KEVN NARRO | Staff Writer
LA FERIA—Senior Wide out Darius Hernandez got one more shot to take the football field as a La Feria Lion. Hernandez, who had a strong senior year, received an invitation to play in the annual Blue-Grey All-American Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington this past weekend.
“I received a letter in the mail and I got selected to play in the game,” Hernandez said. “It was just a matter of me signing up and securing my spot. I was excited to get another opportunity to play.”
Hernandez finished his senior season with 491 receiving yards and 44 catches with four touchdowns. The senior was also a apart of a district, bi-district and area round titles, as La Feria marched their way to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season.
Hernandez went through two different combines. The first was the invitational combine, where they evaluate players’ 40-yard dash, shuttle, broad jump, bench press and stats. The players are also evaluated by their position coaches and go through 7 on 7 and individual drills.
After the invitational combine, came the Super Combine where the rosters are selected.
“The super combine is about the same thing as the first one, the competition is picked up a notch,” Hernandez said. “It was amazing meeting new people and to see their talent and just being there. I was one of the smaller guys, but that doesn’t bother me at all. Just being around those guys was a great learning experience.”
Hernandez was not the only Valley representative at the Blue-Grey game. Brownsville Hanna’s defensive back Andres Sustaeta, Sharyland High’s offensive lineman Joshua Williams and PSJA High linebacker Marcos Pedraza all represented the West team.
“Out of all the players, they picked up four to represent the Valley,” said Hernandez. “That is what we did, we went out there and represented the Valley. It didn’t matter the speed or size we went out there and played Rio Grande Valley football.”
While Hernandez is not a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, the idea of playing in an NFL stadium was something Hernandez will cherish.
“When I got on the field, I was blown away on how beautiful the stadium was,” Hernandez said. “I thought about it, guys like Ezekiel Elliot and Dak Prescott play on this field that is something special.”
Hernandez isn’t the first Lion to take part in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl. Last year, senior Julian Trevino took the field along with Rio Hondo’s Erik Pizarro.
“Julian reached out to me and just told me to not hold anything back, to just go out there and have fun and enjoy the moment.” Hernandez said.