2012 HSSM Football Preview

Stadium RenovationsMammoth ScoreboardsArtificial Field Turf

$chools $pending Big Buck$ for Football Friday Night$!

August 27, 2012

2012 RIO GRANDE VALLEY2012 RIO GRANDE VALLEY

Dion PadillaDonna QB

Clay JonesWeslaco QB

Isaiah GarzaWeslaco QB

Estefan CastilloSharyland QB

Jacques GuillotPort Isabel LB

Charles AtkinsonBrownsville Hanna TEIsaiah Galvan

Edinburg H.S. DLNathan Prado

Harlingen H.S. LBPablo AdameMcAllen Memorial DE

FOOTBALLFOOTBALLPREVIEWPREVIEW

See Page 64www.HighSchoolSportsMagazine.net

Scouting Reports Polls PredictionsScouting Reports Polls Predictions

32-5A 31-5A 30-5A 32-4A 32-3A 31-3A 16-2A DI 16-1A DI

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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE 3

AUGUST 27, 2012

“ We are always playing for a state champion-ship. Last year we came close. This year’s team could be much better...I credit my coaching staff and players for our success.”

-Manny Gomez, head football coach Harlingen Cardinals

2011 State 5A Division I Quarterfinalist

Here Come the Mustangs! Can the McAllen Memo-rial Mustangs make it three-straight Class 5A Divi-sion II Regional finals in 2012? (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

RGV Football Preview 2012

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OntheCover HSSM Football Photoday on June 8th at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco

brought together Pablo Adame, Nathan Prado, Isaiah Galvan, Charles Atkinson, Jacques Guillot, Estefan Castillo, Isaiah Garza, Clay Jones, and DionPadilla all ready for the 2012 football season. (HSSM IMages/Alec Amador)

2210 35District 30-5A

District 31-5A

District 32-5A

The start of a new era,Vela H.S.

Sabercats.

PSJA North Ready for

New Foes in Realignment.

Can the Pace

Vikings win it all?

4732-4A District by District Preview



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TEAMBY

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4 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE

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High School Sports Magazine Presents


Season Begins! Brownsville Hanna TE Charles Atkinson will keep his eyes on Harlingen LB Nathan Prado in District 32-5A and Edinburg DL Isaiah Galvan will lead his team in District 31-5A while McAllen Memorial DL Pablo Adame will be looking for another district title in 31-5A. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

(Harlingen, Texas)-Since High School Sports Magazine made its debut in 1997, the Rio Grande Valley has continued to experience what Friday Night Lights is all about and the excitement it brings to start the school year. The football season begins with workouts in the blistering tem-peratures of August with practices held either in the early morn-ings or late afternoons. “It’s hot out here but we keep our play-ers hydrated with plenty of fluids,” says Harlingen Cardinal head football coach Manny Gomez. While daily temperatures soar to the 100-degree mark, players still understand that come football Friday night, the hard practices will be worth it. In 2011, three teams from South Texas advanced three rounds in the state football playoffs, with Harlingen taking it one step further by advancing to the State 5A Division I Quarterfinals to play San Antonio Madison. Weslaco East went three rounds too in back-to-back seasons in Class 4A Division I, playing the same team again, Cedar Park. The Wildcats lost 42-0. The Rio Grande Valley also witnessed a State 5A Division II Regional playoff game with District 30-5A champions, McAllen Memorial Mus-tangs playing host to the San Antonio Reagan Rattlers at McAllen Memorial Veterans Stadium before an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans. For the Mustangs, this would be their second straight season

6 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE GET FOOTBALL ACTION PHOTOS AT WWW.HIGHSCHOOLSPORTSMAGAZINE..NET

///TEAMBYTEAM///

Ready for 2012! Nathan Prado of the Harlingen Car-dinals will lead his team in District 32-5A. The Cardi-nals advanced to the State 5A Division I Quarterfinals in 2011 against San Antonio Madison. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

in the regional finals. In 2012, football fans from this football hungry-crazed area will welcome the Monte Alto Blue Devils playing foot-ball for the first time in school history in Class 1A Division I-16-1A, while Santa Maria brings back its football pro-gram after budget cuts shut down their program in 2011. The Cougars will also play in District 16-1A along with Ben Bolt and La Villa. In Class 5A, Robert Vela High School will make its de-but as the fourth high school from Edinburg C.I.S.D. Their mascot will be the Sabercats featuring blue, black, and sil-ver school colors. The new high school is named after the famed Edinburg Bobcat head football coach, Robert Vela, who lost his battle with cancer a few years ago. Expect more excitement as HSSM welcomes its fans to its 16th Football Preview Edition with Team By Team Previews.

Go to www.highschoolsports-magazine.net for scores and everyday sports!

rankHOW THEY

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE 7GET FOOTBALL ACTION PHOTOS AT WWW.HIGHSCHOOLSPORTSMAGAZINE..NET

MichaelHINOJOSA

McAllen Memorial Mustangs 6’4 WR

Advanced to 5A Div I Quarterfinals in 2011

Won 30-5A title; Class 5A Reg Finals 2011

Won 32-5A Co-title; Class 5A Area Finals

Advanced to 5A Division I Bi-District Finals

Advanced to 5A Division I Bi-District Finals

Advanced to 5A Division I Area 2011 Finals

Return 6 starters on offense & 4 defense

2011 4A Div II Area Finalists

Finished 6-2 in District 32-4A; Bi-District

Advanced to Class 4A Division II Bi-District

Advanced to State 5A Division I playoffs

Class 3A Bi-District; 6/8 starters back


District 30-5A1. Sharyland (3,040)2. Donna (3,175)3. Economedes (2,568)4. Edinburg H.S. 2,455 5. La Joya H.S. (2,488)6. Edinburg North H.S. (2,698)7. Edinburg Vela HS (2,2578. LJ Palmview H.S. (2,302)9. LJ Juarez-Lincoln (2,134)District 31-5A1. McAllen Memorial (2,354)2. Weslaco H.S. (2,544)3. San Benito (2,904)4. PSJA North (2,423) 5. Nikki Rowe (2,251)6. PSJA Memorial (2, 278)7. Weslaco East H.S. (2,140)8. PSJA (2,398)9. McAllen (2,274)

District 32-5A1. Harlingen (2,826)2. Harlingen South (2,193)3. Los Fresnos (2,825)4. Brownsville Hanna (3,041) 5. Brownsville Rivera (2,268)6. Brownsville Lopez (2,328)7. Brownsville Pace (2,202)8. Brownsville Porter (2,219)9. Brownsville Veterans (2,495)District 32-4A1. Edcouch-Elsa (1,357)2. Mercedes (1,487)3. Rio Grande City (2,003)4. Mission H.S. (2,084) 5. Mission Veterans (1,902)6. Roma H.S. (1,815)7. PSJA Southwest (1,722)8. Valley View H.S. (1,302)

(Denotes Student Enrollment)

District 32-3A 1. Port Isabel (617)2. Rio Hondo (622)3. Hidalgo (984)4. La Feria (958) 5. Progreso (482)

District 16-2A Division I1. San Diego (383)2. Santa Rosa (339)3. Odem (311) 4. Bishop (369)5. Mathis (446)6. Aransas Pass (446)7. Falfurrias (402)District 31-3A1. Ben Bolt (199)2. La Villa (159)3. Santa Maria (151)4. Monte Alto (191)

SeanMONTEMAYORHarlingen South QB//How they’ll finish

District 31-3A1. Grulla HS (968)2. Kingsville King (981)3. Raymondville (609)4. Zapata (911) 5. Lyford (461)

10 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE May-June 2012

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30-5A1. Sharyland 2. Donna 3. Economedes

4. Edinburg 5. La Joya6. Edinburg North 7. Robert Vela H.S. 8. LJ Palmview 9. LJ Juarez-Lincoln20

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PREV

IEW REPORTSPREDICTIONSREALIGNMENTS


THEPREDICTIONS BY TDDAVE

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Dion Padilla, Donna H.S. 6’0, 190LBS

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: DL Isaiah Galvan, Edinburg H.S. 6’2, 250LBS

(La Joya, Texas)- The shuffling has begun with plenty of surprises in the newly realigned District 30-5A. All four Edinburg CISD football teams have joined District 30-5A, moving in from District 31-5A. Along with the pack, the Edinburg Robert Vela H.S. Sabercats will make its debut as the new high school in State 5A. Sabercats new head football coach, Michael Salinas is excited to become the first to coach at Vela High School. “I am very pleased and honored to coach at Vela H.S. He was my coach in high school at Edinburg H.S.,”says Salinas. “I am very excited to get this opportunity. This will be my first head coaching duty.” The Sabercats open their season against PSJA at home on August 31st at Cats Stadium in Edinburg. The shuffling continued with coaching changes and district realign-ments, nerves could become a factor for the new head football coaches without head coaching experience. Sharyland hired longtime assistant Ron Adame, while La Joya H.S. brought in George Espinoza, and To-mas Garcia will make his debut for the La Joya Juarez-Lincoln Huskies. They will join veteran head football coaches Manny Moreno (Donna), Gabe Pena (Economedes), Joey Caceres (Edinburg), and Manuel Flores

of La Joya Palmview and experience could play a role with which team wins or loses on Friday nights. Moreno believes that this district will be competitive and many teams could surprise. “It will be a district that could beat any team on any given night. I’m just excited to get back on the field,” adds Moreno. In 2011, three teams made the playoffs from this district. Sharyland, Donna, and Edinburg all made Class 5A first round appearances and lost. Teams to watch in 2012 will be the Economedes Jaguars who return nine starters on both sides after going 0-10 for the year. Head coach Gabe Pena says, “this is our year and we will be in the thick of the playoff race.” The La Joya Coyotes could be another team that could emerge after going 2-8 last year. But the one question will remain: Can the Sharyland Rattlers win the outright district title after losing the title to McAllen Memorial in 2012? The Rattlers won the titles in 2009 and 2010. Both Donna and Sharyland will meet on October 19th in Shary-land and this game could decide the outright district champion. The Rattlers defeated the Redskins on a last second, heart breaking, 49-yard field goal in 2011. “That was tough to swallow,” says Moreno.

BY DAVID “TDDAVE” AMADOR HSSM SPORTS DIRECTOR

coyotes

Christopher CedilloLa Joya

Ives SantistebanLa Joya

Juan RuizLa Joya

Julio DuenasLa Joya

Juan OlivarezLa Joya

Juan E. RodriguezLa Joya

Jorge AlvaradoLa Joya

Jesus RamirezLa Joya

Julio Garcia JRLa Joya

Jose GarzaLa Joya

30-5AHIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE 11

//////////////////////////////////////////////La Joya Coyotes

District 30-5A

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August31 Bro LopezSeptember7 Bro Porter13 Ed Vela*21 Sharyland*October5 Economedes*12 Juarez-Lin*19 Edinburg*26 Donna*November2 LJ Palmview*8 Edinburg No*

HSSM GAMEDAYSCHEDULES

Head coachGeorge Espinoza

2011 Overall RecordSeason 2-8 District 1-6

1st Year

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coyotesla joyaDistrict 30-5A

DE Julio Duenas, 6’1 235lbs Jr.WR Jose Garza, 6’2 170lbs Sr.RB Jorge Alvarado, 5’10 175lbs Sr.

DidYOUknow?The La Joya Coyotes last playedConverse Judson in the State 5A Regional finals in 2006 at La Joya ISD Stadium before a sellout crowd of 14,000.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 18/12Starters Returning O/D: 4/4Enrollment: 2,488State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2004, 2005, & 2006. State 5A Division I Quarterfinal appearance in 2006 against Converse Judson.

(La Joya, Tx)- El corrido de “Que Salgan los Coyotes” can still be heard on football Friday nights in this western town despite the split into three high schools which took place a few years ago. Still, the La Joya Coyotes football players crash through the banners with less fans in the stands that once filled this 14,000 seating capacity stadium. The split of La Joya High School, which at one time had more than 5,500 students is now down to 2,488 and because of this, the Coyotes football pro-grams has diminished. As a mat-ter of fact, the Coyotes have not made the playoffs since 2007. These will be the challenges that La Joya first-year head coach George Espinoza knows he will be dealt with and he also has some major work ahead of him but plans on using a history of winning tradition to change the Coyotes’ mindset. “We’ve been on a downward

slide for a few years now,” Es-pinoza said. “When you’re win-ning, the numbers are up and kids are staying in the program. Like everything else, winning becomes a habit and when you’re losing it’s easy to get complacent – this program has had a winning tradi-tion and we need to get back to that.” The Coyotes have won only five games over the past four sea-sons. Espinoza hopes the return of three receivers and the anchor on the offensive line will lead to some more points as the Coyotes move to a variation of the spread offense. Leading the wideouts will be Jose Garza (6-2, 180). While not a lanky receiver, he runs a 4.65 in the 40 and will play an inte-gral part of the offense as will unanimous all-district center Juan Olivarez. The Coyotes will run the spread offense with offensive coordinator Roberto Valdez tak-ing over after successful season

as head coach at Brownsville Porter and La Feria. “The players are into it,” Espinoza said. “The mindset is chang-ing. The numbers were up this spring. We have nowhere else to go but up.” The Coyotes will open with Brownsville Lopez on August 31st at Sams Stadium.

lobos

Marc GonzalezLa Joya Palmview

Raul GuerraLa Joya Palmview

Samuel BacilioLa Joya Palmview

Tony FernandezLa Joya Palmview

Luis ZunigaLa Joya Palmview


//////////////////////////////////////////////La Joya Palmview Lobos

District 30-5A

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lobospalmviewDistrict 30-5A

August31 MissionSeptember6 MissionVets14 Juarez-Lin*21 Edinburg*28 Donna*October11 Ed North*19 Ed Vela*26 Sharyland*November2 La Joya*9 Economedes*


Head coachManuel Flores

4th Season


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QB Sammy Bacilio 5’10, 190lbs Sr.WR Brandon Guerra, 5’11, 170lbs SrDL Luis Zuniga, 6’1 210lbs Sr.

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Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 11/34Starters Returning O/D: 3/4Enrollment: 2,302State playoffs appearances since 2000: None

(La Joya, Tx)-Will the nixed-playoff frustrations continue for La Joya Palmview head football coach Manny Flores, who enters his fifth year with the Lobos? He has watched his last two years fizzle, just when the smell of a playoff berth seemed des-tined. But, overall, he can see the results of the five-year program, in the running for a playoff spot last year after a 4-6 overall record and 2-5 in the district. With a solid senior group and seven starting returners from last year, Flores and the Lobos are hoping to contend and become the first La Joya school to make the playoffs since the school was di-vided into three Class 5A schools. The key, according to Flores, will be finding consistency. “Seems that we’ve been hit or miss,” Flores said. “ Two years ago we were real good on offense and struggled on defense. Last year it was the opposite. We need to be

more consistent on both sides of the ball.” Sammy Bacilio will move to the quarterback slot from last year’s running back position. On de-fense the Lobos will be relying heaving on defensive tackle Luis Zuniga. The Lobos will run a spread of-fense and stay in their Multiple 50 on defense. “One of the things we’ve been working on since the split is de-veloping numbers,” Flores said. “You need depth in a 10 or 10-plus game season. It’s time con-suming building a program from scratch. We’re getting there.” Like most coaches in the dis-trict, Flores said Sharyland, Donna and Edinburg should be the elite teams. From there down it’s gonna be a battle. Right now Flores is just looking for some consistency on both sides of the ball. Players to watch will be Felipe

Valencia anchoring the offensive line along with Argenis Casillas. Others watch are DL Adrian Per-ez, DB Raul Guerra, WR Bran-don Guerra, DB Robert Esqueda, and DB Raul Guerra. The Lobos kickoff their season against Mission on August 31st and play La Joya Palmview in their district opener on Septem-ber 14th and will host Edinburg the following week.

0907508TX.1 State Farm Lloyds, Dallas, TX14 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE

huskies

Eliud De La CruzLJ Juarez Lincoln

Brandon RamirezLJ Juarez Lincoln

Michael RodriguezLJ Juarez Lincoln

Kevin RuizLJ Juarez Lincoln

Ramiro GarzaLJ Juarez Lincoln

Jose VargasLJ Juarez Lincoln

Pedro ReyesLJ Juarez Lincoln

Martin DiazLJ Juarez Lincoln

Abraham MunizLJ Juarez Lincoln

Francisco ContrerasLJ Juarez Lincoln

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August31 PSJA MemSeptember6 Rio Hondo14 LJ Palmview*20 Edinburg No*28 Ed Vela*October5 Sharyland*12 La Joya*18 Economedes*November1 Edinburg*9 Donna*


Head coachTomas Garcia


1st Year

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juarez-lincolnDistrict 30-5A

LB Ivan Garcia, 6’0 185lbs Jr.QB Ramiro Garza, 6’0 175lbs Jr.RB Victor Bocanegra, 5’7 165lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:


(La Joya, Tx)-La Joya Juarez-Lincoln moved up to 5A for the first time in school history and will compete in 30-5A. It will be a challenge for a team that went 2-8 in Class 4A. First-year head coach Tommy Garcia has got skills – well, his players do. And he’s hoping that his skill-po-sition players can help guide the Husky nation to their first playoff run since La Joya High School divided into three separate schools.“We have speed at the skill positions,” said Garcia,

who spent two years as Juarez-Lincoln’s defensive coordinator before the offseason promotion. “We’ve never mentioned speed with Juarez-Lincoln. We tell the team it’s an exciting time to be part of this program.” From mottos that say “The time is Now” to T-shirts that read “If You Don’t Believe – You Don’t Belong,” there’s some excitement brewing in the Husky camp. Top if off with a seven-on-seven vic-tory over Sharyland, perennial district championship contenders, and the formula could be right for a sneak peek into the postseason.“Our numbers aren’t great,” said Garcia, who also spent two years at La Joya Palmview with prior tenures at San Benito – and nine years at Edinburg North. “But we have quality players. If we can surprise some people early on, you never know what’s going to happen.” Last year the Huskies lost five players to injuries in just the sec-

ond game of the year against Ray-mondville – including three to season-ending injuries. Among the casualties was soph-omore quarterback Ramiro Gar-za. Garza returned to finish out the season and is projected to lead the “speedy” offense this season.Also returning is senior QB Mi-chael Rodriguez. He took the reins when Garza went down but will once again start the season in a more comfortable place for him – at wide receiver. Rounding out the offensive skill leaders will be senior running back Pedro Reyes, who carried one of the fastest 100-meter times in the district last season. “Our skills players will definitely be our strong point on the offensive side,” Garcia said. On defense, seniors Kevin Ruiz and Joe Vargas, and standout ju-nior Ivan Garcia will anchor the linebackers. In the backfield, free safety Israel Garza – a three-year starter – and cornerback Ray Ro-driguez will get the starts.

huskies

0907508TX.1 State Farm Lloyds, Dallas, TX

huskies huskies

jaguarsSeptember1 Porter7 McAllen Mem14 Ed North*21 Ed Vela*27 Sharyland*October5 La Joya*18 Juarez-Lin*26 Edinburg*November2 Donna*9 Palmview*


Head coachGabe Pena


2nd Year

Hugo JimenezEdinburg Economedes

Luis PrietoEdinburg Economedes

Genaro AcevedoEdinburg Economedes

John Jacob CastroEdinburg Economedes

Tomas SalazachEdinburg Economedes

Roger ReynaEdinburg Economedes

Andy DuarteEdinburg Economedes

Hugo Reyes-PazEdinburg Economedes

Ricky RodriguezEdinburg Economedes

Aliver GarzaEdinburg Economedes

17HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINEMay-June 201216 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE GET FOOTBALL ACTION PHOTOS AT WWW.HIGHSCHOOLSPORTSMAGAZINE..NET

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jaguarseconomedesEdinburg

QB Hugo Reyes-Paz, 6’3 205lbs Jr.OL Luis Prieto, 6’2 247lbs Sr.OL Genaro Acevedo, 6’1 280lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 24/13Starters Returning O/D: 9/9Enrollment: 2,568State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2003

DidYOUknow?The Edinburg Economedes H.S. Jag-uars got their high school name from longtime Edinburg Fire Chief, Johnny Economedes.

(Edinburg, Tx)-There’s a lot of buzz going on in Edinburg right now. Of course, there’s the talk of realignment and the district changes. There’s plenty of buzz about the fourth school in Ed-inburg - the just opened Robert Vela High School, named after long-time head coach Robert Vela. But, there’s more buzz - it’s coming from the east side of Edinburg. Can you hear it? Yup, it’s coming from Economedes High School. There’s even talk of competing for a playoff spot. It would be the second postsea-son appearance for Economedes in the past 10 years. The Jaguars have amassed just two .500 sea-sons since that playoff spot - those coming with 5-5 records in both the 2006 and 20007 sea-sons. The Jaguars, led by second-year coach Gabe Pena, are com-ing off an 0-10 record. That’s the bad news. But there’s good news, like…

…. there are 18 returning starters on the roster…. the offensive line is 100 percent intact from a year ago…. Hugo Reyes-Paz returns as the signal caller. Yes, expec-tations are high this year for the Jaguars. Anchoring the line are a trio of seniors in Genaro Acevedo (6-1, 280), Luis Prieto (6-2, 247) and Hugo Jimenez (5-8, 210). They will be protecting and opening holes for Reyes-Paz, a junior who returns with lightning speed and will be called on to cause some havoc. Reyes-Paz has been clocked with a 4.4 40-yard dash and considered one of the fastest quarterbacks in the Valley. In the back field, running backs include Tony Yzaguirre and James Villarreal and Ronnie Benavidez.Senior Andy Duarte (6-2, 182) will oversee the defense from the linebacker position. Last year the Jags gave up 453 points on defense and could be much improved. This year will be different. Key defensive play-

ers inlace Oscar Garcia (5-9, 157, CB), junior Aliver Garza (5-11, 180, LB) and Roger Reyna (5-10, 180, LB). The Jaguars open their season Sept. 1 at Brownsville Porter. They open District 30-5A on Sept. 14 at home against one of three city rivals Edinburg North and go on the road the following week for a Sept. 21 matchup against their newest rivals, the Vela H.S.

cougars

Steve GarzaEdinburg North

Nick PuenteEdinburg North

Josh DennettEdinburg North

Adrian MoralesEdinburg North

Diego SandovalEdinburg North

Guadalupe QuinteroEdinburg North

Jerry De La GarzaEdinburg North

Eddie SanchezEdinburg North


//////////////////////////////////////////////Edinburg North Cougars

District 30-5A

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August30 RGrande CitySeptember7 Bro Rivera14 Economedes*20 Juarez-Lin*28 Edinburg*October4 Donna*11 LJ Palmview*25 Ed Vela*November5 Sharyland*8 La Joya*


Head coachRoy Garza9th Season


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cougarsnorthEdinburg

DL Josh Dennet, 6’0 235lbs Sr.FS Vicent Ortiz, 5’10 175lbs Sr.DE David Anzaldua, 6’4 265lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 14/17Starters Returning O/D: 4/9Enrollment: 2,698State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009. Advanced to Class 5A Div II Regional finals in 2009 against SA Brandeis and lost 51-14.

