NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — The wait between the winning goal and final whistle was only 2 minutes and 13 seconds, but even that felt long for the coach who had been working 22 seasons to help his Bulldogs climb this mountain.

After a 2-1 upset win over San Antonio Johnson in the regional semifinals and an even more surprising 1-0 victory against Austin Lake Travis, McAllen High became the first RGV girls team to reach the state tournament.

In the coming days, McHi coach Pat Arney received messages from former players of the past two decades, all bricks in a long path to an improbable goal.

The distinction as the area’s best coach isn’t new to Arney, but this season that led to The Monitor’s All-Area Coach of the Year superlative was uncharted territory.

“I really saw the girls mature a lot, even in the playoffs,” Arney said Monday. “We knew we were going to be talented this year, but we weren’t exactly sure how well we were going to do.”

The state tournament in Georgetown is always the goal for an elite team, but the veteran Bulldogs coach knew how steep the uphill battle would be to reach the final four.

Arney knew the road was going to be tough in November, when the team met for practice for the first time. He knew he had to replace last season’s Monitor All-Area Player of the Year in Anna Hover, and he still carried memories of a tough loss in the 2017 regional tournament.

Most notably, his new group was composed mostly of sophomores and other underclassmen, even in crucial roles.

Youth would be the theme and the anchor of the 2018 team.

Westyn Henderson, this season’s Player of the Year, and Lexi Gonzalez, this season’s Defensive Player of the Year, were only sophomores. Both ended up on the state all-tournament squad.

“I think that puts a lot of confidence in us, that Arney has such a strong believing in our abilities,” Henderson said about young players making such an impact on the team. “That puts trust in us, and I think that’s a good kind of pressure.”

Gonzalez, who played goalie, said the process of jelling into a squad was initially tough.

“We had to earn our spot,” Gonzalez said. “From freshman year to now, he was like, ‘I’m not just going to give away a spot. You have to earn it.’”

Sophomores Ava Alaniz, Mireya Ramirez and Sofia Soto made major impacts. So did older players such as juniors Hannah Kelly and Zoe Flores, plus a small senior leadership core of Victora Sola and Jackelyn Lemus.

The Bulldogs didn’t lose a district game the entire season and scored double-digit goals in some of those victories. Arney said lopsided wins turned out to be a major benefit, because he was able to give minutes to a larger portion of his roster. Those players were needed en masse during the humidity of the regional tournament’s day games.

Arney commended the area teams that put up such a strong fight during the postseason. Wins against Harlingen South and Harlingen High were by one and two goals, respectively. Arney said the Valley will have to produce a large group of strong teams in order for an RGV squad to return to the final four.

“If we’re ever going to get back, we need more competition and more teams that are going to push us,” Arney said.

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McALLEN — When McAllen High lined up against Austin Lake Travis on April 14, the Bulldogs entered a match as underdogs for just the second time all season. The only other time was 22 hours earlier, when they faced San Antonio Johnson in the regional semis.

On both occasions, sophomore Lexi Gonzalez played well on the pressure-packed stage to send the Bulldogs to the state tournament. They advanced via a 2-1 win in the semis and a stellar 1-0 shutout performance with 12 saves by Gonzalez in the final against Lake Travis.

The 16-year-old said that the big moments actually helped, and she was excited to get into heated contests.

“We did more goalie training, which helped me a lot more. I had to be more aggressive toward the ball,” Gonzalez said. “I love it when we play such aggressive teams, like once we go further in (the playoffs). It helps me do better, and I guess it gets more in the game.”

Gonzalez drew from her time playing defense, where she was needed during the early parts of the year. She even used her 5-foot-10-inch frame to hit home a header during the season. All those tools factored into Gonzalez’s selection as The Monitor’s All-Area Defensive Player of the Year.

“I can see the whole field, and it helps me get a better eye on the different stuff around me, so I know what’s going on,” Gonzalez said. “I commune a lot with them, and they listen to me, which is awesome. I tell them where to go, but it’s awesome that they’re amazing, too. I wouldn’t have gotten where I was without them. They helped me so much in the goal.”

She was not shaken before the regional final game, even with knowledge that Lake Travis had scored five goals in its semifinal match against Brownsville Rivera.

