By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Coming off back-to-back football seasons of success in the playoffs, the Rivera Raiders are eager to see what’s in store for them during the upcoming 2015 campaign.
“Summer went by real fast,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “Another season (of football) is here. We’ll be ready to go.”
It all starts Monday as the majority of high schools around the state open non-contact workouts in preparation for their season openers later in the month. Under UIL rules, public school teams that held spring workouts back in May must wait until Aug. 10 to start practicing.
Besides Rivera, other Metro-area football teams starting practice Monday include Los Fresnos, Port Isabel, Hanna, St. Joseph Academy and Brownsville Veterans Memorial. Metro-area teams starting Aug. 10 since they had spring ball are Pace, Porter and Lopez.
Local coaches say a number of their athletes have been doing conditioning work on their own throughout the summer and should be ready for a somewhat easy transition into this week’s workouts. Teams starting Monday will be focusing on conditioning and agility drills for the first few days until they can put on pads and begin contact work Friday.
With the summer rapidly coming to a close and fall workouts just beginning, there’s plenty of optimism to go around, especially for the Raiders, who captured the attention of the Rio Grande Valley last season by winning seven of their past eight games after an 0-5 start. They shared the District 32-6A championship and advanced to the third round of the playoffs before finishing 7-6.
In 2013, the Raiders advanced to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs after upsetting District 31-5A champion McAllen High 33-21 in bi-district.
“It’s good to have that tradition (of playoff success) going again,” said Chavez, who is beginning his 36th season of coaching. “It helps a lot. The guys see the success we’ve had lately and they want it, too. They’re willing to work a little harder for it. Our expectations are to do that (well) every year.”
Chavez said the Raiders will be following an “old-fashioned schedule of two-a-days” beginning Monday. They’ll practice from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., take a break and then go from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“Another season is here, and the only thing about it is (you realize) you’re a little older,” Chavez said with a chuckle.
Another veteran coach who will be directing workouts Monday is Rene Medrano at Hanna. He’s beginning his 35th year of coaching.
“This is an exciting time of year, and it’s just a great feeling,” said Medrano, whose Golden Eagles will attempt to improve on last season’s 3-6 finish. “Our players have worked hard on their own throughout the summer to put themselves in a position to have a very respectable team on the field this fall.
“We’ve gotten a lot quicker and a lot stronger,” Medrano added. “We’re in a tough district, but we feel our players are up to the challenge. We’re really high on our expectations.”
The Eagles will meet for a team meeting and some brief conditioning Monday morning, and then break sometime around 9 a.m. before returning and taking the field for the first time at 4 p.m. Starting Tuesday, their practice schedule will involve one extended workout session that starts at 7:30 a.m. daily and runs until sometime around 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m.
“We’re excited for the coming season,” Medrano said.
There’s a feeling of enthusiasm as well at Brownsville Veterans as David Cantu begins his fourth season as the Chargers’ coach.
“We’re ready to go,” Cantu said.
“The players have been working in the summer on weights, conditioning and things like that,” he added. “A few of them have attended camps.”
Starting Monday for four days, the Chargers, coming off a 6-4 season, will hold practice for their freshmen from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the upperclassmen will work out from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
When asked if there figures to be some long days ahead for the coaching staff during the coming week, Cantu said, “It’ll be all right.”
Los Fresnos, 9-4 last season, is following a similar practice format as the Chargers, starting Monday with the freshmen working out in the morning and the upperclassmen practicing in the afternoon.
One important change for the Falcons is Los Fresnos had artificial turf installed during the summer on its practice field at the high school. Also this school year, the Falcons are expected to have artificial turf to play on for the first time at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
“It comes down to us being able to get out there and practice when we need to (regardless of the weather),” Falcons coach Clint Finley said recently of the artificial turf installation. “It’s going to be beneficial to all of our programs.”
Meanwhile, Monty Stumbaugh is beginning his 15th season as coach at Port Isabel.
The Tarpons, coming off a 7-4 campaign, start Monday at 8 a.m. and will practice until 11 a.m. That will be their practice schedule for the next two weeks until schools starts.
“The summer has gone by pretty fast,” Stumbaugh said.
“We’re hoping for the best,” he added. “If everyone can stay healthy and pass their classes, we feel like we can have a pretty good football team.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.