(Edinburg, Tx)-Edinburg North head coach Roy Garza knows you work with the hand that’s been dealt to you.Even if that hand is a little smaller than those in past deals. With the addition of the new Edinburg Robert Vela H.S. to the school district, Garza – like other Edinburg coach-es – has to deal with smaller numbers. Where he would dress 55 players on any given football Friday night, now the Cougars will have 43 ready to go. The addition of Ed-inburg Vela brought about an immediate and long-term impact to the Cougars. They lost about 20 incoming fresh-men to the new school, a few seniors – most notably three starting offensive linemen. Still, the Cougars have nine de-fensive starters returning. “We were pretty young last year,” said Garza, in his ninth year as Cougars’ head coach. “We have a lot of expe-rience back. We’ve also made some changes because of the split and had some kids going both ways.” The Cougars are coming off a 3-7 record, missing the playoffs for a couple seasons. And, despite the split and loss of some players, the Cougars are in position to make a postseason return with the experience that comes back on the defensive end. That defensive side will be expecting great things safety Vincent Ortiz and tackle David Anzaldua. Ortiz has been on the varsity squad since his freshman year.“He moved up as a freshman and he played a lot in the playoffs.” Garza said. “He’s a great kid with a great work ethic. He went to several big camps this year. He will defi-nitely play at the next level.” Anzaldua is a 6-foot-4 returning junior and multi-sport

phenom (basketball, baseball, track). Gar-za plans on using both defensive stars on the other side of the ball in certain situa-tions. The Cougars will run out of s stack for the most part but will sometimes move to an even front, bringing in the extra linebacker to try and stuff the run-heavy opponents. In any case, the opposing offenses will be trying to run away from nose tackle Josh Dennett, a second year full-time starter.“We’ve gone from platooning kids to play-ing some on both side of the ball,” Garza said. “We’re looking for some of our other kids to step up. It definitely helps create competition within the team.”QB Josh Vela will call signals for the Cou-gars, with Ortiz also getting some calls.

Cats Stadium is home to four Edinburg CISD high schools. (HSSMIMages/Alec Amador)

sabercatsAugust31 PSJASeptember8 PSJA SW*13 La Joya*21 Economedes*28 Juarez-Lin*October5 Edinburg*12 Donna*19 Palmview*25 Ed North*November9 Sharyland*


Head coachMike Salinas


1st Year

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17HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINEMay-June 201218 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE GET FOOTBALL ACTION PHOTOS AT WWW.HIGHSCHOOLSPORTSMAGAZINE..NET

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DidYOUknow?Edinburg Robert Vela H.S. is named after the famed head football coach who led the Edinburg Bobcats to the State 5A Semifinals in 1999 against Houston Aldine Eisenhower.

TE Michael De Hoyos, 6’0 190lbs Jr.OL Michael Gomez, 6’2 310lbs Sr.DE Elias Thompson, 6’3 200lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:


Ready to Join League! The Edinburg Robert Vela H.S. Sabercats will begin its first football season in District 30-5A. Pictured are head coach Michael Salinas with playersFrank Rodriguez and Mi-chael Gomez. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

(Edinburg, Tx)-It’s sure to be an emotional season in Edinburg - especially at the newly opened Robert Vela High School. Robert Vela - the face of Edinburg High football for a decade - died in August 2007 from stomach cancer. He was 61 years old. Dur-ing his tenure at the helm of Edinburg High football and previously Edcouch-Elsa football, Vela compiled a 137-73 record and brought his team to the postseason 14 times. The school is located at the site of the former Harwell Middle School at 801 Can-

ton Road. Harwell Middle School was moved to 9207 N. Avila Road in Edinburg. Vela High School is the off-spring of three other Edinburg Schools - Edinburg High, Edin-burg North and Economedes. The SaberCats - the nickname chosen by the students - open their in-augural season at home Aug. 31 against PSJA. The SaberCats (the only team named SaberCats in Texas) of-fensive line may be their strong point. They have at least three incoming transfers who started at one of their sister schools. Frank Rodriguez (5-7, 220), Michael Gomez (6-2, 310) and Jonathan

Orta (5-8, 320) are three of eight seniors listed as players to watch by first-year head coach Michael Salinas. Other seniors listed in-clude Armando Ponce (6-0, 199, DE/TE), Joey Arguijo (5-7, 140, WR/CB), Julian Villarreal (6-1, 185, TE), Jairo Trevino (5-8, 180, LB) and Justin Rangel (5-8, 155, WR/CB). Salinas listed sopho-more Tristan Gomez (5-9, 143) at the quarterback slot. Salinas quarterbacked at Edin-burg High in the mid-1990s and went on to play college ball at Texas A&M Kingsville. “This will be an emotional season coaching football at a school named after my coach,” says Salinas.

sabercats bobcats

Mando CeledonEdinburg High

Vince De La CruzEdinburg High

Jesse GarciaEdinburg High

Michael MorenoEdinburg High

Ramon A. EnriquezEdinburg High

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//////////////////////////////////////////////Edinburg Bobcats

District 30-5A

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September1 McAllen Mem7 McAllen13 Donna*21 Palmview*28 Ed North*October5 Vela HS*12 Sharyland*19 La Joya*26 Economedes*November1 Juarez-Lin*


Head coachJoey Caceres

2011 Overall Record6th Season

Season 6-5 District 4-3

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Lost to Laredo United 24-21Class 5A Division I Bi-District


Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 28/31Starters Returning O/D: 3/2Enrollment: 2,455State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011. Advanced to the State 5A Div I Regional Finals agaimst SA Wagner in 2010.

DidYOUknow?Edinburg Robert Vela H.S. is named after the famed head foot-ball coach who led the Edinburg Bobcats to the State 5A Semifi-nals in 1999 against Houston Al-dine Eisenhower.

(Edinburg, Tx)-Edinburg Bob-cats’ head football coach Joey Caceres remembers the end of last season. In some ways it’s like a broken record. “We ran all over them,” Caceres said, reflecting on the first-round playoff loss game against San Benito. “They had two big plays against us and we fumbled twice inside the 5-yard line and that was it. It just wasn’t meant to be.” Still, Edinburg is considered to be among the elite in Class 31-5A, moving from the Mid-Valley’s 30-5A and into a district filled with La Joya and Edinburg teams (oh yeah, and the favorites – Donna and Sharyland).Toss in a pair of games to start the season with McAllen Memo-rial and McAllen High and Cace-res has a pretty rough and tumble schedule ahead of him. “By the third game of the season we will know where we stand and that will help get us going,” said Caceres, beginning his sixth sea-

son with the Bobcats after a 6-5 year in 2011. As far as returning starters, the Bobcats return just three on de-fense and two on offense. They do have 23 lettermen returning, however. The Bobcats have been terror-izing on the defensive side of the field, leading District 31-5A in defense the past two years. Cace-res said the defense will be solid again this year with defensive tackle Isaiah Galvan and line-backer Armando Celedon – who also played fullback – leading.The offense returns halfback Vic-tor Montemayor, who piled on 700 yards despite the Bobcats using multiple backs. By season end, however, Montemayor was the team workhorse. Also returning on offense is quarterback Ramon Enriquez, who got thrust into the starting spot last year midway through the season after Alex Cantu tore his knee and ending his season.

The Bobcats will use a multiple 4-2-5 and multiple 4-3 on defense while being in a multiple pro style (with maybe some spread lineups) on offense. “This will be an exciting season in a new district,” says Caceres.

rattlers

Bradley KleinSharyland

Jose BarbosaSharyland

Marco AvilaSharyland

Cesar ValdezSharyland

Pedro VelazquezSharyland


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Head coachRon Adame1st season


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Lost to Laredo United 60-42Class 5A Division I Bi-District


Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 18/25Starters Returning O/D: 6/5Enrollment: 2,134State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011. Reached State 5A Div I Regional Finals in 2008, losing to SA Clark 49-21.

DidYOUknow?Since 2000, the Shary;and Rat-tlers have the state playoffs in Class 4A and 5A.

(Sharyland, Tx)-The road may lead more often to Ed-inburg and La Joya, with four and three schools, re-spectively, in District 30-5A.But everyone seems to agree that the path to the District title is going to run through Sharyland. With eight returning start-ers on offense and seven coming back on defense, it’s not a surprise that the peren-nial powerhouse Rattlers will once again have the big-gest targets on their back. Head football coach Ron Adame, in his first year as head coach but 18th year coaching overall, said with the team’s success the past few years that his team knows that there are no days off – on Friday night or any other night for that matter.“The past four or five years we know that football teams are going to bring their A game, Adame said. “That

helps us to be motivated to not have an off day during the week.” In the past four years the Rat-tlers have 40 season wins, against eight losses. When it comes play-off time, however, they’ve only gotten past the first round once in the time frame, in 2008.Adame said this year’s district race is going to count on the field. When asked to write down his predictions for the district, he penciled in Donna for the top spot with the Rattlers second. Hmmm?“That game with Donna was a close one last year – and I ex-pect something similar this year,” Adame said. “But we have to play them all – our goal is one week at a time. None of us are as strong as all of us.”The Rattlers have great balance in their returning starters on both side of the ball with Two quarterbacks will give the Rattlers balance on offense. Es-tefan Castillo (QB/HB) and Tres Barrera (QB/RWR), will take the snaps with Cesar Valdez (RB),

Emanuel Barbosa (OT), Jose Barbosa (OT), Luis Garcia (OG), Marco Avila (WR) and Danny Morales (WR) playing their roles. The defense could even be stronger than last year with three returning linebackers (Bradley Klein, Joey Esquival and An-gel Ocana) , both defensive ends (Pedro Velasquez and Dakota Crouch) and a pair of cornerbacks with Josh Sanchez (CB), J.C. Va-ladez (CB).

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redskins


//////////////////////////////////////////////Donna Redskins

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August31 PSJA NorthSeptember7 Weslaco13 Edinburg*28 LJ Palmview*October4 Ed North*12 Ed Vela*19 Sharyland*26 La Joya*November2 Economedes*9 La Joya JL*


Head coachManny Moreno


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Lost to Del Rio 34-7Class 5A Division I Bi-District

DidYOUknow?Donna ISD will feature two high schools beginning in 2013. The Donna Redskins will welcome the Donna North Chiefs. The Chiefs name is already printed on the newly installed field turf at Bennie La Prade Stadium.

WR Darian Hernandez, 6’0 165lbs Sr.QB Dion Padilla, 6’0 195lbs Sr.WR Vince Castillo, 6-0 165lbs soph.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 24/26Starters Returning O/D: 5/5Enrollment: 3,175State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011. State 2A Champions in 1961

Ready to go! Donna Redskin QB senior, Dion Padilla will lead the Redskins in 2012. (HSSMIMages/Alec Amador)

(Donna, Tx)-Oh, so close. That could’ve been the motto for the 2011 Donna Redskins, who fin-ished last year with a 7-3 record and were just a few plays from upset wins over district power-houses Sharyland and McAllen Memorial. Add to it the fact that Donna not just lost one, but two quarterbacks to shoulder injuries (three quarterbacks if you consid-er the starter was injured twice) and a very good year could’ve been a great year. And that’s just one reason coaches, players – and the Donna community – are expecting the Redskins to return to the top of District 30-5A and bring back a championship for the first time since 2007. With five starters coming back on each side of the ball, the Red-skins seem to be definitely poised for that district title run.“That’s our goal, that’s what us and the kids made as our goal since we started working in No-vember,” said head coach Man-uel Moreno, who returns for his sixth year at the Redskins helm.

“There’s a rich tradition and we hope to continue that. We have a pretty good nucleus to start the season. We tell the players that they determine the depth chart in our program by how hard they work and by doing the things we ask them to in the positions we put them in.” Senior Dion Padilla returns as the starting quarterback. Padilla injured his shoulder on two oc-casions during the year, including midway through what ended up being a 7-point loss to McAllen Memorial. His main target will be WR Darian Hernandez.The Redskins will run multiple formations on offense but their staple will be coming out of the I formation. Anchoring the of-fensive line will be center Joseph Guerrero.“He is the key on the offensive line,” Moreno said. “I’ve always

said that communication on the offensive line is big.”The Redskins have made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons. “It shows the character we have here – despite all the adversity we had last year we

still had a successful season. I mean, we made a run for the district title last year with all those quarterback injuries.”Defensively, the Redskins will rely heavily on middle linebacker Raul Luna, and safeties Joey Reyes and Mi-chael Cadena as well as junior returner Auggie Cantu in the secondary.“We’ll work out of a 3-4 de-fense because we play against a lot of spread offenses. With our strength being in the sec-ondary, that could play to our advantage. Moreno wouldn’t point out any particular game that could be a season telling one, but fans can keep October 19th in mind when Donna travels to play Sharyland.

31-5A1. McAllen Memorial 2. Weslaco H.S.

3. San Benito 4. PSJA North 5. Nikki Rowe 6. PSJA Memorial H.S. 7. Weslaco East H.S.

8.PSJA H.S. 9. McAllen H.S.2012

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IEW REPORTSPREDICTIONS


REALIGNMENTSTHEPREDICTIONS BY TDDAVE

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Javi Oregon-Rowe H.S. 5’9, 175LBS

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: DE Garrett Sharp 6’3, 220 LBS

McAllen Memorial H.S., SR

(McAllen, Tx)-What a district race 31-5A will turn out to be like in 2012 with four reigning district champs joining the league. Of the nine teams that were realigned this past February, seven were playoff qualifiers. Weslaco, McAllen Memorial, McAllen, PSJA North, PSJA Memorial, San Benito and Weslaco East all made the state football playoffs last November. Of the seven teams, five advanced past the first round and only Weslaco East and McAllen Memorial made it to the regional fi-nals. “This will be a tough district,” says Weslaco Panther head football coach, Tony Villarreal. Another interesting fact, all nine teams have a combined 60 playoff appearances since 2000. So what can fans expect from District 31-5A? Plenty of action and heroics on football night. McAllen Memorial Mustangs should be con-sidered the kings of football, afterall, they have made back-to-back Class 5A Division II Regional finals along with another third round ap-pearance in 2006. The Mustangs lost to San Antonio MacArthur by one point 35-34 in 2006 and again would lose 35-28 on a fumble recovery by San Antonio Reagan in 2011 in the endzone. Head coach Bill Little-ton has turned around a football program that had not seen a playoff berth in the 2000 era since his arrival ten years ago in 2002. The Mus-tangs have since made playoff appearances in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010,

and 2011. Expect the Mustangs to challenge for a district title in 31-5A. The Mustangs are coming off a banner season winning twelve games in 2011 and an outright district title in 30-5A. Like the Mustangs, the Weslaco Panthers have won back-to-back district titles in 32-5A and come to 31-5A with plenty of vengeances and scores to settle with the Mustangs. In the 2011 State 5A Division II Area playoffs, the Mustangs ran past the Panthers 28-14. San Benito almost made it to the third round had they not given up a 17-3 point lead in the first half against Laredo United but head coach Spencer Gantt feels that 2012 is full of expectations too. “We expect to win the district title,” adds Gantt. The Greyhounds also shared the 32-5A title with Weslaco. The darkhorse? It would have to be the Weslaco East Wildcats, who will move up from Class 4A to 5A for the first time in school history. The Wildcats have made the playoffs in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Wildcats also won its first district title in 2012 too. Other teams to watch will be the PSJA Bears under first-year head coach Rich Lucero and McAllen Nikki Rowe. The Rowe Warriors re-turn plenty of experience under head coach Paul Reyes, now in his third year. Don’t count the McAllen Bulldogs out of the playoff race.

mustangs

31-5A9

Nick MarriottMcAllen Memorial

Seth GonzalesMcAllen Memorial

Garrett SharpMcAllen Memorial

Luis VegaMcAllen Memorial

Diego ChryslerMcAllen Memorial


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Head coachBill Littleton10th Season


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mustangsmemorialDistrict 31-5A

Advanced to Class 5A Division II Re-gional Finals. Lost to SA Reagan 35-28.

MLB Garrett Sharp, 6’3 220lbs Sr.DE Pablo Adame, 6’3 270lbs Sr.OL Tim Ruiz, 6’4 290lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 22/33Starters Returning O/D: 7/4Enrollment: 2,354State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, & 2011. Ad-vanced to the State 5A Division II Regional Finals against San Antonio Reagan in ‘12.

(McAllen, Tx)-The Memorial Mustangs were 6-4 in the 2009 season after winning a district title the year before. For head coach Bill Littleton, it just meant time to get the program in high gear. Looks like his plan has been successful. The Mustangs compiled a 9-4 mark the following year and are now coming off a spectacular 12-1 record. Memorial went 10-0 during the regular season before knocking off Eagle Pass (35-13) and Weslaco (28-14) in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Mustangs got their first and only blemish in the third round, falling to San Antonio Reagan (35-28).Where’s that plan take the Mus-tangs this season?“Hey, we can always get better,” said Littleton, in his 10th year at the Memorial helm. “We have been fortunate enough to have kids who buy into the program. It took us a couple years to get things turned around. But we are excited about where we are and

we want to take the program even to a higher level than in the past.”Of course, standing in the way is a conference that Littleton says geographically speaking, compar-ing location to location, could be the toughest region in the state.“We’re going to know a lot about ourselves after the first two dis-trict games,” said Littleton. Those two district games are at home against San Benito and on the road against Weslaco. Eight offensive and four defen-sive starters return for the Mus-tang. Two-year starters Tim Ruiz (6-4, 290) and Brian Velasco, along with junior Mark Martinez (5-10, 220) - who Littleton has huge expectations for and calls a “great student of the game” - will have the duties of opening up lanes for sophomore Diego Chrysler and WR Michael Hino-josa. Calling signals will be junior Nick Marriott.“We like to run the football, but we’ll throw it,” Littleton said. “We like to keep the clock run-

ning, shorten the football game.” Defensively, Garrett Sharp (6-3, 220lbs) will be the field general in the 4-2-5 and someone Littleton feels will be like a coach on the field, getting everyone set up from play to play. Jesus Garcia (5-11, 230) has been moved from defensive tackle to defensive end, and DE Pablo Adame (6-3, 265) returns after miss-ing much of the year with an injured knee. The Mustangs open their season at home against Edinburg Sept. 1st.

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warriors

Noe GarciaMcAllen Nikki Rowe

Aaron RendonMcAllen Nikki Rowe

Johnathan PeralesMcAllen Nikki Rowe

Josh BimpongMcAllen Nikki Rowe

Javi ObregonMcAllen Nikki Rowe


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Head coachPaul Reyes

3rd Season2011 Overall RecordSeason 5-5 District 4-3

Last Playoff: 2010

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warriorsnikki roweMcAllen

OL Ruben Fabela, 6’1 235lbs Sr.OL Noe Garcia , 6’2 270lbs Sr.OL Adonis Cruz, 6’4 270lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 16/18Starters Returning O/D: 6/4Enrollment: 2,251State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, & 2010.

(McAllen, Tx) Git-R-Done! That could be a catchphrase for the Nikki Rowe Warriors during the 2012 football sea-son. The Warriors held leads at the half or end of third quar-ter in what ended up being three of their losses. So, get-ting it done is something that third-year head coach Paul Reyes is heavily stressing.“That’s a huge corner we need to turn,” Reyes said. “While we’re happy about some of the changes we’ve made and steps we’ve taken, we just didn’t get it done and we need to win those close ballgames.” Reyes goal is to turn the Warriors from a middle-of-the-pack team to an elite team. “Again, we’re happy about some of the changes,” Reyes said. “We’re by no means satisfied. We don’t want to be 5-5.” Rowe quarterback Javi Ob-

regon - a three-year letterman and returning starter - will carry the responsibility to bring the War-riors to the next level. He will call the shots in the Warriors fast-tem-po spread offense.“Javi feels comfortable and knows what I’m looking for,” Reyes said. “He knows all the checks and reads, he know when and how to put us in a good situ-ation. It makes a huge difference when a quarterback understands these things,” adds Reyes. “The only thing I would have him concentrate on is that he doesn’t have to make the big play every time. Take what they give you. He gets a little bored with all those 5-yard outs but I tell him keep doing that. Be patient. Take what they give you even if it’s the same 5-yard-pass to the same receiver 10 times in a row. Your chance to go downfield will come.” Obregon will have a trio of ex-perienced receivers to target with Tony Bimpong, Adrian Salazar

and “utility man” Eric Perez, who will also line up in the backfield.Reyes said the key to the season could come down to the offensive line - and he’s not shy in saying that his line is good. “We’ve got a good one, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it,” Reyes said. “We have some really big kids who are gonna open us up. Last year we were probably 70-30 pass-run. With the pass protec-tion and space these kids will cre-ate I’d like to get to as much as 50-50.” Noe Garcia (6-2, 265), Aaron Rendon (5-9, 225) And Ruben Fabela (6-1, 235) anchor a line that has even surprised Reyes.

