BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — Donna High began last season with two quarterbacks: Hector Guerrero, the starter, and Ryan Espinoza, Guerrero’s varsity backup. By the time Donna reached halftime of its Oct. 6 game against Edcouch-Elsa, both signal-callers were gone for the year. Espinoza broke his foot during a preseason scrimmage, and Guerrero tore an ACL on Donna’s lone touchdown-scoring play against the Yellow Jackets.
“Injuries are a part of football, obviously,” Donna High coach Ramiro Leal said. “It also hurts your team’s chance for continuity. If we’re going into each game, week in and week out, with different starters, you aren’t able to develop the kind of continuity that you want.”
Leal was forced to go with Alex Sanchez, who entered the year as Donna’s JV starting quarterback.
“We had to simplify a lot more for Alex than the other two quarterbacks,” Leal said. “The last thing you want is to give Hector’s full responsibilities to a player who hasn’t been a two-year starter like he was. I’m sure Alex was already nervous enough as it was, but we did what we had to do to give him the best chance to succeed.”
Sanchez threw for 354 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions as he went 2-3 as Donna’s starting quarterback.
“Going out there was kind of scary,” Sanchez said. “The coaches told me to relax and to perform as if the game was a practice.”
Sanchez’s two wins as a starter came in back-to-back weeks, propelling Donna High back to the .500 mark and an outside shot at making the playoffs.
“There was a particular moment against Donna North last year when we had a broken play. I scrambled out to my left, found a receiver down the field and threw it to him for a touchdown,” Sanchez said. “Before getting the varsity job, I was real quiet and timid. After I got into that role, I was communicating and playing better. That time showed me how to be a good leader and speak up a little more.”
Sanchez, too, was bitten by the injury bug this spring.
“I suffered a setback when I broke my collarbone while doing some drills around late March,” Sanchez said. “I’ve spent the entire summer healing up and getting my head back in football mode. I didn’t start throwing the ball around a little bit until May or June. I hadn’t experienced any injury like that before. It was hard going through rehab, but my collarbone is fine now. I’m cleared to play.”
“We’re easing Alex back into things, but we do plan to open some things up for him in the passing game,” Leal said. “We’re picking up where we last left off last year and building from there. Barring any more injuries, we should be OK.”
Sanchez, a junior, is the projected starter for the team’s Aug. 31 opener versus crosstown rival Donna North. Espinoza, a senior, will be his backup.
CORE VALUES
Injuries were hardly a quarterback-only phenomenon for Donna’s football roster. Wide receiver Daniel Niño dealt with more than one serious injury.
“I tore a part of my meniscus in my right knee in the preseason, but I decided to play with it,” Niño said. “It was bothering me at first. A week after I got my CAT scan, the doctor told me that’s why I was hurting. They told me I could either get surgery and miss the season, or play with it. I decided to keep playing with it.”
Niño kept playing and caught a team-high five touchdowns in the process. During Donna’s Nov. 3 game against Brownsville Pace, Niño broke his right foot in three places, ending his season.
“When I broke my foot, I felt it was time to get surgery on my meniscus, as well,” Niño said. “I was honestly a little scared to come back. The foot is a big part of playing receiver, because you have to worry about planting and pushing off of it. But I had to get over it for the sake of my teammates.”
Niño will play on the other side of fellow senior wideout Eddie Villarreal, who led the team in receptions last season.
“I want to leave my mark here and get as many touches as I can,” Villarreal said. “Every time I touch the ball, I’m going to be thinking end zone. Doesn’t matter if I see one guy or two guys in front of me trying to get there.”
“I met Eddie when we were in middle school. He was on the A team and I was on the B team,” Niño said. “I wasn’t even starting then, but I wanted to play just like him. Now that we’re on the same team, he’s been a great teammate to me.”
Sanchez forged plenty of continuity with Niño and Villarreal last season.
“They’re really good receivers,” Sanchez said. “It’s great knowing I can trust them both. I’m sure they can beat any corner in the Valley.”
RIGHT ON THE LINE
When Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine released its preseason rankings for the brand-new District 16-5A Division I earlier this summer, at least one Donna defensive player took exception.
“I saw where they ranked us, and I felt disrespected,” Donna High senior defensive lineman Isaac Rangel said. “You could go by the numbers we had last year, but you never know how the future is going to end up. If you know what the future’s going to look like, go and buy a lottery ticket.”
The magazine picked Donna High to finish fifth in the 10-team district. Despite its setbacks last season, Donna won more games than the previous year (four) and managed to remain in the hunt for the final playoff spot in November.
“I believe anything’s possible,” Rangel said. “We have a lot of people coming back. Our D-line is locked and loaded. We’re not the biggest or the strongest, but we’re ready for anybody.
“They don’t really think that we’re competitors. They put us just out of the playoffs. I say, ‘Forget that.’ We are going to make the playoffs. Just watch.”
DONNA HIGH’S KEYS TO THE SEASON
Donna needs to stay healthy at playmaking positions like quarterback, wide receiver and linebacker. If they can, making the playoffs won’t be out of the question. Alex Sanchez’s rapport with his wide receivers should be much improved.
2017 record: 4-6
Returning starters (O/D): 5/7
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Ramiro Leal
Year at school: 6th
Record: 28-24