BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — The Mercedes Tigers figured they’d be pretty good last season. The only question was just how good they would be.
Mercedes brought back eight senior starters on offense, eight more seniors on defense, and finished 9-3. A perfectly fine year, but 2018 will be a season of maturation in several ways. The Tigers lost a starting quarterback, three of their top four wide receivers, the district’s Offensive Lineman of the Year, two additional first-team all-district linemen, and their top five tacklers from a season ago.
Making matters worse, those five tacklers do not include linebacker Roger Adame III, another graduated senior who was The Monitor’s All-Area Defensive Player of the Year following an outstanding junior season.
“They don’t have as much experience in terms of game reps, but as far as talent and hard work go, they are just as competitive as last year’s team,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “We knew the situation that we were going to be in, so we developed our JV team and put a lot of focus on some of those guys that are going to be players for us. Plus, we made sure the guys who were on varsity had opportunities to get on the field and get some of that experience last year. They’re excited to leave their mark on this program.”
As Adame III is set to begin his college football career at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, rising senior Juan Morales will be the one tasked with replacing him.
Emerging from the shadow of a former All-Area Defensive Player of the Year is a challenge, but Morales doesn’t anticipate nerves getting the best of him. He stepped in for Adame III after he broke his right arm in last season’s opener against Corpus Christi Calallen.
Morales put together a solid season with 88 tackles and 11 tackles for a loss, including four sacks. The four sacks were good for second on the team in 2017.
“I had to step up,” Morales said. “I got the playing time and the experience I needed going into my senior year. I’ve gotten faster, gotten stronger. I was lucky to learn from one of the best to play here. Roger always told me give it my all and not be afraid of anything.”
“Juan was one of those guys for us who made the most of his opportunity,” Adame Jr. said. “That fire was always there with him.”
Morales would like to take the encouragement he got from Adame III and impart it on the coming-of-age Tigers defense.
“I think I’ve handled this role pretty well so far,” Morales said. “I really enjoy coaching up the other outside linebackers. I’m confident in the rest of our defense, too, because a lot of the guys here were on varsity last year, as well. They learned from the best, just like I did.”
A BALANCED SPREAD
Quarterback Marc Ledesma was the architect of a Mercedes offense that got off to a bumpy start to the year but finished the season as one of the Valley’s best. The Tigers scored at least 50 points in four of their final seven games.
While Adame Jr. might give the keys to the Mercedes spread attack to senior quarterback Israel Alegria, the Tigers will be armed with a two-headed monster in the backfield. Senior Aleks Ramos and junior Sonny Vela combined to rush for 1,040 yards on 7.3 yards per carry.
“We’ve hung our hats on being a spread offense, but we still want to be as balanced as possible,” Adame Jr. said. “We’re going to look to get Aleks and Sonny on the field at the same time. They’re crucial to what we do, so we have to find a way to get the ball in your playmakers’ hands. We’ll come up with some creative ways to make that happen.”
Vela was the team’s fourth-leading rusher (466 yards) to go along with three touchdowns during his first year on the varsity roster.
“It was an honor just to be around great players and represent Mercedes as a sophomore,” Vela said. “It’s not really about topping what I did last year, because I know I’ll be better. But now, I’m a starter, and I’ll be leading my running backs to victory. I know we’ll do great things.”
Another back who could see the field is sophomore Samuel Jackson. Jackson played on the junior varsity team as a freshman.
“I’m looking forward to working with the team and for our guys to put on a show for the fans,” Jackson said. “I haven’t fully adapted to the varsity level just yet, but the guys are helping me get better.”
“Sam’s a strong runner, and he’s got some great speed,” Adame Jr. said. “He’s been productive at whatever level we’ve seen him in.”
THE COMEBACK KID
Juan Ayala grew up playing football and did so as a freshman at Mercedes, but then he elected to stop. Ayala focused on basketball during his sophomore year. But at the suggestion of family and Adame Jr., he decided to return to the gridiron.
“It happened after basketball season, because I had a brother (Brandon) that played football here too,” Ayala said. “Getting back to football hasn’t been easy. I just have to get back into the momentum of re-learning plays and timing my reactions right.”
Ayala will continue with basketball after football wraps up. Until then, he’ll have to help make up for the loss of middle linebacker Bryan Smith, who logged 120 tackles, two sacks and two fumble recoveries last season.
“The extra training during the summer has helped me out a lot already,” Ayala said. “It won’t be easy going in for Bryan, but I’ll need to be in the gaps more. Coming back already feels like a great decision.”
MERCEDES’ KEYS TO THE SEASON
The Tigers had enough depth to deal with serious injuries to their defense in 2017, but they don’t have the same luxury this time around. How far this team can go will ultimately depend on how quarterback Israel Alegria leads the spread after Marc Ledesma accounted for 2,944 yards of offense and 36 touchdowns.
2017 record: 9-3
Returning starters O/D: 4/3
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Roger Adame Jr.
Year at school: 5th
Record: 32-14