KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO — During the past two seasons, San Benito has been one of the last football teams standing in the Rio Grande Valley.

In fact, the Greyhounds have reached the third round of the playoffs for two straight seasons, and there is plenty of reason to believe the ’Hounds can keep that momentum going.

While San Benito lost a few key names — including quarterback Jacob Cavazos, linebackers AJ Garcia and Albert Mercado, and defensive back Nick Castaneda — the ’Hounds simply reloaded for 2019.

The Greyhounds will hand the keys of the offense to senior quarterback Smiley Silva, who is similar to Cavazos in style. Silva will be like Cavazos, who also entered his senior year as a first-year starter. Silva will have a firm grasp of the offense under second-year offensive coordinator Steve Marroquin.

“We are getting there, to where we want to be,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “The younger kids don’t have a choice, you either sink or swim in our program, and we push the kids hard and they have a good understanding on what the expectations are.”

One key piece returning is junior running back Kyler Castilleja, who had a breakout season in 2018. Castilleja finished second on the team in rushing with 852 yards on 131 carries, and also finished second with 12 rushing touchdowns.

“The offense is doing well, and, like I said, we put out those expectations and we are going to coach out the details, we won’t take anything for granted,” Gomez said. “We will harp on being perfect and getting to where we want to be. Everyone pushes each other to be better, and the kids had a strong offseason.”

The Greyhounds went 4-1 last season in district play, with their only loss coming against Hanna. The non-district portion of the schedule will be just as tough as last season, with four of the five games being played on the road.

“We are just going to take it one day at a time with ourselves,” Gomez said. “If you look forward and your eyes are not focused on the now, you lose sight and will have some problems and will miss some things that will hurt you in the future. So for us, today’s goal was to have the best practice we could have, and we will worry about tomorrow when it comes.”

San Benito will play host to Corpus Christi Calallen to open the regular season and then go on a four-game road trip that will include trips to Laredo United and Midland Lee.

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — After making the postseason in 2018 for the first time since the 2013 season, Harlingen South is looking to get back to the playoffs for a second straight season under fourth-year coach Brian Ricci.

The last time the Hawks reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons was during the 2012-2013 seasons under former coach Lanny Wilson.

Harlingen South’s calling card this year will be its speed. The Hawks return five starters from last year’s defense. Leading the secondary will be junior safety David Cortez, along with senior corner Kike Alvarado.

Cortez and Alvarado provide range and a physical presence. The Hawks’ anchor in the middle will be senior linebacker Ethan Gonzalez. With the Hawks in their second year of a new defensive scheme, Ricci sees the improvement on the field.

“We had an intersquad (workout) this past week and we were impressed with our defense,” Ricci said. “This is our second year with a new system and the kids look a lot more familiar with it. They are flying around faster out there on the field, and we are excited about that.”

South went 4-7 overall and went 2-3 in District 32-6A. The two wins was enough to get the Hawks into the postseason.

“We are looking good on defense,” Gonzalez said. “We have a lot of sophomores on defense, and they are looking good right now. As veterans, David helps out with the secondary, those are his guys, but everything is coming together. All around, our defense should be good. We have plenty of guys returning.”

The Hawks kick off their season Aug. 30 at home against Edinburg High. Three of the five non-district opponents South will face made the playoffs in 2018.

The 2019 Hawks squad will be a senior- and sophomore-heavy group. Ricci is expecting the seniors to fill in and lead the way for the sophomore group this fall.

“It is exciting, and the kids got a taste of the playoffs last year,” Ricci said. “They now know what it takes and what it’s about. That is what they worked on this offseason, and they don’t just want to make the playoffs, they want to make some noise, and everyone is bought in. We have a good nucleus, and what people will see is teamwork. There isn’t too many individuals out there, we are talking about a team.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — Entering Harlingen High’s first scrimmage of the year, there were a few questions.

The Cardinals responded with a sound effort of both sides of the ball against the Weslaco High Panthers on Friday night at Boggus Stadium.

Harlingen High and Weslaco High are no stranger to each other. Last year, the two met in the bi-district round and prior to that, for two seasons the Panthers and Cardinals were district opponents.