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16 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE May-June 2012 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE 25GET FOOTBALL ACTION PHOTOS AT WWW.HIGHSCHOOLSPORTSMAGAZINE..NET

warriors

bulldogs

Roman SilvaMcAllen High

Johnathan AyalaMcAllen High

Jose GonzalezMcAllen High

Phillip CantuMcAllen High

Erek De LeonMcAllen High


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August30 United SouthSeptember7 Edinburg14 Nikki Rowe21 PSJA North28 Wes East*October5 PSJA*12 San Benito*19 Weslaco*November5 McA Mem*9 PSJA Mem*


Head coachTony Harris-17th Season2011 Overall RecordSeason 6-5 District 4-3

Lost to Laredo Alexander 41-18 in State 5A Division II Bi-District

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(McAllen, Tx)-The first three losses of the 2011 McAllen High School football season came by a total of 31 points.They were in the games, but couldn’t notch the wins.Still, after a 4-7 record the previous year, the Bulldogs bulled their way to the play-offs, sparked by a four-game win streak against Mission (38-27), Donna (38-10), La Joya (38-3) and La Joya Palmview (31-7). In 2011, they finished 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the district. McAllen last won a district title in the 2006 campaign as Co-Champions. Now in his 17th season at McHi, Harris says, “Our of-fensive line should be strong this year,” whose past two squads (2010 & 2011) have a combined 10-12 overall record still feels things will get better in 2012. “We’ve also got who I believe is one of the best cover men you’re

gonna find.” That person, cor-nerback Philip Cantu (6-0, 180) will anchor a defense that sees six starters returning. Other play-ers who could make an impact for McHi include linebacker Jose Gonzalez (5-9, 180) and a pair of defensive backs joining Cantu in Roman Silva and Marcus Correa. The newly aligned district 31-5A is loaded from top to bottom and the Bulldogs will open play with crosstown rival Nikki Rowe and then go on the road to Wesla-co East. They’ll prepare with non-district openers against Unit-ed South and Edinburg. United South is coming off a 2-8 record and hasn’t had a winning season since 2007-08. Offensively, a lot will run through holes made by lineman Cesar Mirelez. The 6-foot-4 300-plus pound senior will anchor a line with junior Jacob Amar and the tall target of tight end Garrett Thomas (6-3, 195). Three-year starter Cole Yarto returns at the wide receiver spot.

Still optimistic, Harris plans on starting sophomore Fred Hover at quarterback. Thomas may be seen behind center for some snaps and Harris considers him a good run-ning quarterback. Hover will have Ricky Rodriguez and senior Josh Ontiveros lining up behind him in the backfield. The Bulldogs averaged 29 points per game and yielded 26.5 in 2011. They ended their season with a 41-18 loss to Alexander in the playoffs. McAllen has made the playoffs in each of the last six seasons. Can the Bulldogs sneak into the playoffs again?

TE Garrett Thomas, 6’3 195lbs Sr.DB Phillip Cantu, 6’0 175lbs Sr.OL Cesar Mireles, 6’4 300lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 16/24Starters Returning O/D: 5/6Enrollment: 2,274State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011.

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bears

16 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE May-June 2012

Gabriel TrevinoPSJA High

David M. RodriguezPSJA High

Christopher CanalesPSJA High

Eduardo Mancho JRPSJA High

Raul LaraPSJA High

Taylor SantillanPSJA High

Alexis RuizPSJA High

De’Andre HenryPSJA High


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Head coachRich Lucero


1st Year

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QB Taylor Santillan, 5’8 165lbs Jr.RB Alexis Ruiz, 5’9 175lbs Sr.RB DeAndre Henry, 5’6 165lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Starters Returning O/D: 3/4Enrollment: 2,398State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2010.

(Pharr, Tx)-Out with the old, in with the new. And we’re not just talking new PSJA first year head coach Rich Lucero - even though it’s also his first head coaching job. When the Bears line up on the field to start the 2012 season, the offensive formation will be as far from what fans are used to as could be. Out is the Wing-T, a PSJA staple. In is the spread of-fense. “That’s been my offensive choice for years,” said Lucero, who coached most recently at Katy Taylor High School as of-fensive coordinator. “A lot of teams are using it and we’re ad-justing to it pretty well so far. At Katy Taylor, the Mustangs went 1-9 in 2011 and scored only 117 points on offense under Luce-ro. Taylor’s last three games end-ed up in blowouts by a combined score of 129-31 from District 19-5A in Region III. The Mustangs also started its season with a five-game losing streak.“The thing is PSJA always has

DidYOUknow?The PSJA Bears made back-to-back State 3A Championships appearances in 1962 and 1963. Both losses were to Dumas (14-3) and Corsicana (7-0).

kids who can run with the foot-ball and everyone wants to be the featured back and that has been good because it’s created a lot of competition. We’ve taken a lot of those running backs and moved them to inside receivers. Now getting in instead of running through a loaded box we’re gonna spread that field and make the de-fense cover the entire field.” With so many skilled position players Lucero said there will be different packages and people in those packages, trying to make the spread even tougher to defend.Two of those staples on offense will include returning senior run-ning backs DeAndre Henry (5-6, 148) and Alexis Ruiz (5-9, 170). Both players have experience and will be featured both in the back-field and at wideout slots. The workload of signal-calling will fall into the hands of Taylor Santillan (5-8, 165), who finished last season as the starter. He may see some relief from Eddie Man-cha (5-8, 180). Mancha has been

predominately used defen-sively but will have his op-portunities to spell Santillan.Two other skilled position players whose names may be called out quite often in-clude Joey Garza and File Datino - an explosive run-ner who competed in the state regionals in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400-meter re-lays. The Bears open its sea-son at Robert Vela H.S.

PSJA Scoreboard will light up the scores on game day. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

raiders

15Ricky TrevinoPSJA North

Jorge BerronesPSJA North

Julio DavilaPSJA North

Orlando GarciaPSJA North

Rudy ChapaPSJA North

Cristian HernandezPSJA North

Ryan GuerreroPSJA North

Sammy LopezPSJA North

Abel AriasPSJA North

Caleb SilvaPSJA North


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Head coachBruce Bush5th Season


Lost in Class 5A Division II Bi-District to Bro Pace 42-21

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(Pharr, Tx)-Bruce Bush en-ters his fifth season at the helm of the PSJA North Raiders. Added up, Bush has been coaching for 42 years and has 233 career victories.“Either its passion,” he said, “or insanity.” And for coach-es who don’t already have a touch of that “insanity bug,” District 31-5A could definite-ly cause it. “Just look, the district has four district champions and seven of the nine teams made the playoffs last year,” said Bush, whose Raiders were one of those playoff teams last year, compiling a 7-4 record before falling in bi-districts. With a loaded offensive front almost entirely return-ing and a solid running game,

DidYOUknow?Head coach Bruce Bush is the winningest active coach in South Texas with 233 wins in his career in 42 years.

LB Abel Arias, 5’10 170lbs Sr.DT Rudy Chapa, 6’0 240lbs Sr.RB Caleb Silva 5’9 175lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 15/27Starters Returning O/D: 6/6Enrollment: 2,423State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 & 2011. Advanced to the State 5A Division II Regional Playoffs in 2003 against San Antonio O’Connor.

the Raiders should be right in the playoff mix. Both guards - Andrew Bena-videz (5-10, 190) and Jorge Ber-rones (5-5, 190) return and will be key in the Raiders’ guard-pulling run block scheme. Benavidez made all district last year while Bush calls Berrones the team’s best-pulling guard. Julio Davila will move from center to strong tackle. Davila was also an all dis-trict pick last year That line will be making holes for one of the Valley’s best run-ning backs - senior Caleb Silva (5-9, 170). Silva returns after a 1,000-plus yards on the ground during his junior year. Ryan Guerrero will take over quarterback duties for the Raiders. His biggest - and best - target will be tight end EJ Ruiz (6-0, 218), an all-state selection last year as a junior. Guerrero will also have Cristian Hernandez, Art Flores and Orlando Garcia at wideouts. The Raiders will run out of a Slot T in their run-oriented, power offense. Defensively, Bush is ex-

cited about the experience return-ing, especially in the secondary. Senior Cristian Hernandez and junior Sammy Lopez return at the corners while Art Flores comes back at free safety. C.J. Barberena (5-9, 185) returns at linebacker after a solid sophomore campaign and will be joined by Nic Romero (5-9, 180), a part-time starter last year and Abel Arias. “We’re really hoping our expe-rience helps us in the secondary, especially facing teams with a spread offense,” Bush said. The Raiders travel to Donna to open its season on August 31st.

wolverines

14Jorge TrevinoPSJA Memorial

Isaac EscobedoPSJA Memorial

Jaime BorregoPSJA Memorial

Marc AvilaPSJA Memorial

Edmundo MataPSJA Memorial

Arny GarzaPSJA Memorial

Chris LealPSJA Memorial


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emorial Wolverines

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Head coachGus Cavazos

5th Season2011 Overall RecordSeason 6-5 District 4-3

Lost in Class 5A Division IIBi-District to Weslaco 55-0

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(Alamo, Tx)-If football is a numbers game, get a load of these: Six - the number of injured (non-playing) starters going into PSJA’ Memo-rial’s matchup against Edinburg. Then nine - the number of injured (non-playing) starters going into PSJA Memorial’s matchup against Harlingen. And finally, lucky 13 - the number of starters returning from last year (some who started because of injuries, others who were injured and are returning). Be-ware football opponents, these Wol-verines will be better in 2012. “You never want any of your kids injured -- at any time or in any way,” said fifth-year head coach Gus Cavazos. “It ended up though being a blessing in disguise. We had a lot of long injuries or season- end-ing injuries and it ended up building us a lot more depth. We ended up third after being ‘picked’ to finish seventh. So, that’s not bad,” says Cavazos.“We’ve also got a dozen more kids on the varsity squad this year. That will help save ourselves for the

DidYOUknow?The PSJA Memorial Wolver-ines made back-to-back play-off appearances in the 2000 era three different times.

LB DJ Martinez, 5,10 180lbs Sr.WR Jaime Borrego, 5’10 lbs Sr.QB Manny Mancillas 6’2 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 26/19Starters Returning O/D: 6/7Enrollment: 2,278State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, & 2011. Advanced to the State 5A Division II Area Playoffs in 2010 against McAllen Memorial.

stretch run.” Expectations are high with the Wolverines spread offense and returning quarterback Manny Mancias. He will have a cast of skill players with Robert Rodri-guez and Chris Leal in the back-field (Leal may also move out to the slot) and receiver WR Jaime Borrego. While PSJA Memorial has two offensive linemen return-ing, Cavazos said the biggest question may be how to fill those other three spots up front. The good things is, Cavazos said the same system has been in place since he took over so most of the learning curve has been completed for the upper-classmen.“We are going to run very sim-ple plays and it doesn’t change a whole lot from week 0 to week 10,” Cavazos said. The Wolverines’ season end-ed with a 55-0 loss to Weslaco. They won’t have to wait until the postseason to meet again.

The Panthers come visiting Sep. 27th in the third dis-trict game for both teams. Cavazos has a good mix of returning defenders with Eric Castillo, Isaac Escobedo and Oscar Loa along the offensive line, DJ Martinez and Jona-than Serrapo at linebackers and Danny de la Rosa in the secondary. Is it playoff time again for the Wolverines?

Under Construction! PSJA Stadium will sit 11,500 fans every football night. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

greyhounds

Jason FariasSan Benito

Matthew HernandezSan Benito

Reynaldo AvilaSan Benito

Pete LozanoSan Benito

Josh HuertaSan Benito

Jesse JimenezSan Benito

Isaiah RodriguezSan Benito

Alan BejavanSan Benito

Enrique RodriguezSan Benito

Arturo CoronadoSan Benito


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Head coachSpencer Gantt

3rd Season2011 Overall RecordSeason 9-3 District 6-1

Advanced to Class 5A Division I Area finals. Lost to Laredo United 24-17.

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(San Benito, Tx)-Many prognos-ticators across the Rio Grande Valley have pegged the San Benito Greyhounds as the team to beat in a very tough realigned District 31-5A. But that doesn’t motivate the Greyhounds, said head coach Spencer Gantt. The district itself should be enough. “They are well-motivated to being part of the toughest dis-trict in the Rio Grande Valley,” Gantt said. “This district is going to bring out the best in both the coaches and the kids across the board.” To top it off, the Greyhounds open their season with non-dis-trict battles against Los Fresnos and Harlingen. “Non-district is always a big deal and I want to play the best of the best, right off the bat, to get my season roll-ing,” Gantt said. San Benito finished 9-3 last year, falling in a tight ballgame to Laredo United in the second round of the playoffs.

DidYOUknow?The Greyhounds advanced to the State 5A Div II Regional fi-nals in 2005, losing to Smith-son Valley 51-0.

LB Rene Chavez, 5,10 210lbs Sr.OL Jason Farias, 6’0 215lbs Sr.DT Pete Lozano 6’2 275lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 25/27Starters Returning O/D: 6/7Enrollment: 2,904State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, & 2011.

One look at the Greyhounds’ roster and it’s easy to see where their strength lies - on defense.Adrian Zuniga and Sam Lo-pez will be on the defensive ends for the Greyhounds while Rene Chavez (5-10, 210), who amassed 160 tackles last year, will be in the middle at lineback-er and joined by another return-ing starter in Enrique Rodriguez (5-7, 185). The secondary also has some experience with Nate Mireles at safety and Josh Alonzo (5-10, 170), who was used as the Grey-hounds’ rover last season but will be at corner this season in the team’s 4-2-5 defensive setup. The offensive returners include four offensive lineman and run-ning back Arturo Coronado (5-6, 152). Coronado eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark last season. “Anytime you have a 1,000-yard returner, that’s a good thing,” Gantt said. “It’s always a little tougher to get the offense

clicking and a little longer to gel. But we have a good group coming back and a group of young cats coming up to plug in at receiver.” The biggest task during spring football was finding a quarter-back to replace Jacob Puente and senior Jesse Jimenez will get the knod. The offense runs out of the spread with four wide receivers and in the shotgun formation.

panthers

Jose JuarezWeslaco High

Derrick CastilloWeslaco High

Andres DenaWeslaco High

Clay JonesWeslaco High

AJ De La RosaWeslaco High


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Head coachTony Villarreal

7th season2011 Overall RecordSeason 10-2 District 6-1

Lost to McAllen Memorial 28-14 in Class 5A Division II Area Finals.

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panthersweslacoDistrict 31-5A

(Weslaco, Tx)-When you first start talking to Weslaco High football coach Tony Villarreal about Dis-trict 31-5A, you get the impres-sion that the Panthers have an up-hill battle ahead of them in 2012.“When you graduate 35 seniors, you don’t have the mix you need,” said Villarreal. “I just hope we can make it through the meat grinder.” But when you start talking to the coach about his returning players, you start realizing that the Pan-thers should be able to hold their own in the heavily realigned dis-trict. And within that comes the city battle - now a district battle - be-tween Weslaco and Weslaco East.“That’s going to be an emotion-ally packed game for the city of Weslaco,” Villarreal said. “The Wildcats are a very high-powered offense and I think any of the 4As they played against could beat any of the 5As - they are all qual-ity program.” Both teams meet on October 12th.

DidYOUknow?Tony Villarreal is the win-ningest active Hispanic coach in South Texas with 161 wins.

LB DJ Martinez, 5,10 180lbs Sr.WR Jaime Borrego, 5’10 lbs Sr.QB Manny Mancillas 6’2 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 22/33Starters Returning O/D: 7/4Enrollment: 2,544State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, & 2011. Advanced to the State 5A Division II Regional Finals in 2008 against San Antonio Madison.

The Panthers are coming off a District 32-5A Co-Championship and a 10-2 record last year, before losing to Memorial in the area playoffs. On paper, Weslaco returns four starters on offense and five on de-fense from last year’s team along with a group of players who, ac-cording to Villarreal, all shared some time. Offensively, the Panthers will be led by quarterback Clay Jones. The 5-foot-10 Jones runs a 4.5 on 40-yard dash and Villarreal adds, “this year we’re a lot faster, a lot quicker – that will be our staple.” First-team unanimous all-dis-trict offensive guard Alex Ber-rones and junior tight end Derrick Castillo (6-3, 250) both return, with Castillo being a key target for Jones. Defensively, the Panthers will be anchored by a pair of return-ing safetys – Brandon Lopes and Kevin Garza. Lopes is 6’3, runs a 4.5 and was a regional qualifier in the hurdles. “Tommy Chavez is

our middle linebacker and he was like – wow – like Alex (Berrones) on the defensive side of the ball. I think he was our best linebacker and we had two all-staters last year.” The Panthers will run the slot misdirection on offense (“since the Stone Ages,” Vil-larreal said.) and a multiple 4-3 on defense.

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What a Pair!

It’s All AboutBy David A. AmadorHSSM Sports Director

Another Special Season...

the Game

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You can contact David A. Amador [email protected]

www.highschoolsportsmagazine.net

It’s another football season and after publishing sixteen

years worth of football stories about incoming players and their coaches, let’s not forget that it’s

a brand new year. These new players have earned the right to wear their uniforms proudly on

Football Friday Nights. To many football players this night is

called Game Day. When a team goes 0-10 or 13-1, still the next season will feature returning let-termen or incoming players with first year experience. Eitherway, the jitters will exsist along with the texting before kickoff. It’s

an experience too. Think about. On the bus ride to the stadium to meet your opponent with all the fanfare, you can bet that every

football player is nervous, scared, unsettled, or feeling the nerves of wanting to get rid of last night’s

dinner too. But, that’s what football brings to the Rio Grande Valley. It’s a celebration of families, teach-ers, children, administrators,

and school boards all wanting to

cheer on their favorite teams. As for the first year player making

the varisty team for the very first time is a dream come true. It’s special to him. Even as I write,

I can feel the excitement for this player. For this player and many like him, bursting out of

that football tunnel is something he always wanted to do since

playing Pop Warner football as a eleven year old. I should know,

my son has the same dreams now of someday playing football in

high school. We all want our sons to start and play on Game Day

but for our son, making the team was special that’s why it’s always

another special season.

Weslaco Panthers

Weslaco East Wildcats

20122012

31-5AAAAA

Weslaco High School PrincipalIsidro Nieto

weslaco East H.S. PrincipalSusan Peterson

Weslaco ISD SuperintendentDr. Ruben Alejandro

Oscar RiojasWISD Athletic Director

Advertisement paid by Weslaco ISD.

www.WISD.us

Two-Time 32-5A District Champions!

Two-Time State 4A Regional Finalists!

Varsity Schedule

August 31 Edcouch-ElsaSept 7 DonnaSept 14 McAllen Memorial*Sept 21 PSJA Memorial*Sept 28 Nikki Rowe*Oct 5 PSJA North *Oct 12 Weslaco East*Oct 19 McAllen*Nov 2 PSJA*Nov 9 San Benito***December 20-22, 2012UIL State Championships(Site to be announced)

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August 31 Eagle PassSept 7 CalallenSept 14 PSJA North*Sept 21 McAllen*Oct 4 PSJA*Oct 12 San Benito *Oct 19 Weslaco*Oct 26 McAllen Memorial*Nov 5 PSJA Memorial*Nov 9 Nikki Rowe***December 20-22, 2012UIL State Championships(Site to be announced)

HAAHAHAHAH

Weslaco H.S. Weslaco East H.S.

Head coach: Tony Villarreal Head coach: Armando Cuellar

Varsity Schedule

August 31 Edcouch-ElsaSept 7 DonnaSept 14 McAllen Memorial*Sept 21 PSJA Memorial*Sept 28 Nikki Rowe*Oct 5 PSJA North *Oct 12 Weslaco East*Oct 19 McAllen*Nov 2 PSJA*Nov 9 San Benito***December 20-22, 2012UIL State Championships(Site to be announced)

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August 31 Eagle PassSept 7 CalallenSept 14 PSJA North*Sept 21 McAllen*Oct 4 PSJA*Oct 12 San Benito *Oct 19 Weslaco*Oct 26 McAllen Memorial*Nov 5 PSJA Memorial*Nov 9 Nikki Rowe***December 20-22, 2012UIL State Championships(Site to be announced)

HAAHAHAHAH

Weslaco H.S. Weslaco East H.S.

Head coach: Tony Villarreal Head coach: Armando Cuellar

wildcats

32-5ATommy Maldonado

Weslaco EastBrandon Hernandez

Weslaco EastBrandon Guzman

Weslaco EastPeter GonzalezWeslaco East

Martin RendonWeslaco East


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Head coachArmando Cuellar

2011 Overall RecordSeason 11-2 District 8-0State 4A Division I Regional

Finals. Lost 49-0 to Cedar Park.

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(Weslaco, Tx)-Earn double digit wins for two straight years and claim a 22-4 re-cord - including 15-1 in the district and what do you get?Promoted….to a higher class….to the toughest dis-trict in the Rio Grande Val-ley. How’s that for rewards? That’s what Weslaco East faces now as a member of District 31-5A - the now self-proclaimed BIG 12 of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley. Nine teams, four district champi-ons and seven playoff teams from a year ago. “This is definitely going to be something new for us,” said head coach Ar-mando Cuellar, now in his 11th season with the Wild-cats. “We’re gonna be play-ing teams we’re not familiar with - but in terms of foot-ball, we will continue doing what we’re doing.” Weslaco East advanced to

DidYOUknow?Armando Cuellar is the only coach the Wildcats have had since its debut as a Class 4A school in Texas.

RB Peter Gonzalez, 5’8 185lbs Sr.QB Brandon Hernandez, 5’11 160lbs Sr.TE Pete Sanchez 6’5 230lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 21/27Starters Returning O/D: 3/7Enrollment: 2,140State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Won first ever 32-4A District title in school history in 2011 and back-to-back regional appearances.

the third round of the playoffs, defeating Alice and Victoria East along the way before falling to Cedar Park. In three of the past four seasons the Wildcats have put together a 1,000-plus yard rusher. Cuel-lar said that each of those backs would without a doubt credit their offensive line. He’s hoping a sim-ilar situation develops this season. The Wildcats return three start-ers on offense and seven on de-fense - Peter Gonzalez (5-8, 183) at fullback, Tommy Maldonado (5-8, 165) at receiver and offen-sive tackle or tight end Pedro San-chez (6-5, 230). Brandon Hernandez (5-10, 165) is pegged as the starting quarter-back and Brandon Guzman (5-11, 155) will get some reps in that sport as well. Defensively the Wildcats will predominantly play out of a 4-4 formation. Fabian Villarreal (5-8, 190) returns at inside linebacker the the team’s second leading tackler from last year. He will be

joined by Ace Ceballos (5-6, 189) at outside linebacker and Martin Rendon (5-9, 175) also on the in-side. The Wildcats also have two solid secondary returners with all-district Josh Cordova (5-10, 175) and Darek Martinez 5-7, 140). Returning along the line are defensive tackle Joey Luna (5-6, 200) and George Quintanilla (5-9, 205).

