The Monitor sports reporters Dennis Silva, Mario Aguirre and Jon LaFollette preview the upcoming season for teams in District 31-5A and 32-5A.
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Author: Jon LaFollette
#RGV2aDays: Edinburg Economedes look to protect the football
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg Economedes were on the right track headed into last season. After making the playoffs just once prior to coach Gabe Pena’s arrival in 2011, The Jaguars made back-to-back postseason appearances in 2012 and 2013.
But then came the turnovers, enough to cause Econ to stumble to a 2-4 finish in District 31-6A and miss a third-straight trip to the bi-district round.
“Quite simply, we missed the playoffs last year because of turnovers,” Pena said. “If we can eliminate that and get some more turnovers on the defensive side… we’ve already leveled the playing field.”
It’s no secret the Jaguars prefer a strong attack on the ground. The team gained 3,319 yards last season, with all but 842 coming through the running game. The task of keeping possession will fall primarily on the team’s corps of backs — including seniors Charlie Vela, Cris Izaguirre and junior Allen Arredondo.
“We know what we have to do for this team to succeed,” Vela said. “We can’t make the same mistakes that happened last year. If we eliminate the mistakes on our end, we’ll be in a good position.”
Learning from the woes of last year may be easier said than done. Though the Jaguars have 15 returners, only seven of those players were starters a season ago. With such little continuity, Pena is promoting a sense of inter-team competition so as to avoid complacency. To drive the point home, athletes wear bright orange shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Earn your spot,” a play on the team’s logo.
“Right now it’s all about competing,” he said. “Our kids need to fight for their jobs, we’re not settling for anything. That’s what our motto is. We’re going to earn our spots every day. No matter how many returners we got, at the end of the day, they’ve got to compete.”
‘THE RIGHT SIX’
Econ’s improved running game will in part be determined by a reconfigured offensive line. Seniors Eddie Hurtado and Pablo Vargas and junior Carlos Maldonado are three returners from 2014, but the Jaguars have yet to find a lineup which meets Penas’s approval.
“In order for our ground game to be where we want it to be, we need the O-line to go,” he said. “That’s why we’re out here competing against them every day. We’re trying to get the right six to make things happen. But no one has really shown anything yet.”
DYNAMIC TIGHT END
The best blocker on Econ’s roster is senior tight end Alan Garcia. Pena refers to Garcia as a true tight end for his ability to protect the quarterback and catch the football. Garcia says he’s taken it on himself to get the offensive line on the same page.
“Since I’m a senior, I see myself as a leader for this team,” Garcia said. “I’ve been doing whatever I can to get guys where they need to be. I know we’re only going to be as good as our blocking. That sets up everything else we try to do as a team.”
‘A YEAR BETTER’
The Jaguars defense ranked among the worst in District 31-6A a season ago, allowing 330 yards and 31 points per game. Pena hopes a year of taking their lumps pays dividends this year.
“We’re a year older, but we have to play a year better,” he said. “I think we will because we had so many guys play last year. We were close in a lot of games and we finished on a high note when we beat Edinburg North. Our defense played lights out in the second half, so I feel our defense will rise to the occasion.”
EDINBURG ECON’S PROGNOSIS
Turnovers plagued the Jaguars last season, and the team missed the playoffs for the first time in two years. Econ will look to protect the ball in 2015, but if the O-line doesn’t coalesce, the offense will continue to struggle.
Projected 2015 Record: 4-6
Coaches’ Name: Gabe Pena
Year at Edinburg Econ: Fifth
Record at Edinburg Econ: 16-26
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#RGV2aDays Weslaco East: Wildcats’ retooled O-line looks to help running game
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — Weslaco East coach Mike Burget is a perpetual optimist. No other team in District 31-6A saw more turnover on the offensive side of the ball this summer than the Wildcats. Only one starter returns from last year’s team which made it to the regional quarterfinals. With so many new bodies preparing for their increased roles, Burget already likes what he sees.
