BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
LA VILLA — In a little town about 20 miles north of Mercedes High School, surrounded by farmland, senior Zach Gomez is thrilled to be back to work.
“I think just the way we played overall on Friday, we had so much fun,” Gomez, who played in his first game for La Villa last Friday, said. “Of course, getting the win under our belt was awesome.”
In nine games for Mercedes last year, Gomez amassed 1,235 passing yards and 12 TDs. He added 519 yards on the ground.
But an interesting situation emerged in the other games Mercedes played last season. Then-junior Marc Ledesma proved he, too, was a capable passer.
During the spring and fall preseason this year, Ledesma and Gomez battled it out for the starting spot. Ledesma was named the starter, and Gomez wasn’t sure what his role would be.
“They wanted me to play receiver,” Gomez, who had never played receiver before, said. “Growing up, I played running back. But I have been a quarterback since seventh grade.”
Gomez made what he said was the hardest decision of his life.
“I have officially decided not to play football my senior year,” Gomez wrote on Twitter Aug. 7. “My decision.”
Gomez knew what awaited him after he made that proclamation.
“I already knew that people were going to tell me stuff,” Gomez said. “‘Zach, you are wrong for this. You are wrong for that.’ At the end of the day, it’s me and what I want to do with my life. So I can care less what anyone else has to say.”
Gomez was not dissuaded, though. He never stopped working out, and he was dedicated to the game he loves.
Meanwhile, another move was already happening. Gomez’s mom and dad, Rebecca and Pedro Martinez, both worked for Mercedes last year. Pedro is still a track and cross country coach at Mercedes. But this year, Rebecca got a job working at La Villa Middle School as the dean of instruction. The family thought long and hard about what made sense logistically, and in the end decided it was best to move to La Villa.
With the change in surroundings came a change in school for Gomez. He began attending La Villa High School.
La Villa coach Daniel Perez was an assistant at Edcouch-Elsa during Gomez’s junior year, and he was on the sidelines when Gomez went 15-of-19 passing for 145 yards and two touchdowns in Mercedes’ 27-12 win over Edcouch-Elsa on Oct. 14, 2016.
“I knew he was the QB there at Mercedes,” Perez said. “I have seen him play. I have coached against him. So, I know what he can do.”
Gomez was ready to get back out onto the field, so Perez went through the process of getting the move done.
“We sent the paperwork in,” Perez said. “We followed the procedure. We sent it to the (district chair) Ben Bolt. They took a look and sent it to all the superintendents. They look at it. If anybody has a question, then we have a meeting. … Somebody did raise a question, so we had a meeting. We talked about it, and we got it done. They voted in favor of allowing the transfer to go through, so he was ready to play.”
Gomez got to pull on the black and red and get back to what he loves doing — making defenders miss.
In the Cardinals’ game on Friday, Gomez danced and dodged his way to 53 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He also showed off his arm, going 4 for 7 with 115 passing yards and another score. Even more than his performance, Gomez said he was excited about helping the Cardinals get their first win of the season, 52-20 over Benavides.
“Seeing him play, he exceeded my expectations,” junior quarterback Rey Felix said. “I knew he was good, but I didn’t think he was super good. Now, we know he is super good.”
Felix has been the driving force for the offense this year, rushing for 307 yards and passing for 692. Felix was glad to have Gomez next to him this week.
“He has been a big help to the team,” Felix said of Gomez. “He’s done a lot for us, and he helped us get that ‘W’ on Friday.”
Gomez is still learning the offense, but Felix is happy to have Gomez as his quarterback.
“I’m comfortable sharing the snaps with him,” Felix said. “I played running back before and I liked it, so now I can play running back again. And if him being quarterback is best for the team, I support that.”
As the team continues to mesh with its newest addition, the Cardinals turn their attention to Friday. La Villa begins play in District 16-2A Division I with a home game against Ben Bolt at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cardinal Stadium in La Villa.
“Now that we got a win, we are hungry,” Felix said. “We want another one. We can’t wait to get back on the field and show what we are capable of.”