School Spotlight: Pebble Hills High School (El Paso, Texas)

Pebble Hills High School-located in El Paso, Texas-competes in the 6A Classification of Texas high school football. They are ranked as the #80 team in the state, the #44 team in all of 6A and the #1 team in the city of El Paso. The Spartans, whose colors are teal and Texas orange, had a great year going 10-2 and winning their district. They played Odessa Permian in the first round of the playoffs before losing to a tough North Crawley team. Talking to Coach Mark Torres, I discussed with him about many things revolving around the Pebble Hills program.

Pebble Hills is a high school that does not have a whole lot of history. Opening up in the fall of 2015, the Spartans only played a sub-varsity schedule as they were getting accumulated to everything. The school started to get better and better each year and last year was able to get into the playoffs and win a game. The pillars of this team rest with the school motto RISE. RISE stands for Relentless, Integrity, Strength, and Excellence. Coach Torres said if that these kids show RISE everyday, then they are able to get better in every aspect of life.

The offensive and defensive schemes of the Spartans have helped them win their district last year. On offense, they run a base 1 back spread that they like to play to their strengths. On defense, they run an even front type of defense that they adjust from year to year. They really don’t change a whole lot every year, they just like to adjust their team so that they can play to the players’ strengths. This helps them for the future, as they have 11 returning starters back. Most of the starters have been playing since their sophomore year, so experience is a strength for this team.

Before letting Coach Torres go, he highlighted two players on this team who have made an impact on this program.

Gael Ochoa is a 6’1″ 175 lbs quarterback who has an offer from UTEP. He runs a 4.6 40 yard dash, and threw for 24 touchdowns last season.

Marcus Torres is a 5’9″ 160 lbs slot receiver and punt return for the Spartans. Coach Torres described his son as very dependable and trustworthy for the Spartans.