BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — The Edinburg High football team returns only two of its top nine tacklers from a year ago.
The Bobcats have had to lean on several younger players to lead the team because of the large turnover, Edinburg High coach J.J. Leija said.
Junior outside linebacker Raymond Quintanilla is one of those young guys. Both of last year’s starters at the position have since departed from the program, leaving Quintanilla to take over the pivotal role in the defense.
“He has really stepped it up this year,” Leija said. “He’s pretty much the team captain out there for this defense.”
Quintanilla is embracing his role as a leader.
“It feels good to lead these guys,” he said. “We all have special talent. We are all good. It’s a great opportunity.”
Despite the youth movement, the defense has a similar swagger and confidence to years past. The Bobcats missed the playoffs for five straight years before last season. In 2016, they surged to a second-place finish in District 31-6A, landing them a spot in the playoffs. Quintanilla attributes the confident attitude this fall to the playoff appearance a year ago.
“We love the feeling of the playoffs,” Quintanilla said. “It was very fun to have actually made it to the playoffs, but that loss still hurt. We are going to work harder to make it past the first round this year.”
Quintanilla is looking to the two players next to him to help return the Bobcats’ defense to where it was a year ago, when the team ranked second in the district with 247 yards allowed.
“Our middle linebackers, Athen (Villanueva) and Jaime (Zamora), they are both young guys,” Quintanilla said. “It is their first year on varsity, so we are going to see how they step up.”
Quintanilla and safety Mannie Salinas are both key parts of a large junior class for Leija. Leija said that the success of the junior group, on offense and defense, will be a large factor in determining the Bobcats’ outcome this year.
“That’s a strong junior crop that we have there,” Leija said. “Last year, we had four sophomores on defense and four sophomores on offense. We’ve got a talented, young group there.”
Quintanilla, Salinas and the rest of the defense learned a lot last season, and that shows in how much tradition has carried over to the younger players.
“We have a lot of pride in what we do,” Quintanilla said. “We love defense, and we love playing for the Bobcats.”
QB BATTLE
Junior Matthew Cruz and senior Danny Shawnee are currently battling it out to determine who will get the bulk of the playing time at quarterback.
“It’s a tough competition,” Leija said. “They both have great leadership qualities. They are kind of balanced right now. The two scrimmages that we have are going to help us out. … That’ll tell us where we are at with these quarterbacks.”
Shawnee transferred from Edinburg North, and Cruz has taken it upon himself to help Shawnee adapt to the new surroundings.
“Once I saw him on campus, I wanted to teach him things, help him get to know the teachers,” Cruz said. “We are close friends. We have a great battle. Whoever wins the starting spot will help the team a lot.”
For Shawnee, the immediate challenge was to learn the playbook, which is still an ongoing process.
“It’s getting better,” Shawnee said. “At first it was hard, but it’s getting better. I’m getting more reps, getting better at knowing the plays and knowing the players. It’s going good.”
TAKING FLIGHT
Seeing junior wideout Antoine Woodard soar through the air becomes more and more common with each passing day.
Woodard was one of only a handful of Valley basketball players last year to convert more than one in-game dunk.
Leija knew that leaping ability would come in handy. Last season, Woodard played wide receiver and became a big threat in the Bobcats offense.
“Toward the end of the year, some people started covering him with two guys,” Leija said. “We are looking to try to free him up this year.”
Woodard can use his physical abilities to create his own space in certain scenarios.
“Throwing to him is great,” Cruz said. “Throwing fades to him, he can outjump corners because he’s so lanky and tall.”
Both quarterbacks are enjoying having him in the offense.
“That guy, he is really tall, and he is fast,” Shawnee said. “All you have to do is just throw it up there and he will catch it.”
EDINBURG HIGH’S PROGNOSIS
With seven of its top nine tacklers from last season gone, Edinburg High will need its young defense to fill those shoes. The offense hopes to make the transition easier.
2016 record: 7-4
Returning starters O/D: 5/5
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: J.J. Leija
Year at School: 2nd
Record at school: 7-4