There was no question about who will direct Big Red’s offense in 2019. Left-handed gunslinger Jaime Galvan showed why he is one of the Rio Grande Valley’s best at the quarterback position, directing the offense to four scoring drives out of five opportunities.

“It starts with our offensive line. They did really well for us and stepped up,” Galvan said. “We learned to keep our composure tonight, but overall I thought we did a great job.”

Galvan found the end zone once on the third drive of the night. After not scoring on its opening drive, the Cardinals scored on their next three possessions. Their second score came off a fumble recovery on defense that led to a Rayden Berry TD run.

“We started a little slow, but that is something we will fix. I felt we could do a little better, but we feel good right now,” Galvan said.

Berry, who has had a strong camp, again displayed his skills out of the backfield. Much like in an intrasquad scrimmage last week, Berry helped break open the Cardinals’ offense on the ground and through the air.

“Rayden does a great job for us,” Galvan said. “When you have a running back like him, it opens things up for us on offense and opens up the passing game.”

Cards coach Manny Gomez was pleased with his offensive line play and the conditioning of his players. The offensive line provided holes for Galvan and Berry most of the night.

“I was watching the line of scrimmage and wasn’t looking too much down field, but along the offensive line. What I saw was a plus,” Gomez said. “The conditioning and the execution was there. The No. 1 thing we look for is the conditioning but I saw the offensive line come off the ball and I liked what I saw, so I was proud of them and what they did.”

On defense, Harlingen High held its own against Panthers senior quarterback Jacob Cavazos, who, like Galvan, is poised to have a strong senior season under center.

With a new coach in Roy Stroman and a new offensive system at Weslaco High, Cavazos displayed the ability to run and pass the ball.

“Early on, yes, there was some nerves on defense,” Gomez said. “These guys have high expectations of themselves, and they know they want to be great. It was just a matter of the kids settling down and listening to the call. After the first series we told them they needed to relax and we didn’t know what formations they were going to line up in, and they settled down as the game went on.”

Senior linebacker Gabriel Martinez felt good about the defense’s performance and had no extra nerves on the field.

“We came out nervous and got our feet wet,” Martinez said. “We fixed some things and made adjustments in the second half, and made some stops. They had one good drive on us, but that was a bust in gaps on our part. But I felt we did good the rest of the game.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO — With the school year and high school football underway, San Benito kicked off their year with a bang. Amongst the school board and elected officials was former NFL and University of Texas quarterback Vince Young who served as a special guest speaker.

On Thursday, San Benito broke ground on their Indoor Multi-Purpose Athletic Facility. The project will provide an indoor facility for all sports including cheer and band.

“The whole community is excited about the facility,” said Greyhound head coach Dan Gomez. “Our football, cross country and volleyball teams are in full swing and are focused on the task at hand which is their season but as the kids start to see the facility being built the excitement will grow even more.”

The facility is estimated to be completed in four to five months and will be over 70,000 square feet and will include an indoor turf for all athletics along with a weight room that will be over 10,000 square feet.

Brownsville Rivera is the only other program in the Rio Grande Valley that is home to an indoor facility.

Young spoke to the Greyhound football team at their annual Meet the Greyhounds pep rally and later addressed those gathered for the event.

“My trip has been great so far, I’m just doing what I always do and that is giving back to the community,”Young said. “We want to make sure that the younger generation knows that we care a lot about them and we want to see them succeed.”

Young was pleased to see the new facility being built and sees it as an opportunity to give back to the athletes with the new facility.

“As you can see here in San Benito we are having this groundbreaking facility,
Young said. “We are seeing a lot of kids passing away because of the heat, so it is great to see the community put their stamp on it and them taking care of their kids. It is a major stepping stone for letting our community to let the parents know we care about their kids and I’m happy to be here and support them.”

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

PORT ISABEL — One year after his hiring, the Jason Strunk era is firmly in place at Port Isabel and the Tarpons are eagerly moving forward into the 2019 football season with a lot of determination.

The Tarpons have been practicing weekdays at 6:30 a.m. since Aug. 5 with approximately 100 players routinely showing up for workouts before the sun rises.

It’s been one year since Strunk arrived in the Rio Grande Valley from the Lubbock area. The players now are familiar with the coaches, and vice versa. Everyone is on the same page, and that’s a blessing for everyone involved.

