By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The founding of a football program requires the proper touch and guidance to ensure success.
Judging by its winning records, Brownsville Veterans Memorial has done it the right way.
The school opened in 2010 and fielded its first football team that fall with only freshmen and sophomores. The Chargers played mostly subvarsity opponents and went 9-0 during their first season, which included a pair of varsity wins against Santa Maria and Marine Military Academy of Harlingen. From the very beginning, a favorable Brownsville ISD zoning designation provided the school with ample student numbers for its extracurricular programs.
During the course of its brief history, Brownsville Veterans has continued to enjoy success and make Brownsville proud, particularly in 2012 when the Chargers went 9-3 and advanced two rounds in the Class 5A Division II playoffs. That took place during the Chargers’ first year as members of District 32-5A.
The current Chargers find themselves 6-0 with a 3-0 mark in District 32-6A as they prepare for an important district showdown at 7:30 p.m. Friday against San Benito (4-2, 2-1) at the Greyhounds’ Bobby Morrow Stadium.
This week’s action for Metro-area teams gets under way at 7 p.m. Thursday when Harlingen South (1-4, 1-2) comes to Brownsville to play Rivera (0-6, 0-3) in a 32-6A game at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Besides the Brownsville Veterans at San Benito game, competition continues in 32-6A at 7:30 p.m. Friday as Los Fresnos (6-0, 3-0) plays at Harlingen High (4-2, 2-1) in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week.
In other games at 7:30 p.m. Friday involving Metro-area teams, it’s Porter (4-2, 2-1) vs. Pace (1-4, 1-2) at Sams for a District 32-5A contest and Port Isabel (4-1, 1-0) at Rio Hondo (4-1, 1-0) in District 16-4A Division II action.
Three Metro-area teams play Saturday as Lopez (1-4, 1-2) and Hanna (2-4, 0-3) square off in a 32-6A game at 7 p.m. at Sams and St. Joseph Academy (5-1, 1-0) travels to San Antonio St. Anthony’s (3-3, 0-1) for a 2 p.m. TAPPS district contest.
Brownsville Veterans has followed a successful path that was initiated by Mark Guess, the Chargers’ first football coach/athletic coordinator.
Guess coached the Chargers two seasons as they went 9-0 in 2010 and 8-1 in 2011, playing with no seniors and losing only to Port Isabel 31-15 in a varsity game. In 2012, Guess became the Brownsville ISD athletic director and was succeeded at Brownsville Veterans by current coach David Cantu, who had been the coach at Rivera.
Guess welcomed the opportunity of starting the Chargers’ athletic program from scratch when he was hired in 2010.
“There are two things I believe were important,” said Guess, who came to Brownsville Veterans after coaching at West Oso. “The first thing was hiring the right coaches that would benefit the program. (Secondly,) studying the culture of athletics here, it was decided we were going to set some high standards that we were going to follow. Our focus was on winning rather than making excuses as to why we couldn’t win.
“An important part of that is having discipline in the program,” Guess added. “They’re first of all students and then student-athletes. They had to understand that passing their classes was what was going to allow them to participate (in sports).
“I take a lot of pride in the success the Chargers are enjoying. (As athletic director,) I want to see all of our schools be successful. (In reality,) they can’t all be successful every year because that’s just the nature of high school athletics. I’ll continue to support all of them.”
The torch at Brownsville Veterans was passed from Guess to Cantu, whose best season thus far came in 2012 with his 9-3 team.
The past two seasons the Chargers have gone 5-5 and 6-4, but without a trip to the playoffs. Getting back to the postseason has become a strong motivating factor as the Chargers now enter a crucial stretch of their regular-season schedule against San Benito, Harlingen High and Los Fresnos.
“I think a lot of it, as far as us being successful, is (due to) our coaches, and the attitude they have toward this program,” said Chargers senior center Jorge Montelongo, a 6-foot-2, 250-pounder who was an All-Valley honoree last season. “They always expect a lot of hard work from each and every one of us. It’s also been the (diligent) attitude of all the athletes who work out under them and have a positive state of mind. We always want to do our best for our coaches.
“When I was a freshman (in 2012), that’s when the seniors back then went two rounds deep into the playoffs. You see that and you crave it,” added Montelongo, a three-year starter. “Wanting to win is just a craving that every athlete has. We had a good team last year (but missed the playoffs). We’ve been working hard to improve ourselves so we can change that this season.”
Added teammate Brandon Lee Martinez, a 5-10, 185-pound junior and multi-position defensive player, “We’re doing really good this year, and it’s an honor to play on this team. It’s like a family, and I’m really proud to be a part of it. We came all summer and worked out (on our own) for this (undefeated start). We really have a bond between us.
“We’ve had some great game plans put in by our coaches, and there’s been a lot of hard work done in the weight room,” added Martinez, a two-year starter who lines up at defensive end, outside linebacker and sometimes even at nose tackle. “We’ve gotten on this roll (of winning), and we’re real confident in our team now. Winning close games like against Harlingen South (35-28) has helped us a lot.”
Cantu said perhaps the biggest reason behind the Chargers’ success this season is the group of dedicated seniors who are leading the team.
“There are 29 of them who just care a great deal about each other, and they’ve done everything the right way,” the Chargers coach said. “There was a lot of pain last year when we fell short (of the playoffs), and they are motivated to achieve that goal this season. The second thing I would say that is behind our success is the consistency of our coaching staff. It’s been pretty much 90 percent of the same people (here) for the past four years. We have some very good coaches on our staff.
“Preparation also has been very important,” Cantu added. “Our players have been focused every week. There’s a lot of hope (for what we can accomplish). When there’s hope for the future, there’s power in the present.”