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32-5A1. Harlingen 2. Harlingen South 3. Los Fresnos 4. Hanna 5. Rivera 6. Lopez 7. Pace 8. Porter

2012

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PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Sean Montemayor, 5’10, 175LBS-Harlingen South H.S.

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: LB Nathan Prado, 5’10, 180LBS-Harlingen H.S.


(Harlingen, Tx)-With the new University Interscholastic League’s re-lease of the 2012-2014 district realignments many teams were hoping that the Harlingen Cardinals would not end up in their conference for the upcoming season. So instead, the UIL made the right choice and moved them from District 31-5A to 32-5A to play in Cameron Coun-ty where demographically it just makes sense too. The Cardinals and Harlingen South will now join Los Fresnos and six Brownsville High Schools where football or futbol is the king of sports. The Harlingen Cardinals have won four straight district titles and have advanced to three straight Class 5A Division I Regional finals, including one State 5A Division I Quarterfinal appearance in 2011. This season will not be any different as the Cards will be tested early on against San Antonio Johnson from District 26-5A. The Jaguars are picked to win its district. This will be a challenge for the Cardinals on August 31 at Boggus Stadium. The biggest advantage that District 32-5A will have over the Cardi-nals is that only three starters return on offense from a team that scored a record breaking 732 points in 14 games last season. To make matters worse, the Cards return only two starters on defense too. Sounds like a program that could miss the playoffs? Not so. Cardinal head coach Manny Gomez says that “this team could be better than last year.”

Brownsville I.S.D. did some major shuffling with its head football coaches by bringing back veteran coach Tom Chavez to the sidelines to coach the Rivera Raiders, while David Cantu (former Rivera coach) was reassigned to replace Mark Guess (new Brownsville ISD AD) at Veterans Memorial. Longtime head football coach from Pace, Rene Medrano was transferred to Hanna High School and William Deen will now coach the Pace Vikings. Whew! Both Porter (Hector Garcia) and Lopez (Michael Ramirez) coaches will stay put at their campuses. Hopefully, with the new coaching changes all Brownsville teams will improve from their combined 18-34 record from 2011. On the outskirts, Los Fresnos and head football coach Clint Finley will be favored to make the playoffs, along with Harlingen and Harlin-gen South. So who’s the fourth place contender? Hanna will be loaded with seven starters on both sides of the ball and they could challenge Harlingen for the district title, since the Cardinals will be rebuilding with only return three starters back on offense. The team to watch will be the Harlingen South Hawks and QB Sean Montemayor with new coach Lanny Wilson. The junior quarter-back will be starting his third season under center with more than 1,700 yards passing. On a side note, Rivera could pose a threat along with Brownsville Lopez for playoff spots too.

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August31 San BenitoSeptember7 PSJA14 Bro Hanna*22 Bro Rivera*28 Bro Lopez*October5 Harlingen*19 Bro Pace*27 Bro Veterans*November2 Bro Porter*5 Har South*


Head coachMike Finley


2011 Class 5A Division I Bi-District Finalist. Lost to Harlingen 66-14.

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falconslos fresnosDistrict 32-5A

(Los Fresnos, Tx)-The last time Los Fresnos had fewer than six wins in a season came in 2004 when the Falcons claimed a 4-5 record. Since then, Los Fresnos has been among the Valley’s elite teams. They’ve gone 64-20 in the past seven seasons (an average of roughly 9-3 every year and a .762 winning per-centage). They’ve had three 10-plus win seasons (2006, 2007, 2008) and advanced to the third round of the playoffs in each of those years, losing twice to San Antonio Reagan and once to perennial power-house Austin Westlake. In 2007 the Falcons defeated Harlingen High 22-21 in the playoffs. Last year the Cardi-nals got their revenge - and then some - by handing Los Fresnos a 66-14 drubbing. The two powers face each other in the newly aligned District 32-5A at Harlingen High’s Boggus Stadium on Oct. 5. Returning are senior Quar-terback Jonmichael Rosales (6-2, 185) and Akeem Simien (5-10, 170) at wideout and Nick Alegria (5-7, 175). The offense returns 5 starters, of-fensive lineman Joe Rodri-guez (5-10, 260). The defense returns with Alegria playing two ways and at defensive back along with fellow junior

Mingo Hernandez (5-10, 185). The defensive line will be led by

Joe Perez (5-11, 215), J.J. Her-nandez and Cesar Encinia.

WR Akeem Siemen, 5’10 180lbs Sr.WR Nick Alegria, 5’11 175lbs Sr.QB Johnmichael Rosales 6’2 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 26/26Starters Returning O/D: 5/8Enrollment: 2,825State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011. Lost to SA Reagan in State 5A Div I Regional Finals in 2008.

Los Fresnos WR Akeem Siemen will lead the Falcons in 2012 in District 32-5A. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

Leo Aguilar Memo-rial Stadium is home to the 32-5A Los Fresnos Falcons with seating up to 7,500 fans. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

cardinals

Mark Anthony RosalesHarlingen High

Ray MorenoHarlingen High

Victor CruzHarlingen High

Rey GonzalezHarlingen High

Brandon VasquezHarlingen High

Gilbert BermeaHarlingen High

Erik JornHarlingen High

Nathan PradoHarlingen High

Omar Dumont HunterHarlingen High


//////////////////////////////////////////////Harlingen Cardinals

District 32-5A

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August31 SA JohnsonSeptember7 San Benito14 Bro Rivera21 Bro LopezOctober5 Los Fresnos*12 Bro Pace*19 Bro Veterans*26 Bro Porter*November5 Har South*8 Bro Hanna*


Head coachManny Gomez


2011 State 5A Division I Quarterfinals. Lost SA Madison 42-27.

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cardinalsharlingenDistrict 32-5A

(Harlingen, Tx)-What can Harlin-gen do for an encore in the 2012 high school football season?A lot of people really don’t want to know – especially the rest of the teams in the newly realigned District 32-5A. In 2010 the Cardinals averaged more than 45 points a game and manhandled teams left and right. When asked what they could do for an encore then, they re-sponded by scoring more than 700 points during the season, av-eraging nearly 51 a game and ad-vancing to the state quarterfinals before San Antonio Madison fi-nally chained down the Harlingen machine. So, do you really want to see what Encore No. 3 could look like? For starters, the Cardinals will host San Antonio Johnson from District 26-5A on August 31st and then we’ll see what hap-pens next.“We’re just gonna pick up where we left off – that’s my philoso-

DidYOUknow?The Harlingen Cardinals have been to three straight Class 5A Division I Regional finalssince 2009.

ATH Omar Hunter, 5’11 185lbs Sr.LB Gilbert Bermea, 5’11 200lbs Sr.LB Nathan Prado 5’10 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 24/3Starters Returning O/D: 3/2Enrollment: 2,826State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001,2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011. Made 5A State Quarter finlas in 2002, 2005, 2011.

phy,” said head coach Manny Go-mez. Gomez, who starred on defense for the 1989 Cardinals team, en-ters his 17th season overall as a coach and 6th as a head coach. He has a 54-9 overall record all with the Cards. “We have four returning on offense and two on defense,” Gomez said. On offense, Brandon Garza will call the signals for the Cardinals offense. The quarterback was rated No. 1 at a camp in Round Rock and will have a staunch of-fensive line protecting him and ripping holes through the defense for playmakers Omar Dumont Hunter and Nathan Prado. Gomez believes this could be the best of-fensive line he’s ever coached. The Cardinals offense will run multiple alignments, 95 percent of them coming out of the spread. The defense, also multiple, will be a base 4-3 where the defense matches up with the personnel on the other side. Other players to

watch are Erik Jorn, Bran-don Vasquez, and Rey Gon-zalez. Gomez isn’t neces-sarily overlooking the new District 32-5A but he, his coaching staff and players know that the ultimate goal is a state championship – something regularly talked about in the Cardinals locker room.

chargers

Angel ArrellanoBrownsville Veterans

Armando CorreraBrownsville Veterans

Jesus TobarBrownsville Veterans

Teddy CepedaBrownsville Veterans

Adrian GarciaBrownsville Veterans

Alexis PalaciosBrownsville Veterans

Adrian AlejanoroBrownsville Veterans

Matthew FrancoBrownsville Veterans

Oscar BaezBrownsville Veterans

Luis MallozziBrownsville Veterans


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August31 Port IsabelSeptember7 RGC14 Bro Porter*21 Har South*27 Bro Hanna*October4 Bro Rivera*12 Bro Lopez*19 Harlingen*27 Los Fresnos*November3 Bro Pace*


Head coachDavid Cantu


1st Year

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chargersmemorialBrownsville Veterans

OL Teddy Cepeda, 5’10 275lbs Sr.DE Armando Correra, 5’9 215lbs Sr.RB Alexis Palacios 5’0 135lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 14/24Starters Returning O/D: 8/8Enrollment: 2,495State playoffs appearances since 2000: First season.

(Brownsville, Tx)-Ever since the Olympics finished and Mexico won the gold medal in soccer, by defeat-ing Brazil, a lot of talk has focused on the fact that Mexico’s younger teams (like Under-17…) were winning world champion-ships. The logic leads fans to believe that Mexico will be dominant in the sport for years to come. Makes sense, right? So, is it fair to say then that the Brownsville Veter-ans Memorial high school football team should be competitive at the least when they kick off their first varsity season this year? Only time will tell. The Chargers, who played a sub-varsity schedule for the past two seasons - have combined for a 17-1 record during that time frame. Now with a varsity sched-ule that includes Browns-

ville’s other five teams, Harlingen, Harlingen South and Los Fresnos, first-year head coach David Cantu looks to make the logic stick. The Chargers take to the field for their first varsity football game Aug. 31 at Class 3A Port Isabel then travel to Class 4A Rio Grande City on Sept. 7. Cantu replaced Mark Guess, who head coached the Chargers through their two seasons of sub-varsity play. Guess was named Browns-ville Independent School District Athletic Director in the summer, leaving the position open for Can-tu. Cantu had spent the past two seasons at Brownsville Rivera. Be-fore that stint he was the offensive coordinator for six years at power-ful Los Fresnos. The Charger’s roster is obviously filled with juniors and seniors. The offensive line looks to be solid with junior Adrian Garcia (6-0, 300) at center and teamed with senior Teddy Cepeda (5-9, 275). Senior Alex Palacios (5-0, 130) is listed at running back and will compete

for carries with Adrian Alejandro (5-5, 140) and fullback Matthew Franco (5-8, 165). Armando Cor-rea (5-9, 215) and Angel Arrella-no (5-6, 190) were penciled in as defensive ends, Oscar Baez (6-0, 180) listed at free safety and Ri-cardo Carlos (5-10, 160) at strong safety. The Brownsville Veterans Me-morial Chargers open their in-augural District 32-5A schedule Sept. 14 against sister school -- and rival now, of course -- Brownsville Porter. Look for the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers to take charge when the season kickoffs August 31st.

hawks

Santiago FloresHarlingen South

Jaedon TaylorHarlingen South

Jerry MunozHarlingen South

Rudy BevlangaHarlingen South

Jason SqonzHarlingen South

Carlos Del-AngelHarlingen South

Jacob VillarrealHarlingen South

Nick GarciaHarlingen South

Sean MontemayorHarlingen South

Kristian RodriguezHarlingen South


//////////////////////////////////////////////Harlingen South Hawks

District 32-5A

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August31 McA RoweSeptember7 PSJA Mem13 Bro Pace*21 Bro Veterans*29 Bro Porter*October12 Bro Hanna*20 Bro Rivera*26 Bro Lopez*November2 Harlingen*9 Los Fresnos*


Head coachLanny Wilson


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hawkssouthHarlingen

(Harlingen, Tx)-Harlingen this….The Cardinals will…Harlingen, Harlingen, Harlingen. When Har-lingen is brought to mind during football season, many minds go to the powerhouse Cardinals, who have made a name for themselves by dominating all Valley competi-tors and even advancing to the fourth round of the state playoffs last year. But there’s another Dis-trict 32-5A school in Harlingen. They also plan to make some noise down South this year - and lot’s of it too. The Harlingen South Hawks have the district’s top return-ing quarterback with junior Sean Montemayor (5-7, 170), who passed for more than 1,700 yards and 18 touchdowns. His top tar-gets include Nick Garcia (6-0, 165), Jason Saenz (6-2, 200) and Jacob Villarreal (5-11, 160) and sophomore Jaedon Taylor (5-9, 165), who may also see some time in the backfield. Montemayor also has return-ing in the backfield senior Oscar

WR Akeem Siemen, 5’10 180lbs Sr.WR Nick Alegria, 5’11 175lbs Sr.QB Johnmichael Rosales 6’2 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 26/26Starters Returning O/D: 5/8Enrollment: 2,825State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002, 2003, 2006, & 2007.

Garza (5-10, 145), who rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Harlingen South is coming off a 2-8 record and hasn’t had very much success lately in their dis-trict, going 5-33 since the 2008 season. The Hawks have also been dominated by city rival Har-lingen, losing by an average score of 66-10 during those four years. The year before however, in 2007, Harlingen South defeated Harlin-gen 21-7 en route to a 7-0 record in the district and a 12-1 overall record. The Hawks advanced to the third round of three playoffs that year. The Harlingen South defense, which gave up about 36 points a game last season, will be led by linebackers Austin Lambert (5-8, 175), who led the team with 180 tackles last season and Brandon Rodriguez (5-6, 169). The defen-sive line will look to senior Santi-ago Flores (5-11, 200), and junior Kristian Rodriguez (5-8, 215) to turn things around.

First-year head coach Lanny Wilson takes over the Harlingen South helm and has put those past four years far away in everyone’s memory. With a load of skill position players, the Hawks are hoping to jump back into playoff contention. That could come down to the fi-nal two weeks of the season when Harlingen South faces Harlingen on Nov. 2 and Los Fresnos on Nov. 9, the regular-season finale. But for now, the Hawks will fly South for a playoff spot in 2012 in 32-5A.

cowboys

21Zdardo VidalBrownsville Porter

Rolando SotoBrownsville Porter

Raul VelezBrownsville Porter

Erik RodriguezBrownsville Porter

Jared VallegoBrownsville Porter

Luis GarzaBrownsville Porter

Mario VillaBrownsville Porter

Arturo MedinaBrownsville Porter

Oscar GonzalezBrownsville Porter

Joel GarzaBrownsville Porter


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September1 Economedes7 La Joya14 Bro Veterans*29 Har South*October6 Bro Hanna*13 Bro Rivera*19 Bro Lopez*25 Harlingen*November2 Los Fresnos*9 Bro Pace*


Head coachHector Garcia

4th season


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cowboysporterBrownsville

RB Arturo Medina, 5’7 140lbs Sr.QB Joel Garza, 6’0 165lbs Sr.DE Rolando Soto 6’0 210lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 8/20Starters Returning O/D: 3/5Enrollment: 2,219State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2004 & 2008

(Brownsville, Tx)-Three 1-9 seasons in the past six sea-sons, most recently last sea-son. That combined record is 5-26 over the past three seasons and 14-40 in the past six seasons - including a 6-5 record, and a playoff berth, in the 2008 season. That’s what head coach Hector Garcia has facing him this season as he en-ters his fourth season at the Porter Cowboys helm. To make matters tougher for the Cowboys, they lost a slew of players to gradu-ation and return just three starters on offense and four on defense return. Garcia said he believes the team is making adjust-ments and there’s just been a learning curve as he insti-tuted a new system. Now in their fourth season, he’s expecting improvement - whether or not enough to

make the playoffs is still ques-tionable, but the Cowboys still have some skilled positions players with solid numbers re-turning. A few offensive sparks and the Cowboys could surprise some people. Highlighting those skilled po-sitions are a trio of players. Joel Garza (6-0, 180) will take over the quarterback reins after play-ing linebacker and wide receiv-ers last season. His prime targets will be Luis Garza (5-5, 146) and possibly Mario Villa (5-7, 150). Garza hauled in more than 700 yards through the air last year. Brownsville Porter also re-turns starting running back Ar-turo Medina (5-10, 175). Players vying for time along the offensive front include Rob-ert Payan (6-0, 210), Eric Ro-driguez (5-9, 195) and Bryan Gamboa. Edgardo Vidal 5-7, 185) spearheads the defense and will play a crucial role if the Cowboys are going to improve

upon most recent years. Oscar Gonzalez (5-11, 155) and Alan Govea (5-9, 220) will also com-pete for time in the middle of the Porter defense. Rolando Soto (6-0, 210) and Dante Vazquez (5-7, 165) are listed at defensive ends and Villa and Angle Rodri-guez (5-9, 140) are penciled in as players to watch in the sec-ondary. Porter opens the season at home against Edinburg Econo-medes (Sept. 1) and on the road at La Joya. Two wins there could mean a competitive season for the Cowboys. “Our players are ready for 2012,” says Garcia.

raiders

Joey FernandezBrownsville Rivera

Alfonso TorresBrownsville Rivera

Jorge BotelloBrownsville Rivera

Alex BrisenoBrownsville Rivera

Leo TejadaBrownsville Rivera

Cesar GarciaBrownsville Rivera

Manuel TrevinoBrownsville Rivera

Manuel MartinezBrownsville Rivera

Chris MontesBrownsville Rivera

David GutierrezBrownsville Rivera


//////////////////////////////////////////////Brownsville Rivera Raiders

District 32-5A

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August30 Mission VetsSeptember7 Ed North14 Harlingen*22 Los Fresnos*28 Bro Pace*October4 Bro Veterans*13 Bro Porter*20 Har South*26 Bro Hanna*November10 Bro Lopez*


Head coachTom Chavez


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(Brownsville, Tx)-A lot of teams in the Rio Grande Valley have gone to the spread offense in re-cent years. You won’t be seeing Tom Chavez or the Brownsville Rivera Raiders going to it any-time soon. In fact, Chavez, who is back to coach the Rivera Raiders for the second time in his career is doing just the opposite. He’s going from the spread game to a more controlled running attack. It will pass as well, but the key to the Rivera season could be in how many first downs they can ground out on each drive, slowing down the high-flying spread teams. “I’m more of a control guy,” Chavez said. I’m not going to get into that college offense that ev-eryone else seems to be going to. We’ll get under center, run out of the I formation and a couple oth-ers, we’ll play action pass, we’ll even get into the one-back set. “They must enjoy watching that spread on television. It takes a lot of quality skilled-position players to run and develop that. There’s

DidYOUknow?Tom Chavez first coached the Rivera Raiders and led them to back-to-back playoffs in 2002 & 2003.

DT Juan Perez, 5’11 210lbs Sr.LB Manny Trevino, 5’11 170lbs Sr.RB Jacquil Evans 5’10 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 25/14Starters Returning O/D: 8/8Enrollment: 2,268State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002 & 2003

gotta be some reason the pros don’t run it.”Running backs Jacquil Evans (5-9, 185) and Alfonso Torres (5-6, 160) will be featured in the backfield taking handoffs from returning starter Manny Martinez (5-9, 155) and maybe some from sophomore Danny Elizondo (5-10, 170). Chavez said there are four ca-pable quarterbacks on the teams, a possible result of running the spread offense. The difference now, however, is that none of those quarterback have spent sig-nificant time under center. “We’ve changed all that and it’s been all right. The kids are buying in. They are coming to practice in the heat, not missing any days and working hard,” he said. “We’re not here to wait for three years to get the program going. We want to get it going right away.” Manny Trevino (5-9, 175) re-turns at the middle linebacker spot and will be called on to line up the rest of the defense. Chavez

said the team will have vari-ous formations but will go with six players in the box on most occasions. While he’s not running the spread, he knows he’s going to face it numerous times and wants to run a defense flex-ible enough to deal with any formation he faces. Joey Fer-nandez (5-4, 165) and Juan Perez (5-11, 200) will also be key for the Raiders on de-fense.


Robert Gomez208 W Ferguson Unit 2 Ste 7 Pharr, Texas 78577

956-702-2705

Jessenia Ocon1106 W. Veterans Blvd Ste B

Mission Tx 78572

956-502-0556

Rosvel Pruneda1725 W. Main St

Rio Grande City, Tx 78582

956-263-1752

Lyra Salazar1727 W. University Dr.Edinburg, Texas 78539

956-381-4300

Hector Ibarra1001 S. 10th Ste 201


956-682-5919

Sylvia Ortega720 E. Edinburg Ave. Ste 1003

Elsa, Texas 78543

956-650-3235

Steven Bazan118 S. Shary Road

Mission, Texas 78572

956-519-1780

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lobos

23Marco ZarcoBrownsville Lopez

Mando CastilloBrownsville Lopez

Jose Luis GutierrezBrownsville Lopez

Rudy BalliBrownsville Lopez

Carlos NietoBrownsville Lopez

Luis AguilarBrownsville Lopez

Rene AguilarBrownsville Lopez

Gilbert VasquezBrownsville Lopez

Manuel BandaBrownsville Lopez

Artie CortezBrownsville Lopez


//////////////////////////////////////////////Brownsville Lopez Lobos

District 32-5A

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2012FOOTBA

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August31 La JoyaSeptember7 Valley View20 Harlingen*28 Los Fresnos*October5 Bro Pace*12 Bro Veterans*19 Bro Porter*26 Har South*November2 Bro Hanna*10 Bro Rivera*


Head coachMichael Ramirez

2nd Season2011 Overall RecordSeason 3-7 District 2-5

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loboslopezBrownsville

(Brownsville, Tx)-Brownsville Lopez equaled its victory total (3) last year that it had accumulated the previous three seasons (1-9, 1-9, 1-9). However, it didn’t meet the expectations of second-year head coach Michael Ramirez, but it did give the Lobos something to on. “The next step is a win-ning season,” Ramirez said. “We haven’t had a winning season in a while. We hope to make the play-offs this year.” Ramirez and staff came in last season and changed the football philosophy. Gone is the spread team; in is more of a power game.“We were a finesse team I guess you could say,” Ramirez said. “I don’t think finesse is a word that jives with football. I wanted to get more physical. That’s the type of team I want us to be.” Ramirez said that in the games the Lobos won (Edinburg Econo-medes, Brownsville Porter, Brownsville Hanna), he saw a much more physical team. He also saw better competition as the

DidYOUknow?Tom Chavez first coached the Rivera Raiders and led them to back-to-back playoffs in 2002 & 2003.

