BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
Joe Mancha spent the hot summer days in Hidalgo picking cotton on his father’s farm, or attending to the crops or animals.
With eight children in the family, all the work on the farm was always done. In fact, the kids were so useful on the family’s 200-acre plot that the workers on the farm used to tease the children, saying, “You work harder than we do.”
That workmanlike attitude followed Mancha, born in March 1932, onto the football field, where he made his mark.
At the time, Hidalgo didn’t have a high school, so Mancha was sent to McAllen High.
McAllen High was about 12 miles from the family farm, and Mancha would walk those 12 miles home every day after football or track practice.
“You should have seen how muscled his legs were with all that walking,” Joe’s youngest brother, Nick Mancha, said. “That is why he was so hard to block.”
Mancha’s commitment to the football team allowed him to become one of the most dominant players in the state.
Joe Mancha is one of nine inductees who will be honored at the 31st annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame ceremony tonight at the Pharr Events Center. The event begins with an informal reception for the inductees at 4 p.m., followed by a catered meal at 5 p.m. and the program at 6 p.m.
Mancha was a lineman, and in that time, that meant he played on the offensive and defensive lines.
On defense, Mancha was so feared that Nick Mancha said he was double-teamed on almost every play.
On offense, Joe Mancha was just as effective, if not more. In 1952, he cleared the way for McHi’s dominant ground game, which posted 353 rushing yards per game.
He was selected to the all-district first team three times and was named to the all-state team in both his junior and senior years.
The Bulldogs had successful postseasons during his junior and senior years. In 1952, his junior year, the Bulldogs won 11 straight games and advanced to the state semifinals. At the time, they were ranked No. 5 in the state of Texas.
“He was always double-teamed,” Nick said. “They did that because it was just too difficult to stop him or bring him down.”
Joe also competed in boxing and shot put.
He earned a full scholarship to Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, where he spent his first two years in college. During Joe’s second full college season, he sustained a back injury that required surgery, ending his playing career. The injury took its toll on him physically, but he never once thought of giving up.
Mancha was the first member of the family to pursue higher education, and it meant a lot to him to earn his degree in spite of the setback.
Mancha’s recovery and will to succeed in the face of opposition allowed him to lead a successful life after football. He moved to Illinois, where much of the Mancha family ended up, and he started working for General Motors.
He raised four children — Regina, Lourdes, Rachel and Jose Luis. Joe passed away on Oct. 15, 2016.
Joe Mancha was a quiet man, always humble, but he did have a playful side, as well.
One of his favorite practical jokes came about when he was asked to drive his grandmother to San Juan for her weekly grocery trip.
Joe gradually increased the speed of the vehicle while distracting his grandmother with conversation. As they approached the slant of the flood levees, the terrain on the other side disappeared from view.
“On the other side was a sharp drop,” Nick said. “The drop would catch them unaware, and my grandmother was one to cuss. At first, her reaction was of anger, but once she was over the shock, they would all laugh about it.”