GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen Memorial finished spring practices feeling like the offensive line would be a strong point. With plenty of talent and experience, the Mustangs front line was ready to pave the way for another dominant rushing attack.
Then, fall practices came, and injuries struck. Senior center Armando Garcia, the group’s leader, was lost to a broken arm. Junior right tackle Cesar Davila, then the line’s biggest player at 6-foot-3 and 325 pounds, suffered a broken leg. Suddenly, Memorial was inserting new players and sliding experienced pieces to fresh positions.
“It was tough to overcome, but we stuck together,” right guard Aaron Ramirez said. “That didn’t mean anything to us. We just kept going and kept going, and did our job along the way.”
Though communication, chemistry and intelligence are paramount in Memorial’s offensive system, Ramirez and new right tackle Noah Godinez felt like the group came together quickly.
Coach Bill Littleton was a little less forgiving, but he said he’s seen improvement, especially in the team’s two most recent games. At the midway point of the season, McAllen Memorial is 3-2 and averages a District 30-6A leading 334.8 rushing yards per game — production at least in part due to the play up front.
“We had a couple kids who got hurt, so we kind of had to revamp and start over from where we were in spring ball,” Littleton said. “But we’re getting there. We’re getting better every week.”
When Garcia went down, Memorial took a “next man up” approach, plugging in backup Marcus Robles. Filling Davila’s spot was a little more complicated. Godinez moved to right tackle from left guard, fitting the mold of having one of the team’s biggest, strongest players holding down the position. Esteban Perez stepped into the lineup at left guard. And, following the plan put in place last season, Ramirez moved from left guard to right guard for his junior year.
Left tackle Ricky Garcia and tight end Trey Earhart round out the lineup.
“There was a little bit of rebuilding to do, but that was done actually pretty quick,” Godinez said. “You always find us hanging out together, so chemistry was easy to build.”
During Memorial’s first two games, Littleton saw a unit that was blowing assignments and struggling with communication. In response, he put an added emphasis in practice on helping the players understand how to block different plays.
In Memorial’s system, the linemen have the freedom to figure out blocking techniques and assignments in real time, depending on what they see from the defense. assignment
“We tell our kids there’s not any one way to block a play,” Littleton said. “They have to do that on the fly. That’s what I think is unique about our system.”
Instead of outlining specific duties, Littleton and his staff teach basic concepts. Then, within games, the players can identify problematic matchups, talk over situations on the sideline and be better prepared when they take the field for future possessions.
Littleton said the Mustangs can run a play four or five times in a row but block differently each time.
“You have to be smart to play on the offensive line at Memorial High School,” Littleton said. “You can’t be a dummy, because they have freedom.”
With responsibilities changing from snap to snap, communication by every player on the offensive line is key. No one blocker is definitively leading the charge: Littleton said Ramirez is the most vocal player, Ramirez said the leaders are Godinez, Perez and Earhart, and Godinez said Robles and Perez are most often directing the group.
In practice, Littleton tells his coaches to keep quiet so the linemen grow comfortable talking to each other and working out their assignments.
“What I always tell the coaches is, ‘Are you going to be there on Friday night to help them block that play?’” Littleton said. “They look at me like, ‘No.’ ‘So then alright, shut up and let them talk and let them block it.’”
Even with the new pieces, Ramirez said the group quickly grew comfortable communicating. And with Garcia set to return from injury next week, the unit is expected to get even stronger.
McAllen Memorial will play its last game without him tonight, traveling to face Mission High at 7:30 while looking to continue a streak of 15 consecutive district wins. Though somewhat inexperienced and shorthanded, the offensive line is already happy with its production.
“Surprisingly, it happened pretty quickly,” Ramirez said. “We thought maybe it would have a long transition into it, but we all did really good just having new guys come in. They already knew what to do, and it was an easy transition.”