets have their goals. Last year, they wrapped up the season by early November. This year, Johnson wants to play in December.
“I think we can win a section championship this year and if we don’t…,” Johnson said. “As a matter of fact, there is no if we don’t. We’re going to do it this year.”
Brett Abrams is a sports reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. He covers high school and local sports in the Redding area. Reach out to Brett with any sports tips or news on X (formerly Twitter) @brabrams_ or by email at Brett.Abrams@Redding.com. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Enterprise football looks to bounce back from frustrating 2025 season
Reporting by Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