She knew that she had done her part against Lake Travis and the first goal would be the game-winner.

“Those last two minutes of the game, when Ava (Alaniz) scored, it was awesome, because it could have gone either way,” Gonzalez said. “Any girl could have taken a shot. It could have gone in.”

Lake Travis had plenty of high-quality chances to get on the board over the course of the match. Gonzalez, however, showed off her talents and was a wall, making dives and quick reactions to keep the ball out. She even borrowed a move from her other passion, volleyball, when on two occasions she tipped dangerous crosses over the bar.

“They’re very similar. It helps me on both, for volleyball and soccer,” Gonzalez said. “That same motion is there, so I do the same thing, so it’s awesome.”

The Bulldogs fell 2-0 in their state semifinal match against eventual champions Houston Memorial, but Gonzalez was named to the 2018 All-Tournament team along with fellow sophomore Westyn Henderson.

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — When Sharyland High freshman Xochitl Nguma was still learning to walk, her father made some slight modifications to her baby walker. Mesika Nguma cut out the front part, allowing Xochitl to kick a ball even before she nailed walking.

The elder Nguma has had a passion for the game his whole life, and in Xochitl’s first high school season, she showed that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

With 32 goals netted in district play and 40 overall, her stellar freshman performance earned her The Monitor’s Newcomer of the Year honors.

Though she had success at the club level and was told she would adapt well to high school play, Nguma needed to learn the ropes and add some bulk to compete against girls who have been relying on physicality for years.

“When I first started playing soccer here, I thought I would actually score more,” Xochitl Nguma said. “I thought it would be easier, because people had told me that it wasn’t that difficult to play in high school. But when I actually got on the field, it was a lot harder, and then there are other players that also need to score.”

She eventually found her scoring touch and built important chemistry with Kaitie Watson at the top of the Rattlers formation. Watson finished her strong career with 51 goals and 21 assists as a senior. Many of those dishes went to the youngster Nguma.

The addition of Nguma to the lineup was mutually beneficial, as she and Watson drew defensive pressure away from each other.

“In the beginning of the year, they would mostly mark Kaitie, so they would leave lots of spaces open for all the people in front,” Nguma said.

Sharyland edged out rival Pioneer for the District 31-5A title. In her first high school playoff game, Nguma opened the scoring for the Rattlers and even drew a penalty kick on a play that gave her a concussion and ended her season.

The soft-spoken, lanky No. 10 will be asked to take on an even bigger role next year as the team’s two top seniors — Watson and defender Elise Townsend — will have graduated.

Along with coach Mario Ribera and his staff, Nguma has another, familiar voice guiding her. Meiska has tried to learn when to be hands-on and when to approach Xochitl as a father.

“I played myself, so just having a lot of experience playing and then coaching at all sorts of different age brackets,” Mesika Nguma, a native of Tanzania and Xochitl’s club coach in the FC Dallas organization, said. “I coached McAllen Memorial boys for 10 years, the varsity teams. Sometimes, it becomes personal when it’s your own kid. I guess you hurt more if they don’t do as well. You have to create a boundary. If I’m coaching her, she’s a player. She’s not my daughter.”

