GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
When PSJA Memorial coach Gus Cavazos was looking for something to put his offense over the top four years ago, he turned to his longtime friend Jorge Peña.
With a senior team and Peña complimenting a strong staff, Cavazos led the Wolverines to a 9-3 record during the 2010 season.
Peña would stay on the staff at Memorial up until this season, when he took over as the head coach at PSJA North. Now, Cavazos and Peña are set to square off at 7:30 Friday night at PSJA Stadium in The Monitor’s Game of the Week.
“I don’t get caught up in that stuff — I really don’t,” Cavazos said. “It’s not me playing Jorge. It’s Jorge’s kids playing my kids. We’re friends before the game, and we’ll be friends after the game.”
That friendship goes back to the mid-2000s, when Pena was coaching at Hidalgo and Cavazos was at Rio Hondo. Peña still remembers scouting for those games and being blown away by the Bobcats’ talent — part of the reason Cavazos had a 3-0 edge in their head-to-head series.
“When I saw Rio Hondo, I thought I was in the Harlingen Stadium,” Peña said. “I was taken aback a little bit at the 5A level athletes Rio Hondo had back then.”
Cavazos moved to PSJA Memorial in 2008 and brought Peña aboard as his offensive quality control coach in 2010. Peña would provide a lift wherever it was needed, be it quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers or offensive line.
After working with Peña for four years, Cavazos wasn’t surprised to see him lead a turnaround at PSJA North. The Raiders went 0-8 in district play last season but are out to a 2-0 start this year.
“He’s a good friend of mine, he’s a good football coach, and I’m really happy for his success,” Cavazos said. “He’s done a great job over there, just like I knew he would. When he applied, I sang his praises and I told people that he would get their program turned around quickly.”
Peña, who also said there were no extra emotions in the matchup, believes he benefitted from his experience with Cavazos.
“He has a good way of dealing with personnel,” Peña said. “He’s got his own unique style. I picked up some pointers.”
He also picked up an intimate knowledge of PSJA Memorial’s players and system. Peña was hesitant to call it an advantage, but Cavazos knows the familiarity will play a role on both sides.
“The fact that he’s worked with our kids for the last three or four years, he knows exactly what our strengths and weaknesses are,” Cavazos said. “I don’t think we have any secrets from each other. We know what he’s going to do, and he pretty much knows what we’re going to do.”
PSJA Memorial’s offense is going to be especially difficult to get a read on this week, as the status of quarterback Michael Gonzalez is still up in the air due to an arm injury that cost him the entire second half last week against Weslaco East.
“He’ll be a game-day decision,” Cavazos said. “We gave him a few days off, and he’s feeling better. So we’ll see if he’s ready to go in the morning.”
Peña said North has been practicing as if Gonzalez is going to play. The defense is fully healthy, and the group was hitting so hard in practice that Peña ended the day early.
“We had to put a stop to it, because the scout teamers were getting laid out,” Peña said. “It’s one of those deals where, we’re ready.”