GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — PSJA Southwest’s Jesus Acosta has been a soccer player most of his life, but when he arrived at Kennedy Middle School in seventh grade, football coaches wanted to make use of his talent on the gridiron.
“They just told me to go and run with the ball,” Acosta said. “Don’t let them tackle you. I didn’t know how football worked or what to do.”
With time, Acosta became one of the best backs in District 32-5A, this season ranking third with 1,279 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.
On the pitch, he takes a similar approach, willing to do whatever is asked of him. That mentality permeates the PSJA Southwest roster, especially with Acosta and fellow senior Joe Benavides, and is a major reason the team is back in the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.
“They’re all-around athletes,” PSJA Southwest coach Jesus Palomin said. “In whatever sport they would’ve chosen as their primary sport, they would’ve been successful.”
When PSJA Southwest switched from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-3-3 to try to negate its size disadvantage and lack of elite forwards, Acosta stepped into the third forward role.
Later, when the Javelinas’ starting goalie was lost due to injury, Acosta filled in. Acosta hadn’t played the position since middle school, and Southwest was facing undefeated Brownsville Porter, but he still answered the call.
“It was a baptism by fire, and he’s done a real great job,” Palomin said. “He’s very calm. We like that he doesn’t panic.”
Neither does Benavides, who Palomin said has played every position in the book.
Typically, Benavides lines up on the defensive end, earning the team’s playoff MVP the past three seasons for his ability outmuscle larger center midfielders.
But this district season, Benavides has moved forward, scoring eight goals as a midfielder. With senior captain Humberto Medina suspended for three games after picking up a red card in the season finale, Benavides will become the central figure of the Javelinas’ quick touch offense, calling out the plays on the fly.
“We’re a team, and people have to step it up,” Benavides said. “He’s going to be out for three games, but we said his season is not over, because we’re going to go deep, and he’s going to come back.”
Acosta, Benavides and a third senior stalwart, Manny Ortiz, have also adjusted their mental approaches during their four years on varsity.
As freshmen, those three would be knocking on random doors in the team hotel, or hiding the clothes and towels when their senior teammates went to shower. Now, as seniors, their approach is more business-like.
“These guys have taken the role of the leaders and put (the younger players) in their place and told them, ‘Hey, you can’t be doing that,’” Palomin said. “We laugh, because we’re like, ‘Now you’re telling the younger ones not to do it, when you used to do it.’ It’s funny how the roles change.”
Each of the seniors has had to take on more responsibility this year, as Southwest graduated 13 players and half of last season’s starting lineup.
The turnover hasn’t done anything to change the expectations for the Javelinas, who have bested their previous playoff run in each of the past three years. Last season, Southwest advanced all the way to the regional finals before losing 4-2 to Georgetown East View.
“It’s pressure, because ever since my freshman year: Third round, fourth round, fifth round,” Benavides said. “The only thing that’s left is going to the Final Four, and I think we’re going to accomplish that this year.”
The road to state gets off to a difficult start on Thursday, with a matchup against one of the region’s top teams in Valley View. The Javelinas face that challenge without Medina, who was ejected from the team’s final game over what Palomin called confusion with the official. Medina was yelling at one of his teammates to try to fire him up, and the official thought the comments were directed at him.
The blow has done nothing to shake PSJA Southwest’s confidence.
“The players said, ‘We’ve got it, coach,’” Palomin said. “Joe Benavides, he was one of the main ones that said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’re going to carry this team.’”