Note: The Monitor’s 2022 All-Area Football Teams can be found at RGVSports.com
PHARR — PSJA North junior quarterback Ale Aparicio has led the Raiders’ offense since his freshman season.
Since being thrown into the fire, he’s helped lead PSJA North to six playoff wins while making program history with a Region IV-5A final appearance this past season.
For his part in raising Raiders football to new heights, Aparicio is The Monitor’s 2022 All-Area Football Player of the Year.
“It’s a good feeling but I couldn’t do it by myself,” Aparicio said. “I had the coaches behind my back, I had the players, especially my family, all of them were with me throughout this journey, and I’m just honored to receive this award and play for this team.”
| All-Area football player of the year Ale Aparicio of PSJA North poses at PSJA North High School on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in Pharr . (Joel Martinez | [email protected]) Joel Martinez |
He missed a chunk of games in the middle of his sophomore season with a collarbone injury and came back with a vengeance during his junior season. Aparicio torched defenses with his arm and sliced them up with his legs to the tune of 1,715 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 957 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns in 14 games.
“It was a minor setback for a major comeback. It was God’s plan,” Aparicio said.
He recorded four games with three passing touchdowns and scored rushing touchdowns in 10 of the Raiders’ 14 games.
The Raiders completed a 10-0 run through the regular season for only the third time in program history and brought home the team’s first district championship since 2008.
Aparicio had one of his best performances during the playoffs with 250 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries in the win over Corpus Christi Miller.
| PSJA North quarterback Ale Aparicio (3) carries the ball passed Corpus Christi Miller defender Nicholas Nunez (24) on his way to a 87 yard touchdown run in a Region IV5A DI area round playoff game at Cabaniss Stadium on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Corpus Christi. Joel Martinez |
PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said Aparicio has done a great job of taking on the role as a dual-threat quarterback.
“When we need him to run the option and downhill run-game, he does a good job with that. When we need to throw the ball, he does a great job with that. He was able to diversify and be able to jump into all the worlds and call stuff at the line,” Kaufmann said. “He’s done a great job.”
Aparicio is set to return under center for the Raiders in 2023, which will be his fourth-year as the starter at quarterback. Along with a loaded group of returners, PSJA North’s goals next season remain the same — winning a regional final and advancing to the state championship.
“We have higher expectations than this year. A lot of good things happened this year, but we want to go farther next year,” he said. “We want to get to that state championship and make history.”