BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — The PSJA Southwest Javelinas were in rare company last season. Just not the kind of company a program would like to be a part of.
PSJA Southwest, along with Brownsville Porter and Hidalgo, were the three UIL teams in the Rio Grande Valley that failed to register a win during the 2017 season. The other distinction tying PSJA Southwest, Brownsville Porter and Hidalgo together is that all three programs were under the direction of head coaches in their first year with the program.
Coach Michael Evans came to Pharr in late December 2016 after serving as the defensive coordinator at Brownsville Veterans.
“One thing I learned is that you have to fit a system to your kids and not your kids into a system,” Evans said. “We had to go back through the year as a staff to see what we could have done differently to give our kids a chance to be successful.”
Evans’ original plan was to install a spread offense with the Javelinas.
“It (a spread offense) probably wasn’t the best thing, because we’re not where we want to be in terms of numbers in the program,” Evans said. “A lot of the receivers we wanted to play in the spread had to end up playing in our secondary, as well. So we needed to find a system that didn’t use as many receivers — a run-based offense a lot like what they did here before.”
Evans said his team will abandon a shotgun formation in favor of a run-first option game to jump-start the offense. The Javelinas were among the most challenged offenses in the Valley last season, averaging less than 200 yards per game.
“Offensively is where we really struggled,” Evans said. “I don’t think we got to a touchdown per game average, but we definitely have to improve in that department.”
They were also unable to find a consistent performer under center. Greg Bostic began 2017 as the starting quarterback, but he was later replaced by J.Z. Zamora. Zamora was eventually switched out for Rogelio Reyes, who finished the season.
Reyes returns to the team as a senior this fall, but Evans prefers another senior, Jalen Galvan, to orchestrate the option attack.
“Practicing with the option in practice has been a lot of fun,” Galvan said. “We’ve run it against our defense, and they’ve had some trouble stopping us. I think it’ll get us a lot more yards and a lot more scoring, hopefully. We also want to give our defense more of a break and get them more energized. I can’t wait to see what it can do against other teams.”
HOG RUNNING WILD
Evans hopes the option attack will cater to the skills of runners like Galvan and senior running back Bryan Acosta.
“The adjustment has been pretty easy,” Acosta said. “We’ve been running the wing-t since our middle school years. They are almost the same plays, they’re just different names. The running back’s goals are almost the same. The coaches we have have been pretty good about teaching us plays. There’s nothing to worry about at all.”
Acosta said learning the spread offense last year was a big factor in Southwest’s 0-10 season.
“We didn’t adjust to it well,” Acosta said. “Our quarterbacks and receivers were having some problems with it. I believe this year is going to be different, because we know where to block, where to run, where the holes are and where the holes aren’t.
“Jalen and my generation won the district when we were freshmen. That was the first football district championship ever at Southwest. We’re trying to get back to that level as a senior group.”
Acosta was not a regular participant in the Javelinas’ summer workout program because of his summer job, but he found ways to physically prepare for football season.
“I had to go to the gym more often than school because of work. I tried to do as much as I could,” Acosta said. “Last year, I weighed around 135 pounds, and now I weigh 175.”
Acosta’s 40-pound jump over the summer happened, in part, because of his job.
“I was eating a lot of carbs and just working them out,” Acosta said. “I never drank any protein or anything like that. I worked at Whataburger, so I’d be eating that and working the carbs out.”
DEFENSE STILL IN TACT
Evans made changes to the Javelinas offense but will stay with the 4-2-5 defense he brought over from Brownsville Veterans, despite PSJA Southwest finishing 2017 last in District 31-6A in total defense.
“I think we’re going to improve immediately, because our defense won’t be out there as much,” Evans said. “They were seeing around 70 to 80 plays a game. What you really want from your defense is about 50 to 60 plays, at the most. That should help us out. Up front, we were young at defensive line and linebacker last year, but a lot of those guys are back.”
Middle linebacker Noe Torres, who enters his second season at the varsity level, is one of the returners Evans expects more from.
“It’s (the 4-2-5 defense) really different,” Torres said. “A lot of offenses haven’t seen it before, so we felt like we were keeping them guessing. We were confident in it toward the end of the year.”
The Javelinas will also bring back Victor Rodriguez and Tereso Barcenas, who excelled on the D-line.
“We’re going to be pretty young in the secondary, but a lot of us got the defense down now,” Torres said. “We know that we’re pretty much underdogs in the new district. They don’t really know what we do. We’ll do better than last year.”
PSJA SOUTHWEST’S KEYS TO THE SEASON
The Javelinas’ change to an option offense was necessary to give their defense a better chance to succeed. With their bevy of seniors starting on both sides of the ball, it’s hard to imagine PSJA Southwest going 0-10 for a second year in a row.
2017 record: 0-10
Returning starters (O/D): 4/4
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Michael Evans
Year at school: 2nd
Record: 0-10