“I wish we would have played a game today,” Burget said. “We might have snuck one in. The kids look really good. At this point in practice, kids start getting sore. But they came out and looked great today. The effort is there.”
Weslaco East will look to continue their ground-and-pound offense this season, albeit behind a refashioned offensive line. Former standouts Sergio Morales, Roy Villarreal and Ramiro San Miguel graduated, leaving Jonathan Banda the lone holdover from last year’s squad. Burget holds Banda in high esteem and says the senior left guard is among the best lineman to ever play for the Wildcats.
“He’s got the size, and he’s got the strength,” Burget said. “He’s up for the challenge, and he explodes off the ball.”
Aside from protecting the blindside for senior quarterback Ciro Rojas, Banda is helping the O-line coalesce to set up the team’s running attack, a task he says is well underway.
“The chemistry is already there,” Banda said. “We’ve played with each other before. They weren’t starters, but they saw time on a couple plays last year.”
Joining Banda on the line are seniors Israel Alfaro, Gavin Gaytan, Daniel Mendez and Matthew Garcia.
“We know that last year’s team played really well,” Banda said. “We’re not putting any pressure on ourselves. We’ll get to where we want to be, was just have to keep putting the work in.”
KEEP IT FAMILIAR
To say Weslaco East favors running the ball is an understatement. In 2014, the Wildcats gained 3,951 regular season yards, all but 275 of which came on the ground. District 31-6A MVP Lupe Moron accounted for the bulk of their production, totaling 1,783 yards and 25 touchdowns.
With Moron graduated, however, Burget looks to give senior Emilio Tamez the workload out of the backfield.
“It’s his job to lose,” Burget said. “We’ve got a good group of running backs this year. We know it’ll be hard to replace Lupe, but we don’t need them to be Lupe. We need them to be at their best.”
INCREASED ‘D’
Where the Wildcats offense was a Valley powerhouse a season ago, the defensive unit was middling and unremarkable. The team allowed regular season opponents to score 23 points per game on 326 yards — both stats being the second worst among playoff qualifiers in District 31-6A.
But as the offense experienced heavy turnover, the defense remains virtually intact, returning eight starters. Burget has higher expectations for that side of the ball.
“I look for our defensive line to be especially improved,” he said. “We knew we were going to be young on that side of the ball last year. I think having all those miles under them will come into play this year.”
The defensive line will in part feature senior Marco Arroyo, junior Luis Aguire and junior Ricky Cardoza.
SWITCHING SIDES
Ciro Rojas played cornerback a season ago, but is spending much of camp preparing to play under center. Though Rojas will hold the title of quarterback, history shows he’ll likely spend the majority of the season carrying the ball. Last year’s QB Darren Rivas rushed for 956 regular season yards in addition to 15 touchdowns.
Check out more stories from The Monitor’s 16-day Two-A-Day Tour:
Roma
La Joya High
Weslaco High
PSJA North
#RGV2ADays PSJA NORTH: Raiders adding to the playbook in Pena’s second year
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — A season ago, the PSJA North Raiders morphed from a struggling, winless team into a contender for a district title. The catalyst for the turnaround was the implementation of the spread offense under first-year coach Jorge Pena.
“It was a learning curve for them,” Pena said of his athletes. “This school ran the wide-t for 20 years. These kids weren’t even born yet when they started running that system.”
With the new offensive scheme came points and plenty of them. The Raiders averaged 28.3 points per game, third highest in District 31-6A, and scored more than 30 points on six occasions. With eight returning starters on offense, Pena sees something in his roster that was lacking a year ago.
“There’s confidence and maturity,” he said. “You can see it. They don’t look lost or scared anymore. They know what they’re doing and they know what’s expected of them.”
Under center for the high-powered Raiders offense is senior George Olivarez, who threw for 753 regular season yards and rushed for 980, accumulating 18 touchdowns through the air and on the ground. Having excelled at the basics of the spread, Olivarez looks to be challenged with a larger playbook.