DT Victor Ledesma, 6’0 245lbs Sr.QB Gilbert Vasquez, 6’0 185lbs Sr.LB Daniel Cisneros 6’2 205lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 15/29Starters Returning O/D: 4/3Enrollment: 2,328State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2005, & 2006

season continued. “We were play-ing the tougher teams deeper and I saw us getting better - I think our opponents would say they saw a difference in our team too.”The Lobos don’t have a lot of starters returning (four offense, three defense) but Ramirez is ex-cited about the quality of those returner. Gilbert Vasquez (6-0. 190) is a three-year letterman return-ing at the quarterback slot. His main target in the backfield will be fullback Manuel Banda (5-9, 190). Ramirez said there are sev-eral players who can come in and out at wideout and force defenses to have to cover the entire field. Mando Castillo (6-2, 260) is the only returning offensive lineman returning.“We was really raw and had lots of potential last year,” Ramirez said. “We’re excited about him. He’s a lot stronger.” Danny Cis-neros (6-2, 205) will lead the de-fense from the middle linebacker slot and will be joined by Rene

Aguilar (5-8, 175). Defen-sive ends (known as the twin towers) Richard Trujillo and Luis Torres (6-2, 210) will be on the outsides of the line on defense. Carlos Nieto (5-10) and Alex Garcia (5-8, 150) will shore up the secondary. The Lobos will open against Harlingen at Sams Stadium with hopes of an upset on September 20th. Kickogg is set for 7:30 p.m.

eagles

Travis GrienierBrownsville Hanna

Ryan CisnerosBrownsville Hanna

Charles AtkinsonBrownsville Hanna

Victor QuezadaBrownsville Hanna

Javier MascorroBrownsville Hanna

Jacob MolinaBrownsville Hanna

Danny GarciaBrownsville Hanna

Ramiro OlivaresBrownsville Hanna

Joel RodriguezBrownsville Hanna

Jesse San MiguelBrownsville Hanna


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August30 SharylandSeptember7 Mission14 Los Fresnos*21 Bro Pace*27 Bro Veterans*October6 Bro Porter*12 Har South*26 Bro Rivera*November2 Bro Lopez*8 Harlingen*


Head coachRene Medrano


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1st Year

TE Charles Atkinson, 6’1 215lbs Sr.DT Javier Mascorro, 6’0 240lbs Sr.DE John Marquez 6’0 200lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 33/18Starters Returning O/D: 7/7Enrollment: 3,041State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001 & 2009 . Went undefeated in 32-5A and won district title in 2009.

(Brownsville, Tx)-Rene Me-drano comes into Browns-ville Hanna with the Eagles coming off rough back-to-back seasons - 3-7 and 1-9 respectively. But he’s not looking to turn the Eagles into overnight sensations (he’ll take it of course) but he’s looking to build a pro-gram for the long haul. But he also knows with seven starters returning on each side of the ball, there could be some good things happening as soon as now. Of course, it was just three seasons ago, in 2009, that Hanna won its district with-out a blemish and compiled a 9-0 overall record. Medrano sees some posi-tives from a three-game stretch midway through last season where the Eagles de-feated La Joya, Brownsville Porter and Brownsville Ri-vera back-to-back-to back. That street was ended in a

10-6 setback to Brownsville Pace.“I know they were pretty scrappy and played really well in some tight games,” Medrano said. “The good thing is that there are a lot of players coming back and they don’t lack the experience of being in close games. That will just help them be on top this time.” Medrano said the toughest chal-lenge the players face is adjusting to new coaches and a new system. Jacob Molina (5-7, 150) returns at the quarterback position and Medrano said Molina’s been feel-ing some pressure from some oth-er quarterback hopefuls. “Having competition from inside is good,” the first-year coach said. Second-team all district Danny Garcia (5-10, 185) will again be seen in the backfield, now in the Eagles’ one-back spread offense. He’ll also be used at wideout. Tight end Chuck Atkinson (6-1, 215) will also be a big target for Molina. Atkinson was injured midway through last season and should have a solid senior campaign. Fullback Travis

Greiner (5-7, 221) will see plenty of time in the Eagles backfield. “It’s all going to come down to protection,” Medrano said. “We will really have to work that. Our size isn’t bad and the kids have been hitting the weights. We’ve got a few 5-11 and 6-foot kids there so the strength is there.” The 3-4 defense will be an-chored by returning outside line-backer Victor Quezada (5-9, 189) and will be joined by returning starter Kevin Pizana (5-10, 205). John Ray (5-8, 165) will back them up at the safety slot and Ja-vier Mascorro (6-0, 240) will an-chor the defensive front.

eagles

2615 Price Road 956.548.7600Rene Medrano, Athletic Coordinator

1 Blvd. of Champions/Sams StadiumMark Guess-Director of Athletics

956.548.8261

314 W. Los Ebanos Blvd 956.548.7700William Deen, Athletic Coordinator

4550 U.S. Military Hwy 281956.574.5600

David Cantu, Athletic Coordinator3205 S. Dakota Avenue 956.982.7400Michael Ramirez, Athletic Coordinator

6955 FM 802 956.831.8700Tom Chavez, Athletic Coordinator

3500 Int’l Blvd 956.548.7800Hector Garcia, Athletic Coordinator

We Are Proud of Our Student Athletes.

At Brownsville ISD,We Are Striving to Become

the Best.

1 Blvd of Champions/Sams StadiumMark Guess, Director of Athletics

956.548.8261


eagles

vikings

32-4AHiram Morales

Brownsville PaceJorge Perdomo

Brownsville PaceJose Gutierrez

Brownsville Pace

Jose Arturo VilanoBrownsville Pace

Brandon RamosBrownsville Pace

Christian JacobaBrownsville Pace

Oscar MartinezBrownsville Pace

Daniel CordevasBrownsville Pace


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Head coachWilliam Deen


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vikingspace Brownsville

OL Hiram Morales, 6’2 235lbs Sr.OL Jose Gutierrez, 6’0 250lbs Sr.OL Jorge Perdomo 5’11 245lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 17/19Starters Returning O/D: 3/4Enrollment: 2,202State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011. Won Class 5A Division II Bi-District title in 2011.

(Brownsville, Tx)-Browns-ville Pace advanced to the playoffs in 2007 after com-ing off a miserable 2006 campaign with a 3-7 record.Strange thing is, one year later, the Vikings again went 3-7 - but made the playoffs.As you may have guessed, they got knocked out in the first round of those 2007 playoffs. Not too impres-sive, huh? But you know what’s been impressive? That playoff appearance was the first of what has now been five straight playoff appearances and no fewer than six wins in each of the past for sea-sons. Last year was the best of that span as the Vikings completed an 8-2 campaign and defeated PSJA North 42-21 in the first round of the playoffs before falling victim to Alexander, 35-6. But there have been a lot

of changes since that season and the Vikings may be hard pressed to repeat that success. Gone are most of a group of all-district players. Gone is head coach Rene Medrano, who was reassigned within the district and now coach-es at Brownsville Hanna. However, in his first-year as head coach William Deen still has some skilled players to keep the Vikings in contention in the newly aligned District 32-5A, home of six Brownsville schools, Harlingen, Harlingen South and Los Fresnos. “I am overwhelmed with the opportunity that has been given to me,” said Deen. “This means a lot.” Deen most recently was de-fensive coordinator at Browns-ville Hanna. He also spent time coaching at Brownsville Rivera, Brownsville Porter, Harlingen South and Odessa High School. Deen was named head football coach in late April of 2012. Adrian Alejandro will be the key in an offense that returns few

starters. He was the district’s of-fensive newcomer of the year. Hiram Morales (6-2, 255) will also play a key role offensively on the offensive line and will work with Jorge Perdomo (5-11, 250) and Jose Gutierrez (6-0, 250). Deen lists senior Brandon Ra-mos (5-9, 170) at quarterback and sophomore Jose Arturo Vilano (5-9, 176) at quarterback/wide receiver. The Brownsville Pace Raiders open their season Aug. 30 at PSJA Southwest before coming home Sept. 6 against Nikki Rowe. Their District 32-5A season opener is Sept. 13 at Harlingen South.

Sams Stadium is home to six Brownsville ISD Schools. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador

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1. Edcouch-Elsa 2. Mercedes 3. Rio Grande City 4. Mission5. Mission Veterans 6. Roma 7. PSJA Southwest 8. Valley View


PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Isaiah Garza, 5’8, 160LBS-Mercedes H.S.PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: LB Otoniel Garcia, 6’0, 190LBS-Rio Grande City H.S.

(Mercedes, Tx)-The Mercedes Tigers will begin its quest of win-ning a district title by taking on state-ranked Calallen on August 31st at home while newcomer to the district, PSJA Southwest will be kicking off the season on August 30th with Brownsville Pace at the newly-reconstructed PSJA Stadium, which will sit 11,000 fans. Rio Grande City will meet Edinburg North at home on August 30th playing in front of the big screen. “That score-board and video tron is huge. I just hope that we don’t run too many replays of our offense on that board,” laughs head coach Carlos Longoria of Rio Grande City. Last season, the Weslaco East Wildcats won the District 32-4A title but have since moved up to the Class 5A ranks. This will leave the district title up for grabs with favorites Edcouch-Elsa, Rio Grande City, and Mercedes all vying for the title. With Mission moving down to the 4A classification, the Eagles could reclaim the title too. The Eagles won the 32-4A title in 2009 with head coach Mario Pena taking over the program. They went undefeated in district play and also advanced to the Class 4A Di-

vision I area playoffs before losing at heart breaker to Gregory-Portland 12-7. The following season the Eagles were realigned back to Class 5A and posted a 4-6 record in District 30-5A in 2010 and finished 2011 with a disappointing 2-8 record. “This will be a great challenge that’s why we are playing Calallen. We need to play a tough non-district schedule inorder to improve,” adds Mercedes head coach Mike Uribe. Last year the Mercedes Tigers, Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets, Rio Grande City Rattlers, and East Wildcats all advanced to the state playoffs and with Calallen realigned to District 30-4A, this means that District 32-4A will meet District 31-4A. A chance to move past the first round of the state playoffs. The newly re-aligned 31-4A district will be made up of Alice, Nixon, Corpus Christi Ray, Laredo Cigarroa, Laredo Martin, Flour Bluff, Cor-pus Christi Moody, and Corpus Christi Miller. Roma has taken a jump start by scheduling non-district games with Martin (8/31)and Cigarroa (9/14). The Gladiators missed the playoffs in 2011 with a season finale loss to Mercedes in overtime 35-28.


javelinas

Faustino SadanaPSJA Southwest

Manny GarzaPSJA Southwest

Gilbert GalvanPSJA Southwest

Joe MartinezPSJA Southwest

Luis GutierrezPSJA Southwest

Carlos PortalesPSJA Southwest

Jorge CantuPSJA Southwest

Lorenzo HuertaPSJA Southwest

Jose GarciaPSJA Southwest

Jessie VillarrealPSJA Southwest


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Head coachJesus Reyes


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OL Jonathon Soto, 5’6 215lbs Jr.RB Jesse Villarreal, 5’5 160lbs Jr.DB Lorenzo Huerta 5’4 135lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 0/0Starters Returning O/D: 0/0Enrollment: 1,722State playoffs appearances since 2000: 1st season

(Pharr, Tx)-The PSJA Southwest Javelinas will make their varsity debut this season under head coach Jesus Reyes. After finding success as a junior varsity program last year, the Ja-velinas will try to “play it forward” and find some success on the varsity lev-el. PSJA Southwest is the fourth high school for the PSJA school district. Reyes has been with the program since the school opened and has been a coach within the PSJA school dis-trict for years. PSJA Southwest makes its debut as a varsity squad Aug. 30 against District 32-5A’s Brownsville Pace. The Javelinas will no doubt be a young squad but one look at their ros-ter shows that they should have size and speed in areas where they’ll try to take ad-

vantage of their opponents. On offense, sophomore tight end Luis Gutierrez (6-1, 220) is the perfect example. He could more than likely cause a lot of matchup problems against line-backers and defensive secondar-ies. Fellow sophomore Carlos Portales (5-10, 176) will be the one trying to locate Gutierrez in those mismatches at quarterback. Homero Alaniz (6-0, 155), an-other sophomore will line up at wideout. Junior Martin Saldana 5-10, 155) is expected to carry the bulk of the work in the backfield for the Javelinas and could share time junior Jessie Villarreal (5-5, 160) and sophomore Carlos Mar-quez (5-7, 156). Penciled in along the line are juniors Gilbert Galvan (5-11, 270) and Jonathan Soto (5-6, 215). The defensive line will look at junior defensive ends German Beltran (6-1, 200) and Joe Mar-tinez (5-10, 210) to clog the of-fense’s running games. Looking

to stop the pass will be junior defensive back Lorenzo Huerta (5-4, 134) and Osiel Zuniga. In between those two, sophomore linebacker Carlos Marquez will play a key role in making the sure the defenses are lined up. The Javelinas travel to Rio Grande City to face the Rat-tlers in the mutual opener for both schools in District 32-4A. The following week, Mercedes comes to PSJA Southwest for the Javelinas’ district home opener at the newly remodeled PSJA Sta-dium featuring new press boxes, stadium seating to accommodate up to 11,000 fans.

rattlers

Alejandro SanchezRio Grande City

Otoniel GarciaRio Grande City

Luis Lauro LopezRio Grande City

Taylor Greene DelgadoRio Grande City

Erick MartinezRio Grande City

Andrew PrattRio Grande City

Jose RubukavaRio Grande City

Carlos RoblesRio Grande City

Jesus Lucero Jr.Rio Grande City


//////////////////////////////////////////////Rio Grande City Rattlers

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Head coachCarlos Longoria

2nd season2011 Overall RecordSeason 6-5 District 6-2

Advanced to Class 4A Div I Bi-DistrictLost to Flour Bluff 39-36

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OL Erik Martinez, 6’0 230lbs Sr.DL Jesus Lucero Jr, 5’11 223lbs Sr.OL Andrew Pratt 6’2 285lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 24/26Starters Returning O/D: 4/6Enrollment: 2,003State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2006, 2009, & 2011.

(Rio Grande City, Tx)-There are a lot of differing philosophies throughout the Rio Grande Val-ley regarding the spread offense.“Finesse and football just don’t jive.”“It takes too many skill players to make it work.”“It keeps bigger, stronger de-fenses off balance and the speed wears them out.” But no matter what the pros and cons are, one thing is for certain - the spread did wonders at Rio Grande City last year. Carlos Longoria took over the helm last year following a 1-9 record during the 2009 season. He and his coaches put in the spread formation and the Rat-tlers rarely looked back, running to a 6-5 record - 6-2 in the dis-trict. Rio Grande City also advanced to the State 4A Division I play-offs and barely fell to Flour Bluff during a first-round offen-sive fiasco, 39-36. After two non-district losses

where the offense floundered, scor-ing just 14 points total, Rio Grande City reared back and struck. The Rattlers went 4-1 over the next five games, averaging 37.5 points in those victories. The only loss during that run came to Weslaco East, 28-14. The Rattlers haven’t made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since the 1998-1999 seasons. Their offense could be enough to end that skid, getting them back into the playoffs and possibly contend with perennial superpower Edcouch-Elsa. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Rattlers 42-21 last season. Players to watch are Andrew Pratt (6-2, 285), Erick Martinez (6-0, 230) and Carlos Robles (5-10, 253) give the Rattlers enough size and strength up front to again go quick in District 32-4A. They’ll protect junior quarterback Noe Gonzalez III (6-0, 174) who can not only throw but, if needed, can take off with the football. WR J.D Hernandez (5-7, 158) will be his key target along while Taylor

Greene Delgado (5-9, 145) will also be a viable option. Jesus Lucero Jr. (5-11, 223) will attack from the defensive tackle position and outside linebacker Otoniel Garcia (6-0, 189) will be the defensive field general. Garcia amassed 65 tackles and 10 sacks last season and is considered the top defensive returner for the region. Safety Alex Sanchez (5-8), 175) returned one of his three interceptions back for a touchdown last year and add-ed tackles. He was a second-team all-district honoree.

tigers

Sal RiveraMercedes

Lee GomezMercedes

Leo RamirezMercedes

Isaiah GarzaMercedes

Brandon HernandezMercedes

RJ GarzaMercedes

Matthew GuzmanMercedes


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August31 CalallenSeptember7 Hidalgo14 La Feria21 MissionVets*October5 PSJA SW*12 RGC*19 Valley View*26 Ed-Elsa*November2 Roma*8 Mission*


Head coachMike Uribe4th Season


Class 4A Div II Bi-DistrictLost to Calallen 46-10

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WR Carlos Quintanilla, 5’8 152lbs Sr.WR Brandon Hernandez, 5’11 180lbs Sr.QB Isaiah Garza 150lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 19/21Starters Returning O/D: 6/4Enrollment: 1,487State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011.Advanced to the State 4A Division II Bi-District finals for the past six straight seasons.

(Mercedes, Tx)-The fo-cus is all the same when it comes to District 32-4A for the 2012 season. Most eyes are focused on Edcouch-Elsa’s return to dominance. Many eyes are watching the upstart Rio Grande City Rattlers and their second year in the spread offense. Some eyes, however, are taking glances at head coach Mike Uribe and the Mercedes Tigers.Not known for being a powerhouse, but for being a consistent performing squad over the past seven seasons (a 42-35 record, .545 winning percentage, no fewer than four wins, no more than eight), 2012 could be a breakout season for the Mercedes Tigers. Mercedes returns six of-fensive starters from a year ago. Just like Rio Grande City and Edcouch-Elsa, the Tigers return much

better than average skill position players. Quarterback Isaiah Gar-za (5-9, 150) combined for 2,100 yards rushing and passing, and 16 touchdowns. He again will guide what should be a potent Mercedes offense. His top targets downfield will be receiver Carlos Quinta-nilla (5-8, 152) and fellow senior Brandon Hernandez (5-11, 180). Garza and Quintanilla are the top returning yardage leaders in the district at their respective posi-tions. Gilbert Vela (5-7, 175), a standout special teams player last year, and Matthew Guzman (5-5, 165) will add speed and more threats in the Tigers’ backfield. Mercedes started its season last year more like turtles than Ti-gers. Their only win during the first seven games of the season came against Mission Veterans Memorial. But following a 1-6 start - the last game being a tight 23-21 loss to Hidalgo - something clicked and the Tigers went on a three-game win streak with victo-ries over La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, Valley View and Roma. They lit-

erally clawed their way to a sixth straight playoff appearance be-fore falling to Calallen in the first round.The Tigers have four returning defensive starters led by line-backer Gerardo (5-5, 195). Se-nior Robbie Garcia (5-8, 255) and Rick Hinojosa (5-11, 270) will be key cogs on the defensive line and Leo Ramirez and TJ De la Cerda will be the last line of defense in the secondary. The Tigers will surely get a taste of where they stand right off the bat when they host Calallen for their season opener Aug. 31.

MercedesTIGERSMercedesTIGERS

20122012

www.misdtx.schoolwires.com

32-4AAAA

Head Football CoachMercedes Athletic Director

Michael Uribe

Mercedes High School PrincipalPatricia Masso

Mercedes ISD SuperintendentDr. Daniel Trevino Jr.

Advertisement paid by Mercedes ISD.

Varsity ScheduleAugust 31 CalallenSept 7 HidalgoSept 14 La FeriaSept 21 Mission Veterans*Oct 5 PSJA Southwest*Oct 12 Rio Grande City *Oct 19 Valley View*Oct 26 Edcouch-Elsa*Nov 2 Roma*Nov 8 Mission*

**December 20-22, 2012UIL State Championships(Site to be announced)

HHAHAHHAHA

State Playoffs Since 2000: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011State Playoffs Since 2000: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

1200 South Florida Mercedes, Texas

956-514-2100

tigers

Amulfo MarinValley View

Juan VasquezValley View

Alexis GuajardoValley View

Jerry FloresValley View

Carlos PeralesValley View

Alex MelendezValley View


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August31 ProgresoSeptember7 Bro Lopez14 Hidalgo28 Mission*October4 Mission Vets*12 PSJA SW*19 Mercedes*26 RGC*November2 Ed-Elsa*9 Roma*


Head coachChristian Navarro

2nd season2011 Overall RecordSeason 1-9 District 0-8

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SS Carlos Perales, 5’10 165lbs Sr.RB Alex Guarjardo, 5’11 175lbs Sr.QB Juan Vasquez 6’1 165lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 6/6Starters Returning O/D: 5/4Enrollment: 1,302State playoffs appearances since 2000: None.

(Pharr, Tx)-The Valley View Tigers have one goal in mind. Improvement.Football has been a struggle in this town - 1-9 four times and 0-10 twice in the past six years - but there’s no giving up. Every year is new and every year brings opportu-nities. That doesn’t mean suddenly you’re doing to see Valley View at the up-per echelons of the district - but winning can become contagious and the numbers continue to show for football every offseason. Those opportunities could be snapped into the hands of quarterback Johnny Vasquez (6-1, 165), who returns as the Tigers’ signal caller. Vasquez threw for 340 yards and five touchdowns last year while also rushing for nearly 200 yards. He knows he’ll be protected with Vic-tor Rodriguez (5-11, 280)

anchoring the offensive line at center. “We are hoping to im-proved every year. Our district is tough and playing teams like tradition rich teams like Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes are always a challenge,” says head coach Christian Navarro,” As for Rodriguez, he earned all-district honors last year and if the offensive line can gel with him, that will be an area of strength for the Tigers. Alex Guajardo (5-10, 175) is a senior returning at running back for Valley View and will be the featured back as the Tigers look to improve offen-sively. Valley View opened last season with a 20-2 victory over Progreso. After that things unraveled. The team finished the year being shut out in four of their last six games. They had a shot against district rival Hidalgo during that span but fell 25-20 in a hard fought matchup. The Tigers once again open with

Progreso on the road. They play Hidalgo - this time in a non-con-ference matchup - at home in their final warmup for a tough District 32-4A schedule. On defense, Chris Zavala (6-0, 165) is speedy and will be leaned on to help improve a defense that allowed 37.5 points per game while the Tigers only scored 8.5 points per game. The secondary will also count on strong safety Carlos Perales (5-10, 165) and free safety Jerry Flores (5-10, 165). The Tigers open district play at home against Mission on Septem-ber 28th.

