BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
PHARR — In 2014, Greg Bostic was taking snaps for McAllen High as a quarterback on the freshman team.
This year, he is the starting varsity quarterback for PSJA Southwest.
Bostic’s journey to this starting spot wasn’t easy, but with only 10-plus games left in his high school career, he is eager to make one last statement.
“It’s amazing to be starting,” Bostic said. “Being able to use this new offense that we are doing is exciting. I want to show everyone what we can do with it.”
First-year coach Michael Evans brought in a new spread offense. Evans used spring ball to evaluate his options at quarterback, and he eventually named Bostic the starter.
“What we have seen is him get better at making smart decisions,” Evans said. “He didn’t have a route, so he threw it out of bounds. The key thing is avoiding negative plays or turning the ball over.”
Bostic’s journey to PSJA Southwest was a circuitous one. After his freshman year, Bostic’s mother received a promotion that took the family to Dallas temporarily. Bostic made it back to McAllen for the end of his sophomore year, but his family moved to Pharr the following summer.
“When we decided to move to Pharr, we were going to see if we could stay at McHi,” Bostic said. “But we couldn’t, because of the school zones. We were just outside of it. So I ended up coming to PSJA Southwest. I am excited to be here now, so it worked out well.”
Bostic arrived at Southwest in 2016, but the process of getting fully transferred prevented him from playing varsity football.
“He was able to play junior varsity last year,” senior running back and linebacker Jose Zamora said. “I believe if they were to sign his papers, he would have had a big impact on our team last year.”
Evans is focused on refining Bostic’s skills as the season approaches. Evans likes what Bostic brings to the table on multiple fronts.
“I think he’s got a little bit of everything,” Evans said of Bostic. “He’s good at going with his reads. If we have some reads that go deep to short, then he is taking his shot. He is not afraid to put it out there. He is also a good leader. He has respect, they listen to him, and he’s a quiet guy, and he leads through his actions.”
Bostic wasn’t into football right away. He didn’t play when he was younger. In fact, he wasn’t playing much of anything.
“I was always very lazy,” Bostic said.
That changed in seventh grade, when Bostic first started playing football. He fell in love with the game, and now he’s always pushing to get better. He spent much of the summer honing in on specific parts of his game that needed work.
“(I worked on) the reads, the drop back and just the way we take our steps with certain plays,” he said.
TIGHT SHIP
Evans came to Southwest looking to push his players to be their best. That includes training them to play both sides of the ball.
“We are doing a smaller-school style practice,” Evans said. “They are all learning offense and defense. The DBs are the backup receivers, and the receivers are the backup DBs. We are trying to create some depth that way, so we can give our JV some attention. It’s important that the JV get going.”
The tone was set during the first couple days of practice this fall. Of course, coming back after the summer break is always rough, but something felt different this season.
“It was very, very tough,” senior cornerback Willie Gordillo said. “It was really hot, and it affects your legs. You feel like you can’t keep going, but you have to. After a few days, you start relaxing, and it starts feeling easier every day.”
VETERAN SAVVY
Offensive coordinator Carlos Longoria and special teams coordinator and offensive line coach David Duty fill out Evans’ staff. Longoria was a head coach at Rio Grande City for five seasons before being reassigned in 2015. Duty was the head coach at Hidalgo for the last two seasons.
As a first-time head coach, Evans said he wanted people around him with experience.
“It’s huge,” Evans said. “I still have a lot to learn. If a head coach tells you he doesn’t have something to learn, he is lying to you. They really have my back and are making it easy for me to do the best job I can.”
PSJA SOUTHWEST’S PROGNOSIS
Coach Michael Evans brings in an exciting offense. If the team can execute and play good defense, it can make the playoffs for the first time in school history.
2016 record: 4-6
Returning starters O/D: 4/4
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Michael Evans
Year at school: 1st
Record at school: 0-0