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — La Joya Juarez-Lincoln senior Harley Vargas signed on the dotted line Thursday afternoon to run Division I track and field for the Vaqueros of UTRGV.
Vargas was a dual-sport athlete for the Huskies and often put the team first. His versatility on the track was a major factor in his recruitment to a UTRGV team that is under a first-year coaching staff in the 2017-18 season.
Formerly a relay specialist, Vargas entered the 800-meter run for Juarez-Lincoln at this year’s district meet, earning a silver medal with a time of 1:57.88. He earned another silver in the event at the area meet.
“The 800 was never an idea for me until this year,” Vargas said. “I was always on that relay thing. I was like, ‘Coach, I want to help out the team. I’m going to try it.’ I ended up being good at it. I started hitting good times, and my coach pushed me, pulled me off to the side (and) did our different workouts, besides our relay team.”
Along with this season’s surprise 800 success, Vargas was part of some of the most accomplished relay teams in school history.
The 800 relay advanced to the regional level, and the 1,600 team dashed all the way to state. Their regional time of 3:20.73, with Vargas’s 48.4 split, lifted the Huskies to become the first relay team the school sent to state.
“It was pretty amazing, an amazing feeling,” Vargas said. “When we made it to state, I kind of shed a tear, because that’s always been a big dream of mine and my team.”
Horacio Garza, Huskies head track coach, said that UTRGV needs runners who can compete in multiple events.
“They’re looking for a little bit of everything right now,” Garza said. “They really liked what he was doing in the 800. He’s able to run the 800, the 400 — anything. It’s a plus that he can do all those events and still be able to run the 800.”
Vargas will be the fourth Juarez-Lincoln grad on the 2018-19 UTRGV team. Yariel Matute will be in his senior season, while Jose Serna and Carlos Serna are underclassmen.
“What’s happening at Juarez-Lincoln is coach Garza has done a tremendous job in building athletes and having them look up to these guys,” Juarez-Lincoln assistant track coach Billy Cardenas said. “What this does is inspires and empowers these kids to want to be great.”
Garza said the communication with UTRGV was seasonlong.
“We’ve been in contact with UTRGV for a while,” Garza said. “It was just what they needed and what we needed to do for him as an athlete in the races that he needed to run so that we could accommodate both.”
Vargas also played on the Huskies football team, where his speed was used as a kick returner and receiver. He had nothing but praise and faith in his speech, thanking his football and track coaches, family and team-mates.
Vargas plans to study criminal justice.
“I’m just thankful to UTRGV for giving me the chance and my family for giving me this opportunity to pur-sue my career in college,” Vargas said.
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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — McAllen High linebacker Trace Gagne played varsity as a sophomore last year and learned in the pressure cooker of a run-heavy district.

He’ll be a junior next season, and spring practice has him determined to lead the defense to better, more consistent stretches in 2018.

“We’ve been working really hard, and we have a lot of leadership, especially on our defense,” Gagne said. “All of our defense is returning, so we’re kicking ass in practice right now. We have more senior leadership this season. They’re working harder than we ever did before. There’s more leadership. The guys care more.”

Last season, McHi fell to the bottom of District 30-6A in total defense. The Bulldogs allowed 2,386 rushing yards, which also ranked last in the district.
Gagne said that the team’s attitude and hostility during its struggles might have contributed to the poor stretches.

“We had some seniors on the team — not that they weren’t good or anything — but they would just bring us down, our morality,” Gagne said. “Somebody would miss a tackle — one of the younger guys — and they would get on our butts, but they wouldn’t do it in a way that would help us. We would end up getting on droughts on defense, and it would affect how they game played out.”

A new group of juniors and seniors is taking the leadership roles now, and Gagne is hoping that more camaraderie will spark better play.

“We have a better brotherhood,” Gagne said. “Nobody’s ever bickering. Somebody misses a tackle, we get back up and say, ‘Let’s go. We’re going to do this again.’”

“What coach (and defensive coordinator Tracey) Hamilton preaches to us is that we have to beat the guys in front of us with our base defense,” Gagne said. “We’ll just see what we can do against the offense that with that. And then if we start struggling a little bit, then we’ll add stunts in.”

Jackson Helmcamp returns after leading McHi in tackles in 2017 with 80. Gagne ranked fifth on the team with 56 total tackles. In between the two juniors are a handful of seniors, as well as senior-to-be Daniel Chiquito, who had 60 tackles.

On the offensive side, McHi will have holes to fill. Most notable among the graduating class is the thunder and lightning combination of Roy Gutierrez (1,160 rushing yards) and Gunnar Henderson (1,159 total yards).

“We have a lot of spots to fill on offense,” McAllen High coach Kevin Brewer said. “I think we were counting the other day, and it’s nine new kids on offense.”

RELOADING

McHi will say goodbye to the game-changing speed of Henderson, who will graduate and continue playing football in college for the University of the Incarnate Word. During his senior season, he had 1,446 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns. McHi’s next two leaders in all-purpose yards were also seniors in 2017.

Octavian Lewis was the first name that Brewer mentioned when talking about his backfield, and the youngster will be asked to step into the shoes of the 2018 grads.
Lewis, who spent most of his time on junior varsity but was called up to varsity late as a sophomore last season, is confident that the group will have enough talent to produce by committee.