Valley View ISD Tiger Stadium is home

to the 32-4A Valley View football team with seating up to

5,000 fans.

(HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

tigers patriots


Santos VillarrealMission Veterans

Steven O’CanaMission Veterans

Jorge CavazosMission Veterans

Hector GarzaMission Veterans

Andrew OchoaMission Veterans

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Head coachDavid Gilpin5th Season


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LB Hector Garza, 5’10 180lbs Sr.DT Matthew Rodriguez, 6’0 235lbs Sr.QB Santos Villarreal 5’11 170lbs Soph.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 22/23Starters Returning O/D: 3/4Enrollment: 1,902State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2004, 2009, 2010.

(Mission, Tx)-If you could wipe a year off your record books - kinda like how the NCAA ridiculously “takes away victories” from pro-grams and pretended they never happened (does that means the other teams get those wins now? Hmmmm), which one would you take away? More than likely Mission Vet-erans Memorial and fourth-year head coach David Gilpin would take away last season. The Patriots, co-district cham-pions the year before with a breakthrough 10-2 record, were plagued by injuries and just couldn’t seem to get anything go-ing en route to a 2-8 mark. That was clearly unexpected after get-ting a taste of success and win-ning big the year before. In 2012, Santos Villarreal will now continue at quarterback after he took over the reins 2011 after then QB Adrian Morales went down. Villarreal threw for nearly 400 yards and rushed for another

150 during the injury-riddled sea-son. Make no bones about it, if Villarreal can step up at that posi-tion he could be the biggest rea-son to get the Patriots to compete for a postseason berth. Most prognosticators have Mis-sion Veterans fighting for the best of those who won’t make the playoffs in the district - behind Edcouch-Elsa, Rio Grande City and Mission, who came down from 5A with realignment. Still, there are memories of that 10-2 season. WR Isaac Guerrero (5-11, 175) will be a prime target after haul-ing in 426 yards in receptions and three touchdowns. WR Eric Hi-drogo could also call some atten-tion from secondaries.Those guys in the trenches could be the X factor for the Patriots. Junior Steve Farias (5-9, 265) and Armando Alvarado will have the responsibilities to protect Villar-real. Their gelling and Villarreal’s development could sneak up on

the rest of the district. Defense will be the strong point for Mission Veter-ans Memorial. Senior Hec-tor Garza is one of the top linebackers in the district. He amassed 103 tackles, a dozen for losses, and three forced fumbles. He will be joined in the middle of the field by Andrew Ochoa (5-9, 170). The defensive front is anchored by Matt Rodriguez (5-11, 245). In the second-ary, cornerback Abraham Munguia and safety Julian Meza.

1922 E. Gri�n Parkway Suite CMission, Texas 78572

956-581-6969 Fax: 956-581-8231

Business HoursMonday-Friday

8:00 a.m.-to-5:00 p.m.

RN on Call 24hrs7 Days a week

Santa MariaHealth Care

1820 E. Gri�n Pkwy Ste Ste F&JRiver Oaks PlazaMission, Texas 78572

Griselda PerezLic.#MT110654

By Appointment only

Open Monday thru SaturdayBig Game Stress You Out?

eagles

Alberto RoqueMission High

Jose SerratoMission High

Andrik TijerinaMission High

Randy De La GarzaMission High

Victor PerezMission High

*Discounts and their availability may vary by state and eligibility requirements. For more information, please see or call a State Farm agent.State Farm, Home O�ce, Bloomington, IL 1101217.1


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August31 LJ PalmviewSeptember7 Bro Hanna14 Tulso-Midway28 Valley View*October5 Ed-Elsa*12 Roma*19 RGC*26 Mission Vets*November1 PSJA SW*8 Mercedes*


Head coachMario Pena4th Season2011 Overall 30-5A Record

Season 2-8 District 0-7

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LB Erik Flores, 5’9 160lbs Sr.LB Alberto Roque, 5’11 205lbs Sr.DB George Gonzalez 6’1 165lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 19/24Starters Returning O/D: 7/7Enrollment: 2,084State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, & 2009.Advance to Class 4A Division I Area playoffs in 2009 before losing to Gregory-Portland 12-7

(Mission, Tx)-Look down any list that Mission Head Coach Mario Pena has turned in or given to the media -- or listen to any interview -- and it’s the same.Defense, defense, defense. It’s like he’s trying to throw a wrench into the high-flying elite teams’ way of operating in District 32-4A. Just look at it. Edcouch-Elsa (ok, their defense dominated too), Rio Grande City (spread offense, go deep) and Mercedes (full cast of returning offensive stars) and the theme of Re-gion 32-4A is offense, not de-fense. Mission’s gonna try to prove those theories wrong. With seven defensive start-ers returning and a drop from Class 5A (where the Eagles went 6-14 over the past two years) and Mission probably is more optimistic than many would believe heading into the 2012 season. The Eagles will have three

non-district games - all at home (La Joya Palmview, Brownsville Hanna and Corpus Christi’s Tu-loso Midway) - to give them an idea where they stand. The linebacking duo of Erick Flores (5-9, 190) and Alberto Roque (5-9, 205) will be the key cogs for Mission. The pair com-bined for nearly 200 tackles dur-ing the 2012. Other players to watch are Steven Cavazos (6-0, 195) and Andrik Tijerina (5-8, 200), will lead in the trenches while Nick Garza (5-8, 150), Ray Osorio (5-8, 155) and George Gonzalez (6-1, 165) will play in coverage in the secondary. On offense, senior Juan Rios (6-2, 225) returns as the team’s signal caller after having started nine games last year. Randy De la Garza (5-8, 195) will be the fea-tured back following a 500-yard campaign last year. Sophomore Robert Veliz (5-8, 145), and se-niors Andy Solis (6-3, 185) and Victor Perez (5-11, 155) are also penciled in for Pena and the Ea-

gles as wideouts. Mission averaged just 17 points a game last year overall and only 14 within district. During their two seasons in Class 5A the Ea-gles combined for a 6-14 record, 2-12 within the district.

DidYOUknow?Former Dallas Cowboys coach, QB Tom Landry led the Mission Eagles to the 1941 Texas H.S. regional championships that went 12-0. No state playoff games were played at that time.

2413 E. Expressway 83 #50Mission, Texas 78572956-583-5430 o�ce

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eagles

gladiators

Eric Ramirez Roma H.S.

Eduardo Pompa Roma H.S.

Joe Hernandez RBRoma H.S.

Robert Alaniz LBRoma H.S.

Oviedo Hernandez Roma H.S.


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Head coachMax Habacker


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gladiatorsromaDistrict 32-4A

RB Robert Alaniz, 5’10 190lbs Sr.OL Oviedo Hernandez, 6’2 265lbs Sr.QB Eric Ramirez 5’8 165lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 11/16Starters Returning O/D: 6/5Enrollment: 1,815State playoffs appearances since 2000: None.

(Roma, Tx)-Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was Roma. But each year, through hard work and per-sistence - and a plan - the goal came closer and closer within reach. So it is with the head coach Max Habacker and his Roma Gladiators. Roma is now a viable con-tender for making its first postseason playoff appear-ance in school history. The players can taste it, and Ha-backer can see it. The coach, now in his sixth season, has methodically led the Gladiators to better and better positioning at season’s end. His first two seasons ended up 1-9, they were fol-lowed by a pair of 4-6 marks (but an improvement from 1-6 in the district to 3-5). Last year, the Gladiators finished 5-4, 4-4 in district and just one win away from that elusive playoff appear-

ance. Actually, they had a better record as they finished tied with Mercedes for the final playoff spot. They lost the head-to-head matchup, however, and their 2011 playoff hopes. “We were so close last year with a 5-5 record - we went right down the middle, even in district,” Habacker said. Senior Eric Ramirez will slide from his two-year starting wide receiver spot to quarterback and will have three-year starter Edu-ardo Pompo (6-0, 160 and Erick Ramirez (5-9, 155) as two speedy targets. Ovidio Hernandez is a key on the offensive line at right tackle. He also started as a sopho-more and earned second-team all district last year. Sophomore Ruben Hinojosa (6-0, 305) and Jose Grimaldo, who also started as a sophomore and is a junior this year, will help anchor what should be a solid offensive line. Defensively, the Gladiators will be led by a pair of inside line-backers with Robert Alaniz and

Joe Hernandez. Two juniors - also starters as sophomores last year - will short up the secondary with free safety Joe Flores and strong safety Orlando Solis. “We are winning at the bottom, with the middle schools and winning just keeps following,” Habacker said. “The last three freshmen groups have been excellent,” says Ha-becker. The Gladiators open district play Sept. 28 at Edcouch-Elsa and a much anticipated game against Mercedes will be played away again, but hopefully, the Gladia-tors would have clinched a play-off by then.

Roma ISD Stadiumlocated west of Business 83 in

Roma, Texas with seating of 4,500.

(HSSMIMages/Alec Amador

yellowjackets

Brandon VillaEd-Couch Elsa

Rick VillarrealEd-Couch Elsa

Michael GarzaEd-Couch Elsa

Robert TrevinoEd-Couch Elsa

Alvin LortonEd-Couch Elsa

Isaac MartinezEd-Couch Elsa

Isaias MartinezEd-Couch Elsa

Eric MoralesEd-Couch Elsa

Noe GonzalezEd-Couch Elsa

Israel LoredoEd-Couch Elsa


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Head coachJoe Solis


Class 4A Div II Area FinalsLost to PL Calhoun 34-13

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WR Noe Gonzalez, 6’0 180lbs Sr.RB Israel Loredo, 5’9 180lbs Jr.QB Eric Morales 6’0 160lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 25/27Starters Returning O/D: 2/3Enrollment: 1,487State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, & 2011. Advanced to the State 4A Division II Regional playoffs in 2005 & 2006.

(Edcouch, Tx)-It seems like a dis-tant memory. The year was 2009. The Edcouch-Elsa Yellow Jack-ets what seemed like their 100th straight one-loss season. Again they had dominated the district in 2008, finishing with an 11-1 record. They had knocked off Tu-loso-Midway in the first round of the playoffs in convincing fash-ion 59-22 before falling to Port Lavaca-Calhoun 48-28 in the next round. They had amassed a 44-4 record over a four-year stretch from 2005-2008. Then 2009 - four wins… six losses. Even the next year at 8-4, ended by Calhoun once again in the sec-ond round of the playoffs, wasn’t a typical year - but it was better. “We’ve been working real hard this off season in the weight room and outdoors in this heat,” says Edcouch-Elsa head football coach, Joe Solis. And signs of pure domination clearly showed in 2011 after post-ing a 10-2 season and area playoff appearance.

Edcouch-Elsa shut out four teams, and allowed nine or fewer points in four other games. Over-all the defense allowed just 10 points per game for the season. The offense averaged 38 points per game too. “I’m real excited about this season because of our non-district schedule. We are playing three 5A teams that made the playoffs last year. We want to be challenged,” adds Solis. There’s no reason to think those numbers won’t be as good - or better - than that this year. It looks like “La Maquina Amarillo” has returned to it’s elite production. Offensively the Yellow Jackets return skilled position players that all produce big numbers. Running back Israel Loredo (5-9, 180), a junior, rushed for more than 1,100 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. Classmate Diego Garcia (5-7, 165) will also get some touched in the backfield. Quarterback Eric Morales (6-0, 160) passed for more than 1,000 and rushed for more than 1,000 yards. He may

see some competition from junior Noe Gonzalez (6-0, 190). Gonzalez is considered one of the top offensive stars in the conference. Only two defensive start-ers return for the Yellow Jackets. Leading the defense is senior Alvin Lofton (6-0, 285) at tackle. He will be joined along the line by se-nior Mario Vela (5-9, 215) and juniors Robert Trevino (5-9, 180) and Michael Gar-za (5-9, 240). Senior Bran-don Villa (5-6, 175) and Jr. Rick Villarreal (5-11, 180).

Edcouch-ElsaYellowjacketsEdcouch-ElsaYellowjackets

20122012

www.eeisd.org

32-4AAAA

Head Football CoachMercedes Athletic Director

Joe Solis

Edcouch-Elsa High School PrincipalRene Ramos

Edcouch-Elsa ISD SuperintendentFrank Perez

Advertisement paid by Edcouch-Elsa ISD.

Varsity ScheduleAugust 31 WeslacoSept 6 PSJA NorthSept 21 Laredo UnitedSept 28 Roma*Oct 5 Mission*Oct 12 Mission Veterans *Oct 19 PSJA Southwest*Oct 26 Mercedes*Nov 2 Valley View*Nov 9 Rio Grande City***December 20-22, 2012UIL State Championships(Site to be announced)

AHHAAHAHAH

State Playoffs Since 2000: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011State Playoffs Since 2000: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

P.O. Box 127 Edcouch, Texas

956-262-6000

Good Luck This Season!


In awe of those Friday Night Lights,

I remember my first Friday night under the lights as a budding

young sports writer.I was in the Ohio Valley and

there were somewhere between 4-6,000 fans in the stands. I

wrote a pretty good story for a

20-year-old kid facing his first true deadline. Except that I forgot

one thing - the receiver who ended up making the winning

catch was a freshman.And it was his first catch.

Guess I was a little awestruck by my surroundings and forgot that

eensy-weensy detail.In the Rio Grande Valley, fans-flock to stadiums Thursday, Fri-

day and Saturday nights to watch these players grind it out on the

gridiron. It was a far cry from the 200 or so who would show up

on our bleachers in Upstate New York for a Saturday afternoon game (yes, Saturday afternoon - we’d even have snow some-times for our games) between the Westmoreland Bulldogs

(my school) and the Adirondack Mountaineers (or whatever they

were called).I’ve been fortunate to cover high school football in the Ohio Val-ley, West Virginia and Western

Pennsylvania (schools were Marino, Montana and other stud quarterback have come from). I’ve watched Ohio teams like Moeller and Massillon thrash

Looking Back onH.S. GameDays

///////////////////////////////////////

www.highschoolsportsmagazine.net

opponents and attended press conferences to see if “Mr. Ohio” was going to Ohio State, Michi-

gan or elsewhere.Along the way I’ve been blessed to cover future NFLers including

James Jett (WR, Raiders - and Olympian), Clayton Holmes

(Dallas Cowboys), Joey Gallo-way (WR, Seahawks, Cowboys and others), Albert Haynesworth (Redskins..others) and the great John Abraham (who went to the same little high school in South Carolina as former Pittsburgh

Steelers’ great Levon Kirkland. I’ve covered state championships in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsyl-vania and South Carolina. I’ve

even covered a handful of games in Texas a decade ago - back when La Joya was one school and thousands would fill the

stadium.Along the way I remember fol-lowing the plight of one of the most highly recruited football

players in the nation - Stan Manning from Dillon, S.C. High

School. He was compared to Emmitt Smith and had all the

big boys looking to recruit him.

When I approached his coach Jackie Hayes to see how he was doing with grades and how he

did on his SAT, Hayes looked at me and said “Henry, he doesn’t know how to spell SAT… does

that answer your question?”Unfortunately, in South Carolina,

that happened way too often.Back then, the option was the fa-vorite weapon of choice. Rarely

did quarterbacks throw more than a dozen times a game and

the ones who did were just studs. One team ran the Wing-T, which I still can’t figure out and nobody

used the “spread.” Here in the Valley, the Wing-T is no lon-

ger (thank you coach Lucero at PSJA), The Maryland I is making its debut (thank you coach Muir at Santa Maria) and the spread has spread from one end of the Valley to another. There’s no

doubt that the 2012 high school football season is going to be a

past-paced and exciting one.

It’s great to be back on the side-lines...

Hopefully, I won’t get too awe-struck again.

Back on theSIDELINESBack on theSIDELINES

By Henry MillerHSSM Assistant Sports Editor

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PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Reymond Penablanca, 160LBS-Grulla H.S.

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: DL Ralph Rubalcaba 6’3 260lbs-Raymondville H.S.


1. Grulla H.S. 2. Kingsville King 3. Raymondville 4. Zapata 5. Lyford

(La Grulla, Tx)-The Grulla Gators are beginning to make a name for themselves after just two seasons in the league. Head coach Abel Gonzalez is enjoying the fact that his football program is maturing and executing his game plan on football Friday nights. The Gators made their debut as 3A football team in 2010 and the following season the Gators turned heads and won seven games, including a 3-2 finish in District 32-3A. With the new realignments, the Gator program moved to District 31-3A and head coach Gonzalez was puzzled with the new realignments. “It just doesn’t make sense. We will now travel to Kings-ville, Raymondville, and Lyford,” says Gonzalez. “These will be long road games for our football teams and other sports.” Either way, the Gators will be favored to win the 31-3A title in this five-team district. Moving down from

Class 4A are the Kingsville King Brahmas from District 31-4A. The Brahmas finished 4-2 in district play and ad-vanced to the 4A playoffs. Head coach Robert Wilcox will start quarterback, John Houston (6’2, 210lbs) who had more than 2,500 total yards last season. Surprisingly, the Raymondville Bearkats could make some noise too after going two rounds in the State 3A Division I playoffs. Sec-ond-year head coach Joe Gonzales will be pleased with his eight starters returning on both sides plus the 22 lettermen. All three teams will be favored to make the playoffs this season but doun’t count out the Zapata Hawks and Lyford Bulldogs. Both teams finished 3-2 in district play, but key losses cost both programs playoff spots in 2011. Bulldog head coach Jaime Infante talks about being the smallest 3A school in the district with an enrollment of 461. “We are trying to find players,” says Infante. “We recruit all sports.”

gators

Armando Villarreal J.RLa Grulla

Jose GarciaLa Grulla

Nathan SalinasLa Grulla

Reymond PenablancaLa Grulla

Bryan MartinezLa Grulla

Maickol AlanisLa Grulla

Agustin SotoLa Grulla

Herberto BazanLa Grulla

31-3AHIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE 61GET FOOTBALL ACTION PHOTOS AT WWW.HIGHSCHOOLSPORTSMAGAZINE..NET

//////////////////////////////////////////////Grulla Gators

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August31 La VillaSeptember7 La Feria14 PSJA SW21 Rio Hondo27 Port IsabelOctober5 Hidalgo12 Raymondville*19 Lyford*November2 Zapata*9 HM King*


Head coachAbel Gonzalez III

2011 Overall RecordSeason 7-4 District 3-2Class 3A Div I Bi-District Finals.

Lost to Raymondville 29-9.

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DE Armando Villarreal, 5’11 215lbs, SrTE Jose Garcia, 6’0 220lbs, SrQB Reymund Penablanca 5’9 170lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 19/13Starters Returning O/D: 7/6Enrollment: 968State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2011

(La Grulla, Tx)-There’s an old ad-age that says if you want to learn how to become a millionaire, hang out with fellow millionaires. Do what they do, act like they act.After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, right. That being said, there are a lot of team who may want to document what head coach Abel Gonzalez and the Grulla Gators have done the past two seasons. With a debut at the varsity level in 2010, a 2-8 record wasn’t far from what most would predict or expect. “We expect to win here at Grulla H.S. and our coaches understand this philosophy too,” says Gonzalez. “Just because we are a new school does not mean we cannot win games in all sports.” One year later, the Gators im-proved - a lot - like by five wins to finish with a 7-4 record and their first playoff appearance. They went on a 5-1 streak, fell to Rio

Hondo by just one point, were 6-2 overall at another point and final-ly ended a very emotional season with a 29-9 loss in the playoffs to Raymondville. In October the team was dev-astated when their teammate - remember, these kids have been together since the program’s in-ception -Adrian Pena died unex-pectedly in October. Now, almost a year later, the Gators can focus a little better on just one task - football. Reymond Penablanca (5-9, 175) returns to the Gators with a year under his belt from the quarter-back slot. The now junior passed and rushed for a combined 1,600 yards last year was responsible for 19 TDs. Herberto Bazan (5-6, 150) is listed in the backfield and Junior Nathan Salinas is penciled in at wide receiver. Penablanca will also have tight end Jose Gar-cia (6-0, 220) to look for at tight end.

Senior Armando Villarreal (5-11, 200) and linebacker Maickal Alanis (5-7, 165) are leaders on the defensive side of the ball. Alanis is considered among the top defenders in the district. The Grulla Gators open the season with La Villa at home Aug. 31. They have their district opener, also at home, against Raymondville. A matchup with preseason dis-trict favorite Kingsville King is slated for the season finale Nov. 9 at Kingsville.

Joe R. Sanchez Stadium is home for the Rio Grande City Grulla HS Gators.

(HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

bearkats

Julio RodriguezRaymondville

Leonard RamirezRaymondville

Brendan GarzaRaymondville

Marcos LugoRaymondville

Ralph RobelenbaRaymondville

Edward ChavezRaymondville

Darren ZavalaRaymondville

Anthony GuerreroRaymondville

Spencer AckersRaymondville

Jesse JamesRaymondville


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Head coachJoe Gonzales


Class 3A Div I Area FinalsLost to West Columbia 57-21

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RB Jesse James, 5’8 165lbs Jr.TE Brendan Garza, 6’1 225lbs Sr.QB Spencer Akers, 6’4 175lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 20/22Starters Returning O/D: 8/8Enrollment: 609State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, & 2011.

