BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — There they were: 6-year-old Mario Chapa and 6-year-old Jalen Ybarra sharing a football field. Chapa and Ybarra spent years on the same team in TYFA, Pop Warner and other youth leagues. They have seen so much of each other’s best and worst that they’ve practically become family.
“When we were 6, we played on a team called the Vipers, then the Wolf Pack, Boys & Girls Club and finally to middle and high school,” La Joya Palmview senior Jalen Ybarra said. “For the way we work, I think it’s the best thing for the team.”
“My parents met their parents, and it went from there,” La Joya Palmview senior Mario Chapa said. “Working together in the football world helped form the friendship we have off the field.”
Chapa and Ybarra are two parts of a four-pronged rushing attack. The Lobos run a slot-t offense, in which the likes of Chapa, Ybarra, junior David Gonzalez and sophomore Carlos Peña.
Ybarra serves as the fullback — one of several blockers who help pave the path for Chapa.
“Having that bond between them is important because, as a running back, you have to know how your blocker blocks for you,” La Joya Palmview coach Margarito Requenez said. “You have to learn his tendencies. Jalen and Mario have been doing that for three years together, since they came up from junior varsity. They know what’s going to happen before it happens. That’s not something you can’t build in a day or a week.”
Entering Week 4, Chapa was tied for the most rushing yards in District 16-5A DI with Mission Veterans’ Landry Gilpin with 350. Peña is second on the team with 247 yards, followed by Gonzalez (198) and Ybarra (167).
Chapa’s six rushing touchdowns during the last three weeks also rank second in the district behind Gilpin’s nine.
“There’s no lightbulb that went on,” Chapa said. “It came down to different formations and alignments that we needed to follow and correct. We had little air bubbles where we needed to pop. If we follow our assignments, eventually those bubbles will pop.”
La Joya Palmview (2-2, 2-1) lost its first district game of the season in Week 4 at Donna High. The Lobos were down 17-14 at halftime, and the team learned it would be without Chapa for the second half.
Chapa ran for 18 yards against Donna. His 368 yards have bumped him down to fourth-best in the district.
“I hurt my ankle, and it was pretty annoying,” Chapa said. “I’ve been going to rehab since then, getting it healthy again.”
“We had a couple players go down for us, and that kind of set the momentum for us,” Requenez said. “Once you have key players go down, it changes the game. Teams start keying on other players, and it gets easier for the defense to read what we we’re going to do. But that’s no excuse. We should have planned better. I put the loss on my shoulders.”
Like Chapa, the Lobos have come a long way from last season. 2017 was Chapa’s first on the varsity team. It also happened to be the first season Palmview went winless in district competition under Requenez after playoff appearances from 2014-16.
“I tried to do what I could, but I don’t think we were stable and together,” Chapa said. “We knew that there was always next year.”
“The biggest difference is our offensive line,” Ybarra said. “This year’s line is younger, but they want to play. They want to prove themselves, and they have.”
The Lobos will have another chance to pick up a district win when they host PSJA Southwest at 7 tonight inside La Joya ISD Stadium.
The Javelinas’ defensive front is among the best in the district. The group has allowed 175 rushing yards, while the Lobos average 250 yards per game on the ground.
“They’re much improved, like we are,” Requenez said. “From Week 1 to now, they’re playing tough football on both sides of the ball. We have to step up and play the same way.”