“I think that even though he’s gone, we’re going to have guys that are going to step up, fill the role and, as a team, become better,” Lewis said. “So it’s not, ‘Oh, we lost a guy.’ We have people that can perform.”

Troy Martinez is another player who should get carries for McHi. Tito Cantu will return at fullback for his senior season, ready to block for whomever is moving the ball.

“It’s good being back on the field with everyone,” Cantu said. “We’re trying to see how we’re going to do with our O-line, because everybody’s new. Every day, we always compete to the best, and we always get our best players on the field. Last year, they were always there behind the older guys, and they watched everything they did.”

Lewis wants the underclassman to prove they can lead the Bulldogs without missing a beat. He says he’s ready to play any position, whether it’s in the backfield, in the slot or elsewhere.

“I think that this upcoming team, we’re good enough to replace the guys that we’ve had and have a better season,” Lewis said. “Our unity has definitely become stronger. My role is to get in there and do whatever my teammates need me to do.”

Lewis, Gagne and quarterback Aaron Nixon, are part of the 2020 graduating class. Lewis said preparation is to thank for the group being able to contribute early.

“It all comes down to the coaching,” Lewis said. “They’re coaching us to be mentally, physically and emotionally ready to go against guys that are bigger than us.”

McAllen’s non-district schedule begins with Brownsville Lopez in Week 1 before the team travels to Edinburg to face Edinburg North, then to Boggus Stadium to face Harlingen South for a third straight season.

PRIDE RUNS DEEP

Nixon was one glaring absence from the McHi unit during the spring. His duties on the baseball diamond came to an end on Saturday. On the baseball team, he’s an ace pitcher and reliable hitter. The Bulldogs were 30-6A champions and reached the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

The athletic success on campus hasn’t been limited to just baseball. The girls soccer team became the first girls team from the Valley to reach the state tournament, the boys basketball team qualified for the postseason, the swimming team sent several individuals to state and the wrestling team placed an athlete in the state’s final four.

“This has been a great year for McHi athletics in general,” Brewer said. “I talk to the kids all the time about a culture of success around here. From tennis, all the way to football, we want to be the best at everything. When our girls soccer team was making their run to state, every week I was talking to our football boys. I said, ‘Boys, our girls are showing everyone on this campus the path of how it can be done.’’’

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Returning starters (O/D) 4/10

Returning lettermen: 28

Key players: QB Aaron Nixon, WR/RB Octavian Lewis, WR Dylan Martinez, LB Trace Gagne, LB Jackson Helmcamp

Coach: Kevin Brewer, 6th season

2017 Record: 4-7

NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

WESLACO — A collection of the Valley’s best football players from the 2018 graduating class took the field on Saturday at Bobby Lackey Stadium for the RGVCA All-Star game. Both teams scored early, but the game tightened into a battle reminiscent of a late-fall playoff game. The East won via fourth-quarter touchdowns from Mercedes’ Marc Ledesma and San Benito’s Tyrone Harper, coming out on top 25-21.

The All-Star game was a final chance for outstanding seniors to suit up and play in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

The game was special for players like Mission Veterans’ Giovanni Grimaldo and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Joseph Valdez, who missed time due to injuries this season.

“When I broke arm, it was a really down time for me,” Valdez said of his midseason injury. “I had played four years my hardest, just to go my senior year to do my greatest. When I broke my arm, it was a really bad time for me. I was depressed for like three or four weeks. It’s a real great feeling to come back, play, suit up again. Especially with all these great athletes.”

East’s skill players came out hungry on the first drive. The San Benito Greyhounds’ one-two punch of Tyrone Harper and Erick Retta, which lead the team into the third round of the 6A playoffs last season, was noticeable.

The West’s first drive was aided by three penalties as the team marched into the red zone. Eventually, Edinburg Vela’s Nate Garcia pitched the ball to his teammate Brandon Guzman, who went in for the score.

“Chemistry’s a big deal,” Guzman, who had four other Vela teammates in the game, said. “You saw me and Nate. Then you saw the Ledesma family over there on the East side. It was just money with both of them.”