“We’ve gotten a lot more plays thrown at us in practice,” Olivarez said. “We’re looking to spread things out more this year. We want people to respect our passing game in addition to our running game.”
If Olivarez and company hope to become a dual-threat offense, taking care of the ball will be paramount, meaning Olivarez will have to help reduce the number of turnovers. Last year, the quarterback threw eight interceptions.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball better,” Pena said. “We’ve got the heavy lifting done. This week, we’ve been focusing really hard on the details: tackling better, better blocking, having better decision making.”
NO STOPPING
Though the Raiders can pile on the points, the team’s defense struggled at times to stop opposing teams. PSJA North allowed 30 or more points on five occasions last season, losing each of those games, including a 49-42 bi-district game against Brownsville Rivera.
“Part of it was our youth,” Pena said of the Raiders’ struggles. “We still had guys learning how to tackle. Part of it was guys getting used to the system. But we’re focused on the smaller things now, like studying film and increasing their football IQ. I expect our defense to be better, certainly.”
TOE THE LINE
Leading the offensive line is senior center Vicente Palacios. PSJA North boasts a line comprised exclusively of upperclassmen, totaling three seniors and two juniors. Pena has lofty goals and expectations for his lineman.
“I think we’ve got the best offensive line in the area,” Pena said. “I’ve been coaching offensive line a long time, and they don’t make a lot of mistakes. I think Vicente is going to play college ball. He’s got ‘it.’ He just never stops blocking.”
TOO CLOSE
The Raiders are no strangers to tightly-contested outcomes. Last year, they played seven games decided by eight points or less, winning just twice over PSJA High (14-7) and Weslaco High (14-7). The team has entered camp with a renewed effort to not leave wins on the table.
“We can’t get lazy on ourselves and make those simple mistakes,” Palacios said. “Those things caused us to lose those games. We’re focusing more on not getting tired and making sure we don’t make the same mistakes.”
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Weslaco High
#RGV2ADays Weslaco High: Panthers look to keep up defensive success and strong running game
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — The Weslaco High Panthers have a simple formula for success under coach Tony Villarreal: a punishing ground game and a pulverizing defense.
But as the team readies for the 2015 season and the quest for a fourth District 31-6A title in six years, questions abound where there was once certainty. Eric Gonzalez, who rushed for 1,028 regular season yards and 13 touchdowns, graduated. A defensive squad that allowed a district-low 17.5 points a game saw several senior standouts exit as well, including defensive end Rene Perez and district defensive MVP, linebacker Michael Torres.
“We’ve been number one on defense in our district the last three years,” Villarreal said. “So there’s a little bit of a tradition here now. We’re going to have to replace a lot of those guys now.”
One player who’s looking to help fill the void is linebacker Jordan Nichols, who was named first-team all district as a sophomore last year. Villarreal describes Nichols’ preparation as cerebral and calls him a student of the game for his knack for watching game film.
“I hate losing,” Nichols said. “I feel like the more I know my opponent, the more I can predict what’s going to happen. I can put myself and my teammates in the right plays.”
Aside from breaking down film, Nichols spent part of his summer attending three camps throughout the state to prepare for his increased roll on a defensive unit in search of leaders.
“I’ve really been working on my footwork, because last year I didn’t work on it at all,” Nichols said. “I kept getting broken by the other team’s running backs. It was really frustrating and I didn’t like it.”
Other would-be standouts who join Nichols on the defensive side of the ball include junior free saftey Diego Rodriguez, senior linebacker Anthony Garza and senior cornerback Ethan De Luna. Senior Alfonso Cerda is the only remaining starter from last year’s defensive line.
Despite the heavy turnover, Villarreal is unfazed and expects his defense to continue getting stops.
“I just think we have an overall great defense,” he said. “No great standout, just good players. I don’t think there’s a group (of players) that stands out. I think we all come together as a group.”
LONG MAY YOU RUN
Last year as a junior, running back Brian Guerra was referred to by Villarreal as ‘The X Factor,’ and saw the field as a situational player. Guerra enters 2015 as the Panthers’ go-to back, and spent the offseason bulking up in the gym in anticipation of his increased role.
“I’ve got the confidence to do it,” Guerra said. “This is what I’ve been waiting for.”
Though he played behind Gonzalez last year, Guerra used his stints on the sideline as a learning experience. The first-team all-district player says watching Gonzalez helped him on his cutbacks and decision making.
“He knows he’s the guy,” Villarreal said. “Brian is the fastest kid on the field.”
Though Guerra will receive the bulk of the carries, senior fullback Jonathan Martinez will compliment Guerra’s speed with his physicality.
“We have three or four guys we can hand the ball to on any given play,” Villarreal said. “If you key-in on one guy, and try to stop him, we’ve got someone else who can score. We got a lot of kids that can really scoot.”
SENIOR TALENT
While the Panthers’ defense looks to fill the void left from bygone senior talent, the offensive side of the ball is steeped in upperclassmen, including Desi Rodriguez (quarterback), Roy Cantu (center) and Erik Gonzalez (receiver).
“The last two or three years, the defense has kept us in the game, and I think now (the offense) has to keep us in the game,” Villarreal said. “(The defense) is a little bit of a rebuilding project, but they’re very good, very fast and fly to the football.”
CERTIFIED
This season marks the first for Weslaco’s newly installed safety protocols, wherein coaches must go through a certification course concerning head injuries and concussions.
“There’s a lot of things now with the NFL, how we tackle, how we block and taking the head out of the game. We’ve been doing that the last three years. If you’re a position coach, you have to watch video, do the drills and demonstrate to us that you know what you’re doing.”
RECRUITING IN THE VALLEY: Valley athletes recall the hurdles of college recruiting
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
For Roberto Garza, it was the biggest business trip of his life, one that could possibly end with him crowning an unlikely NFL career.
“It’s something I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do,” Garza said. “It’s something a lot of people only dream about.”
It was Feb. 4, 2006 in Miami, site of Super Bowl XLI. Garza, a center for the Chicago Bears, faced the Indianapolis Colts. Though Super Bowl glory was not to be for Garza (the Colts won 29-17), the Rio Hondo native is still the most successful Valley athlete to play in the NFL. With a 14-year career and 206 games under his belt, no one has played longer and with such consistency.
Despite competing on the grandest stage in American sports, Garza’s football origins are humble. At 6-foot-1, Garza was an undersized lineman from a Class 3A school with a graduating class of 98 students. Colleges never recruited him, and Garza assumed his days on the gridiron were limited to his time at Rio Hondo High School, where he graduated in 1997. He didn’t take the inattention personally, it was just the way things were.
“I can’t remember if there were any kids that were going to the (NCAA) D-I level at the time,” Garza said. “At the time, I don’t think the Valley was that heavily recruited.”
Invisible to scouts, Garza was offered a spot as a walk-on at Texas A&M Kingsville, a D-II school, where a Rio Hondo alum worked as an equipment manager and knew of Garza’s abilities.
“That was the extent of my recruiting,” Garza said. “Nobody really showed any interest in me, so I took the first available offer I got.”
Since then, college recruiting has become mainstream thanks to the Internet. By employing websites such as Rivals.com or Scout.com, athletes can showcase their skills to more eyes than ever. Social media allows fans to debate the newest crop of prospects, and National Signing Day events are televised by ESPN.
But less than a decade a go, Valley athletes had to promote themselves the old fashioned way: hard work, late nights, networking, attending various camps and a little luck.
Bradley Stephens remembers doing just that.
‘IT’S NICE, BUT…’
Stephens is among the Valley’s most accomplished high school talents. As a running back for the McAllen Memorial Mustangs from 2003-2006, he gained 7,803 yards on the ground — the most in Valley history.
