BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — Long known for outstanding soccer and baseball teams, Valley View football, too, is trending up.
No, the Tigers aren’t perennial playoff contenders yet, but the program is taking the necessary steps to get there.
“When we first started, the number of kids in the program were not very good,” Valley View coach Eli Esquivel said. “Last year, in the middle of the year, the freshman, JV and varsity teams were all at .500. We hadn’t had that before. When we took over, there were no freshman and JV teams, and we had 25 kids total in the program.”
The varsity Tigers won three games last season, the most since the program’s six-win year in 2012.
“We had injuries, so we didn’t have the depth to compete at our best last year,” Esquivel said. “Our last two games were against Laredo Nixon and Mission Veterans. We were down 2-0 going to the fourth quarter to Nixon, and Mission Veterans beat us 21-14. Those are two teams that won our district. Our job has gotten a little easier now, because our kids believe in what we’re doing, and we have a little more depth than before. We’ve got some consistency with the kids running the same offense for four years. Same thing with our defense.”
Quarterback Simon Fernandez was among the several Tigers bitten by the injury bug in 2017. He proved he could ably lead the offense to victory, doing so in the Tigers’ first two games of the season, but Fernandez appeared in only three of their final eight games.
“I hurt an ankle during the second game (against Hidalgo), but I just played through it until I couldn’t bear it anymore,” Fernandez said. “Right now, I feel healthier than I was last year.”
“After Simon got hurt, we had our JV quarterback (Aksel Cerda) come up to varsity,” Esquivel said. “Simon’s getting most of the reps with the first team, because Aksel is a starter on our defense. But we do have two quarterbacks to play with.”
Fernandez had been in the Valley View football pipeline since he was an eighth-grader, but last season was his first as the varsity starting quarterback.
“Last year taught me how to be a leader when times are tough,” Fernandez said. “It showed me that I need to think quicker on my feet and put in the work when no one is watching.”
Fernandez meant this in a figurative and literal sense, as he attended a track camp and later a passing camp hosted by former University of Texas and NFL player Jaxon Shipley last month in Edinburg.
“I learned things at the (Shipley) camp that I never knew or had taught to me anywhere else,” Fernandez said. “I learned how to do a three-step drop, use a hitch and did a lot on my footwork. Those are all things I need to know how to do to be a better quarterback.”
NEW COORDINATORS
After offensive coordinator Richard Valdez took the head baseball job at Edinburg North and defensive coordinator David Porras moved back to Starr County to coach Roma’s offense, the Tigers will have two new coordinators entering the 2018 season.
However, new DC Crespin Gonzalez and OC Pete Martinez are quite familiar with Esquivel.
“It worked out great for us,” Esquivel said. “I worked with both of them at multiple places. Crespin ran an identical defense after I left PSJA High. We got very lucky to get Pete Martinez to run our offense. When I was in La Feria and we had those good years, Pete Martinez was my offensive coordinator. It won’t feel like we’re changing anything at all.”
Martinez has coaching in his blood as the son of Mercedes’ boys track coach Pete Martinez.
“It took me about five seconds to decide to join coach Esquivel,” Valley View’s Martinez said. “I knew that he was a good person to work for as a head coach and that he would let us do what we need to do. I think it was five seconds. It might have been quicker than that.”
Gonzalez knew he had to jump on the opportunity when it came to him.
“I was coaching linebackers at Port Isabel when he asked me if I was interested in the job,” Gonzalez said. “I knew what they had coming back, so I know the defense and schemes that he wanted to run.”
MAINTAINING THE FORMULA
Regardless of how the offense fared, the defense kept Valley View in most of its games last year. On average, the Tigers allowed 247.2 yards per game in 2017, which was the best mark in the nine-team District 31-5A.
The more shocking stat, perhaps, is the 941 yards passing Valley View allowed in a district that housed Mission Veterans’ Landry Gilpin, Rio Grande City’s Jason Perez, Sharyland Pioneer’s Jacob Rosales, and Sharyland High’s Edgar Longoria.
All four quarterbacks threw for at least 1,300 yards last season. None of those quarterbacks touched 250 yards against the Tigers.
“We were stingy because we never let up,” Valley View senior safety Armando Ayala said. “We lost good players, but a lot of us are back. Hopefully, we can do the same thing this year.”
Ayala led the team with 62 tackles to go along with four interceptions — another team best. Returning middle linebacker Luis Sanchez is another defensive standout after tallying 45 tackles and seven sacks.
“Luis brings a lot of experience, and he’s also a smart linebacker,” Crespin Gonzalez said. “There’s so much more depth that there will definitely be some new names that pop up when people hear about our defense.”
VALLEY VIEW’S KEYS TO THE SEASON
In addition to their quarterback Fernandez, the Tigers were without Brandon Gonzalez for the final three games of the year. Gonzalez is the team’s top returning rusher. The newfound depth in the program will be a plus in 2018.
2017 record: 3-7
Returning starters (O/D): 7/7
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Eli Esquivel
Year at school: 3rd
Record: 5-15