“It was a whirlwind (last year) because I got here late in July,” Strunk said. “I remember the first day of practice. The players didn’t know my name, and I didn’t know about 95 percent of their names. It was tough, but it taught me a lot. If you’re a life-long learner, you embrace those kinds of things (challenges), and I did.

“I learned a lot from the situation, the timing and everything,” Strunk added. “I’m pleased with the results we got and the effort the players showed (considering the circumstances). I’m not happy we went 4-6, but we were one-point away from possibly going two rounds deep (having lost to West Oso 57-56 in the bi-district playoffs), so we’ll take it. It’s a credit to this coaching staff. All the credit goes to those guys.”

After going 1-3 to start the 2018 season, the Tarpons won three in a row against St. Joseph Academy (37-0), Grulla (48-21) and Progreso (46-9).

This time around, things are going smoother and expectations are higher.

“No matter where I’m at, the expectations every year are to win a district title and to qualify for the state playoffs,” Strunk said. “I want us to go one round deeper each week, and overall, I want to win a state title. That’s what you go in to coaching for. I want to win, and I want to help these athletes build character and get them ready for the real world. We want to have a winning mentality.”

The prospects look promising for the Tarpons with seven starters back on offense and eight returning on defense.

The key position to replace is quarterback, where the talented Cesar Aguilera has graduated.

Tabbed to replace Aguilera is junior Joey Krieghbaum, who is a 6-foot-1, 170-pounder. The new QB is working with a number of fast receivers on the team, including Mac Strunk, son of the coach.

“As a whole team, I believe we’re doing really well,” said Mac Strunk, who missed pretty much the entire football season last year with an injury. “The communication is there, and we have speed everywhere, so I’m really excited for this season.

“I played the first scrimmage last year, then I got hurt and missed the rest of the season,” he added. “It sucked, honestly. I’m really excited now for my senior year. I get to play with these guys one last time.”

Zaid Calderon, a senior inside linebacker, said the Tarpon “Sea Wall” defense is playing well thus far along with with the offense.

“Our linebackers are looking good and we’re looking to stop the run,” said Calderon, a three-year member of the varsity who is starting now for the first time. “Our secondary may be a little young, but those guys are still looking solid and fast.

“This year we’re looking to go deep in the playoffs and get that District (16-4A Division II) title.”

The Tarpons begin scrimmaging at 6 p.m. Friday at home against Pace. Port Isabel’s second scrimmage will be at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22 at Santa Rosa.

Port Isabel opens the regular season against Porter at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at Brownsville’s Sams Memorial Stadium.

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE—For St. Joseph Academy’s Pablo Zolezzi, the case was always simple when it came to where he wanted to go to school. When head coach and athletic director Tino Villareal sat down with Zolezzi and asked what would be his dream school, Zolezzi responded with Texas A&M.

“College Station has been my dream school since I was 7 years old,” Zolezzi said. “To be able to have that opportunity in my hands it means a lot to me.”

On Thursday, Zolezzi made it official by signing on with the track program to throw discus with Texas A&M University in College Station.

While the road to College Station wasn’t a clear path, Zolezzi also had the University of Houston on his radar and was committed to the Cougars. That was until Villareal got a hold of Texas A&M and helped open the door for Zolezzi to head to Aggieland.

“This is a big relief and, being so late in the process, it has been hectic,” Zolezzi said. “I was deciding between A&M and the University of Houston and I ultimately picked A&M. As soon as A&M called, I was in. There was just a lot of paper work we had to do, but luckily, we got it done on time.”

Zolezzi, who graduated this past summer as the SJA school record holder in the discus, is ready for the challenges that the South Eastern Conference will bring.

“I was a little nervous about signing, but thankfully, everything went great,” he said. “I’m excited to be an Aggie and ready to excel as a person and as a student athlete. I think the challenge will be gaining size. They are a lot bigger than me, so I will hit the weight room hard. I’m ecstatic to be in the SEC conference — it is just exciting.”

Zolezzi is no stranger to track and field. His career began in junior high, where he competed in every event before finding his mojo in the discus. All that translated to Zolezzi winning multiple track meets over his career, including the Meet of Champions and the Sam Relays. Zolezzi also capped off his career as a three-time state champion in the discus, winning in his sophomore, junior and senior season.