Despite those numbers, Stephens’ recruitment occurred on the brink of the online recruiting revolution. Without websites to market his feats, Stephens relied in part on his father to help him achieve notoriety. The elder Stephens assembled a DVD of highlight packages and shipped them to colleges nationwide.
“It was goofy,” Stephens said. “It had my picture on the front. He made real covers and everything. We always gave him a hard time for that, but I always thank him for it. He was a busy guy with his work, so I’d see him up and cutting film at three in the morning.”
Schools soon took notice of Stephens. Iowa State was the first to offer a scholarship. Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma made their interests known, too. Each school attempted wooing Stephens by advertising a mix of academic prestige and their football facilities. Though Stephens was flattered by the attention, it wasn’t without drawbacks.
“I remember times when I just wanted to go to a basketball game with my friends and I would have to step out of the gym every five minutes because a coach was calling me,” Stephens said. “It’s nice, but you also want an evening where you can feel like a sophomore in high school.”
Where Stephens and his family compiled film, Garza’s inability to attract recruiters wasn’t for a lack of trying, but a lack of education.
“I had no idea what to do and how to do it at the time,” Garza said regarding the recruiting process. “Nobody really showed me or explained to me what the steps were… (Rio Hondo coaches) didn’t really concern themselves with getting kids into college for sports at the time. For them, it was about the results on Friday night, and that was the extent of their jobs.”
DOING IT ALL
While Garza’s high school coaching staff thought little of collegiate recruiting, former Mission High receiver Jamaar Taylor didn’t think he could play college ball until then-coach Sonny Detmer said otherwise.
“Both of his sons went on to the next level,” Taylor said. “Koy went to Colorado, Ty went to BYU and won the Heisman (Trophy). So when he sat there and told me I could play at the next level, there was no doubt in my mind. I fully trusted him.”
Taylor, who played for the Eagles from 1996 to 1999 and was an All-State selection his senior year, says Detmer used his college football connections to gain Taylor more exposure. But the former Mission standout didn’t let his coach do all the work. Taylor attended various camps outside of the Valley, a move he says was necessary.
“Going outside the Valley was the best thing I could have done for myself,” Taylor said. “It put me in front of a lot of recruiters and I got to play with better players. That’s what scouts want to see. They want to see you playing against the best.”
The camps, which he began frequenting as a sophomore, were beneficial but expensive, and Taylor’s family couldn’t always afford the fees. In order for Taylor to further his football aspirations, his mom and dad would ask for funds through businesses around town.
“You get $50 here or sometimes $100 there, and soon it all adds up,” he said.
The camps Taylor attended were often focused on specializing specific skills as opposed to broad fundamentals. Taylor says college scouts prefer the former, as those are the camps where advanced talent is often found.
Though Taylor would go on to play for Texas A&M, he initially signed with Notre Dame, where he was a redshirt freshman before transferring. Taylor was recruited by Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, then a receivers coach for the Fighting Irish.
“He came and visited me in the Valley. It was a pretty big deal because coaches never came down here,” Taylor said. “He’s a master recruiter. The way he approaches young men, he knows what to say and he knows how to keep you dreaming.”
But those dreams came with a dose of reality. While Meyer and other coaches would sell Taylor on the bright lights of big time college football, they also never made promises they couldn’t keep.
“They were always honest with me about what I had to do,” Taylor said. “They told me about how hard I was going to have to work and what was going to be expected of me.”
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Water shortage: Edinburg swimming facilities lag behind much of the Valley
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
Erika Garza will have no trouble relating to her team’s struggles this season. She’s already experienced them first hand.
Not much has changed since the first-year Edinburg North swimming and diving coach competed for the Cougars her senior year during the 2007-08 season. For Edinburg CISD swim teams, the challenges remain the same.
