By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace was bitten by the injury bug last year. Not just once or twice, but several times.
It lowered the Vikings win total, but may be a blessing in disguise as several kids learned multiple positions on both sides of the ball last season. With the majority of those returning, Pace has its sights set on a good season as practice continued this week.
The Vikings worked hard in the offseason to get healthy and stay that way.
“They were here all summer working out doing the things they had to do to get prepared for this season,” Pace coach William Deen said. “(Injuries) put us in a deficit last year. Depth is always an issue, but we’re cross-training kids on the offensive and defensive side.”
The Vikings coach said the team added several things to the offseason workouts to improve the overall health of the team, but other techniques as well to increase quickness.
“We felt we needed to be a faster football team,” Deen said. “It has allowed us to do a lot more things on offense.”
Along with a healthy squad, Pace has plenty of experience back, especially from the new junior and senior classes.
“We’re probably stronger in the skill positions than we’ve ever been,” Deen said. “We’ve got some good senior leadership, those kids have bought into the program.”
Those skill players include a pair of juniors: the likely starter at quarterback in Randy Aguilar and Gabriel Zapata, who played a few positions on offense as a sophomore, including receiver, tail back, and even quarterback last season.
With Aguilar under center, the Vikings will look to get the ball in Zapata’s hands early and often when Aguliar’s not making things happen himself.
But it starts up front. Most of the offensive line return, including a few from injuries last year.
“The offensive line is looking pretty good, we’re building a chemistry,” Pace senior center Jonathan Ojeda said. “Most of our offensive line have been in the weight room, so we hope to be healthy and stay healthy.”
On the defensive side, the Vikings also return the majority of their starters. With that playing time and knowledge from a year ago, Pace should be much improved.
“We were kind of young last year,” Pace senior nose tackle Miguel Teran said. “We got the experience now. We didn’t have that a couple years ago. Now we’re more confident.”
The Vikings are hoping that depth isn’t such a problem this year as it has been in the past. With greater experience on both sides of the ball, Pace is looking to make some noise in the new District 32-5A.
“We have some young guys coming up and vying for some positions,” Deen said about some of his sophomores. “Kids learning more positions always helps and they’ve done a great job. I’m proud of them.”
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.