NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Last year, Iziaah Rangel was thrust into the quarterback position out of necessity. He was a sophomore at Edinburg North when he had to step out of his wide receiver position and under center for the Cougars.
Fast forward to almost a calendar year later, and the 6-foot-3-inch player is at a different school and under different circumstances. This time, he was ready to be the guy for PSJA North from Day One.
“It was a challenge in the beginning, but with more reps, I got used to it,” Rangel said of his first few games as a starter.
He threw the ball more than 10 times on three occasions last year. He went 9 of 11 in a win against PSJA Southwest and 10 of 14 in a win against Edinburg Economedes. His lone loss? Rangel went 9 of 18 with two interceptions against his current team, the North Raiders.
“I felt like being a quarterback, being like a leader, I could do that job to get it done,” Rangel said. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I was little. Just going through repetition makes it easier.”
His growth as a quarterback, at least through non-district play, has been evident on the stat sheet. He is 32 for 57 for 500 yards, but the number that sticks out is his 5-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
“He’s a real smart kid, and he’s a calm one,” Raiders coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “Not all of them can induce things on the fly. He sees it and reacts almost instantaneously. I’m not normally a guy that’s going to throw the ball 25 to 30 times a game because of the negatives that go with it, if you have a quarterback that takes sacks, incompletions or throws the ball away. But he’s not that type of guy.”
Rangel is second on the team in rushing with 306 yards — just two behind freshman tailback Isaac Gonzalez.
“If something happens, he can make a negative play into a positive play,” Kaufmann said.
From the coaching and development perspective, Rangel is fortunate to be under two coaches who have coached their own sons as varsity quarterbacks in the Valley.
Kaufmann coached his son Matt Kaufmann through a strong career at McAllen Memorial, while offensive coordinator Jeff LeFevre’s most recent position was coaching offense, more specifically his son Richard LeFevre, at Weslaco East. Richard has started a college career of his own at the University of the Incarnate Word.
“It’s just a lot of fun to coach the quarterback position,” LeFevre said. “It’s like an engineer teaching math, or a doctor teaching anatomy and physiology. Iziaah’s new to the position, and his transition has been a lot of fun. It might not be so much fun for him sometimes. When he makes a mistake, we let him know it. Everybody loves that golf shot, and you hit it pure, and it looks good, and everybody gets a smile on their face. I guess that’s how I sit back and look at quarterbacks. When I see them do well, I smile. And when we struggle a little bit, I know there’s work to be done.”
Rangel’s top target and his first friend at his new high school are the same person: senior Arturo Beltran.
Last year, Beltran went for 1,160 yards of total offense. He figures to be a large part of the success the Raiders are aiming for.
The instant chemistry between the two tri-sport athletes who will also compete together on the hardwood and the track has been fruitful.
“I always knew him because of sports — because of basketball and football,” Beltran said. “I’ve always wanted to be friends with him, so as soon as he came over here, I welcomed him with love and just told him that I’m always here for him. By the next week, we’re already friends and going over to each other’s houses and been chillin’ like normal teens.”
Beltran, who his teammates and coaches call “Tuti,” has 199 receiving yards and three scores catching, plus another 112 yards and four touchdowns rushing.
“As the season goes and progresses, me and him will be probably one of the best one-two combos of offense in District 30-6A,” Beltran said.