Sons of Montezuma™️ is an independent SDSU Aztecs community site and is not representative or endorsed by San Diego State University. © 2026 Sons of Montezuma
The Sons of Monty Team
Matteo Ortiz
Founder/Editor-in-Chief/Executive Producer
The SDSU campus for some of my childhood was like my backyard. My father Gabriel worked as a long time SDSU associate athletic director of business affairs throughout the 70’s & 80’s. With that influence I’ve directed my professional art & design background spanning over 20 years towards creating a brand just for long time Aztecs fans. The 1986 Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl of 2016, and the Final Four in Houston are some of my life long SDSU memories.
K5 James Cruz
Sons of Montezuma Podcast Co-Host
K5 James is the founder of the Original Sons of Montezuma Podcast. Always the football junkie, James is a former SDSU student from the end of the Ted Tollner era. Opting to turn PRO and pursue a career in law enforcement, K5 currently serves protecting our waters in San Diego, California. He’s a lifelong SDSU Aztecs fan and a self-proclaimed big Ronnie Hillman guy.
SD Sports Fiend
Sons of Montezuma KTR Podcast Co-Host and contributing writer
You Can’t Stop Him, You Can Only Hope To Contain Him! Originally from the Chicagoland area, Fiend received a masters degree from San Diego State and works with individuals with disabilities. Among his favorite SDSU moments are the 2018 Mountain West basketball tournament, the 2020 basketball season and all of the football victories over the Pac-12.
Mike Tourtellott
Sons of Montezuma KTR Podcast Co-Host
Mike was born & raised in San Diego, California where he and his family supported SDSU athletics since the Tammy Blackburn era at Peterson Gym. He is an SDSU graduate class of 2001, with some of his greatest memories include assisting coach Jim Dietz in the baseball program, helping Steve Bartell in the equipment room, watching Marshall Faulk run up & down the Murph and witnessing every home game during the Men’s basketball program’s rise to national prominence. Currently he is a wholesale insurance broker who recently relocated to Reno, Nevada with his wife and daughter. But he still finds time to travel back to campus for a handful of men’s basketball games.
Andrew Serrano
Contributing Writer/Editor
Andrew is a graduate of San Diego State University’s Fowler College of Business, where he earned his degree in marketing. While in college, he was a KPBS newsroom assistant and NPR “Think. Public. Media.” marketing intern. Andrew is currently a communications specialist for the n-Lorem Foundation. Growing up in Northern California, his favorite SDSU sports memory was Malachi Flynn’s game winning buzzer-beater shot vs San Jose State in 2019.
Mike Minjares
Contributing Writer
Mike graduated from SDSU in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and in 1995 with a master’s degree in Communication. He worked at SDSU for 17 years after graduation coordinating new student orientation and the SDSU Ambassadors for most of that time.
Currently, he works as Director of Grants Management at the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. He’s an avid designer toy collector and you’ll likely catch him at toy and comic book conventions when not at Aztec athletic events. Together with Marietta, his wife of 30 years and a fellow two-time Aztec alum, they have two children — Mariana, a 2021 SDSU graduate, and Andrew, a junior at Cal State University, San Marcos.
Ken Ables
Contributing Writer
Ken is a second generation Aztec and San Diegan. 2022 will be his 61st season of Aztec football, dating back to the silver helmet and pants days! This will be the Ables family’s 77th season of Aztec football, and a member of the family has been at every home game since 1946. Ken was at the first game at San Diego Stadium in 1967 (16-8 W over Tennessee State) and will be there to open Snapdragon Stadium. He was at all but six games at the old stadium and saw 221 of the 222 Aztecs victories there. He is so glad to be going to Aztec games in San Diego again.
Sean Nelson
SoM – Spitballers Podcast Co-Host
Jonathan Stafford
SoM – Spitballers Podcast Co-Host
Andrew Madarang
Executive Producer
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