MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
Since winning a District 32-6A quad championship in 2014, the Rivera Raiders football team has won just two games and is in the midst of a 19-game regular season losing streak.
Then, the program moved on from legendary head coach Tom Chavez in the spring and put the team in the hands of first-year head coach Beto Leal.
It’s been a rough stretch for the Raiders, though you wouldn’t know it from the team’s attendance and morale through the first week of practice.
“For the first week, I’ve been a little surprised with the numbers,” Leal said. “Kids have been coming out and the coaching staff has been real optimistic. They’ve been working real good and have gotten the kids out and reached out to a lot of these kids, that’s why our numbers have been getting back up there little by little. It’s a reflection on the coaching staff and the kids have been very receptive. Everybody has been nothing but positive and it’s good to be out here; I’m loving it.”
As much as Leal is enjoying the first part of getting his fingerprints on the new program, the players he’s leading are brimming with confidence and are ready to get the program back on its feet.
Though it won’t be easy, considering the program’s 0-10 2018 campaign was its second in four years and are just 2-38 in that span.
With a crop of seven returning defensive players and six on offense, Rivera’s players are ready to put the past behind them and follow their new coaches.
“It’s energizing, it’s new,” Rivera senior defenseman Bryant Ponce said. “We’re coming out here and we believe in each other. We believe that every single one of us is out here for one another; it’s a different team. We feel like we cut out the fat from before and whatever wasn’t there last year, we worked on it this offseason.”
Coming in as coordinators on Leal’s staff are Hugo Ramirez as defensive coordinator and David Torres as the offensive coordinator.
Ramirez comes over from Lopez, where the Lobos’ defense stats were among the best in the Rio Grande Valley, while Torres comes over from Hanna, where he was previously the quarterbacks coach.
Having both coordinators come on board has been a big motivating factor for the program and senior receiver Elian Hernandez believes big changes like that are just what the doctor ordered for the program.
“Change means different,” the veteran receiver said. “And that’s what this program needed. We’re just very excited for this new season, to show what we have. Our attitude has changed and there’s excitement with the new coaches coming in; we’re not used to excitement. That just brought us up. It’s going to be a big change in what we give to these teams and they’re going to like what we’re going to give them.”
With everything falling into place early on, the Rivera players have found it hard not to be anxious about what lies ahead.
And with morale so high, neither can Leal.
“I’m glad (the players) are moving forward,” he said. “Because it is a new season; it’s the 2019 season. To see these kids come out here excited and jumping around, it makes it exciting to get going. Just looking at them, how can you not be excited for these kids? I’m glad they’re putting the past behind them. Because you know what, like I told the players, I don’t care about the past, what are you going to do now?”