By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Harlingen’s junior running back Leo Tienda had a break- out year and quarterback Jesse Castro was instrumental in a Harlingen offense which really took off later in the year.
A big reason for that success was a tough and experienced offensive line.
Behind that line, Tienda ran for more than 1,300 yards in the regular season and helped will the Cards further into the playoffs with a huge five-touchdown game against McAllen Memorial in the area round.
While Castro and Tienda will return for the Cards, the offensive line is younger heading into next year, which is why head coach Manny Gomez has used spring practice to help bring them along.
“Our plan was to come out here and have our offensive line grow up a bit,” Gomez said. “We lost four of five guys, but we have one guy returning and one guy who has been battle-tested.”
Among those seniors lost along the line are Davis Ericksmoen, Bobby Melendez and center Michael Noyola.
While Gomez sees the incoming line as young, he feels that having them go against his defensive line has helped the maturation process.
“They’ve grown up a lot and our defensive line is very well-oiled,” Gomez said. “They have really helped the offensive line grow up faster than normal.”
Another plus about spring ball for Gomez is the level of play brought to the practice field.
With players not worried about wearing out before games, younger players get as close as they can to live action.
In turn, that develops depth.
“We have to calibrate new guys into our system,” Gomez said. “It’s a long, physical season and you need to find guys who can go in to compete as well. You can be more physical in spring than in the fall without a Friday game to worry about.”
The Red birds are closing spring practice today after four weeks and despite the it being hard work, football is football.
So nobody is glad to see it disappear until August.
“Spring ball is an appetizer of what’s yet to come,” Gomez said. “It’s well worth it and it’s definitely fun.”