BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
EDCOUCH — Edcouch-Elsa sophomore Jared de los Santos’ world has revolved around football. Jared’s dad, Juan, was a former Mercedes fullback, and Jared’s older brother, also named Juan, started playing, as well. It was only a matter of time before Jared would find himself running out on a field.
That time came at the age of 7, when Jared joined the Weslaco Youth Football League.
“I started watching college football — then the NFL — and I started liking it,” de los Santos said. “I started playing, and I wasn’t good at first. But my dad would work with me and helped me get better.”
Unlike most young players, de los Santos didn’t go through a stage of trying out different positions on the field to see what fit best.
“I always played running back,” de los Santos said. “I liked the feeling of getting the ball, fighting for as many yards as I can and scoring half the time.”
“Half the time” is no hyperbole, either. De los Santos doesn’t remember how many runs he took to the house, but it was enough to get coach Joe Marichalar’s attention when Jared started his making his way through Edcouch-Elsa’s farm system.
“I’ve heard about Jared for a while, because this kid was a stud growing up. He was the guy,” Marichalar said. “When he was in junior high, we heard more and more about him. I’ve seen a lot of kids, but Jared is mature beyond most of the kids that he’s been around.”
Jared’s dad, Juan, has taken it upon himself to take Jared up to camps across the state to familiarize him with the speed and competition level in cities like Houston and San Antonio.
“He’s one step ahead of everybody, even though he’s a sophomore and he’s on the varsity (team for the first time),” Marichalar said. “Jared blends in right away, because he’s been so used to it for so long as a youngster.”
Hype is only hype if high expectations aren’t met. When de los Santos and the rest of the Yellow Jackets suited for their season opener last week against then-No. 6 ranked Los Fresnos, the expectations were met.
De los Santos ran the ball six times for 55 yards and a touchdown while also catching a pass from quarterback Albert Trevino and taking it 75 yards in the Yellow Jackets’ win over the Falcons.
“The returners on offense — the linemen and Albert (the quarterback) — really wanted to beat Los Fresnos, because they lost to them last year,” de los Santos said. “I was kind of scared we were going to lose, but I couldn’t doubt my team. We had to believe in each other. We had to believe that we were going to pull through.”
Edcouch-Elsa (1-0), the new No. 9 in the latest RGVSports.com top 10 poll, will face another test on a short week tonight as the Yellow Jackets travel to face the fifth-ranked Edinburg Vela SaberCats (1-0) in Edinburg. The matchup is The Monitor’s Game of the Week.
“We wanted to utilize our days wisely with the short week,” Marichalar said. “Our coaching staff did an outstanding job of putting our game plan together and putting our plan in action. Vela’s a tough team, but we need to worry about us and focus on fixing our problems. Now we need to put that on display. Again.”