GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McAllen Memorial entered the season with six new starters on defense, and it showed in Week 1. The Mustangs gave up 59 points in a loss to Sharyland.
But, as the weeks have gone on, those players have improved, and the matchups have gotten easier. In wins against San Benito, Edinburg North and La Joya the past three weeks, Memorial gave up 59 points combined.
“We had some young kids that are beginning to grow up and get comfortable with what they’re doing,” coach Bill Littleton said. “We’re beginning to play better team defense: Controlling the gaps, and doing exactly what we want them to do. So they’ve gotten better.”
As new players have tried to get adjusted, senior linebacker Lucas Rios has been key. The Mustangs’ only defensive captain and a two-year starter in the middle, Rios is responsible for making all of the defensive calls. He also leads the unit with 47 tackles.
Littleton said Rios mostly leads by example but is vocal when he needs to be. When any of those younger starters need help, Rios is there to offer.
“He tries to be the quarterback of that defense,” Littleton said. “He’s a smart kid. He studies the game while he’s on the field, and he studies the game at home, also.”
One of the young players who has emerged for Memorial’s defense is Paul Zuniga, a junior defensive end who leads the team with 5 sacks and ranks second with 41 tackles. Zuniga showed promise at the JV level last season and only got bigger, stronger and more mature during the summer.
“He’s got a motor,” Littleton said. “He plays hard all the time. He plays 100 miles per hour, and he’s a good football player. He’s one of those kids up off the JV, he had no varsity experience until this year, and he’s done a tremendous job for us.”
WARRIORS DEFENSE
McAllen Rowe’s defense ranks second from last in District 30-6A, and coach Paul Reyes said the struggles are mostly a result of big plays.
Last week against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, Reyes said about 200 of the 249 yards allowed came from five big gains.
“That’s a thing that we’ve got to correct,” Reyes said. “When we play well, we’ve played well. But whether it’s a missed assignment or a missed tackle, whatever it may be, we kind of give up that big play. Sometimes, it’s hurt us in games, because we’re giving them up on third downs.”
One of the bright spots for Rowe’s defense has been linebacker Taylor Clough, the Warriors’ leading tackler. Clough transferred to Rowe from Byron Nelson High School in the Fort Worth area during the summer and quickly made an impression on Reyes.
“Obviously in our summer workouts, we could tell he was athletic,” Reyes said. “We put him at different positions he wasn’t quite used to. He responded, and he’s done well. The thing about him is he just has a knack for the football.”
LA JOYA’S STUD
After every game La Joya High has played this season, opposing coaches have approached Coyotes coach George Espinoza to compliment the play of Yonny Villarreal.
The senior linebacker has been one of the Coyotes’ cornerstones on defense, amassing 59 tackles so far this season, including 17 for a loss. No other player on the team has more than six tackles for loss.
“He’s got a nose for the ball,” Espinoza said. “He plays with a lot of passion, a lot of fire. He’s going to give it everything he’s got. The past three ball games, he was basically passing out at the end of the games, because he’s left it all out on the field.”
Espinoza said Villarreal’s early success has been the result of him reading and reacting to what the offense is doing. Along with fellow outside linebacker Ricardo Ornelas, Villarreal has been key to slowing down the offenses of Weslaco East and McAllen Memorial the past two weeks.
The Wildcats and Mustangs have scored fewer points against the Coyotes than against any other opponent this season.
Villarreal used to play running back and in the secondary, and Ornelas also plays soccer, so the duo has the speed to keep opposing backs contained.
“Weslaco East and Memorial, they’re going to try to get the ball outside,” Espinoza said. “(Ornelas and Villarreal) get out there, and they’re the first guys. That’s what’s helping them: being in the right position to make plays.”