GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Jose Barrera, McAllen Rowe’s second-leading tackler last season, describes himself as an impact hitter. He said he enjoys playing aggressive, jumping in the dog pile on every play.
This season, with a new coach in Bobby Flores and an updated defensive philosophy, Barrera will be able to do even more of what he loves. As the Warriors go through spring practices this month, Barrera and his teammates are tweaking their style of play on both sides of the ball as the team looks to bounce back after missing the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.
“We’re implementing this new thing where we’re attacking instead of falling back so much and just waiting,” Barrera said. “We’re playing more aggressive and just working on our coverages, better than we did last year.”
Defense was a major weakness last season for McAllen Rowe. The team ranked last in District 30-6A, yielding 37 points per game. The Warriors’ 411.1 yards per game allowed were better than only McAllen High.
Flores is attacking the problem by bringing in a new defensive coordinator in Oscar Torres and taking on a multiple approach favoring a 3-4 alignment. Looking back on last season, the biggest issue Flores saw was a lack of team unity.
“We have to work a lot on being sound and reacting, instead of maybe you’re just sending somebody or maybe you’re just blitzing. It’s being sound fundamentally,” Flores said. “It’s flying to the football. Defensively, you have to have guys who aren’t afraid to attack the football and are more aggressive.”
Rowe has the benefit of returning many of its top defensive players from last season, including Barrera, leading tackler Frank Delgado at linebacker and Richard Sanders at safety.
The Warriors also hope to get a full season from more of their starters after suffering a litany of injuries last year. Rowe was without at least four starters for multiple games. Barrera missed three contests to injury, and outside linebacker Roman Villarreal sat out the season’s final five games with a torn ligament in his foot.
“It was pretty tough,” Villarreal said. “There were some games I felt like I could’ve done a job someone else couldn’t, but you can’t do much about it. All you can do is keep your head high and cheer on your teammates.”
Flores said the injuries had a major impact on the defense, and Barrera saw them suck away the unit’s energy.
Flores is working to combat any potential issues by cross training many of Rowe’s top athletes. He’s also run a more strict camp in his first season as the Warriors’ head coach. Barrera said the players were made to run laps on the track surrounding the field when they came out sluggish for the fifth period of one of last week’s practices.
“We’ve never had a really, really strict coach, and he’s on us all the time,” Barrera said. “He really emphasizes discipline.”
Barrera added that punishments for players have stepped up for everything from being late to not having their helmets on. Even the assistants have been more strict this year, he said.
Quarterback Jesus Sanchez has noticed the change, too. He said some players obviously don’t enjoy the added discipline, but added that he thinks its best for the team. Villarreal said the coaches no longer accept any excuses.
“If you don’t show up to practice, you won’t play, and they’re actually serious about it,” Villarreal said. “They’re going to put in the guys who want to work.”
NEW-LOOK OFFENSE
Flores is looking to ditch the air-raid attack Rowe used last season in favor of a spread, one-back set with plenty of motion across the formation. He brought offensive coordinator Shaun Tarantola over from Mission High in hopes of building a better running attack, but he admits the offensive line will need to improve for the unit to be effective.
Sanchez said the biggest issues have been small mistakes like dropped passes or wrong routes, but that the team makes improvement each day by watching practice on film. Overall, the goal is for the offense to operate at a higher tempo.
“That gives the defense pressure, and they get tired quicker,” offensive lineman Alan Hernandez said. “That makes it easier for us to run the ball.”
MAKING THE LEAP
Sanchez has had a busy spring trying to learn the new scheme and faster tempo. As a sophomore last season, Sanchez split time at the quarterback position, completing 73 of 110 pass attempts for 948 yards and 9 touchdowns against 4 interceptions. Since the end of the year, his focus has been on learning the game and adding arm strength either through the weight room or with extra throwing.
“The absolute hardest part has to be learning everything at once,” Sanchez said. “Everything is thrown at you, and you have to expect what to do. Especially at my position, you have to know what he’s doing, what he’s running, what he’s blocking. But so far, we’re picking it up really good.”
McALLEN ROWE
Returning starters (O/D): 4/7
Key Players: QB Jesus Sanchez, DB Jose Barrera, LB Frank Delgado, DB Richard Sanders, RB Raudel Garcia, RB Hector Ramirez,
Biggest Question: Will Bobby Flores be the coach to put Rowe back into the playoffs for the first time since 2012?
2015 Record: 3-6, 2-4