MISSION — Few high school football standouts have taken a longer, more arduous road to the college football ranks than Horacio “Tito” Moronta.
Moronta — a three-year starter in the backfield for Mission High — built himself into one of the Rio Grande Valley’s most versatile and formidable running backs before a devastating injury cut his senior season and high school career short in 2019.
Now after months of training and rehabilitation filled with uncertainty, Moronta’s persistence both on and away from the gridiron has finally paid off as the former Mission High star prepares to embark on the next chapter of his football saga at the New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college in Roswell, New Mexico.
“My uncle, Tony Gonzalez, really helped me a lot throughout the recruiting process. He helped me get in contact with and reach out to a lot of different schools,” Moronta said. “(NMMI) was one of the schools that reached out back. We did some research and thought it would be the right fit for me, not only because they would help me improve as a football player, but also to make me a better person overall.”
Moronta — who made the 760-mile, 11-hour trek from the RGV to his new home in the New Mexico desert this weekend — has traversed a bumpy path to turn his college football dreams into reality.
After losing his father, who unexpectedly passed away when he was in third grade, Moronta found refuge on the football field where he dedicated himself to honing his new craft.
After starting out at McAllen Rowe, he transferred to Mission High in the spring of his freshman year. His arrival coincided with then-incoming Mission High head football coach Koy Detmer, which was when and where Moronta found his place within the Eagles football program.
“It was a good experience. I started at the bottom of the roster, but Coach (Detmer) told me going in that if I put in the work, I could earn that top spot and that was my mission,” Moronta said. “I was always trying to be the first one to workouts. I just tried to work my way up and get better and improve as a player and teammate. Being at Mission over the years, Coach Detmer really helped me out.
“Especially at Mission, you could tell with the environment that everybody was really comfortable with each other. The whole team really knew each other well and I think that’s what helped us become a better team as well. It was a real family environment and we would all push each other. We’d get after each other.”
Moronta quickly gelled in Mission’s intricate offensive system under Detmer and exemplified the type of versatility needed to thrive in the Eagles’ complex, balanced approach.
“Tito is just a great kid. We talk a lot with the kids here about how we want (them) to be great players, work hard and do all those things,” Detmer said. “But we want somebody to be able to say, ‘OK, he’s a great player, but he’s a better person.’ I feel Tito fits that to a tee. He’s a great person and he’s got a great heart.”
He buried himself in film study and committed himself to Mission’s intensive weight-room routine, quickly packing on 30 pounds of muscle to transition from a sophomore role player to one of the Rio Grande Valley’s strongest featured backs and a 1,000-yard rusher by his senior season.
“Coach (Chris) Castillo also helped me out a lot. When I first got to Mission I wasn’t the strongest, but after really grinding and sticking with their program I really got my numbers up and my strength increased a lot,” he said. “I noticed I was getting bigger and stronger and I’m thankful to the program for that.”
Moronta teamed up with then-junior back Andrew Maldonado to form one of the RGV’s most dangerous backfield tandems in 2019 during his senior season.
His development as a player mirrored Mission High’s transformation as a program during his tenure, as the Eagles moved from a middling team in his sophomore season to a heavyweight district-title contender by the time his senior season arrived.
Moronta was on pace to finish his high school career as one of the Valley’s top rushers thanks to a hot start to the season, before an untimely injury during the Eagles’ biggest game of the season against McAllen Memorial put everything in doubt.
The Eagles’ senior back tried to re-enter the game with his team on the verge of a monumental upset against the Valley’s top-ranked team, but couldn’t put weight on his injured foot and watched his team complete a 98-yard game-winning drive to seal a huge comeback victory.
“That night I started off slow but I was gradually getting more comfortable throughout the game. We were sticking in there and then I got hurt in the third quarter,” Moronta said. “I wasn’t able to finish the game, but the rest of the team did an amazing job stepping up. We all played well together, regrouped and our coaches made sure we kept our hearts in it despite me being out.
“I was a little sad to be on the sideline, but I was so happy for the team and to see them go and get that (30-6A) district title.”
Never deterred, however, Moronta had the first of two surgeries on his injured ankle the next day with the unwavering support of his coaches and teammates behind him, all of whom checked in on him while at the hospital.
Less than 24 hours after sustaining the injury that ultimately ended his high school football career, Moronta was back with his teammates at Mission High breaking down game film from the night before and beginning the long road back to recovery in the weight room.
“I would always be there after school. I couldn’t do much, but I would get my upper-body workouts in and I’d be out there with the team. I would be there to cheer them on and support them trying to be a good leader because I know a lot of the guys looked up to me,” he said.
“They were saddened that I was hurt, but Coach Detmer told them to use it as motivation. He said we were here for each other, and they really showed me that with how they played throughout the rest of the season. We all had each other’s backs.”
Even with a walking boot and crutches keeping him off the field, Moronta never missed a practice, trip to the weight room or film review session with his Mission High teammates determined to lead by example.
“He’s a tremendous athlete and he was a great player here for us (at Mission High). He did a lot here for our program and he meant a lot to our program. As much as anything, though, probably more than what he did on the field was who he is as a person and as a leader,” Detmer said of Moronta.
“He’s an example for everybody else in the way he does things and how he is as a person. That probably had the biggest impact on our program (of anything). He was a great leader for us in that way. He was a big deal for our program not just on the field, but off the field as well.”
Several months later, he was finally medically cleared to fully begin the rehab process right as the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting communities across the United States.
Moronta kept grinding, and with the help of his uncle and his personal trainers at Cavazos Sports Institute in McAllen, gradually built his body back up and into football shape with the hopes of earning another opportunity to step back out onto the football field.
That dream came within reach for Moronta this fall after almost a year of hard work and persistence away from the field with a scholarship offer to suit up for the NMMI Broncos.
“After that injury, I was so upset and saddened by it,” Moronta said. “I wasn’t going to let that stop me, though. I’m really determined and I believe I’m a real hard worker. I got the surgeries, but in between, I was still working out and trying to stay in shape. I couldn’t run or do any cardio, but I’d still show up to school early and do upper-body workouts and try to stay in shape.
“As soon as I got that second surgery and got cleared for rehab, I really hit it hard and went three or four times every week,” he added. “I knew that injury wasn’t going to be the end of my football career. I still wanted to play and here I am in New Mexico getting ready for football season and I couldn’t be happier knowing how far I’ve come and that I’ll be able to see the field again.”
Now nearly a year and a half after that injury cut his high school football career short, Moronta is preparing to make his competitive return to the gridiron for the Broncos this spring after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the New Mexico Military Institute and the rest of the Southwest Junior College Football Conference to transition to a spring football season in 2021.
He’s hoping to show his former teammates and the next generation of high school football players across the Rio Grande Valley that with enough determination and persistence they too can overcome any amount of adversity.
“My message would be to put your best foot forward and put in the work because that’s how you’ll see the results,” Moronta said. “Keep pushing and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something when you put your mind to it. Put in the work and give it a chance because you’ll never know unless you try.”
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch