By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
The 2019 Pace Vikings began the season with low expectations, losing key defensive parts and fielding a young squad.
Through big performances from underclassmen and quality coaching, the Vikings clawed their way out of a 10-team District 16-5A Division I and back to the postseason for a third straight year.
Leading that charge was freshman linebacker Drew Gonzalez, who has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2019 All-Metro Football newcomer of the year, and Danny Pardo, who was tabbed as coach of the year.
For Pardo, it was no secret that returning just 10 players, including three on defense, was going to be an uphill battle, but the old cliché of putting players in the right spots to be successful rang true this season.
“We do get the most we can out of these kids, and if you look at our defensive lineup, you might say it looks like a middle school lineup,” the Vikings’ coach said. “But they play hard and they’re well-coached, I guarantee you that. My staff, they’re great. They do things that have been instilled in us from previous head coaches who we’ve worked under. When you get people who care for the school and care for the program, good things are going to happen.”
Pardo went on to say that the staff is filled with Pace and Brownsville alumni, who have bought in and make the system work.
“They fit into the program,” Pardo said. “We’re one big city, and we’re not going to get outworked. Since I started coaching here, that was the No. 1 thing: I might get beat, but it’s not going to be because I got outworked.”
One of those good things was Gonzalez, who burst on to the scene, pulling his weight and much more, racking up 83 tackles, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, an interception and five forced fumbles.
Gonzalez came in to the year with quelled expectations, but that didn’t stop him from seeing the potential of the young squad he was set to join.
“I didn’t think we would be as good as we ended up being,” he said. “I knew we were going to be good, but I knew we’d be really small and young.”
It didn’t take long for Gonzalez to get settled, as he gained some footing by the start of district play in Week 2 against Porter. He showed out with 10 tackles (one for a loss) and two forced fumbles, helping the Vikings to a 17-14 win over the Cowboys.
“By the second game I knew I needed to get with the program, and by then all the jitters were out,” he said. “I knew I had to just man up and play ball. I knew my teammates had my back. I had theirs as well, and my coaches helped me a lot.”
Pardo said Gonzalez has a great mind for the sports and wasn’t surprised by what the young linebacker was able to accomplish, but it took fine-tuning. Now, the Pace coach is looking forward to what Gonzalez will bring as a sophomore.
“The game will be so much slower for him because he’s seen it so many times,” Pardo said. “He’s just going to be moving, and that’s the beauty of him coming back. He’s a talented kid.”