BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
Every time Albert Guerra Jr. steps onto the field for Edinburg Economedes, he can be sure his father is watching.
That isn’t as easy as it sounds, because the senior quarterback’s father, Alberto Guerra Sr., works on the oil rigs in Laredo.
Beto, as the senior is known, works in Laredo for two-week intervals before the sweet, sweet reprieve of coming home to his family for two weeks.
When Beto is in Laredo, he still wants to see his namesake play, because football has been the bond between the two for as long as they can remember.
Beto played tight end for Edinburg North, and he was always there to teach Albert.
“He helped me out a lot,” Albert said. “Every time I came off the field after a game, he would help me understand what I did wrong. And he would tell me how to fix it for the next game.”
Albert’s mom, Brenda Garcia, came up with the perfect solution to unite father and son on Friday nights.
“What she does is, every time we have a game, she records it on Facebook Live,” Albert said. “And that is where my dad watches it.”
Even when Beto is away, Albert can still count on a postgame call to run through all the highs and lows of that week’s game.
Albert struggled with the separation when Beto first started working in Laredo.
“It was tough when he wasn’t there,” Albert said. “Sometimes, like, I needed help, and he was not there.”
During Guerra’s sophomore and junior years, he had to fight for every snap under center, because the Jaguars also had another talented gunslinger in Roger Barrientos.
Still, Guerra’s talent could not be denied, and in 2017 he earned the lion’s share of the snaps at quarterback.
Now, 2018 is Guerra’s year.
“With Albert, the biggest progression is he is able to read the defensive coverages a lot faster,” Economedes coach Gabe Pena said. “As a senior, he has seen the schemes. He has been coached up throughout the offseason. And those two years of experience have given him valuable lessons as far as the pre-snap reads, because, yes, we are a slot-t team, but we also want to throw the ball. We feel confident that by being able to run the ball, it will open up the passing. That’s the biggest thing. We don’t want him to be Superman. We just want him to control the huddle, help us move the chains and pick up those passes when we need them.”
Last year, Guerra completed 84 of 168 passes for 1,315 yards and 10 TDs, but he also had 11 interceptions.
This year, Guerra has thrown slightly less, completing 7 of 17 passes for 71 yards through three games. But, to this point, he has yet to throw a pick — a very positive sign for the Jaguars. Guerra has also been able to run the ball more this year. He has 15 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown.
For Guerra, the biggest adjustment to varsity ball was getting used to running the signature Gabe Pena slot-t offense while also mixing in the spread.
“It did take some time for me to get comfortable with going back and forth between the slot-t and the spread,” Guerra said. “Since my first year at quarterback, I just kind of got used to it. It became like second nature for me.”
Guerra also had to learn how to find his voice in the huddle. He is a very humble kid, and he is not super aggressive away from the football field, so he had to learn how to be a leader.
“I just had to keep growing and learning,” Guerra said. “I had to find my voice and get more comfortable with being a leader. Since it is my senior year, that is something I really want to do for the team.”
Economedes is 2-1 on the young season. The offense has sputtered just a bit to start the year, as the Jaguars worked to order their depth chart with such a young team. Thankfully, the Jaguars’ defense has been lights out to start the year. That unit has allowed only one touchdown this season.
“The defense is nonstop,” Guerra said. “They find the weakness of the offense, and they just attack.”
Guerra knows he can get the offense up to speed by the district season, and he has high hopes for 2018.
“Since it is my last year, I want to do something special,” Guerra said. “We want to make the playoffs and just play good football and have fun on the field.”