NATHANIEL MATA AND NATE KOTISSO | RGVSports.com
This time last year, McAllen Rowe was heading to the state 7-on-7 tournament with plenty of experienced players. Many of those standouts graduated just a few weeks ago.
The journey was special for the Warriors team that was led by 2018 graduates including Adrian Bernal, Raudel Garcia and Jesus Sanchez. But they did owe some credit to a young, talented supporting cast. Many of those underclassmen return with experience not just in 7-on-7, but also on the fall gridiron, where sophomores and juniors needed to fill in due to injuries on both sides of the ball.
This time around, the road wasn’t as easy. Rowe failed to qualify at the Sharyland High state qualifying tournament but made the trip to Corpus Christi to qualify through that area’s SQT with a 25-20 win over Tuloso-Midway.
With a mix of returners, newcomers, underclassmen and seniors, the Warriors are eager to make this weekend’s return to College Station even better than year’s trip.
Returning receiver Ruben Saenz admitted getting ousted in the Valley qualifying competition made the group hungrier.
“It was challenging. We had to face a couple of tough teams in the pool that we had,” Saenz said. “They gave us some good competition, but we also held our ground against them. The loss that we had at Sharyland was tough, but it brought us closer as a team, and we grew as brothers.”
In 7-on-7 play last summer, Jonas Ortiz caught passes for soon-to-be senior quarterback Jesus Sanchez. During the UIL football season, Ortiz eventually took over the starting quarterback job due to injury, leading Rowe to the postseason.
As a sophomore last year, Ortiz played at the varsity level and advanced to the postseason in three sports.
“Last year was a big learning experience, and I’m not going to change too much up from what I did last year, my leadership roles,” Ortiz said. “I’m going to continue to keep everything the same and be a big part of the team and make plays.”
Fellow class of 2020 teammate Josiah Alonzo said that the growth during the calendar year makes his group even better.
“I think that our team is strong,” Alonzo said. “We were young last year. This year, we’re stronger. We’re older. We have a lot of leaders on our team. We’re just building our confidence and winning in everything we can do.”
The Warriors went undefeated in the McAllen 7-on-7 league. Alonzo talked about being a newcomer last year and stepping up into a leadership role a summer later.
“For me, last year, one thing the seniors helped was bonding with us, and that’s what we do with the young guys, the young bucks,” Alonzo said. “We bond with them so they can try to fit in with us.”
One of those youngsters is incoming sophomore Adam Alvarado, who is new to the varsity 7-on-7 squad.
“It’s a great experience to play with these guys. I’m learning a lot from them each and every day, and I’m going to continue to learn from them this upcoming fall,” Alvarado said before talking about how tough competition will help next year in pads. “It’s going to be a great experience. A lot of great talent up here. Something that I’m going to learn and take with me.”
Jorge Peña played on last year’s team and spoke highly of the opportunity.
“It was fun. It’s a great experience for anybody making it up here,” Peña said. “It’s good for the team. We bond. It’s a great confidence builder. As a Valley team, people don’t really expect a lot. It’s great to show up for the Valley. Show people that we have a right to be here and compete.”
McAllen Rowe is in Pool M with Kaufman, Clear Brook and Vista Ridge.
RIVALS EDCOUCH-ELSA, MERCEDES BOTH SET FOR STATE
On June 9, Edcouch-Elsa lost to Mercedes at a 7-on-7 state qualifying tournament championship game in Mission. The Yellow Jackets refused to let their state hopes fade and elected to compete in a tournament the following weekend in Corpus Christi.
“We told them after that (Mercedes) game that they were their own worst enemy,” Edcouch-Elsa 7-on-7 coach Johnny Maldonado said. “When we don’t play our game, we beat ourselves. We had some miscues, and we handed them the game.”
Edcouch-Elsa traveled to Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi and traversed through San Antonio O’Connor, Corpus Christi Flour Bluff and Austin LBJ to qualify for another title game. E-E met the PSJA High Bears in an all-Valley showdown with a ticket to College Station on the line.
“For the second week in a row, we had the toughest road to the championship game,” Maldonado said. “(San Antonio) O’Connor, (Corpus Christi) Flour Bluff, (Austin) LBJ — none of these teams are pushovers by any means. Going into the PSJA game, we were exhausted.”
The Yellow Jackets defense kept quarterback Trey Guajardo and the Bears offense under control enough to come away with a 40-28 win. The state 7-on-7 berth is E-E’s first since 2015.
“All it took is for these kids to come together,” Maldonado said. “They are a band of brothers. They have been playing football since they were in elementary school. It was all about playing with strong mental toughness even though they were exhausted.”
Edcouch-Elsa will compete in Pool O this afternoon. The Yellow Jackets are set to face Houston Heights (2 p.m.), Little Elm (4 p.m.) and Austin Westlake (6 p.m.) without running back Jarred de los Santos for the second tournament in a row. Linebacker Christian Sanchez and wide receiver Andrew Maldonado, who both missed the Corpus Christi tournament, will be active for Friday’s games.
Mercedes will compete in Pool I against Austin Lake Travis (2 p.m.), Spring Westfield (4 p.m.) and Richard-son Pearce (6 p.m.).