The 7-all tie held until 3:28 before halftime, when Lopez soccer star and kicker Jose Echevarria put the East up 10-7.

Garcia didn’t let the second quarter end quietly, driving downfield and finding Hidalgo‘s Marco Bella all alone in the corner of the end zone for a score.

The first West drive of the second half finished in the end zone. Garcia found Guzman for the Vela receiver’s second score of the night.

Midway through the third quarter, with the East backed up close to midfield due to a penalty, the duo of Vela’s Ian Sarmiento and Valley’s View’s David Torres came together to sack Retta. The West did not turn that momentum into another score, punting the ball away.

The aforementioned Ledesma twin brothers put their stamp on the game.

Mercedes quarterback Marc Ledesma had a solid night. He hit his brother Matthew for a 35-yard gain in the third quarter before using his legs to score on a keeper a few plays later. Marc found Matt on the two-point conversion.

“I threw it to him four times,” Marc said. “The second time, on the slant, I missed him, but I knew I had to make it up on the following drive. It’s a great time connecting with him. Since we were little kids, we’ve always had a connection. We just had to bring it out today.”

On the ensuing drive, the East defense swarmed West quarterback Garcia. Brownsville Veterans defensive tackle Rey Salazar wrapped him up for a sack, and on the next play, Garcia nearly threw a pick while evading pressure.

The San Benito offensive duo became a trio when Isaiah Treviño got in on the action for the East. The team wearing blue powered the ball in with Harper to push the lead to 25-21.

The West had trouble moving the ball, and San Benito defensive end Ryan Reza put an exclamation point on the win with a sack on Garcia in the last minute.

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — Lalo Bosquez is used to smashing into the offensive line and trying to bring down rushers and quarterbacks for McAllen Rowe.

This spring, however, Bosquez is using his physicality in the polar opposite way, trying to gain yards instead of preventing them. The senior-to-be is taking reps at running back, where he’ll hope to use his size to replace all-district running back Raudel Garcia.

Bosquez is working with both offensive and defensive groups during spring practice at Rowe.

“Right now, it’s just a project that I’m trying to work at,” Bosquez said. “I’m trying to help the team out. It’s a different environment — trying to move away from all the hits — and you have tough guys on the defensive side.”

The Warriors will say goodbye to a trio of skill players who accounted for the bulk of the green and gold’s yardage last season. Raudel Garcia, Adrian Bernal and Jesus Sanchez combined for 2,887 yards of total offense in 2017. Quarterback Jonas Ortiz led the team in total yards (2,021) and was the only non-senior to rank in the top four.

Bosquez fits the mold of District 30-6A running backs. He is strong, bruising and ready to meet the opposition head-on.

“I don’t shy away from tackles. I like contact,” Bosquez said. “I like it a lot. Especially on the defense. Coach (Oscar) Torres is a real big help. He teaches us how to be strong. There’s not really a person out there that I’m scared of. I feel like they brought me on offense to show that.”

New leadership will be important when Rowe hosts Weslaco High on Aug. 30 to kick off the 2018 campaign.

One notable returner is under center. Jonas Ortiz will be a junior next season, and his sophomore season took an unexpected turn as he started at quarterback for most of the year.

Ortiz took over full time in the third game of the year after senior Jesus Sanchez went down with an upper-body injury that didn’t heal until late in the season.

“He wasn’t scared. He stepped in he played his part,” Bosquez said. “That brings a lot of courage to the young guys to see that. From where he started, no one really gave him a chance until he stepped it up. He’s doing a really good job — baseball and football. He’s an all-star, man.”

Ortiz started for the playoff qualifying baseball team, was part of Rowe’s District 30-6A champion 400-meter relay and finished third in the district 100-meter dash.

Rowe coach Bobby Flores says on top of all those skills, one of the most important factors to Ortiz’s success is being the son of a coach and never being satisfied.

“We’re going to bank on our experience at quarterback obviously No. 1, and our two-way starters, which is Noe Ramirez and Angel Rodriguez,” Flores said. “They were a big impact for us on special teams, and we expect them to do that again next year.”

