By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LYFORD — Week 1 of the 2020 football season has come and gone for Class 1A through 4A programs, but there were no Friday night lights illuminating the stadiums across the East Valley.
Those lights will stay off until mid-October due to Cameron and Willacy County health orders keeping schools closed and fall sports athletes on the sideline as the Rio Grande Valley continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cameron County has announced a total of 20,853 coronavirus cases with 566 deaths as of Aug. 28, and Willacy County reached 822 confirmed cases as of Aug. 27.
While coaches say they understand the reasoning behind keeping athletics on pause, it still hasn’t been an easy adjustment being away from the game and their players.
“(It feels) very restless, for coaches and kids and fans. But I know that we have plenty of smart, caring individuals who understand the circumstances,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “It’s a waiting game. We’re being patient and trying to keep busy with things that can help when the time comes for the season to start.”
San Benito and other Class 6A and 5A programs were granted a delayed fall sports calendar by the UIL. Week 1 for large schools isn’t until Sept. 24 or Oct. 1, depending on when they stopped summer strength and conditioning.
But for sub-5A programs, like the Santa Maria Cougars, seeing teams practicing and now playing while they’re still working out virtually and from home is a tough pill to swallow.
“It feels terrible having everyone around the state starting and we’re not. It hurts you because you live for this, this is our life, it’s what we do,” Cougars coach Israel Gracia said. “I’m used to being 100 miles an hour this time of year, and every day right now just kind of stands still. It feels like, at the end of the season, for about a month, I’m lost. I just don’t know what to do. And that’s kind of where I’m at right now.”
Even though he said it’s frustrating to not be playing, Gracia will “start working and preparing for (district opponents and others)” by keeping up with games since Santa Maria has a guaranteed District 16-4A Division I playoff spot after Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco canceled its season.
Raymondville coach Frank Cantu expressed similar feelings. His Bearkats, along with Port Isabel and Rio Hondo, will face only each other with the No. 3 seed in District 16-4A Division II on the line instead of enjoying the large, competitive district they drew after UIL realignment.
“We were excited to be a part of an eight-team district where every game is a big game, and that was taken away from us because of our start date and not being able to complete that type of season,” Cantu said. “But it’s like I told our guys, we will do with what they give us. If we’re allowed to play the last few weeks (of the season), hey, the best that we can do is be ready when it comes.”
Four of the five teams in 16-4A DII’s newly founded North Zone took the field Friday night, while their district mates and other RGV athletes took to Twitter. La Feria players expressed their frustrations by posting messages like “should be under those Friday Night Lights right now.”
“It felt surreal (not being out there),” Lions senior defensive end/tackle Rudy De Leon said via Twitter direct message. “For the past 3 years, possibly more, I was on that field whether it was marching my freshman year or suiting up with my brothers ready to ball out my sophomore and junior year. I just pray that everyone in the RGV does their part to social distance, wear a mask and that all my fellow athletes are still grinding in hope of a season.”
Though East Valley squads are doing what they can to be ready when their seasons commence, Cantu said it doesn’t feel like football in August normally would.
“It’s such a strange feeling. It’s almost like we don’t know what to do with ourselves,” Cantu said. “At this point, we’re all about football, practicing and watching film. And while we’ve done that and we’re prepared for when it starts, you just kind of get that eerie feeling that it’s just not the same. But we will persevere on, and we look forward to the opportunity once it gets here.”
Port Isabel’s Tony Villarreal also said it’s different not being on the field, but he’s choosing to look at the silver linings that come with a later start. He said his team might be a bit behind in certain areas since it can’t prepare together on a field, but he believes the perks of keeping bodies from fatigue and injuries and getting a chance to truly study the game outweigh any negatives.
“I’m the type of guy that always finds the positives. That’s just how I operate,” Villarreal said. “If everyone else is starting already … and we start (Sept. 28), then we’ll be fresh as daisies and nobody’s hurt, and we’ll be off and running like nobody’s business (come playoff time). That, to me, is a huge advantage. Whatever hand is dealt to us, we’re going to win with that hand.”