(Raymondville, Tx)-The Ray-mondville Bearkats are com-ing off their second straight appearance in the both sea-son, both times advancing to the second round of the playoffs. Their goal is set on nothing less. In fact, those two trips have raised the bar.With the offensive returners second-year head coach Joe Gonzalez has, that option could be attainable. Leading the offensive as-sault will be running back Jesse Valladares, who returns after a nearly 1,200-yard sea-son and may get some breaks from senior Romeo Rosales (5-9, 180). Quarterback Ro-lando Muniz (5-8, 150) will get the nod over Junior Spen-cer Akers (6-4, 170), who transferred from Lyford and will push for playing time. The offensive line will be anchored by senior Ralph

Rubalcaba (6-3, 255), who will be joined by Alejandro Robeles (5-8, 225), junior Marcos Lugo (5-9, 215) and senior center Adrian Moncevaiz (5-9, 185). The Bearkats return eight start-ers on both offense and defense. They averaged about 25 points per game last season while giving up nearly 20. They tied for second in the district with a 3-2 record, one year after a perfect 5-0 sea-son. Defensively, the Bearkats Dar-ren Zavala will continue to man-handle the defensive end slot. The 5-10, 175-pound senior amassed 15 sacks last year and is also list-ed at tight end. Also penciled in along the de-fensive line include Brendan Gar-za and Juan Pena. Julio Rodriguez (5-5, 140), Leonard Ramirez (5-5, 170) and Christopher Trevino (5’8, 155) are part of a not large, but quick defensive linebacking contingent. Anthony Guerrero (6-

0, 160) is considered the stopper in the Bearkats’ secondary at free safety. Raymondville opens its season at Hidalgo in non-district play on Aug. 31. The Bearkats’ home opener is the following week (Sept. 7) against Orange Grove. They open district play at Grulla on Oct. 12.

DidYOUknow?Alex Leal, now the athletic di-rector at Raymondville ended his career with the Bearkats as the winningest hispanic coach in Texas with 207 wins and 119 losses, four ties in 31 years.

bearkats bulldogs

Jacob EsparzaLyford

James CruzLyford

Johnathon NinoLyford

Marty RochaLyford

Lucas SalinasLyford


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Head coachJaime Infante


Class 3A Div II Bi-DistrictLost to Rio Hondo 27-14

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bearkats bulldogslyfordDistrict 31-3A

WR James Cruz, 5’7 160lbs Sr.RB Jacob Esparza, 5’5 165bs Sr.OL Lucas Salinas, 6’1 225lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 20/18Starters Returning O/D: 3/8Enrollment: 461State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, & 2011.

(Lyford, Tx)-What’s that old say-ing? Two things in life are certain - death and taxes.Ok, well this may not be quite as certain but you could almost add Lyford making it to the postsea-son as another one of those cer-tains. And that’s pretty impressive - definitely much more impressive than taxes, and much more posi-tive than that “other” certain.The Bulldogs, yup, made it to the playoffs again last year. Oops, forgive us, returned after a one-year hiatus. Prior to that they had reached the postseason for five straight years and overall they’ve been there eight of the last 10. (Wouldn’t it be nice to only have to pay taxes every eight out of 10 years?) And with the returning crew they have this year, there’s no reason to believe they won’t be back to their playoff ways. And this comes with just slightly

more than 450 students enrolled in the school, making them by far the smallest in the district (in comparison, three of the other four schools in the district have more than 900 students and the other - Raymondville - still has more than 600. So saying Lyford does a lot with a little would be right on target.Art Vasquez (6-0, 165) returns as the most dangerous receiver in the district. The senior hauled in more than 1,100 yards in recep-tions to go with 16 touchdowns. Quarterback Scott Arnold (5-10, 160) will be responsible in getting the ball to his speedster’s hands. He will also receiver wideout help from James Cruz (5-7, 160) In the backfield, head coach Jaime Infante has penciled in Jacob Es-parza (5-5, 165) at running back. The defense should also be strong for the Bulldogs with line-man A.B. Ramirez (6-0, 275) on the line, Marty Rocha (5-7, 170)

and sophomore Corder Castro at linebackers and Jonathan Nino (5-7, 155) and Gibby Rodriguez (5-10, 145) in the secondary. The Bulldogs had a solid offense last year, scor-ing an average of 37 points per game while giving up 29 per tilt. Lyford opens its season in Brownsville at St. Joseph Academy. The Bulldogs open district play at home against the Grulla Gators (Oct. 9) and then face the district favorite King Brahmas on Nov. 2nd.


$pending Big Bucks for Friday Night$Stadium Improvements and Scoreboards

PSJA Stadium Improvements $10.2 million2012-New bleachers, Press Box, Seating Capacity 11,000. Home to PSJA, PSJA Memorial, PSJA North, PSJA Southwest.Boggus Stadium Improvements $5.6 million2012-New Field Turf, New Press Box, Redesigned Complexwith New Lights. Home to Harlingen Cardinals and Harlingen South Hawks.Bennie Layton Sr. Memorial Stadium $2.8 million2012-New scoreboard, New Track Surface, New Field Turf. New Field House built a few years ago. Home to Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets. Seating capacity 6,800. New Fieldhouse built in 2010 with weightroom.Bennie La Prade Stadium $4 millionNew field turf, New Earl Scott Field House. New Scoreboard. New track field. New Concessions stands. Seating capacity 6,500. Home to the Donna Redskins and Donna North HS Chiefs.Bobby Lackey Stadium $11 MillionSince 2008, New Scoreboard, New Field Turf, Redesigned Home Side with New State-of-the-Art Press Box. Home to Weslaco Panthers and Weslaco East Wildcats. Seating Capacity of 14,000.Mercedes Tiger Stadium $200,000New Scoreboard, Renovated the Field House. Possible stadium upgrades in the works. Seating capacity 4,500.Joe R. Sanchez Stadium $750,000New State-of-the-Art Scoreboard. Biggest in South Texas and home to Grulla Gators and Rio Grande City Rattlers.Monte Alto Stadium $250,000New Stadium with 200 Seating Capacity and lightsfor first-ever football program in Class 1A for Monte Alto Blue Devils.McAllen Memorial Veterans Stadium $270,000New Track Surface; Damaged Scoreboard to be replaced after season due to hail storm. New Stadium Lights-Upgrades. Future multi-million dollar improvements. Seating capacity up to 15,000. Home to McAllen, McAllen Nikki Rowe, and McAllen Memorial.Santa Maria H.S. Cougars Stadium $6,000Painting Goal Posts, Scoreboard Improvements. New PA Sound System. Seating capacity of 500. Sharyland H.S. Rattler Stadium $1.5 MillionNew Scoreboard, New Track, Field Turf installed six years ago. Seating capacity 6,500.

Great Fans in the RGV! McAllen Memorial Veterans Stadium played host to the Class 5A Division II Regional Football Champions on No-vember 26, 2011. McAllen Memorial played San Antonio Reagan. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

$tadiumFriday Night Lights Just Got Bigger

$coreboards!


$tadiumFriday Night Lights Just Got Bigger

$coreboards!&BY DAVID A. AMADOR, HSSM SPORTS DIRECTOR

www.HighSchoolSportsMagazine.net

(McAllen, Texas)-Winning the coin flips in high school football playoff games means that teams get to play on their home field turf, just like the McAllen Memorial Mustangs did in the State 5A Division II Regional finals last November 26th. The Mustangs welcomed the 26-5A district cham-pions, San Antonio Reagan Rattlers to the Rio Grande Valley. Reagan head football coach David Wetzel was amazed with the more than 12,000 fans that packed McAllen Memorial Veterans Stadium on that Saturday afternoon before blue skys. “This is fantastic and this is what football is all about. It’s about supporting your teams. This is great for communities,” said Wetzel. The Reagan Rattlers fought to the end and defeated the 30-5A district champions 35-28 to advanced to the state quarterfinals, but for the Rio Grande Valley and its fans, it was just another packed season of pure entertainment for families and friends. This is football in the Rio Grande Valley and schools are spending big bucks to make sure that fans keep coming back. (Cont’ on Page 66)


www.HighSchoolSportsMagazine.net

$tadiums and $coreboards! Top left are new PSJA Stadium, Harlingen CISD Boggus Stadium Press Box, and Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium’s Score-board in Los Fresnos. Top Photo: Gigantic RGC CISD Scoreboard with Weslaco ISD Bobby Lackey scoreboard and Edcouch-Elsa ISD Benny Layton Sr scoreboard. (HSSMImages/Alec Amador)

Weslaco ISD started all the hype of renovations with a newly installed Daktronics Video scoreboard and they also redesigned its stadium with new pressboxes, stadium bleachers, and field turf a few years ago and upon completion, Bobby Lackey Sta-dium became a must-see-for-fans spectacle on football Friday nights. “That scoreboard really lights up the nights and fans love it,” says Weslaco Panther head football coach Tony Vil-larreal. Today, many schools have followed with new renovations of aging stadiums like PSJA and Harlingen’s Boggus Stadium. Both stadiums were built in the early 1960’s. Now both have received multi-million dollar face lifts. In Pharr, the entire stadium will feature new stadium seating to accommodate 11,000 fans while Boggus Stadium received new field turf, new press box, new lights, and a face-lift. The

1961 State 2A Champions, Donna Redskins also added a field turf and new athletic complex with new lights. Edcouch-Elsa followed with a new field turf and scoreboard to off set the dry weather in South Texas. “We were spending more than $70,000 annually just to keep the grass from drying out on the football field,” says Edcouch-Elsa ISD athletic director, Joe Solis. Advertisers have come to the aid with the cost of purchasing such huge scoreboards too. Rio Grande City CISD now boast the largest football scoreboard in South Texas built by Spectrum. “It will pay for itself with advertising commercials and sponsor-ships,” says Rey Ramirez, RGC CISD athletic director. Football Friday Nights in the Rio Grande Valley has become a family night out with thousands of fans pouring into stadiums to watch cheerleaders, band performances, eat great concession food, but above all, enjoy the game of football.

1961State 2A Champions

State Playoff Appearances1934, 1939, 1942, 1950, 1951, 1960, 1961*, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1970,

1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

Advertisement paid for by Donna ISD

2011 Donna ISD School BoardAlfredo Lugo-President

Ernesto Lugo-VPNick Castillo-Secretary

Rey Alegria-Board MemberEfren Ceniceros-Board Member

Angel Magallanes-Board MemberMichael Flores, M.D.-Board Member

2012 Donna ISD AdministrationSuperintendent of Schools

Roberto F. LoredoDonna H.S. Principal

Nancy CastilloDirector of Athletics

Rafael G. Leal

Donna ISD Administration Office116 North 10th Street Donna, Texas 78537

956-464-1600

2012 Donna High School Varsity Football Team

32-3A1. Port Isabel 2. Rio Hondo 3. Hidalgo 4. La Feria 5. Progreso20

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PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Juan Puga, 6’0 180LBS-Rio Hondo H.S.

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: DE Jacques Guillot, 6’1 235lbs-Port Isabel H.S.

(Port Isabel, Tx)-The Port Isabel Tarpons have made the state play-offs nine times since 2000 to go along with one State 3A semifinal appearance in 2002 plus two regional appearances in 2002 and 2004. Not bad for a town which braces for hurricanes every season. Maybe that’s why they are called the “seawall defense”. Head coach Monty Stumbaugh led his Tarpons in 2004 to the Class 3A Division II regional finals against Halletsville with a defense that allowed just 156 points throughout the season. The Tarpons lost that game 10-0 at the Alamo-dome in San Antonio, Tex. With 2012 season just around the corner, the Tarpon defense must find a way to reconstruct its “seawall defense” which allowed 257 points last season. Maybe the eight returning starters on defense will be much improved to win another District 32-3A title. Rio Hondo, the defending champions will be ready to defend its title with veteran quarterback Juan Puga returning for his final season after passing for 2,500 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2011. The Bobcats de-feated the Tarpons 35-21 last year. Both schools carry lots of tradition

but that could all change now that Hidalgo Early College has dropped from 4A to 3A. The Pirates hired Scott Ford to turn this program around after having to forfeit all its games in 2011 for violating one U.I.L. rule after an-other. Ford coached at Los Fresnos before moving to Nacogdoches but after two seasons with a dismal record of 4-16, Ford made a decision to come back to South Texas and coach the Pirates under a multi-three-year contract. Ford is also the athletic director for the Pirates. That leaves La Feria and Progreso looking in and both squads will have to find a way to make the playoffs. La Feria head coach Oscar Salinas will be pleased with his seven returning starters on offense, including starting quarterback Jesse Ramon. At Progreso, the Red Ants will need to find a way to improve. Just improve every Friday night after going 0-10 under head coach Elvis Hernandez. The Red Ants have posted 9-31 record since 2008. The Red Ants return four starters on offense and defense. The must-see game in this district will come Oc-tober 19th against Rio Hondo at Bill Pate Stadium in Hidalgo.


bobcats

Joey MontalvoRio Hondo

Rolando VegaRio Hondo

Adrian ZapataRio Hondo

Juan GallegosRio Hondo

John ReyesRio Hondo

Isaiah ValladarezRio Hondo

Tristan EscamillaRio Hondo

Estevan FriasRio Hondo

Hernan GuerreroRio Hondo

Matthew ZunigaRio Hondo


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August31 Santa RosaSeptember6 LJ Juarez-Lin14 Sinton21 Grulla28 RaymondvilleOctober5 Lyford12 La Feria*19 Hidalgo*November2 Port Isabel*9 Progreso*


Head coachRocky James5th Season


Advanced to Class 3A Div II Area Finals. Lost to Sweeney 41-14.

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RB Rolando Vega, 5’10 165lbs Sr.LB Adrian Zapata, 5’8 185lbs Sr.QB Juan Puga 6’0 185lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 20/22Starters Returning O/D: 6/5Enrollment: 622State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011. Advanced to 2008 Class 3A Div II Regional finals against Giddings 42-28.

(Rio Hondo, Tx)-A lot of teams would look at Rio Hondo’s “gone due to graduation” list and breathe a deep sigh of relief. Their first thought would be “phew, we don’t have to worry as much about the Bobcats this year,” even though they’ll throw all the cliches about every game is the toughest game and all that good stuff. They’ll even go as far as to say “in that program they don’t rebuild, they just reload.” Oh yeah, that’s not so much a cliche when talking about the Bobcats. It seems to be more a reality. The Bobcats, despite a large senior class moving on, still re-turn six offensive and five defen-sive starters. They also have the league’s top passer and rusher returning. Welcome to Bobcat country. Juan Puga (6-0, 180) returns as a third-year starting quarterback for the defending district cham-pions. All he did last year was throw for nearly 2,000 yards and

19 touchdowns. He also rushed for more than 600 yards and will once again be the key cog on of-fense, where the Bobcats aver-aged 26 points per game en route to an 8-4 record and won seven of eight games during one stretch, including a 27-14 first-round playoff victory before falling to Sweeny. He’s not the only weapon though. Rolando Vega (5-9, 165) returns after a 675-yard rushing campaign with four touchdowns. He’ll be joined in the backfield by Hernan Guerrero (5-6, 144). Vega will also have a slew of receivers to target, including Isaiah Ballad-ares (5-10, 155), Joey Montalvo (5-8, 146) and Matthew Zuniga (5-6, 160). The key to the season could be the offensive line, which will be anchored by sophomore center John Reyes (5-10, 295) and senior guard Juan Gallegos (5-6, 252). Defensively, the Bobcats gave up an average of 17 points per game. Their defensive field gen-

eral will be linebacker San-tos Carrizales, who will be joined by Adrian Zapata (5-8, 180) and Tristan Esacmil-la (5-8, 183). Junior Estevan Frias (5-6, 140) will man the secondary while Phil-lip Adames and John Luna will be seen on the defensive front.Rio Hondo has made the playoffs for seven straight seasons. “It will be an excit-ing season for the Bobcats in 2012,” says head coach Rocky James.

tarpons

Juan AguileraPort Isabel

Jorge MondragonPort Isabel

Cristian NunezPort Isabel

John BoddenPort Isabel

Ryan “Ochenta” VasquezPort Isabel

Jacques GuillotPort Isabel

Danny MedinaPort Isabel

Luis AguileraPort Isabel

Isaiah MartinezPort Isabel

Zach ReevesPort Isabel


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August31 Bro VeteransSeptember7 Lyford14 Raymondville21 St. Joe27 GrullaOctober5 Zapata12 Progreso*19 La Feria*26 Hidalgo*November2 Rio Hondo*


Head coachMonte Stumbaugh

2011 Overall RecordSeason 11-2 District 7-2Lost to Orange Grove in Class 3A

Div II Bi-District playoffs 28-14

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WR Zac Reeves, 6’1 180lbs Sr.TE John Bodden, 6’0 195lbs Sr.DE Jacques Guillot, 6’0 230lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 20/13Starters Returning O/D: 6/8Enrollment: 617State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, & 2011. Made State 3A Division II Semifinal appearance in 2003, losing to Marlin 41-10.

(Port Isabel, Tx)-In the past 11 seasons, the Port Isabel Tarpons have made the post-season. They’ve won four district titles, most recently in 2010. Monty Stumbaugh enters his 12th season as the Port Isabel head coach and it’s obvious he has a well-oiled, efficient program running. “This will be a year I’m looking forward too,” says Stumbaugh.And that will more than likely continue throughout 2012. The Tarpons, once again a favorite to bring home a district title, return 14 starters from last year’s 6-5 team. Port Isabel should be among the top defensive teams in the district too. Leading that defense will be Jacques Guillot, a 6-foot, 230-pound junior who was more than just an imposing figure last year at defen-

sive end. He amassed 80 tackles and eight sacks as a sophomore. Much will be expected from Guil-lot, considered one of the best de-fensive player in the district, and fellow lineman - also considered a top defender - Miguel Ramirez (6-2, 210). Ramirez also collected 85 tackles and a team-leading 10 sacks. All the players listed on the Tarpons preseason roster were penciled in as two-way players. Highlighting that is Luis Agu-ilera, a 5-10, 160-pound senior who will double in the secondary as well as at wide receiver. Others possibly joining him in what should be a tough pass-cov-erage group include Zach Reeves (6-1, 175) and Ryan Vasquez (5-6, 135). Prowling in the middle of that defense will be Jorge Mon-dragon (5-9, 190). He could be joined out there by Esteban Mon-telongo (6-1, 200) and Danny Medina (5-11, 190). While the defense looks fairly

staunch, the offense shouldn’t be any slouch. Junior speedster Isa-iah Martinez (5-4, 155) returns for an offense that scored around 26 points per game. Running back Juan Aguilera (5-9, 200), a junior, rushed for 650 yards last year and will be one of the featured backs in the offensive attack. Also shar-ing carries may be Jacob Losoya, Mondragon and Danny Medina (5-11, 190). Andrew Holland (5-7, 150) Reeves and Vasquez are all penciled in as possible receiv-ers. while John Bodden (6-, 195) is listed at tight end.

red ants tarpons red antsprogresoDistrict 32-3A

Robert GonzalezProgreso

Brandon MercadoProgreso

Alfredo RuizProgreso

Ismael ValenzuelaProgreso

Jose Luis MunozProgreso

Omar VelaProgreso

Usvaldo RinconProgreso

Gilbert TrevinoProgreso

Jesus CandanozaProgreso


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August31 Valley ViewSeptember7 St. Joe14 MMA21 LyfordOctober5 La Villa12 Port Isabel*19 La Feria*November2 Hidalgo*5 Rio Hondo*


Head coachElvis Hernandez


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tarponsWR Brandon Mercado, 6’0 170lbs Sr.DE Ismael Valenzuela, 5’11 190lbs Jr.FS Robert Gonzalez 6’2 165lbs Jr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 12/20Starters Returning O/D: 4/4Enrollment: 482State playoffs appearances since 2000: None.

(Progreso, Tx)-The Progreso Red Ants have had some difficult football years. A pair of 0-10 sea-sons in 2011 and 2005 are sand-wiched around five years where they combined for a 16-34 record, making it 16-54 since 2005.That’s the bad news. There is some good news too. One is the fact that it’s a new season. An inordinate amount of injuries last year didn’t do any-thing positive for the Progreso except maybe give the Red Ants some younger players with expe-rience. There’s more good news and that comes in the form of sopho-more running back Sammy Tafol-la, who rushed for more than 600 yards as a freshman. Omar Vela (5-8, 155) and Jose Luis Munoz (5-7, 148) may spell him in the backfield. Gilbert Trevino returns at quarterback and with Brandon Mercado (6-0, 170), and Alfredo Ruiz (5-10, 170) at the wideout slots. They’ll all be crucial for the

Red Ants to improve upon their 5.4 points per game last year.Ismael Valenzuela is penciled in defensively along the line for Progreso and Robert Gonzalez is slotted to roam the free safety position. The Red Ant defense allowed more than 40 points per game last year. Progreso opens with back-to-back home tilts against Valley View on Aug. 31 and Browns-ville’s St. Joseph’s Academy on Sept. 7. The Red Ants open District 32-3A play on the road against preseason district favorite Port Isabel. “I’m always excited every season. Football excites me and watching these players give their 100% every practice and on football Friday nights makes coaching worth it,” says Elvis Hernandez, head coach. This community located just ten miles south on FM 1015 off the expressway from Weslaco prides itself with education and getting students to college. Progreso ISD

also offers an early college program. “Our players pick up college hours while in school and I’m very proud of this because I know they will continue their education after high school,” says Her-nandez. Can the Red Ants sting their opponents in 2012? A few years ago, the Red Ants defeated Mission in a non-district upset. Teams will have to be prepared to make sure this does not happen to them once district play comes around.

pirates

Erick ValdezHidalgo

Matthew DillardHidalgo

Frankie PedrazaHidalgo

Jesus CastilloHidalgo

Andres GarzaHidalgo

Hugo FriasHidalgo

Benjamin ArjonaHidalgo

Daniel DoughertyHidalgo

Joseph MarquezHidalgo

Oscar RuizHidalgo


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August31 RaymondvilleSeptember7 Mercedes14 Valley View21 HM King28 Santa MariaOctober5 Grulla19 Rio Hondo*26 Port Isabel*November2 Progreso*9 La Feria*


Head coachScott Ford


Forfeited all games in 32-4A

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OL Erick Valdez Jr, 6’2 276lbs Jr.DE Matthew Dillard, 6’5 220lbs Jr.OL Frankie Perez, 6’2 280lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 18/16Starters Returning O/D: 8/5Enrollment: 984State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2005 & 2007.