With roughly 160 swimmers across four schools, Edinburg CISD boasts one of the Valley’s largest swim programs. The school system does not have an indoor facility, however, but instead has an agreement with the city which allows teams to share South Park, an open-air public pool, on a rotating basis. Though South Park is an Olympic sized pool, it’s aimed for recreational use as opposed to building high school talent.
“We don’t have a lot of equipment or a lot of the same setups that other schools have,” Garza said. “We don’t have the diving blocks set up the way others do. We don’t have the timers everyone else has. We don’t have lanes. The first meet we go to every year, it’s just a learning experience for a lot of our kids.”
During the triple-digit heat of late summer or the chilly conditions of winter, Edinburg swimmers are exposed to the elements, as well. Though the pool has a water heater, coaches say it doesn’t always work. When mechanical issues occur, or the weather doesn’t cooperate, teams hit the gym or cancel practice altogether.
“During the three coldest months of the year, we’re outside wondering if we’re even going to have practice while other teams are inside getting better,” Garza said.
Five Valley school districts have received new or renovated swimming facilities in the last five years. According to The Valley Morning Star, Harlingen ISD spent $7 million on a natatorium which opened in 2014. According to public records, the city of Pharr spent $10 million on an aquatic center that opened in 2013, the same year the city of Mission spent $2.8 million to renovate the pool at Bannworth park. Weslaco ISD spent $5.8 million on an indoor pool in 2010. According to The Progress Times, La Joya ISD is constructing a $9.5 million natatorium scheduled to open in 2016.
Newer facilities has meant an increased swimming presence at various age groups, while Edinburg is left to recruit eighth graders with little to no experience in a pool.
“You look at the Mission teams or the Pharr teams, and they’re doing good,” Edinburg Economedes swim coach Jeff Pena said. “They have second grade swimming, they have middle school swimming, and it shows at meets. They’re improving. Edinburg schools share one pool, and we’re not progressing as much as we would like to be.”
That’s not to say there isn’t a movement for Edinburg to get its own state-of-the-art natatorium, it’s just that discussion rarely ventures past the preliminary stage.
“Every year it seems like there are rumors about us getting a pool,” Edinburg Vela coach William Oullette said. “But it never really progresses that far for whatever reason. The school system has a lot of bills to pay, so spending $10 million on a swimming pool isn’t always of the utmost necessity.”
In a bond passed by voters in 2008, Edinburg CISD spent $111 million to build four elementary schools, two middle schools and a multi-purpose fine arts center at each high school. Former Edinburg North swim coach Fernando Delgado says there were initial plans to include a swim facility during construction, but it quickly became a victim of cost cutting.
Coaches say a renewed push for a natatorium came in 2012, when former athletic director Joe Filoteo presented them with blueprints for a 53,000-square-foot indoor pool to be built near Cats Stadium. The schematics closely resemble that of the Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center in Brownsville. Once again, nothing came of those discussions.
“Supposedly, from what I recall, the school system was supposed to donate the land and the city was supposed to build it,” Delgado said. “That’s where the differences are. Everyone agrees on the need for better facilities, it’s just who’s going to pay for it.”
A new or renovated pool would do more than benefit high school athletes, according to Edinburg High coach Oscar Garza.
“We would save on travel costs for sure,” he said. “We don’t host any meets because we don’t have the facilities. We could definitely save on travel expenses if we weren’t always taking a bus somewhere. It’s also a safety issue. Teaching someone to swim is important. It could save their life someday.”
As of now, there are no official plans from either the city of Edinburg or Edinburg CISD regarding the construction of a natatorium. Despite the continued stalemate, coaches are optimistic regarding the resiliency of their swimmers.
“Our kids know we don’t have the best place to swim,” Oscar Garza said. “But they come out for more than the facilities. They come out to have fun, to get better and to experience competition. They spend so much time together throughout the year, they’re like family.”
Weslaco’s Kassandra Rivera is preparing for a chance at professional golf
BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
Kassandra Rivera is spending her first summer as a college graduate preparing for a potential job. Instead of writing resumes and searching the web for career openings, Rivera can be found at various golf courses around the Houston area, honing her skills for a chance to continue doing what she loves most.