Both players were part of the passing game that worked efficiently to the tune of 2,714 yards last year. Of course, the passing total also includes the often-utilized jet sweep, which uses the wideouts as runners via a forward pass behind the line of scrimmage.

Ramirez and Rodriguez combined for 988 receiving yards, and fellow returner Ruben Saenz had 114 in four games.

“I just get better day by day. I like to play a lot,” Rodriguez said. “When I’m in there, I play my hardest. I do my hardest, and puro heart.”

POSITION SWITCHES DON’T FAZE D

Bosquez moving from the D-line to running back isn’t the only personnel move the Warriors are making.

“We moved Ethan Ruiz. He was a cornerback for us last year. We moved him to linebacker — outside linebacker,” Flores said.

Young defenders will be all over of the field for Rowe. Middle linebacker Josiah Alonzo, who is a part of the 2020 graduating class that seems to be quick to produce varsity talent, will return after being an important player before his injury as a sophomore.

Bosquez said he feels his line is in good shape to answer Flores’s calls for a better run defense as he shifts his focus to the offense.

“My coach said my sophomore year when I played varsity, ‘We’re a small team, but we have a lot of heart,’” Bosquez said. “We play with a lot of strength. We stop people at the goal line. We don’t shy away from hits. Big guys — we don’t care. We play with a lot of anger — mean green.”

O-LINE READY TO TAKE SHAPE

Not only will Rowe have to replace a lot of skill players on offense, but the team will also need to steady up in the trenches. Jose Quintero, Arnold De La Rosa and Jose Moreno all graduate from last year’s team.

“Offensive line is an area that we need to focus on. That’s what we’re working on in the spring,” Flores said. “Coming back, we just have our all-district first-team’s Rodrigo Davila. There’s a lot of new faces out there. Aalok Zimmerman was the one who got some experience, as well, last year.”

The Warriors had the second-best offense in the district last season, but this year’s District 30-6A will include newcomer PSJA High, which had an excellent offense last year as the runner-up in District 31-6A.

Rowe will play a shorter non-district schedule and get to the 30-6A action quicker compared to the schedule of four non-district games and six district contests they’ve faced for the past two seasons. Rowe and McHi meet before September ends, on Sept. 28.

Returning starters (O/D) 3/4

Returning lettermen: 16

Key players: QB Jonas Ortiz, RB Lalo Bosquez, WR/DB Noe Ramirez, WR/DB Angel Rodriguez, T Rodrigo Davila, RB Alex Anzaldua

Coach: Bobby Flores, 3rd season

2017 Record: 7-4

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

Intensity is high early for coach Bill Littleton’s group of McAllen Memorial Mustangs as the blue jerseys practice offense on the center of the field and offensive line drills by the home sideline. Scoring is where the cream of the District 30-6A crop thrives.

The winners of three consecutive district titles scored 66 touchdowns last year, including 79 points on 11 touchdowns in two playoff games.

The 2018 version of the offense has the potential to get even better and churn out more points with the one-two punch of halfback Campbell Speights and quarterback Sean Skaugen returning for their junior and senior seasons, respectively.

Speights powered his way to 1,647 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns as a sophomore, while Skaugen threw for 616 yards and was second on the team in rushing with 1,108 yards.

At practice last week, Skaugen showed off his arm during wide receiver and cornerback drills. He hit his targets much more frequently than he missed, with a couple of the balls fading into spots only the offensive player could reach. Speights got in on the routes, working the option game. Memorial showed more wrinkles than the usual smashmouth attack.

“Over the past year, I’ve really been focusing on the passing game, and we’re trying to implement a lot of new stuff over here,” Skaugen said. “I’m just trying to learn the game a lot more, recognize defenses and blitzes. What I want to change last year to this year is to become a student of the game. Every day, come out and learn something new.”

The passing game could just be a secondary option for play-callers to keep in their back pocket in case the run game hits a rare hiccup. In 2017, Memorial’s run-pass split was 3,985 to 826 in yardage and 518 to 93 in attempts.

Speights’ strong two seasons could be just a taste of what the 2020 graduate has to offer. At the halfway point of his high school career, he is growing physically and as an experienced football thinker.

“I’m just trying to bring a lot of energy,” Speights said. “I’m trying to be a better teammate, a better role model. Of course, I need to work on the little things — being more explosive, being quicker in the hole.”

