By ROY HESS|Staff Writer
In the “next man up” scenario of football, Alexis Gomez has seen both sides.
A year ago, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial running back’s junior season was wiped out due to an ACL injury. After a huge amount of work to rehab his knee, Gomez was ready to step into the Chargers’ lineup as a starter a few weeks ago when his teammate, standout rusher Abel Martinez, was sidelined by an injury of his own.
Gomez, a 5-foot-6, 170-pound senior, is grateful for his chance to shine and looks forward to the time that soon may be coming when he and Martinez can both contribute to the Chargers’ strong rushing attack along with senior quarterback Gustavo Vasquez.
“It was hard suffering an ACL the first day of practice (in 2016),” said Gomez, who rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in Saturday’s pivotal 35-21 District 32-5A victory against Lopez. Vasquez had 224 yards and four TDs on 30 carries as the Chargers (6-1 overall, 4-0 district) controlled the ground game against the Lobos and took over sole possession of the 32-5A lead.
“It’s felt great just showing that my hard work over the summer and (during) the time I was hurt has paid off,” Gomez added. “I knew I wanted to come back and I knew I wanted to come back strong, so I dedicated myself to working hard to prove to all the others that I could do it.
“I’m there (close to 100 percent) now, and I can do better. There are some big shoes to fill because Abel has done an amazing job this year and last year. I hope I can do as much as he’s done. It will be even more amazing (if Martinez can make it back). We can accomplish a lot together with his speed and whatever it is I have to add.”
Chargers coach David Cantu is impressed with the way Gomez has displayed resilience in rebounding from his injury, his humility, and his being ready when called upon to step in and assume an important role with Martinez out.
“A lot of credit is due to Alexis for being ready to play,” Cantu said. “(Running backs) coach Joe ‘Pope’ Martinez has prepared Alexis well, even since last year. Coach Martinez has his guys ready to go when needed. Abel’s injury was big, but we had a player (Gomez) practicing every day as if he were the starter. Kudos to Coach Martinez and to Alexis for putting in all the hard work.
“Abel will be re-evaluated soon and there is a possibility he could come back (this season),” Cantu added. “Abel’s feeling better and there was no break (in his injured leg). If he does come back, that would be awesome having both Abel and Alexis there for us in the backfield during the closing stretch of the season. That would mean a lot.”
“Pope” Martinez has coached the running backs at Brownsville Veterans for six years and overall has 23 years of experience coaching the position with other stints coming at Porter, Pace, Rivera and Harlingen South.
He had confidence Gomez would do well when given his chance to start.
“We’re just thankful Alexis was able to step in after Abel went down and we’re just so proud he was able to come back from the knee injury he suffered last year,” said Martinez, who was a standout running back along with fellow Chargers assistant coach Sammy Montalvo on the 1979 Pace team that went 9-1. “You can see Alexis is really starting to blossom now with more reps.
“Alexis is extremely quick and he runs low to the ground,” the coach added. “He’s actually a pretty fast runner, too. His speed may be deceiving, unlike Abel’s. Alexis runs real well and breaks a lot of tackles.
“We’re just happy that we’ve come this far in the season and that our kiddos are working their tails off. They’re doing everything we’re asking of them.”
Gomez said the Chargers are displaying their abilities on the field and nothing more need be said.
“Just watch us play,” he said. “That says it all.”