“It’s my goal to someday make the LPGA tour,” Rivera said. “It’s something I’ve had in mind for awhile now.”
Rivera, who graduated from Weslaco High School in 2011, has spent her weekends readying herself for just that. Along with her swing coach Joe Powell, Rivera is refining her game in order to maximize her professional aspirations.
“I’ve really been working on my short game,” Rivera said. “It’s a big part of the pro level. I’m always driving to shoot the shortest course I possibly can. That’s not going to change. That’s always been my mentality, to execute shots.”
Rivera will showcase her talents beginning August 3 at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California as part of the LPGA Qualifying School. The tournament is the first step in an attempt make the professional circuit. Rivera will compete against golfers such as herself, talented amateurs striving for more.
“It’ll be good for her,” Powell said. “She’s like a sponge. You put her around good golfers, and she soaks up various elements of their game. She gets better as the competition does. It’s incredible to watch.”
Powell has coached Rivera for five years, and remembers the raw talent she demonstrated as a teenager.
“She’s such tremendous athlete,” he said. “She’s tall and very strong. She could hit pretty far, but there were still things in her swing that needed to be corrected. Once she grasped that, she just took off.”
Having long since mastered the mechanics of golf, Rivera has turned her attention towards elements of the game outside of her control, like the environment.
“I’ve been trying to play in courses outside the Valley,” she said. “The Valley has a lot of flat courses, but if I’m going to play at the professional level, I have to get more accustomed to playing on all different kids of courses.”
Rivera played collegiate golf on a partial scholarship at Texas Southern University, where she graduated in December of 2014 with a degree in Biology. Rivera routinely led the way for the Tigers, including four first-place wins and eight top 10 finishes. She was named to the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference first team three times. On June 19, Rivera was named the SWAC Woman of the Year for her achievements on the course and in the classroom.
“She’s highly intelligent,” Powell said. “Before all this she had some reservations about what she should do. She didn’t know if she wanted to go to medical school or play golf. What a great dilemma to have.”
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Losses still a lesson for Hidalgo football
BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
The Hidalgo Pirates knew the type of opponent they’d face during their first trip to the state 7-on-7 tournament in College Station: bigger, faster, stronger.
It’s what the Pirates wanted, a chance to test themselves against talent outside the Valley. Their wish proved to be too much as the team lost all three of their games Friday — first to Levelland by a score of 40-25, followed by a 40-12 loss to China Spring and a 32-8 defeat at the hands of Crocker.
But while Hidalgo didn’t meet expectations in terms of winning, players still found a way to maximize their time on the field.
“We knew it was going to be tough, coming up here,” senior receiver Eliud Castillo said. “But it was a good experience to play against some of these guys. We learned a lot. It was a lot faster pace than a lot of our guys are used to. A lot of Valley teams don’t play this fast.”
The Pirates will continue to compete in the tournament’s consolation bracket, beginning at 8 a.m. today when they take on Clyde.
In addition to his duties on the offensive side of the ball, Castillo look to see an increased roll on defense as a safety, a position he says he played sparingly a season ago.
“Today helped me work on reading my offensive schemes,” Castillo said. “It helps being able to play both offense and defense. When I’m a receiver, I already know where the defender is going to be in a certain situation.”
While Castillo spent Friday focusing on his abilities as a dual threat, junior receiver Julio Ramos impressed his teammates with his level of play.
“He was quick in adjusting to the speeds of defensive players on the opposite side of the ball,” 7-on-7 coach David Navarro said. “He was able to keep up with their safeties and corners and help create space for Eliud on the other side of the field.”
Ramos moved up from the JV squad during the latter part of last season, joining older brother Jesus, an offensive lineman.
“He’s adjusted to the varsity level pretty well,” Castillo said. “He was a guy we knew we weren’t going to have to worry about. We knew his brother would help keep him in line.”