GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen Memorial quarterback Jonathan Sanchez takes the snap from his own 1-yard line, tosses to running back Trevor Speights and then sprints through a hole between guard and tackle.
At about the 5-yard line, he shoves Sharyland linebacker Ismael Garcia — the second-leading tackler on the Valley’s best team — to the turf.
Speights made a few defenders miss and showed off his speed on the 99-yard touchdown run, which still stands as one of the highlights of the season. But his Valley-best 1,525 yards and 18 touchdowns stem from his blockers on the offensive line, at wideout and yes, even at quarterback.
“If our quarterback can’t block, he can’t play,” coach Bill Littleton said. “That’s what we tell them when they come here. On our pitches, if it goes for a touchdown, they’re the ones that usually spring it.”
Learning to block wasn’t second nature for quarterback Fabian Pedraza. He said the biggest key is staying flat, usually with the intent of getting through the hole quickly and finding the high safety.
Littleton said Pedraza “got in trouble” for not blocking in Week 3, but he atoned for the mistake in Week 4 against Edinburg North. Pedraza pitched right to Speights, charged down the field and put a block on all-district safety Joey Benitez that sealed the edge and set Speights loose for a 91-yard touchdown.
“We tell the quarterbacks, if they get the safety blocked, we’ll score,” offensive coordinator Marcus Kaufmann said.
Like any offense, the receivers also play a vital role. And, like any offense, they don’t often enjoy it.
“Personally, no,” wideout DJ Johnson said. “But I’ve got to help my players out. Be a team player. I’d rather get the ball. Everyone wants the ball. But you’ve got to be an all-around player.”
In that aspect, Johnson has improved “tremendously” over the course of his career, Littleton said.
Many of the skill players have as a result of Memorial’s system. From the minute they enter into Mustangs football — be it as a freshman or even in a youth camp — the players hear the mantra:
“If you want to play at Memorial, you have to block.”
As an old-school coach, Littleton remembers seeing Permian have success with this type of offense in the ’70s. As the years have gone on, Littleton has become a stickler for “head placement and tail placement”, aspects of blocking that are often lost on younger coaches who are more focused on just grabbing and holding with their hands.
Each of the position coaches teaches blocking in individual drills. They also review video on Hudl, so the players can see what they’re doing wrong in terms of blocking angles.
Perhaps the biggest factor to Memorial’s success is strength training three days each week, 52 weeks per year.
“If you’re going to come to Memorial High School, you’re going to lift,” Littleton said.
Speights has been the poster boy for that. What doesn’t make the highlight videos is Speights’ blocking, which has developed immensely from his freshman year. The improvement is partly due to learning the techniques — meeting defenders at the line and hitting them in the middle of the chest — but also due to improving in the weight room, where he now benches 315 pounds.
That puts him on par with some of Memorial’s offensive linemen. From right to left, the usual first team is Ronnie Esparza, Chris Del Bosque, Anthony Esparza, Teddy Garcia and Edward Pequeno — the only lineman to twice win the Hog of the Week trophy, given the Memorial’s top blocker.
Although all but Garcia are seniors, the group still had a lot to learn this season. Many were switching positions, like Pequeno, who moved from right tackle to left. Now that Memorial has found the right five in the correct spots, Littleton has seen improvement every week.
The unit is smart — Pequeno has interest from Ivy League schools UPenn and Yale — which allows them to adjust on the fly. When McAllen Rowe gave Memorial a different look from what the players had practiced against, they needed just one series to discuss and adjust. They went on to score 58 points.
The backs, receivers and quarterbacks also know the line calls. The full-team approach is a big reason Memorial has established itself as the Valley’s top rushing attack.
“If you have one guy mess up, that’ll stop the play right there,” Pequeno said. “It’s really important to have all 10 guys blocking while that one man is running. Hopefully he’ll make that last one miss and pop one.”