BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — If McAllen High coach Kevin Brewer knows whether quarterback Fred Hover will be ready for tonight’s game against Laredo Alexander, he certainly isn’t letting on.
Hover suffered a high ankle sprain on Oct. 24 against McAllen Memorial, limping through the second half of McHi’s 42-28 loss. Even after having a bye week to rest, Hover did not play in McAllen’s 14-0 win against La Joya Palmview last Thursday. That absence leaves Hover’s status for tonight’s game in doubt.
“Fred is a day-to-day situation,” Brewer said. “We’re going to wait and see on Thursday at 7 p.m. if he’s ready to go.”
If Hover is unavailable, McHi will again lean on Caleb Youngblood, who quarterbacked the offense last week and completed 6 of 9 passes for 82 yards despite heavy rains and a stingy Palmview defense.
Youngblood was McHi’s junior varsity quarterback last year and took some of the varsity reps in the spring, when Hover was splitting time with baseball. Since the start of fall, Youngblood had mostly been working at tight end before Hover went down. Thanks to the conveniently timed bye week, Youngblood had time to get ready.
“It was pretty easy,” Youngblood said. “I remembered all the plays and stuff, so it wasn’t that bad.”
Whether Youngblood or Hover starts at quarterback won’t change what the Bulldogs want to do on offense. Brewer said McHi will run the same things they’ve run all year, which likely means another heavy dose of running back Ricky Rodriguez.
The senior is the Valley’s fourth-leading rusher with 1,207 yards. The Bulldogs’ workhorse has carried the ball 222 times, second most in the Valley to Roma’s Peter Rodriguez.
Ricky scored his 16th touchdown of the season in last week’s win against Palmview, setting a new school record with 284 career points.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know until I got to the end of the game,” Ricky said. “It felt good knowing I broke some of McHi’s all time greats’ records. My name is in the record book now, so I guess I left my mark.”
He’ll have a chance to break another mark tonight, as he needs 106 yards to reach 3,544 for his career and pass Mike de la Fuente for the school’s all-time rushing record.
“I’m proud as heck of Ricky,” Brewer said. “You talk about a true Bulldog that represents our program and this school and this city the right way. For him to get those accolades is just a testament to his career here, and the work that he’s put in, and the pride that he takes in what he does. … I hope that (scoring) record stands for a long time, because he deserves it.”
McHi hasn’t won a postseason game since 2006, and ending that streak tonight against Alexander will not be easy. Alexander is just 6-4, but coach Joel Lopez said his group is playing its best football of the year.
Alexander’s midseason three-game losing streak came as the team was without its starting right tackle, fullback and inside receiver due to injury. More importantly, star quarterback Aaron Swain was playing “at about 75 percent,” Lopez said, due to a shoulder injury. All of those players have returned to the lineup healthy, meaning the Alexander team McHi faces will look more like the group that in September handed Sharyland its only loss than the one that struggled to open October.
“I think we’re there right now,” Lopez said. “Everybody is back, and we’re hitting it strong.”