KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star
SAN BENITO — It’s round three of the Texas high school playoffs and four Valley teams remain in the playoff picture. San Benito is one of those four and senior defensive end Ryan Reza has had a strong senior season for the Hounds.
Last season, as a junior, Reza collected 13 sacks, this season Reza has be-come a sack master with a team high 20 sacks.
Reza and the Hounds will meet San Antonio O’Connor in the class 6A Regional Quarterfinal Friday at 7:30 at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi. The Valley Morning Star had a chance to catch up with Reza.
Q: There are four teams left in the playoffs, San Benito is one of them how special is it to be one of the last teams standing?
REZA: Anytime we have an opportunity to play the game of football it is al-ways special. This Friday we have another opportu-nity.
Q: Three of the four teams are out of 32-6A, is that a testament to how tough your district was?
REZA: RGV football is tough football. It’s made up of tough athletes and good coaching staffs. You better be well prepared to face any team from the RGV.
Q: San Antonio O’Connor is also 12-0, what are some challenges they may present to you? REZA: It’s very difficult to reach a record of 12-0. O’Connor is 12-0 and we are 12-0 so the challenges we will face are familiar ones. Two good teams battling out to be 13-0 in Texas high school football.
Q: You have 20 sacks this season, what were some things you did over the offseason to raise your game?
REZA: I committed my-self to our summer work-outs , sharpened my tools at a couple of camps and devoted hours to film.
Q: You carry the axe pre game what does the axe represent?
REZA: The axe repre-sents our hard work throughout our offsea-son,summer, two a days and in season practices. Coach Gomez took it from Abraham Lincoln’s quote” if given 6 hours to chop a tree down I would sharpen the axe for 4 of those hours”. It’s what our pro-gram is built on “hard work and preparation “.
Q: What is the best part on being able to sack the quarterback?
REZA: The best part is the feeling it helps my team knowing that it’s always for a loss. It’s a longer distance for them to get a first down.
Q: Who is your favorite NFL pass rusher and why?
REZA: J. J Watt because he’s one of the best pass rushers of all time. He also sets a good example on and off the field.
Q: We have seen you line up on offense and catch a few touchdowns what is that like being able to score touchdowns?
REZA: Scoring touch-downs always feels great. But knowing that I con-tributed to pointing six points on the board to contribute with a win for my team is an awesome feeling.
Q: If you can have din-ner with anyone in history who would it be and why? REZA: Coach Dan Gomez, because I love him more than a coach.