McAllen Memorial does not have a fountain of youth to restore the graduating members of its offensive line. Most of the O-line snaps last year went to seniors, and the new crop will need to step into those positions with confidence.

O-line coach Robbie Jasso said juniors David Paz and Daniel Domian are returning varsity players. After that, the group of Karson Kinney, Dago Gutierrez and Andrew Ramos will be called on to battle for the open positions.

Skaugen, whose junior season took off because an injury opened a position and he ran with the opportunity, said he is excited to see how the openings at impact starting spots fuel the Mustangs’ fire.

“That competition is really going to bring out the next level in our athletes, always,” Skaugen said. “A little competition really doesn’t hurt anyone. That’s a good thing, because they’re always going to bring their A game. We do a lot of weight room stuff. We have a lot of strong guys in our program.”

“I think I see great effort right now,” Littleton said. “Kids are working pretty hard. We’re trying to get better at the little things. Obviously not where we want to be, but we’re making strides. This team has a great potential.”

Speights said spring is an important time.

“It shows us who we are after the guys we lost. We lost a lot of key players,” Speights said. “Spring ball gives us a chance to let the young pups come up and show what they can do.”

YOUNG DEFENSE

The Mustangs defense will look noticeably different when the group lines up to start the season on the road against Brownsville Hanna on Aug. 30. Only two starters return from the 2017 group, and sophomore Michael Morales will step into a leadership role similar to the defenders who mentored him a season ago.

“Last year, we had some great leaders on the team,” Morales said. “Coming in as a sophomore last year, I didn’t know much. These guys really coached me up, and I think I grew a lot from the beginning to the end of the season.”

On five occasions last year, Memorial flexed its defensive muscle and didn’t allow more than 14 points. The Mustangs recovered 14 fumbles and picked off nine passes on the season. Morales intercepted three.

He had 81 tackles last year, which ranked sixth on the team. The five players above him on the tackles chart are walking across the graduation stage in June. At his position in the secondary, he’ll miss Nathan Sanchez, who had 180 tackles, and Kelechi Nwachuku, who had 163.

By the end of last season, Morales said he received more compliments and acknowledgment of his hard work from his senior leaders. He said they left big shoes to fill, but leading is something he wants to do to help his teammates progress.

“It’s a big role coming in, but I feel like I’m in a position that I can help these guys, and I want to do that to the best of my abilities,” Morales said. “I learned a lot from the guys last year, and I want to put them in the position I was in.”

2020 VISION

“We like to put in a lot of work — me, Michael and all the other 2020 guys. You see it all over social media: 2020, 20/20 vision,” Speights said. “That’s the culture that the other guys — my brother’s class, and the class after him, and the class before him — that’s what they showed us. We learned from them. We take what we learned from them, and we put our little culture on it.”

With the class of 2020 suiting up as juniors in the fall, their roles and responsibilities will increase.

“It’s tough, but like it was last year, it helped that I had some great players and athletes around me to help me grow,” Morales said. “We’re working on our craft just to get better every day.”

After the Week 1 road game against Brownsville Hanna, Memorial will host Sharyland High and then have a showdown at home with another 6A powerhouse in Edinburg Vela.

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

McAllen High sophomore Westyn Henderson announced her commitment to Texas A&M University soccer through Twitter on Wednesday.

Henderson said she has been an Aggies fan her whole life and didn’t hesitate to secure her future at the Division I university in College Station.

“This weekend was just the cherry on top, and they offered me this morning at 9, and I committed at 9:01,” Henderson said.

She’s been in maroon and white since a young age. Her parents are both graduates from the university, and she’s been at Kyle Field almost since birth.

“My first Aggie football game is when I was 14 days old,” Henderson said. “Since then, it’s always been a goal. I’ve been attending their camps ever since I could attend their camps. Both my parents went there, so when I got an opportunity to play for them, it just felt right.”

Last month, Henderson led the Bulldogs all the way to the state semifinals. They became the first RGV girls team to reach the state tournament.

The speedy midfielder lifted the McHi team comprised of mostly underclassmen in both games of the regional tournament. She made a brave run into the box and executed a spin before shooting the ball past San Antonio Johnson’s defense and goalie to send McHi to the final.

