By MARK MOLINA | The Brownsville Herald
When Hanna Golden Eagles running back Cesar Mancias comes up against a defender, he has the ability to either run through them or make them miss.
There also is a third option — which he prefers.
“My style of running used to be real downhill,” said the senior runner. “Now, it’s more of an elusive type of thing. But I’ll be honest with you; my favorite thing to do is to jump over people.”
It’s something head coach Mark Guess has asked him to avoid doing, but it’s an instinct at this point and not necessarily a bad one.
“He’s very coachable except for the whole jumping thing,” Guess said with a smile. “If he’d quit jumping over people that would make me a lot happier. It’s one of those things that you can tell him 1,000 times and he doesn’t mean to do it. It’s just the competitor in him and it’s just a reaction that he has and I’ve come to learn that about him.”
The competitive streak in Mancias is just one of the things Guess likes about him and is one of the reasons the running back has been a cornerstone for Hanna football over the past three seasons.
It wasn’t always that way as the Hanna rusher played in a reduced roll as a sophomore, recording 287 yards.
Mancias said that was a big part of his development.
“As a player, I’ve grown a lot,” he said. “Starting with my sophomore year I tried to prove myself to the coaches and show that I deserve a starting spot and that I can become a valuable asset to the team. One thing I go by is don’t do anything half-hearted. I just put my heart into it and if you give 100 percent, you’ll have a good outcome.”
The outcome was good as Mancias rushed for 1,172 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior to help Hanna return to the postseason for the first time since 2009. In four games this season, he has rushed for 474 yards and four scores and has piled up 1,933 yards in his career thus far.
Mancias’ success has everything to do with his work ethic, which Guess says is something special and rare.
“(Mancias) is probably the hardest working kid I’ve ever coached in my 25 years (in coaching), without a doubt,” the Hanna coach said. “It’s not only the time he put in here, but the time he puts in away from here. It’s incredible the number of camps he went to this summer and the amount of the time he spends at the gym away from school. He’s just one of those hard-working guys.”
Mancias proved to be a workhorse last season and appears to be just as potent a runner this season, though that doesn’t need to be the case with this year’s team full of weapons.
“Certainly having receivers like Miguel Payan, Ernest Mendoza, Aaron Frausto and not mention Victor Campos as the quarterback makes us so balanced now,” Guess said. “It really frees up that running back. That takes pressure off of Cesar and it should as we head for this district season and we’re hoping for the best.”
Having help around him also is something the senior back appreciates in the long run and knows it’s best for the team, which he believes has the tools to make his final season one to remember.
“Everyone really helps each other and having Victor on the field is great,” Mancias said. “It takes off the load and makes people respect the passing game and opens a lot for me. Also having our other back Aaron Frausto run the ball helps me a lot since it’s not 100 percent on me. The talent is distributed across the team and everything fits perfect.”
Guess said that Mancias’ ultimate goal is to work hard enough to be a Division I player and have a crack at the pros.
“His goal is to play DI football and get to the NFL,” Guess said. “He’s not going to let anyone tell him he can’t and he’s going to do the best he can to try and get there.”
Macias hopes this season is his first step towards that.
“I’m just really hoping for a scholarship and I put that in God,” he said. “I really hope he grants me with a scholarship. That’s always been my goal since I was in fourth grade. It’s something I really believe I’ve worked hard enough to earn. I’m trying to get there by having the best season possible and open up some eyes.”