By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowboys had a great season on the football field this year, and it just got better.
Seniors Kevin Garcia, Armando Payan and Jorge Gutierrez will continue their football careers at Graceland University, an NAIA school in Lamoni, Iowa, after making the decisions official at a signing ceremony Wednesday at the Porter fieldhouse.
“I’ve been coaching 11 years, and I haven’t seen any of my players go there,” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “It’s a pretty cool deal. I know they’re going to contribute, so it’s a pretty big deal.”
The Cowboys earned a playoff spot in District 32-5A with the help of the senior trio.
Garcia anchored the offensive line as a center that helped running back Jorge Gutierrez rush for more than 2,000 yards and 25 touchdowns during the regular season. Payan was a safety on defense and also played quarterback at times for Porter.
Now the three will play at Campos’ alma mater for the Yellowjackets.
“I looked into Graceland, and it has a pretty good program,” Gutierrez said. “I wanted to follow in the steps of our head coach. All three of us decided, let’s go.”
The seniors have known each other since middle school.
“We’re going to go and support each other,” Payan said. “We wanted to stay together.”
And for Garcia, it’s a reward several years in the making.
“It feels good. I’ve put all this hard work in,” he said. “I’ve been playing football since I was in fourth grade, so to get to play again for another four years is amazing. I’ve been playing with (Gutierrez and Payan) since I was little, so to play another four years is a blessing.”
Each player received athletic and academic scholarships to cover most of the cost of tuition. But each will look at a different field to study. Garcia plans to study psychology, Gutierrez said he will chose either kinesiology or nursing, and Payan will likely study sports marketing or journalism.
Campos was glad that the seniors chose to stay together.
“All three had opportunities to go other places, so I think it’s neat they’ll go up together. I think it will help them,” he said.
Although it’s different from home, Campos said that Graceland is a good place to go to school.
“I’ve told them what it’s going to be like, the shock when you get up there. It’s definitely not south Texas,” he said. “It’s a real tight knit family. It’s a special place.”
The Cowboys’ coach was glad to be able to help them advance their football careers.
“We can help them move on to the next level. It’s special for us for all the hard work they’ve done for us,” Campos said. “To give them a reward like this, it’s really cool.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.