By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The lack of a true offseason and a short prep time before district games begin has created a challenge for coaching staffs and players in the Rio Grande Valley.
But it’s a challenge they’re grateful to be working through just to be back in a team setting and in football mode.
The District 16-5A Division I Lopez Lobos and Pace Vikings returned to the field last week, and the District 32-6A Harlingen South Hawks began practicing Monday. They’re adjusting to the “new normal.”
“Being out here, living by the motto ‘day by day,’ is a blessing for these kids,” Lopez coach Armando Gutierrez said. “Some of these kids lost parents, lost grandparents, and they’re out here. Every day is special, but in this community specifically, it’s just a blessing to be out here. We want to make sure they experience a season, but at the same time we understand the responsibility of keeping them safe and our staff has done a great job with that.”
The Lobos will be a young squad again this season with just two seniors on the varsity roster. But Gutierrez has a lot of returners who got varsity experience as freshmen and sophomores and are ready to step up.
Sophomore Jacob Cortinas will be the quarterback after playing receiver last year, and Gutierrez is excited about the physical and football growth of Cortinas during the offseason. He’ll be leading the pack offensively, and fellow sophomore linebacker Manny Delgado will be leading the defense.
Because of their youth, the Lobos are focusing on growth as they prepare for the season. Gutierrez said the strength of the team is the players’ high football acumen, something the coaches work on improving consistently.
“We’re focusing on that growth and the little things in between,” Gutierrez said. “With our leaders being extremely young and jumping into maturity roles this quick, I mean, we’re trying to pour five months of information into them in about two weeks. … We want to get to the playoffs. It has been a while for this school. But these kids maintain a high standard.”
Coach Daniel Pardo’s Vikings have their sights set on the playoffs, too, and they have a good mix of returning starters and young talent to make them confident in their chances. Pardo said the Vikings are focusing on getting their timing right as they incorporate new pieces, but the kids are learning quickly.
“Our backfield is new, so the first day we were bumping into each other,” Pardo said. “Normally, you do all that teaching in the spring, but since we didn’t get to see them, everything’s a little slower. Mainly, it’s just getting the timing of everything is what we need to focus on.”
Senior quarterback Jose Banda is a three-year starter and will be Pace’s “main guy” on offense. Tight end Chase Morales and receiver Brandon Narvaez will be key pieces in a receiving corps that graduated some significant playmakers.
The Vikings are moving some guys into new positions on defense, but it’s an experienced bunch. Andrew Gonzalez started at linebacker as a freshman and is moving into the safety position. Pardo is expecting good production from Gonzalez and defensive back Danny Salazar.
There are some new athletes that Pardo is excited to see develop. He said Pace has some young receivers working that are “probably some of the best-looking kids we’ve had in some time.” The Vikings also added basketball players Alexander Agado and Abraham Rincon to the roster, and Pardo said they’ll be quick contributors.
Harlingen South is putting an emphasis on learning the playbook and getting into football shape. Hawks coach Brian Ricci said his players did “a great job over the spring and summer” completing the workouts sent by the coaching staff, so they’re feeling good about getting back on track.
“It’s not the same workouts they would’ve been doing with us, but they were active and you can tell. They look good,” Ricci said. “We have two weeks to get in game shape, and that’s tough to do but that’s our goal. (Our focus right now is) learning. We got to simplify things, what we do offensively and defensively. You can’t have kids thinking because you don’t have a whole lot of time, so we’re simplifying things and getting a lot of mental reps this week.”
Ricci said the Hawks have a three-man quarterback battle going on, and he’s excited about the potential with each player. He said the offensive line, led by Caleb Davis, is looking good, which is a solid start since South likes “to run the ball and be physical.” Junior running back Marcos Gonzalez, the 2019 32-6A offensive newcomer of the year, will be a top contributor.
Linebacker Levi Ince and safeties Devin Montemayor and Jeremiah Rivera will be leaders on the defense, which Ricci said he expects to be solid.
“We had a pretty successful JV team last year, and a lot of those guys are now on varsity with some really solid returners, so we’re excited,” Ricci said. “It’s definitely a different year, but it’s the same goals in terms of winning and losing. We want to win a district championship, that’s our top goal. We talk about it, and I think these guys really believe that’s in the future for them.”