By MARK MOLINA | The Brownsville Herald
The Porter Cowboys have seen a lot of downs over the past two years, but there have been quite a few ups this season for the program despite a 1-4 record.
One player enjoying the program’s new attitude this season is senior tight end Manny Sandoval Jr., who is a third-year varsity player.
With a bevy of young players fueling the program, Sandoval said he tries his best to help those underclassmen both on an off the field so that they may better the program going forward.
“ On the field, I’m a captain on this team,” the senior said. “I see these younger guys and knowing that I was in their position once, I just try to help them out as much as I can. I want to help lead them to hopefully start something for their future that way they may be able to build something.”
Porter second-year head coach Carlos Uresti said that Sandoval has progressed quite a bit over the past couple of seasons, playing on both sides of the ball at times since his sophomore year.
The Porter coach said that Sandoval excels as much off the field as he does on, which translates to him being viewed as an ideal leader.
“ Manny has grown up a lot just before our eyes,” said the Porter coach. “He’s a kid that not only leads by example on the practice field or in the games; he also leads by example in the classroom and in academics. He’s a kid that we truly respect and that’s not just the coaches, but the kids respect him. He was selected as team captain, not by the coaches, but the players selected him as a team captain. That kind of shows you what kind of kid he is.”
As a third-year varsity player, Sandoval endured big lows for the program as the team went 0-10 in both his sophomore and junior campaigns.
This season, the Cowboys won their opening game at Port Isabel and have since dropped its first four district games.
Nobody in the program is hanging their heads, which is something Sandoval is happy to see as he plays out his final season at Porter.
He feels like the program is in good hands.
“ We went through two straight winless seasons and it was pretty tough; I’m not going to lie,” Sandoval said. “We were able to push through. This season, our record may not show it too much, but we’ve been able to see through our performances on the field that we’ve been improving — we’re not the same Porter that we once were.”
After taking losses over the past few weeks, Uresti said that a lot of the younger players need uplifting at times, which is one of the things Sandoval and his senior class are there to provide.
It’s an important asset to have as the season is only half over and there is a chance for the Cowboys to right the ship.
“ (Sandoval) leads by example and is that positive role model,” Uresti said. “He’s not the only one, but he definitely is one of those kids that brings everybody up when things are rough and the last couple of years were kind of rough. We still have a chance…there is a lot of season left. We have to move forward and continue to work hard.
“ We had a couple of close calls,” he added. “Mission Veterans put it to us, but they do that to everybody. Take that game out and I think we’ve been in every single game we’ve played. That’s the mentality the kids have right now.”
While going on a late run would be nice, Sandoval takes solace in simply knowing that the future is bright for the Cowboys.
“ Just seeing these younger guys, I’m helping them out as much as I can,” said the Porter tight end. “I know that once I’m gone, they’re going to build something great here at Porter. I have no doubt in that; they’re going to be able to do some great things. We, the seniors, try to do our part here. We weren’t able to really show anybody what our best was throughout the past seasons. Our hard work is going to be shown through these younger guys are doing right now.”