By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LA FERIA — The La Feria Lions consider themselves contenders for the District 16-4A Division I title year in and year out, and even with a young roster this season, that standard remains.
Oscar Salinas’ squad returns just 10 lettermen from the 2020 season. All 10 got experience last year, and there’s a seasoned senior bunch leading the way for the youngsters stepping up. With two weeks and one scrimmage under their belts, Salinas is pleased with how the Lions are looking.
“So far, so good,” Salinas said. “We’ve still got a ways to go. We have a lot of young kids this year, but overall the attitude’s been great. It’ll be one of the younger teams that we’ve had in a while in La Feria. …
“We have a good senior class this year, a very, very good senior class. And when you have that, you always have a good chance at success,” he added. “Not as many as we’ve had before, but they’re very hard working and very close-knit. They’re like coaches on the field for us, and that’s helped me and this staff.”
Quarterback Aaron Trevino and defensive standouts Elijah Vela, E.J. Serna and Caleb Martinez are expected to have big roles this season. They’ll lead the Lions in their pursuit of a district title, which they were picked to win by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.
“I wasn’t aware, but that they picked us is really good to know,” Salinas said. “That’s our legacy, so we’re not going to shy away from that. That’s where we need to be, and that’s the expectation we put on our kids. When we walked in here that first day, that’s what we talked about, is making sure we’re fighting for that district title.”
In order to secure the No. 1 playoff seed, Salinas wants to develop more depth on the roster. His starters are in place, but the focus now is on building the bench. La Feria’s numbers are a bit lower than usual, as is the case at many Rio Grande Valley schools, but it still has good participation and Salinas expects more athletes to show up once school starts Monday.
The players that are present are “ahead of the curve” thanks to a strong offseason. La Feria will host Edcouch-Elsa at 7 p.m. today in the final tuneup before the first game of the season, and the Lions will use the scrimmage to test some young talent and get ready for Week 1.
“We’ve always been a really big depth team, next-man-up philosophy. Right now, we feel we have 22 solid starters, but after that, there’s a little bit of a dropoff because of the lack of experience. They’re very talented kids, they just need the game experience,” Salinas said. “We’re going to play more kids in this scrimmage to see some of these young kids, and put them in important situations and see if they can handle Friday night lights.”