(Hidalgo, Tx)-For the Hi-dalgo Early College High School football team, it’s time to get back to football.For Scott Ford, it’s time to get back on the sidelines in the Rio Grande Valley. The marriage between Ford - a former head coach at Los Fresno - and Hidalgo, which talked more about UIL rules and infractions than football last year, could be as close to perfect as possible. Ford coached at Los Fres-nos and earned a 65-19 re-cord, 57-13 in the regular season. His name started to get tossed around statewide and he left for Nacogdo-ches High School. There, he didn’t find the same success over the course of two sea-sons, compiling just a 4-16 mark with the Dragons. Hidalgo was looking for a coach who could build a pro-gram that has been knocking

on doors, but rarely breaking any down. With Ford, however, they have a top-notch successful head coach who brings knowledge of the game, the rules and and excit-ing spread offense with him. And along with that big-name coach there’s a big-name hopeful slated to carry that spread offense. Freshman quarterback Shea Pat-terson has an amazing amount of expectations placed on him. Some of those charged with protecting the freshman will be linemen Frankie Pedraza (6-2, 280), Erick Valdez (6-2, 276), Luis Castillo (6-2, 215) and Matthew Dillard (6-5, 205). Patterson will look to targets Daniel Dougherty (5-10, 195) in the slot along with receivers Hugo Farias (5-11, 158), Silvestre Guti-errez (6-0, 185) and Andres Garza (6-3, 197) to keep linebackers and secondaries on their toes. The Hidalgo offense averaged just 16 point per game and scored 10 or fewer points in four contests

- all losses. Defensively, the Pirates will look to Jesus Castillo (6-2, 215) to shore up the defensive front. Hidalgo returns five starting se-niors from last year’s 3-7 team. Joseph Marquez (6-0, 198) and Dougherty will be in the middle and defensive backs Oscar Ruiz (5-8, 160) and Chris Anderson (5-10, 175) will be among those in the secondary. “ I’m excite to be back in the Rio Grande Valley. Now it’s time to play football,” adds Ford. “The players have committed themselves and this season will be different.”

lions


Chris MilliganLa Feria

Lolo AlejandreLa Feria

Jeremy TamezLa Feria

Jose BarbozaLa Feria

Jesus MartinezLa Feria

Juan GarciaLa Feria

Armando GarzaLa Feria

Eric CuervoLa Feria

Aaron GonzalesLa Feria

Michael OlivarezLa Feria

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August31 San DiegoSeptember7 Grulla14 Mercedes21 Santa Rosa28 MonterreyOctober5 Raymondville12 Rio Hondo*19 Port Isabel*26 Progreso*November9 Hidalgo*


Head coachOscar Salinas

2nd year2011 Overall RecordSeason 7-3 District 2-3

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WR Aaron Gonzales, 5’9 155lbs Sr.RB Chris Milligan, 5’10 175lbs Sr.DB Lolo Alejandre, 5’9 150lbs Sr.

Players to Watch:

Returning Lettermen R/L: 18/18Starters Returning O/D: 7/5Enrollment: 958State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, & 2008.Advanced to the State 3A Division I Quarterfinals in 2008 losing to Cuero 55-13 at the Alamdome.

(La Feria, Tx)-The La Feria Lions surely lived up to their names as the season began last year. They literally roared into the 2011 sea-son, starting with a 6-0 record. Injuries and close losses, howev-er and suddenly the mighty Lion roar has softened. Still, with all the adversity and commotion, La Feria finished the season at 7-3 -- they weren’t kings of the district jungle, but they stayed in the hunt and there’s no indication this year that they won’t compete for a district title and first postseason appearance since the 2008 season. The Lions return seven players on offense for a team that could score and score often, averaging 38 points per game. Jesse Ramon (6-0, 160) and Eric Cuervo (6-1, 170) are penciled in at the quarterback position and Cuervo will see time at the wide-out slot as well, joining Michael Olivarez (5-9, 140), Juan Garcia. Ramon was one of a few key in-jured casualties last season, al-

lowing Cuervo to get in several snaps. Running back Abel Rangel will be the featured back. He will get relief from Chris Milligan (5-10, 170) and Armando Garza (5-5, 165). The offensive line will be an-chored by Jesus Martinez (5-11, 240) and center Jeremy Tamez (5-9, 210). Martinez will also see time on the defense line and be joined by Joe Barbosa (6-0, 200). The La Feria defense allowed 23 points per game. They have five starters returning. “Hopefully, injuries will not plague this team but that’s foot-ball and having to play six non-district games before the actual district race begins,” says Oscar Salinas. Garcia will double and is one of the better coverage men in Dis-trict 32-3A, which also includes Hidalgo, Port Isabel, Progreso and Rio Hondo. He will be joined in the secondary by defensive back Lolo Alejandre (5-9, 150) and Gilbert Perez.

La Feria’s six-game winning streak to open the season in-cluded victories over bigger schools like Mercedes and Brownsville Porter. They went through a three game skid where two of the losses were by a touchdown or less (22-17 vs. Rio Hondo; 35-28 vs. Zapata). La Feria opens its 2012 campaign on the road at San Diego on Aug. 31 before its home opener against Grul-la on Sept. 7. The Lions begin district play on the road Oct. 12 at Rio Hondo.


16-2A1. SAN DIEGO 2. SANTA ROSA 3. ODEM 4. BISHOP

5. MATHIS 6. ARANSAS PASS 7. FALFURRIAS 2012

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(Santa Rosa, Tx)-Imagine having to travel 153 miles round trip for a football game on a Friday night? (cue up music: Willie Nelson’s On The Road Again). That’s the average number of miles Santa Rosa will have to travel in the newly aligned District 16-2A. And that includes two games where the round trips are 40 miles and 30 miles. So, you can probably figure out the rest. Santa Rosa also treks to Falfurrias (170 miles round trip), Odem (252 miles round trip) and Mathis (282 miles round trip). At least if the Warriors make the playoffs, long road trips won’t be anything. But they’ve got some tough games along the way. The Aran-sas Pass Panthers and Mathis Pirates have joined the district, being sent down from Class 3A to 2A. The Pirates are coming off a 7-3 record.Defending district champs San Diego will again compete for the an-other district title. The Vaqueros return running back Luis Lopez who amassed more than 2,000 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns. He also led the team in tackles and was the kicker . The Vaqueros rushed for more than 4,000 yards last season. Another contender will be the Odem Owls, who finished 6-6 overall but ran two playoff rounds deep. They have eight returning starters on offense and seven on defense and probably have the district’s top line-

backer with Zach Candela. Falfurrias has the top returning quarterback in Lorenzo Vela (1,100 yards, 8 TDs) and receiver with Gilbert Alegria Jr (345 yards, 3 Tds) and have 1,300-yard rusher Marcus Cortez back. With a tough defense, the Jersey could make some noise. Rounding out the district are the Bishop Badgers, coming off an 0-10 record and 1-19 the past two sea-sons. They have 17 starters returning. Must-see-games will match Santa Rosa traveling to Rio Hondo (75 miles round trip) on August 31st and then the Warriors will travel again, this time to Odem (252 miles round trip) to meet the Owls in their district opener on September 28th. Aransas Pass could surprise many teams from District 16-2A Divi-sion I after finishing their season at 0-5 in District 30-3A, which also included Mathis (7-3). New head coach Gary Davenport takes over as the Panther’s new leader. Players to watch for the Panthers will be QB Erik Johnson (923 yards rushing) and William Butler (6’2, 205, 600 yards rushing). The Panthers have the size and speed to run away from the challenges that 30-3A gave them for many seasons. The Panthers allowed 274 points scored on defense as compared to the Vaqueros who held opposing offenses to 169 total points with three shutouts.


PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: RB Luis Lopez, 5’9 200lbs-San Diego H.S.

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: SS Joe Mariscal, 5’10 160lbs-Santa Rosa H.S.


warriors

Marcos ContrerasSanta Rosa

Caleb KempSanta Rosa

Rene LedesmaSanta Rosa

Joe MariscalSanta Rosa

Marc HernandezSanta Rosa

santa rosa warriorsDistrict 16-2A Division I

StadiumsWarrior StadiumSeating Capacity: 1,200Built in 2003Located on East Hwy 107


16-2A1. SAN DIEGO 2. SANTA ROSA 3. ODEM 4. BISHOP

5. MATHIS 6. ARANSAS PASS 7. FALFURRIAS //////////////////////////////////////////////Santa Rosa Warriors

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August31 Rio HondoSeptember7 La Villa14 Lyford21 La Feria28 Odem*October5 AransasPass*12 Falfurrias*19 San Diego*26 Mathis*November5 Bishop*


Head coachJosh Gonzalez


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Returning Lettermen R/L: 19/11Starters Returning O/D: 6/9Enrollment: 339State playoff appearances since 2000: 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010,

DidYOUknow?The Warriors lost to Salado in the State 2A Division I Quarterfi-nals in 2007.

(Santa Rosa, Tx)-You have to play with what’s dealt to you on the high school level. And Santa Rosa has been dealt a different one this year. That’s ok though, according to sixth-year head coach Josh Gonzalez. “We’re not as big as we have been in the past - we’ve had some big boys in the past, but we do have some quality skill position players,” Gonzalez said. “We’re gonna do a little more spread stuff. The good thing is that we will still throw in plays from the wide stack we used to run and all we have to do is say it and these kids know what to do.” The Warriors finished second in the district last year with a 6-4 re-cord but still missed the playoffs. They were the odd-team out after a three-way tie for second led to points differentials between the three teams. Suddenly the War-riors were bumped from the play-offs. Gonzalez also made some changes in the practice schedule this year and said it’s had a posi-

tive impact, going from morning to evening practices. The newly realigned District 16-2A welcomed two more 3A schools being dropped down in size with Mathis and Aransas Pass. The previous realignment brought two more 3A schools dropped to 2A in San Diego and Falfurrias. Add all the changes to the Warriors and you may as well include long, long (did we men-tion long?) bus rides, including Mathis this year. Senior Joe Mariscal (5-10, 175) will start at quarterback for the new-look offense. He’ll have some help from tailback Adrian Canales (5-11, 170), who will play tailback and will back Mariscal. “These kids are versatile, make good decisions and are threats to run with the ball,” Gonzalez said. “Joe isn’t one dimension and he will be able to get the ball upfield whether it’s passing or running. He’s going to be a big threat. Isaiah Morgan will be a prime target at wideout. He won the dis-trict 100- and 200-meter dash in

in track and clearly fits into the faster paced offense.

The offensive line will be anchored by second-team all-district center A.J. Cas-taneda (5-7, 240) and Marcos Contreras (5-4, 205). Defen-sively, Marc Hernandez (6-3, 240) will be the field general from the middle linebacker spot. Miguel Villarreal (5-7, 240) and Caleb Kemp (6-4, 205) return on the defensive front. The Warriors allowed 240 points scored on its defense with key district losses to Odem and San Diego to miss the playoffs in 2011.

16-1A1. BEN BOLT 2. LA VILLA 3. SANTA MARIA 4. MONTE ALTO

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(Santa Rosa, Texas)-Anytime you lose to a state champion in the playoffs, this factor should motivate your program for the next season. La Villa did so, when it played Mason in the area playoffs in Class 1A Division II, losing 64-20. Mason went on to defeat Samford inthe championship game played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. When you talk to coaches in District 16-2A, they’re goal is to beat Santa Maria or Monte Alto or a rebuilding (or re-loading?) La Villa. Then, if they can be undefeated when they play Ben Bolt…. who knows? Did we mention that Ivan Gonzalez was the 2011 Class 1A All-State Defensive player of the year from the Ben Bolt Badgers? Don’t get us wrong, nobody is rolling over and handing the district to to the Badgers, who lost in the same round as La Villa did in the playoffs last year - except LaVilla lost to eventual state champion Mason.

In fact, all the rest are expecting good years, a run for the playoffs and - with a perfectly executed game plan - a dis-trict title. Monte Alto, in its first varsity season, is envision-ing a 7-2 or 7-3 season, La Villa expects to continue where it left off (of course, where it left off BEFORE the game against Mason) and Santa Maria is expecting big things from a couple big defensive players and an exciting, moti-vation, first year coach in Frank Muir (and yes, they really are running out of the Maryland I Offense.) If any of them, however, can knock the Badgers off the throne - and each team is planning on it - then it’s gonna be a shootout to the finish in District 16-2A. And don’t be totally surprised if Monte Alto (debut football season) or Santa Maria (return to football after two seasons) sneak their way into the postseason. The top two teams from this four-team district will advance to the playoffs.

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE MVP: QB Robert Serna, 6’2 180lbs-La Villa H.S.

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE MVP: LB Ivan Gonzalez, 5’10 225lbs-Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco



cardinals

Zeferino GuzueroLa Villa

Rolando GarzaLa Villa

Robert SernaLa Villa

Noe “Porky” CastilloLa Villa

Daniel IbarraLa Villa

la villacardinalsDistrict 16-1A Division I

1. BEN BOLT 2. LA VILLA 3. SANTA MARIA 4. MONTE ALTO


August31 RGC GrullaSeptember7 Santa Rosa14 St. Joseph21 MMA28 BruniOctober5 Progreso12 Oratory19 Ben Bolt*26 Monte Alto*November5 Santa Maria*


Head coachDaniel Perez


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Players to Watch:QB Robert Serna 6’2 175lbs Jr.WR Adrian Trevino 6’0, 175lbs JrOL Joseph Garza 5’11 250lbs Sr.

Returning Lettermen R/L: 11/6Starters Returning O/D: 5/4Enrollment: 159State playoffs appearances since 2000: 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, & 2002.

DidYOUknow?The La Villa Cardinals 7-on-7 Summer football team won the 2011 National 7-on-7 title.

(La Villa, Tx)-Can new head foot-ball coach, Daniel Perez continue the playoff traditions the La Villa Cardinals have experienced since 2002, where they have missed the playoffs just three times (2003, 2004, 2010) and just last season, lost to the eventual State 1A Di-vision I Champions, Mason in the second round of the playoffs. Now, after a 2-6 start last year, the La Villa Cardinals needed a spark at the end to just make the play-offs and turn the year into some-thing positive. District wins against Kenedy (28-12) and Charlotte (63-26) propelled La Villa into the play-offs where they defeated York-town 35-18 before falling to even-tual state champion Mason 64-20. Take away that Mason score and first-year head coach Danny Per-ez is hoping to find the same mag-ic La Villa ended the season with. “The kids just started playing a lot better and got all fired up. They were coming together. It was a good run,” said Perez, who previously was defensive coordi-

nator for the Cardinals. “We have a saying on our shirts this year - ‘Working Hard - All The Time.’ If you work hard all the time good things will happen to you.” The Cardinals return five on of-fense and six on defense. Lead-ing the offensive charge with by the Serna triplets - Robert Serna at quarterback, Roman Serna at center and Raymond Serna at guard. Raymond Serna has been starting for La Villa since being a freshman. The Cardinals also have Raymond Garza and Charlie Garza returning along the offen-sive line. “We’re still running the spread but we’re goon put a little bit of the pro spreads in there,” Perez said. “We put some new plays in there and some plays we re-ally like. The kids already know what’s going on.” Defensively La Villa will line up in a 4-3 but Perez said it could easily change into a 6-1 if needed.Raymond Serna will play the “toothpick” position and is a hard hitter, according to Perez. He will

be behind three returning linebackers with junior Ar-turo Garza in the middle and seniors Chevy Guerrero and Daniel Ibarra on the outsides. La Villa opens its season against Grulla Gators (Class 3A), Santa Rosa Warriors (2A) and Progreso Red Ants (3A). “We want to have a bet-ter season than last year. We don’t want to start slow. IF we can play with those guys to start the season, we’ll have a good season. “We always go first or second-round deep in the playoffs. But we want to keep going.” The Cardi-nals lost to Grulla 21-14.

500 E. 9th Street La Villa, Texas 78562

Independent School DistrictLa VillaLa VillaIndependent School District

UIL State Football Playoff Appearances: 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, & 2002. UIL State Football Playoff Appearances: 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, & 2002.

956-262-4755

A winning tradition continues...

bluedevils

Frankie CavazosMonte Alto

Mario GonzalezMonte Alto

Jerry CavazosMonte Alto

Luis DiazMonte Alto

Jose RodriguezMonte Alto

monte alto bluedevilsDistrict 16-1A Division I

StadiumsMonte Alto H.S. StadiumSeating Capacity: 200Built in 2012Located N. FM1015 Rd


August31 AnthenaemSeptember7 Bruni14 Agua Dulce21 London Sch28 BenavidesOctober5 MMA12 Lasara19 SantaMaria*26 La Villa*November9 Ben Bolt*


Head coachRogelio Garza


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Players to Watch:DE Luis Diaz 6’2 260lbs Sr.WR Ricky Trejo 6’0, 175lbs SrQB Frankie Cavazos 5’9 155lbs Jr.

Returning Lettermen: 0Starters Returning: 0Enrollment: 191Playoffs: None

DidYOUknow?The tallest building or landmark in Monte Alto is the water towerwith a Blue Devil mascot.

(Monte Alto)-How great is the excitement in Monte Alto? As talk of Monte Alto Blue Devil’s debut into high school football gets louder and louder, one lady approached someone from administration and wanted to get season tickets. “I’ve been an Edcouch-Elsa fan and season-ticket holder for years,” she said. “But I live here. This is my community. I’m releasing those tickets. I want Blue Devil tickets.” “Shoot,” said Monte Alto head coach Roy Garza after sharing that story. “I wish I would’ve been there. I would’ve bought the tickets for her!” That pretty much sums it up. The Blue Devils will join Santa Maria, La Villa and Ben Bolt in District 16-1A Division I. And despite be-ing a first-year varsity pro-gram, Garza isn’t shy about what the goals are.“We’re shooting to make

the playoffs,” he said. “I mean, it’s only a four-team district and two teams get to go. Our goal is to beat Santa Maria and La Villa before playing Ben Bolt. The bad thing is, that game is at their place.”“We’re hoping to be over .500 for our first season. Maybe 7-2 or 7-3. That would be a great achieve-ment,” adds Garza. The first-year program surely doesn’t plan to look first year with their offense. The Blue Devils will run out of multiple sets, going from in motion to a full backfield to even the spread at times.“It’s hard if you don’t have the linemen to stay in one power for-mation,” Garza said. “Depending on what the other team has, we can run on them. If not, we’ll line up in shotgun and go with that.” Projected starting quarterback Frankie Cavazos (5-18, 150) in-jured his knee in preseason and was awaiting an MRI prior to the first scrimmage of the season. Re-placing him will be Mario Gon-zalez (5-9, 160), who was slated

to start at receiver. Garza said each quarterback brings some-thing different to the formation and both can lineup at receiver. Another player to watch will be Jorge Guajardo (5-10, 158) and Chris Jimenez, who will be the prime wideout targets and Luis Diaz (6-2, 260) will come out of the tight end slot. Diaz will also be the placekicker and Garza said he kicks 40-yard field goals regu-larly. The key will be getting the offense in position. Garza said about 32 kids came out for the season and he expects a few more still to come out. He’s hoping to get enough for a JV squad too. The Blue Devils open against Anthenaem at home.

cougars bluedevilsAugust31 MMASeptember7 Anthenaem14 London Sch21 San Diego28 HidalgoOctober5 Lasara19 Monte Alto*November2 Ben Bolt*9 La Villa*


Head coachFrank Muir


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David OrtizSanta Maria

Isaac OrtizSanta Maria

Margarito GarciaSanta Maria

Adam PerezSanta Maria

Alan GonzalezSanta Maria

santa mariacougarsDistrict 16-1A Division I

StadiumsSanta Maria Cougar StadiumSeating Capacity: 300Located on Easton Military Hwy


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DidYOUknow?Due to budget cuts in 2010, the Santa Maria Cougars football team cancelled its season.

Players to Watch:DL Alan Gonzalez 6’2 250lbs Jr.WR Jose Carreon 5’11, 140lbs JrFB Magarito Garcia 5’4 185lbs Sr.

Returning Lettermen:Starters Returning:Enrollment: 151State Playoff Appearances Since 2000: 2008

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(Santa Maria, Texas)-Are you ready for some football? Santa Maria High School sure is. Actu-ally, the entire town seems more than ready. After a two-year hiatus from football following the district’s decision to suspend the sport due to finances, the Cougars are back - and first-year head coach Frank Muir says there’s more than just a buzz in the air. “Everybody’s just thrilled,” said Muir, who coached with the JV team last year. “Santa Maria is a small town and ev-erybody knows everybody and there’s a lot of excitement. We’ve had a lot of support from adminis-tration, pretty much giving us ev-erything we need. We’re painting the goalposts and doing renova-tions,” he adds. And just because the football team is returning to the varsity level, don’t think that the goals are just middle-of-the road for the Cougars. Just talking to the en-ergetic Muir will eliminate those thoughts from anyone’s mind.“Expectations are high - we’re not

gonna accept anything less than making the playoffs,” Muir said. “We have talent. We’re gonna put the best team on the field every single week. In fact, expectations are probably higher than they’ve ever been.” Players to watch will be Isaac Ortiz (5-8, 143) who was heading into middle school when Santa Maria’s football team disbanded. Now a freshman, he will lead the Cougars return at quarterback. The Cougars will run out of a Maryland I - something not too many teams in the Valley have used or seen in recent years. “There’s a lot of spread teams down here. If we pass we’re gonna use play action. But we’re sitting in an inverted wishbone,” says Muir. Ortiz will have a stable of backs to handoff too, including his older brother, sophomore David Ortiz (5-9, 150), Adam Perez (5-8, 145) and juniors Isai Garcia and Leo-nel Lugo. Muir said defensively the team will mix it up, running a 4-3

defense that can easily be turned into a 4-2-5. Senior Margarito Garcia (5-4, 185) will be the defensive field general at middle line-backer, making sure his col-leagues are lined up correctly and understanding the calls. He will be joined by fel-low senior linebacker Adam Perez. Frutoso Villarreal will also play a key role at safety, including a 300-pound nose tackle, Joe Torres. “He is go-ing to cause a lot of havoc in there,” Muir said. Muir was an assistant at Brownsville Porter before coming to Santa Maria.

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