NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Lalo Bosquez is used to smashing into the offensive line and trying to bring down rushers and quarterbacks for McAllen Rowe.
This spring, however, Bosquez is using his physicality in the polar opposite way, trying to gain yards instead of preventing them. The senior-to-be is taking reps at running back, where he’ll hope to use his size to replace all-district running back Raudel Garcia.
Bosquez is working with both offensive and defensive groups during spring practice at Rowe.
“Right now, it’s just a project that I’m trying to work at,” Bosquez said. “I’m trying to help the team out. It’s a different environment — trying to move away from all the hits — and you have tough guys on the defensive side.”
The Warriors will say goodbye to a trio of skill players who accounted for the bulk of the green and gold’s yardage last season. Raudel Garcia, Adrian Bernal and Jesus Sanchez combined for 2,887 yards of total offense in 2017. Quarterback Jonas Ortiz led the team in total yards (2,021) and was the only non-senior to rank in the top four.
Bosquez fits the mold of District 30-6A running backs. He is strong, bruising and ready to meet the opposition head-on.
“I don’t shy away from tackles. I like contact,” Bosquez said. “I like it a lot. Especially on the defense. Coach (Oscar) Torres is a real big help. He teaches us how to be strong. There’s not really a person out there that I’m scared of. I feel like they brought me on offense to show that.”
New leadership will be important when Rowe hosts Weslaco High on Aug. 30 to kick off the 2018 campaign.
One notable returner is under center. Jonas Ortiz will be a junior next season, and his sophomore season took an unexpected turn as he started at quarterback for most of the year.
Ortiz took over full time in the third game of the year after senior Jesus Sanchez went down with an upper-body injury that didn’t heal until late in the season.
“He wasn’t scared. He stepped in he played his part,” Bosquez said. “That brings a lot of courage to the young guys to see that. From where he started, no one really gave him a chance until he stepped it up. He’s doing a really good job — baseball and football. He’s an all-star, man.”
Ortiz started for the playoff qualifying baseball team, was part of Rowe’s District 30-6A champion 400-meter relay and finished third in the district 100-meter dash.
Rowe coach Bobby Flores says on top of all those skills, one of the most important factors to Ortiz’s success is being the son of a coach and never being satisfied.
“We’re going to bank on our experience at quarterback obviously No. 1, and our two-way starters, which is Noe Ramirez and Angel Rodriguez,” Flores said. “They were a big impact for us on special teams, and we expect them to do that again next year.”
Both players were part of the passing game that worked efficiently to the tune of 2,714 yards last year. Of course, the passing total also includes the often-utilized jet sweep, which uses the wideouts as runners via a forward pass behind the line of scrimmage.
Ramirez and Rodriguez combined for 988 receiving yards, and fellow returner Ruben Saenz had 114 in four games.
“I just get better day by day. I like to play a lot,” Rodriguez said. “When I’m in there, I play my hardest. I do my hardest, and puro heart.”
POSITION SWITCHES DON’T FAZE D
Bosquez moving from the D-line to running back isn’t the only personnel move the Warriors are making.
“We moved Ethan Ruiz. He was a cornerback for us last year. We moved him to linebacker — outside linebacker,” Flores said.
Young defenders will be all over of the field for Rowe. Middle linebacker Josiah Alonzo, who is a part of the 2020 graduating class that seems to be quick to produce varsity talent, will return after being an important player before his injury as a sophomore.
Bosquez said he feels his line is in good shape to answer Flores’s calls for a better run defense as he shifts his focus to the offense.
“My coach said my sophomore year when I played varsity, ‘We’re a small team, but we have a lot of heart,’” Bosquez said. “We play with a lot of strength. We stop people at the goal line. We don’t shy away from hits. Big guys — we don’t care. We play with a lot of anger — mean green.”
O-LINE READY TO TAKE SHAPE
Not only will Rowe have to replace a lot of skill players on offense, but the team will also need to steady up in the trenches. Jose Quintero, Arnold De La Rosa and Jose Moreno all graduate from last year’s team.
“Offensive line is an area that we need to focus on. That’s what we’re working on in the spring,” Flores said. “Coming back, we just have our all-district first-team’s Rodrigo Davila. There’s a lot of new faces out there. Aalok Zimmerman was the one who got some experience, as well, last year.”
The Warriors had the second-best offense in the district last season, but this year’s District 30-6A will include newcomer PSJA High, which had an excellent offense last year as the runner-up in District 31-6A.
Rowe will play a shorter non-district schedule and get to the 30-6A action quicker compared to the schedule of four non-district games and six district contests they’ve faced for the past two seasons. Rowe and McHi meet before September ends, on Sept. 28.
Returning starters (O/D) 3/4
Returning lettermen: 16
Key players: QB Jonas Ortiz, RB Lalo Bosquez, WR/DB Noe Ramirez, WR/DB Angel Rodriguez, T Rodrigo Davila, RB Alex Anzaldua
Coach: Bobby Flores, 3rd season
2017 Record: 7-4