BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
Before the season began, Donna High (4-4, 2-3) coach Ramiro Leal mapped out his depth chart at quarterback thusly: returning senior Hector Guerrero as the starter, junior Ryan Espinoza serving as Guerrero’s backup and sophomore Alex Sanchez as Donna’s third-string varsity quarterback.
“We had Alex playing slot receiver and a little bit of defensive back at the beginning of the year,” Leal said.
Injuries threw a monkey wrench into Leal’s plan before Donna had a chance to scrimmage. The backup Espinoza suffered a broken foot and was lost for the year, moving Sanchez up to second-string quarterback. During Donna’s Oct. 6 loss at Edcouch-Elsa, Guerrero suffered a torn ACL while scoring Donna’s lone touchdown of the game, elevating Sanchez to varsity starter.
“Hector (Guerrero) went down, and now our third-string’s our starter,” Leal said. “We always carried him (on the varsity roster) for insurance. We figured he’d be the JV starting quarterback, but we had to keep him on due to a lack of depth. Now he’s going to end up starting five games this year.”
Donna is 2-1 since Sanchez took over the reins of the offense, including back-to-back wins over Brownsville Porter and rival Donna North. Since becoming the starter, Sanchez has completed 15 of 27 passes for 272 yards, four passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and two interceptions.
“For a sophomore, Alex is doing a pretty good job,” Leal said. “He’s putting us in good positions offensively. He’s showing pretty good poise and character for a sophomore. He’s going to keep on getting better.”