Against Lake Travis, she assisted on the lone goal, in the 78th minute, to punch her team’s ticket to Georgetown and the state tourney.

“High school got the ball rolling, definitely,” Henderson said. “Making it to the final four definitely helped out with exposure. I’ve been playing on this classic elite team out of San Antonio … so I’m exposed to a bunch of college coaches, just being in that environment.”

She praised her club and high school coaches for getting her onto the radar of Division I scouts.

“The mixture of Gary Hamilton, who is my club coach from the Valley, he has done an amazing job making connections in the soccer world,” Henderson said. “Him and my club coach from Classic elite and (McHi coach Pat) Arney, they’ve all done such a great job of helping me get put out there.”

She said she is confident she will not have a change of heart and is glad to have the peace of mind moving forward.

“I’m 110 percent committed to going there,” Henderson said. “I think if this would have happened a year ago, I would still be in the same mindset. I’ve always been an Aggie, so no matter what time I was given this opportunity, I would have accepted it and been fully committed to going and playing there. I was their last 2020 offer, and I’m the fifth girl in the class to commit. It felt right, and I’m excited.”

With two years of McHi soccer ahead of her and the weight of the recruiting process off her shoulders, Henderson said she is ready to build on the history the 2018 group made.

“It makes me have new mentality and outlook on this whole process,” Henderson said. “Now I’m just ready to work harder than I have been. We’re excited about McHi soccer and want to bring home a state trophy for McAllen.”

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — McAllen High senior Max Saenz said his parents have been driving him to swim practice since he was 7 years old. They never hesitated to take the youngster to competitions or camps, even if they had to travel to Austin or Houston from the Valley.

The work paid off for Saenz, as he signed to swim and play water polo for Austin College in Sherman, near the Red River north of Dallas.

“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Saenz said. “I get to continue my academic career while also playing two sports, something I did not expect to do at first. But now that it’s happening, I’m very pumped.”

Saenz was a staple of the Bulldogs swim team for four years. He made his first trip to the UIL state swim meet as a freshman and reached that level all four years of his high school career. He is a freestyle specialist who qualified as an individual in the 50 and 100 free, and he was also a part of McAllen’s relay groups.

Current McHi swim coach Albino Cisneros said that Saenz will not soon be forgotten.

“I watched practices and just see somebody that never gave up on his set, never stopped,” MISD swim coordinator Humberto Patch said. “He is one of a group. He’s such a leader. He’s leaving this program in great hands. He helped build what is a very successful swim program now.”

In the middle of his high school swim career, a new passion was born in the same pools in which he had been training for years. Former McHi swim coach Jared Kaminski introduced the team to water polo, and a seed was planted.

That grew into a real opportunity when the coaches at Austin College asked Saenz if he wanted to be a part of the water polo team in addition to swimming. The ‘Roos will be the first NCAA varsity water polo team in the state since Texas A&M’s program ended operation in 1976. They will compete against existing powerhouses from the west like Stanford and Cal.

“It definitely was something I was not expecting,” Saenz said. “I always thought water polo was just an awesome game to play from the beginning. It was cool that I got into it, but it was never a year-round thing. Now that the opportunity was presented to me, it’s an awesome chance that I took.”

Water polo, a sport sponsored at the high school and university level primarily on the west and east coasts, has been on the rise in the central United States.

The sport is still not sponsored by the UIL, but that could change with Class 6A and 5A superintendents favoring the addition more than ever. In 2014, only 21 percent of superintendents approved. In 2016, that number rose to 46 percent.

McAllen ISD and PSJA ISD are the main players in the Valley, but with a nod from the UIL, the number of districts in on the fun could also rise.

“We’re ecstatic about it,” Max Saenz Sr. said about his son putting ink on the dotted line. “He’s a dual athlete in something that he loves to do, and that he’s been doing very well in high school. In college, it’s another level.”

“It’s been a blessing,” his mother, Sandra Saenz, said. “He’s such a great kid. Now, I feel he’s the full package. You never know what’s going to happen at the end of your hard work. He’s very blessed that Austin College accepted him.”

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