MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
Last season, Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Damian Maldonado enjoyed success out of tight end sets due to his size and agility, while teammate Mauricio Garza seemed primed to be District 16-5A Division I’s top rusher before going down with a collarbone injury.
Both were looked at entering this season to hone their skills and play as outside receivers full-time, but as pressure on quarterback Liam Longoria has gone up targets have gone down, prompting head coach David Cantu to give his receiver more opportunities at their natural positions.
With Garza mentally ready for the punishment coming off the injury and Maldonado has the body of a prototypical tight end, the Chargers’ coach was excited to hit the practice field.
“It started Sunday when I called coaches and talked about what needed to happen,” Cantu said. “By that point, I knew that Mauricio was ready to play running back again and that’s big for us. Then I called Damian and said “I was so excited that I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell you that we’re going to make a commitment to get you where you should be playing.”
For Garza, being back in the back field will be a chance at some unfinished business as he was the top rusher after five weeks last season with 611 yards and seven touchdowns on 68 carries before going down with an injury.
“I’m getting mentally prepared to play running back again,” Garza said. “I haven’t played there since last year, so this week, I’ve been getting my mind ready for those hits and stuff. I’m expecting it to go well. I just have to keep my mind off of my injury last year and just keep grinding.”
It will be a big transition for the Chargers and Garza, who has only carried the ball six times for eight yards through five weeks this season.
As for Maldonado, he is currently on pace for just 20 catches this season, totaling just 10 for 159 yards and one touchdown coming out of a 36-13 loss at Rio Grande City.
He finished with 31 catches and 550 yards and three scores last season when lining up primarily at tight end.
“When I was told to be prepared to get more touches and we’d be running more tight end sets, I was ready. I like playing tight end and who doesn’t want more touches. It’s tough knowing I wasn’t getting the ball as much as I wanted to, but I know if Liam was in a position to get me the ball, he would. There are certain things that hinder him from doing that. I was frustrated, but I try to stay composed. In football, that one big play can happen out of nowhere, so I always told myself to stay ready, run the routes full speed and know that one play you can explode to get a touchdown.”
Cantu is hoping to get his duo going, but also take some of the pressure off of Longoria at the same time.
“I’m sure (Longoria) feels much more at peace with things,” he said. “And that’s important for a quarterback. He’s an accurate passer when he sets his feet and steps and throw. There’s not many better than him. (Opponents’) game plans have been to cause disturbance, but this move (to the offense) provides us with weapons that we can get the ball to quick. That’ll make it more challenging now.”
Garza said circumstances changed the offense a bit last year and believes in that him rushing the ball and Maldonado at tight end provided success that didn’t need fixing.
“It went well last year, so we’re expecting it to go the same way,” he said. “With Damian being an extra blocker, I’m feeling comfortable.”