“I have been Pablo’s athletic director and I have known him since seventh grade. He has always been a very discipline athlete and he knows what he wants,” Villareal said. “The moment he got a taste of his first state title as a sophomore, he knew he really had something special and he continued to work. He is a multi-sport athlete and played football for us and did a great job, but he never lost focus on what he wanted to do and that was to throw at a big-time program and it doesn’t get any bigger than Texas A&M.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — For the Marine Military Academy football program, 2019 will be the same song, different verse. The Leathernecks have some pieces back in 2019, but like every year, MMA will have to regroup and adjust.

Fourth-year head coach Ric Medill has improved the program over the last few seasons.

In 2016, MMA went 2-6, followed by a 6-4 campaign 2017 and a 4-5-1 season in 2018.

Despite taking a minor step back last season, Medill is confident in what the Leathernecks have coming back and what they have to build around this fall.

Of the 28 kids on the current roster, 10 of them are returning from last year’s team.

“We are in our first few days of camp and we are still waiting on about 20 kids to come to camp,” Medill said. “A lot of the kids don’t come to camp. They will come on the first day of registration, so we have a bunch of kids coming that we know will be coming.”

One of those returning will be senior quarterback Jack Dalton. The senior QB, who also plays point guard for the basketball team, returns under center after taking over the starting job midway last season, making this his first full year as the starter.

“Jack came in midseason,” Medill said. “He came on at wide receiver for us at first until we moved him to quarterback.”

Teaming up with Dalton will be John Cambo and newly added Mason Nava, who recently played at McAllen High and will bring some experience to MMA.

While the Leathernecks are implementing a new system on both sides of the ball, Medill sees it as a new opportunity for his club with new faces on both offense and defense.

“Here at MMA, every year is different,” the coach said. “We as coaches try and put our kids in the best place we know. Some years, we think we can run the ball and we see what we can work with come August. Sometimes, we get in a group of receivers so we look to throw the ball and open it up. We hope to have a little bit of both so we won’t be one-dimensional. Once we get in the rest of the kids, we will see what we have to work with.”

STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer

For several Rio Grande Valley athletes, the Volley at the Beach tournament in Port Isabel is among the annual reminders that the school year has begun.

Julie Breedlove, coach of the hosting Lady Tarpons, said she was pleased to have several teams returning to a field that features teams from all over the Rio Grande Valley, including Los Fresnos, Brownsville Hanna, and Brownsville Lopez. The tournament’s most distant entrant this year is Corpus Christi Carroll.

Port Isabel is in Pool 1 with Monte Alto, Weslaco East, and Lopez. Hanna is in Pool 2 alongside PSJA Southwest, Santa Rosa and Rio Hondo. Los Fresnos and Corpus Christi Carroll share Pool 3 with Progreso, La Feria, and St. Joseph Academy.

“We’re pretty excited about it this year,” Breedlove said.

Breedlove’s young squad will be one of the most interesting teams to watch, with nine returners from last season. The Lady Tarpons are focused on filling holes at middle hitter and a left outside hitter after the starters in those spots graduated.

“We have a bench right now of our varsity returners and a couple of our JV kids that we’re looking to step up next year,” Breedlove said. “But the girls coming back have been able to step in those positions and try to take hold of them.”

Port Isabel has mostly been working on finding the best positional fits for newcomers and returners alike, and several players will have an opportunity to make an impression with two senior captains — libero Estrella Vasquez and outside hitter Galilea Cab — and another returning sophomore sidelined for the tournament after minor injuries during the Poundfest tournament at McAllen Rowe.

“We’re just trying to get the kids to gel a little bit more,” Breedlove said. “And to get a look at those younger players in some of those roles and find them opportunities.”

Breedlove said junior Alison Gonzalez has emerged as a leader entering her third season with the Lady Tarpons.

“I’ve been impressed with her play coming back,” Breedlove said. “She’s really wanted to do more and get better, and I think it’s a neat thing.”

The Tarpons open pool play today at 1 p.m.

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

RAYMONDVILLE—-Entering the 2019 season, the Raymondville Bearkats motto is simple: ‘We want more.’

The ’Kats broke onto the scene last year and won the District 16-4A Division II crown and bi-district title before their historic season came to an abrupt halt in a 35-27 loss to Navarro in the area round.

The playoff loss left Raymondville eager for more success in 2019.

The Bearkats have some key pieces to replace, but have found their solution.

“We had a big senior group that graduated last year,” said Raymondville coach Frank Cantu. “We were fortunate enough to have another big senior group this year and a big junior group. Those two groups together should fill those holes and we are going to get after it. We don’t want to skip a beat; we just want to keep playing well like we did last year.”

Among the key names Raymondville will have to replace is Jacob Posas, who ran and threw for over 1,000 yards last year. This season, the ’Kats will look to their freshman quarterback in Jared Cavazos.

The 6-foot-1 youngster took the summer 7on7 league as an opportunity to develop chemistry with his offense and find a groove. Cavazos will have arguably one of the best wide receiver duos in the Valley with Justin Cantu and Zaraivion Armendarez.

“We are looking to get out here and get the chemistry going,” Armendarez said. “We lost a lot of seniors last year, so we want to get that chemistry going from 7on7 to now. We have made progress with both our QB’s with Jason Cantu and Jared. We have worked on our routes and we are getting better.”

Both Cantu and Armendarez will have a key hand in the offense with Cantu also looking to take snaps out of the back field and Armendarez being utilized with multiple looks.

“Justin is big and loves the weight room he is big and strong,” Cantu said. “Zaraivion he has been getting after it in the weight room and he has gotten stronger and he is just so shifty. He can get speed and make a cut and Justin can do that as well. Both of them are big play guys are two guys we want to get the football, too.”

On defense, the ’Kats will need to replace their all-state linebacker Noe Zambrano and Cole Cooley, who last year teamed up to be quite the duo at linebacker. Raymondville, however, will be stout along the defensive line as they welcome back sophomore Dylan Ramirez, who led the team in sacks last season.

Derrick Oltivero will complement Ramirez on the opposite side, giving Raymondville a solid defensive end duo. Thomas Zambrano, who is the younger brother of Noe, does return as a senior and will play the linebacker position, but will get moved around some. Along with Ramirez and Oltivero will be incoming senior Jacob Perez anchoring the defensive line for the ’Kats.

Raymondville will open up their season with a bang as they will take on La Feria on August 30th on the road.

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville Porter is looking for a clean start in 2019, and this just might be the year the Cowboys turn that corner under third-year coach Carlos Uresti.

The Cowboys are in the Rio Grande Valley’s largest district, at 10 teams, and have a rough slate that includes Mission Veterans Memorial, Brownsville Pace and Brownsville Veterans Memorial. The young Cowboys won their season opener against Port Isabel but then ended the season with a nine-game losing streak.

However, there is plenty of optimism in the Southmost that the Cowboys can turn the tide with five returning players on offense and six returning on defense.

“We start off the season with Port Isabel, they are a solid program that has always won,” Uresti said. “Then we get district started against Pace. So right off the bat we will face a pair of playoff teams from last year.”

This Porter squad is the most experienced Uresti has had. Leading the charge will be junior quarterback Kevin Garcia, who is in his third year under center.

“We are excited to be out here, and the kids are excited to be out here,” Uresti said. “We have been hearing a lot of why we didn’t win last year — and that was because we were young — but we are tired of hearing that and our message to the kids was, next year is here. We want to deliverer that message this season.”

The tight-knit relationship between Uresti and Garcia looks to bear fruit this fall, with Garcia having full command of the huddle. With new offensive coordinator Ferrel Williams, the Cowboys aim to open up their offense.

“Coach Uresti and I’s relationship has come a long way,” Garcia said. “At first I was new to the program, and I had to gain his trust and his respect. Since then we have a great respect for each other, and we have each other’s backs.”

Throughout the offseason, Garcia worked on some of his passing mechanics. That is one skill Garcia is looking to display this season.

“My passing game was something I worked on, and it took a big leap forward from my sophomore year to my junior year,” Garcia said. “I wasn’t much of a dual-threat quarterback, I would run more than I would pass, but this summer I made it a goal to improve my passing game and I feel confident heading into the season.”

The Cowboys will look to snap their nine-game skid when they play host to Port Isabel on Aug. 30.