Raton NM: As a sophomore, Gabe Olivas got his first taste of high school football.

It ended up being the first step on a path to a full-ride scholarship to New Mexico Highlands University.

The Raton High School senior has signed a letter of intent to play football for Highlands.

"I just love playing football - I couldn't turn it down," Olivas said.

Olivas moved to Raton from Oklahoma as a sophomore, and when he came out for the football team, head coach Brock Walton and the coaching staff immediately noticed the player's athleticism.

"He wasn't playing football at his previous school," Walton said. "It didn't take long to notice his athleticism. He just needed time to be coached on the fundamentals and nuances of the game."

Walton added, "We thought he'd be pretty good, but at the time, we never knew he'd turn into the player he became."

Olivas credits the Tiger coaching staff for helping him turn into the player he became.

"They taught me a lot of things I didn't know (about football)," he said. "They put me into this position. This staff is the best coaching staff I can imagine."

Olivas first turned some heads when, as a sophomore, he returned a kickoff for 85 yards for a touchdown against Española in a Sept. 30, 2005, game - the Tigers' homecoming game that year.

His special teams' contributions became important in the years to come. Walton cited one contribution in particular this past season, a kickoff Olivas returned 78 yards for a touchdown against Portales in a Sept. 25, 2007, game.

That kickoff return came with Raton trailing 13-0, and Walton said it not only sparked the Tigers in that game, but in the games after that.

"It really sparked our season - not just that game but our season," he said. "We went on a (six-game) winning streak after that, and I think that (return) played a big part in it."

Olivas said he will play either strong safety or wide receiver for Highlands. Walton noted Olivas' versatility as a player - which in part led to his selection as the District 2AAA overall most valuable player this past season - is a reason why Highlands coach Chad Roanhaus is still deciding what position Olivas will play.

"I talked to coach Roanhaus, and he told me they're not sure what to do with him, because he is so effective on offense, defense and special teams," Walton said.

On offense, Walton noted Olivas, a wide receiver, could do "many things when he had the ball in his hands," given his speed and quickness. Defensively, Olivas played outside linebacker, was second on the team in tackles with 93.5 and intercepted several passes. And on special teams, in addition to being a threat to return kickoffs and punts for touchdowns, Olivas was instrumental in blocking punts and extra-point kick attempts.

"At Highlands, he will get the chance to focus on a specific skill, and it will give him the chance to be that much more special," he said.

Roanhaus coached at Las Vegas Robertson, a District 2AAA rival of the Tigers, for the past four years before he took the Highlands job earlier this year, so Walton noted Roanhaus was "very familiar" with Olivas' talents. When Walton went to Highlands earlier this year to give Roanhaus some film highlights, "Chad told me, 'Believe me, we have all the films of him broken down as much as possible.'"

"Chad Roanhaus is a great guy," Olivas said. "He made my decision to choose (Highlands) easy."

Walton added Roanhaus told him that Olivas was "the only kid in (Class) AAA that he was recruiting."

This past season, the Tigers won their first district football title since 1999 and advanced to the semifinals of the Class AAA state playoffs.

"A lot of younger players stepped up," Olivas said. "I think we had a pretty good run, but I wish we could have gone further."

But the Tiger senior added he was happy that the team improved so much after struggling the year before.

"It was a big improvement going from 3-7 to 9-3," he said.

Olivas said he looks forward to the challenge of playing college ball, noting he will get a chance to "see how competitive I can be, where everybody plays at the same (high) level."

Walton said Olivas' opportunity is "fantastic not only for Gabe, but for our program as a whole. Gabe has done a lot of sacrificing to get where he is. He did an extremely good job of leading the team (and) he is probably the most talented played I've seen he