BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Sharyland High enters 2015 with all the tools a district title contender could want. The No. 2 team in the RGVSports.com top 10 has senior talent spread throughout every position group. About two thirds of the starting lineup returns from a team that went 13-3 and advanced to the area round of the playoffs last season.
The Rattlers are confident, and with good reason.
“We have a pretty good team, I’m not going to lie,” senior midfielder Brandon Longoria said. “We expect to win district. We want to go to state, and I think, with this team, we can do it.”
Longoria figures to be key for the Rattlers, specifically because of his ability to make precise, long-distance passes from his midfield position. Coach Rev Hernandez describes Longoria as a “very smart player”, someone who can work the ball to Sharyland’s attacking options.
The best of those options figures to be Eric Izaguirre, who is the team’s leading returning scorer with seven goals during district play last season. Izaguirre stands out because of his speed and strength, which is something the entire team has been working to improve during the offseason.
“What’s going to make a big difference this year is the experience guys got last year,” Izaguirre said. “Pretty much all of the starting team is going to be seniors. I think that’s going to help us a lot.”
Given the number of senior starters and how long this group has been together, Hernandez expects chemistry to be a key to their success. While many of Sharyland High’s athletic teams have been hampered by the split to form Sharyland Pioneer, the Rattlers boys soccer team has been mostly unaffected, with all the seniors electing to stay together for one more run.
“They’ve been playing already for two or three years,” Hernandez said. “They knew each other, they know what buttons to push, and which buttons not to push. So that’s very good.”
No. 3 La Joya Juarez-Lincoln
Much like Sharyland High, the Huskies return eight senior starters from a team that reached the area round of the playoffs. The names to watch figure to be Jimmy Castaneda, Luis Sanchez, Javier Coronado, David Segura and Gerardo Chavaria, with the latter two having the best chance to do the bulk of the scoring.
“We have eight seniors playing on the team, so we believe that we’re a solid team,” coach Victor Ramos said. “We’ll be able to compete in our district.”
Replacing Luis Guerra and Jose Escareno will be a challenge, but losing a few seniors hasn’t been enough to derail the Huskies’ upward trajectory in recent seasons. Juarez-Lincoln opened in 2008, and the Huskies have gone to the playoffs and won a game every year since 2009.
The key is typically the team’s high-powered offense. The Huskies netted 49 goals in district play last season — 11 more than the next highest total. That scoring again figures to be there. The only question is whether the defense can carry its end.
“We’re a very offensive team, so what we need to work on is our defensive part,” Ramos said. “Everybody loves to go forward, but when we defend, it’s not the same. So we’ve been working on that.”
No. 7 La Joya Palmview
The Lobos advanced to the area round of the playoffs last season, and coach Mario Ribera believes his team has only improved.
“I feel that we have a very strong team,” Ribera said. “I would say it’s even better compared to my team from last year.”
Still, Palmview has one major weakness it’s looking to address early in the season: the forward position.
With leading scorers Eric Garza and Carlos Hernandez gone from last year’s team, Ribera is still searching for a pair of starters out of a group of four candidates.
“We’re creating a lot of opportunities up front, but right now we’re not finishing,” Ribera said. “That’s my main concern.”
Palmview’s strengths should be on set pieces and in possession — factors that have typically been specialties for the Lobos the past few years.
Goalie Evilberto Maldonado is one of four returning starters, along with midfielders Jorge Garcia and Alan Morales. Jose Bocanegra is also back after starting as a freshman last year.
“Being one of the elite teams that I consider my team to be in the Valley,” Ribera said, “we should be fighting to be district champs.”
No. 9 Mission High
Eagles coach Christos Barouhas has little trouble pinpointing the most significant departure from last season’s team: captain and right fullback Jonathan Leija. The senior was a captain and team leader, on and off the field.
“To this point, I haven’t been able to really replace him,” Barouhas said. “It’s going to be difficult.”
Leija may not be back, but Barouhas has filled the vacant captain role with the most similar player he possibly could: Leija’s brother, Luis.
“He’s not exactly the same, but he has the same values, he has the same discipline, and that carries on and transfers to the rest of the guys,” Barouhas said.
Luis is one of the rare returning starters for Mission. The Eagles will also be relying on Manuel Rojas and Jose Gutierrez, an attacking, versatile midfielder who played JV last season but has really impressed Barouhas in the months since.
“I think he’s going to impress a lot a people,” Barouhas said.
RGVSports.com Boys Preseason Top 10
1. Brownsville Rivera
2. Sharyland High
3. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln
4. Brownsville Porter
5. Valley View
6. Brownsville Lopez
7. La Joya Palmview
8. Brownsville Hanna
9. Mission High
10. San Benito