GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — All week, McAllen Memorial linebacker Sam Hinojosa has been hearing the same thing from friends, parents, students, teachers, and even some of his teammates.
On the heels of Memorial’s dominating 10-0 run through the regular season, many of the Mustang faithful are already setting their sights on regionals.
But Hinojosa knows better. He’s focused on the team’s Class 6A Division I bi-district opener against Laredo United South at 7:30 tonight at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The lesson is one Hinojosa and Memorial learned the hard way last year, when a nine-game winning streak came to a surprisingly early end at the hands of Del Rio in the bi-district round — the Mustangs’ third consecutive first-round playoff exit.
“They keep saying, ‘I can’t wait until we all go to San Antonio,’” Hinojosa said. “Well, we can’t go to San Antonio if we don’t beat United South. … If anyone ever tells me anything about, ‘I saw the brackets, this team is in this region.’ I don’t care. I don’t know who you’re talking about right now.”
Hinojosa is living by the Mustangs motto for 2015: ‘Remember the feeling.’ The expression was born from all the emotion that came with 2014’s outstanding regular season and unsatisfactory conclusion.
Senior quarterback Jonathan Sanchez said the Mustangs look back to that disappointment to remind them of the volatility of the postseason. Still, the message has been a tough one to get through to some of the team’s younger varsity players.
“They’re, ‘I have two more years left, I have three more years left,’” Sanchez said. “I remember saying that when I was a sophomore. … Every single year, the older kids, seniors, say, ‘All of you sophomores, take advantage.’ You never truly understand what that means until you become a senior.”
Even the Mustangs’ seniors are trying to minimize the pressure on this week’s game, not deviating at all from the game-week formula that helped the team get to 10-0.
Sanchez said he doesn’t feel any added burden, only confidence. He hasn’t even considered the possibility that tonight’s game could be his last.
“For some reason, I just feel like I have another game left,” Sanchez said. “I have three more games left. I just don’t think this is going to be the last one.”
Memorial’s offense has earned that confidence this season, ranking as one of the most prolific attacks in Valley history.
The Mustangs have racked up 60 points per game, and their smallest margin of victory this season is a 19-point win against San Benito in Week 3.
Even with a shutout loss this week, Memorial would rank as the highest-scoring offense per game in Valley history, holding a comfortable edge on the 2013 Sharyland High team that averaged 52.23 points per game.
“To be honest, it’s a little short of what we thought,” Sanchez said of the Mustangs’ production. “Curtains close for us around third quarters throughout the whole regular season, sometimes at halftime. So it’s not really a surprise for us.”
Despite the success, the Mustangs’ goal for the postseason is no different than at the start of every year: to be the best team in Memorial history.
Coach Bill Littleton said the only way to prove that is to win 13 games and advance to fourth round, both of which would be program firsts.
Hinojosa said he thinks the Mustangs have the tools to get there, but it starts with bi-district. A first-round playoff loss would nullify everything the team has accomplished to this point.
“The 10-0 season is going to go wasteful if we go 10-1,” Hinojosa said. “If we go 10-1, we might as well have not even played this year.”
None of the players in Memorial’s program have won a playoff game, losing to Harlingen High in 2012 and 2013 before being upset by Del Rio last season.
For all running back Trevor Speights has accomplished, setting the Valley’s career rushing record with 9,464 yards and last week tying the career touchdowns record with 112, he’s never won a playoff game.
What would it feel like if Memorial was to come up short tonight? What if one of the most prolific players in the history of Texas high school football finishes his career without a playoff win? Speights shrugs off the idea.
“We’re going to get it done on Friday,” Speights said. “There’s no if.”