By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Liam Longoria made his mark on the school’s history in his two seasons as the Chargers’ starting quarterback.
The senior signal-caller ended his football career at or near the top of several of Brownsville Veterans’ passing and rushing statistical leaderboards. The team went 14-7 during the three-year varsity letterman’s two seasons as a starter.
“You put so much work in from the offseason to the beginning of the season,” Longoria said. “And to have your name in the record books, that’s phenomenal to see that that work paid off.”
Longoria eclipsed the single-season passing record of 1,410 yards he set during the 2018 season with 1,632 yards during the 2019 season. He also holds the career mark of 3,369 yards previously held by Marcus Castillo, who played for the Chargers from 2013 to 2015.
Longoria’s 251 career completions and 28 career touchdown passes also are the most in program history.
His 22 completions during a District 16-5A Division I game against Mission Veterans Memorial on Sept. 12, 2019, was good for a share of the school record for single-game completions along with Rolando Izeta, who completed the same number of passes against Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial in 2018.
One of the most significant tests of the season for Longoria came in his season opener against Rivera on Aug. 30, 2019.
“That was our first game, and I had started off really weak,” Longoria said. “One of the worst halves I had ever played in my life. And then in the second half, I just had to go into the locker room and get mentally right. And I brought the team back, and we ended up winning that game in the final seconds.”
Trailing by one late in the fourth quarter, Longoria’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Mauricio Garza gave the Chargers a 26-21 victory, the first of their seven wins on the season.
It was moments like this that gave Longoria’s teammates and coaches confidence in him.
Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu developed a high level of trust in his quarterback’s ability to see the field and read opposing defenses.
“The respect I had for him, and knowing how much he studied our scheme and had a grasp of everything (made it easier),” Cantu said. “When he knew something was going to be there, that made me extremely confident (to defer to Longoria). So many times, it led to some incredible plays.”
Longoria said two of his longtime friends, receiver Elijah Masten and tight end Damian Maldonado, were among his most reliable targets.
“Just bringing (the chemistry) onto the football field, it was pretty seamless and easy,” Longoria said.
Longoria was a sprinter on the track team and was seventh in his weight class (165 pounds) in the Texas High School Powerlifting Association’s Region 5 rankings. He had earned a trip to the state tournament as a powerlifter with season highs of 520 pounds in the squat, 320 pounds in the bench press and a 550-pound deadlift, but the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic caused the THSPA to cancel the 2020 state meet.
He intends to study business at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and pursue a career in finance or marketing, two areas in which he said he has an interest.
His playing days may be over, but he was among those who returned to gyms when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared Friday that fitness centers would be permitted to reopen in a limited capacity.
Longoria works out at 5 a.m. in order to maintain as much social distance as possible from other gym-goers.
“I’ve been trying to go to the gym as much as I can,” Longoria said. “I’ve been really lazy during quarantine, it’s been hard to work out. I’m just trying to establish a routine.”
Pandemic aside, Longoria’s work ethic has always been the talk of the town in Brownsville Veterans circles.
Cantu recalled one of his earliest memories of Longoria’s regimen in the thick of the heat of Rio Grande Valley summers as he drove up to the field at 8 a.m. for strength and conditioning camp.
The Chargers’ coach saw Longoria tossing a football into a net, and after asking the young quarterback about what he was doing before Cantu showed up, found out that he was also running nearly four miles on the track each day before practice.
“That’s the kind of hunger this young man had,” Cantu said. “He really wanted to lead by example. Ninety-five percent of his teammates never saw him out there, because they pretty much got there right when (practice) started. But perhaps for one or two or three guys that saw him, maybe that word started to spread, ‘Hey, this guy is, for sure, our No. 1 QB. Because he cares.’”