By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Harlingen football program has put up points and stuffed opposing offenses with stout defense.
However, you won’t ever hear Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez giving them all the credit for their success.
Place kickers Giovanni Guillen, Jose Martinez and punter Nicolas Garcia are just as responsible for Harlingen’s success this year.
“I’m proud to be a kicker for the Cardinals and have these opportunities,” Hernandez said.
Garcia, Guillen and Hernandez are the next batch of what is a proud Harlingen history of kickers.
Longtime NFL punter Leo Araguz wore the bird on his helmet, as did Ignacio “Nacho” Sauceda, who played college football for the Houston Cougars in the mid 90’s.
As far as place kickers go, Guillen and Hernandez look up to players such as current wide receivers coach Johnny Guillen, who was a three-year All-Valley kicker, as well as Aaron and Samuel Bazan.
Guillen wears No. 85 in honor of them.
Samuel Bazan wore the number to honor his late older brother Aaron, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2007.
“We’ve been blessed with some really good kickers and these guys are filling in the shoes of some very good kickers.” said assistant head coach Bobby Lucio. “Theses guys have the potential to be just like those others and they are doing a great job,”
For Gomez and the Cardinals, the kicking game is important because of how fundamentally rewarding it can be throughout a game.
“It’s all about field position and when you have defensive-minded coaches like (Harlingen South head coach) Lanny Wilson and I, we want a good punter and we want to be able to score points all the time,” Gomez said. “We don’t want to come out and have to outscore everyone; we want to make sure everyone we play earns the opportunity to score on our defense.
“We have a great group of kids who do a good job for us.”
While the trio of kickers do a good job, it’s not an easy one by any means.
Garcia, for example, admits that awaiting a long snap is tough.
“I know that I can’t do my job if it wasn’t for my line, gunners and blockers,” Garcia said. “My personal blocker Kenneth Reininger provides my last line of help and I get perfect snaps from Christian Herrera.
“There is some pressure, but the countless hours of work take that pressure off.”
Guillen and Martinez, on the other hand, are focused on precision and timing.
“We can practice and give it our all, but in the end, it’s on our holder,” said Guillen, who specializes in extra points and shorter field goals. “Without them, we can’t do anything at all; it’s all timed.”
At this point, Martinez and Guillen have developed a bond between snapper and holder.
It’s become automatic.
“I have a lot of faith in (long snapper Victor Ochoa),” Hernandez said. “When it’s time to kick, I know it’s going to be ready because (Ochoa) does a good job at putting it down for me.”
In potential game-winning opportunities, Guillen and Hernandez don’t shy away, either.
In fact, they want those chances and will always be ready.
“We are constantly warming up in the net on the sidelines,” Hernandez said. “Against San Benito, I missed a long kick, but I was proud to have that opportunity and hope to have it again.”