BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
A season after an injury to starting quarterback Andrew Puente dealt a major blow to La Joya Palmview’s offense, coach Margarito Requenez is determined to keep it from happening again.
Puente and fellow junior Jonathan Zieske will split snaps during non-district games with the intention of giving the Lobos two experienced options to choose from during the district season.
“I’m not going to be stuck in a situation like I was last year,” Requenez said. “This year, I’m going to make sure they both get plenty of time during these non-district games to make sure that either one is ready to go and step up once district comes along.”
Until then, Zieske and Puente will be in competition. Puente was the starter last season, completing 21 of 45 passes for 301 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also carried 80 times for 240 yards and a score.
After Puente went down with an ankle injury during the team’s third drive against McAllen Rowe, Palmview picked up just 11 passing yards the rest of the game.
Zieske started to get some playing time down the stretch and completed 7 of 10 passes for 73 yards, a touchdown and an interception on the year.
Requenez is looking to see which player can make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Whoever loses the quarterback competition will become the team’s slot receiver.
“It’s a battle,” Requenez said. “Once district comes along, I’m sticking with one, and I’m going to go with one.”
NUMBERS GAME
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln went through its first padded practice of the fall with just 56 players between varsity and JV. Two days before the season opener against PSJA Memorial, that number was up to 73.
With classes starting at Juarez-Lincoln on Monday, the players who were working out of town or otherwise unavailable for practice are back in the fold. One of those is starting running back Freddy Martinez.
“They’re coming in slowly,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Tommy Garcia said. “Kids from our area, they wait until the last minute to come out, and a lot of them are barely getting their physicals. … Things are looking up.”
The boost in numbers has allowed the coaches to work on offense and defense separately, with each going against a scout team. Previously, they could only do 11-on-11 drills as one group.
The change gives Garcia and the coaches more opportunity to evaluate young talent, chiefly the five sophomores on each side of the ball who started in the team’s scrimmage against Grulla.
“There were positive signs from them,” Garcia said. “A lot of mistakes, but that’s what those scrimmages are for.”
BACK IN THE TRENCHES
After missing his sophomore season with a shoulder injury suffered during two-a-days, Lorenzo Lozano is back in the fold for a mostly rebuilt La Joya High defensive line.
Lozano joins returning rotation players Sam Rodriguez, a junior nose tackle, and Anthony Peralez, a senior. Junior Jose Perez is also likely to step into a starting role.
Although coach George Espinoza has been resting some of his more prominent players to prevent a preseason injury, he said the group has been looking good during practice.
Lozano in particular has showed well after using the offseason following injury to get stronger and more agile.
“He’s actually the only one who has been in the two scrimmages,” Espinoza said. “He’s got great quickness, and he has good speed off the ball. He’s aggressive.”
With so much turnover on the line, Espinoza said during the early stages of practice that he was considering sliding pieces over from the offensive line. Although players have practiced both ways, Espinoza has yet to make any moves during scrimmages.
“That’s something later on down the road, if we need to, we’ll be able to bring some of those over,” Espinoza said.
La Joya’s biggest preseason focus has been limiting mistakes on the offensive side as the unit transitions to going under center more often. Espinoza said the second scrimmage went better than the first, and that the group is ready for the season opener Friday on the road against Roma.