BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — Eddie Villarreal began playing in the Donna Youth Football League as a second-grader. He played in the DYFL for two seasons before a knee injury was enough for Villarreal’s dad to keep him off the field.
“I was playing quarterback back then. Somebody grabbed my knee on a tackle, and I was hurt,” Villarreal said. “I did want to play. I told my dad, ‘Hey, my cousins are playing football. What about me?’ He’d say, ‘No, son. Just wait.’ When my seventh-grade year came, he said I could play football all I wanted.”
Villarreal switched over to wide receiver in middle school, and he hasn’t looked back. Villarreal is entering his third season on the varsity roster at Donna High.
“Those years come with experience,” Villarreal said. “You start to learn, you grow, and you build. The coaches prep you, and they get you in a mentality to lead and be a leader. One thing the coaches tell me is to be a lion, to have pride and bravery. I feel like I have that.”
“He’s showed a lot more confidence,” Donna High coach Ramiro Leal said. “When you have 20 games under your belt going into your season year, that’s going to breed confidence. There’s no substitute for it. He’s a big competitor. He wants the ball, and you want your receivers to want the ball, but he’s a role player, too. If he has to block, then he’ll go ahead and block. There are situations where he might get one or two balls thrown his way. It’s going to depend on reads and what the quarterback sees, but if you have to block, then you have to do your part. He doesn’t complain, and he comes in to work every day.”
Donna High was ravaged by injuries at multiple positions last season but was especially weakened at the quarterback position. Backup quarterback Ryan Espinoza suffered a broken foot before the regular season began, and starting quarterback Hector Guerrero tore an ACL in early October.
With Donna’s top two signal-callers sidelined, Leal handed the offense over to Alex Sanchez. Sanchez went 2-3 as the starter, and Villarreal finished the season as the team leader in receptions.
“It’s great knowing that they all believe in me,” Villarreal said. “Yes, it was difficult when Hector (Guerrero) and Ryan (Espinoza) went down, but there’s no real time to adjust and get a good rhythm. You have to get right back into it. I didn’t have any experience playing with Alex (Sanchez) before the Edcouch-Elsa game, but I had to be there for him.”
Villarreal is a part of a receiving core that brings back senior Daniel Nino, who led Donna High with five touchdown receptions, and moves up junior Marcos Chavez. Chavez also runs track in several events, including the 100-meter dash. He was a regional qualifier in the 100 four months ago.
“Eddie’s going to be our ‘X’ receiver, and Chavez will get looks at ‘X’ and ‘Z,’” Leal said. “We’re going to try to have all those guys on the field at the same time.”
Villarreal’s football roots run deep in Donna. He had two older brothers, Rolando and Ricky Ocañas, who suited up on the defensive side of the ball for Donna High in the early 2000s.
“I was small, but I watched them (Rolando and Ricky) play,” Villarreal said. “They expect big things from me, and so do I. I don’t want to let anyone in my family down. We have this special tradition here in Donna, and I fell in love with it a long time ago.”
A developing tradition in Donna is Donna High’s total domination of Donna North since the latter opened before the 2014 football season. Donna High is 4-0 against their crosstown rivals from the north side. The Chiefs will attempt to get on the board at 7:30 Friday inside Bennie LaPrade Stadium.
“We have to execute and not turn over the ball,” Leal said. “They’re going to be fired up for that game. So will we. In rivalry games, records go out the window. It’s always about emotion and who will come out and play. Whoever makes the least mistakes wins.”
“We have one job to do and that is: beat them,” Villarreal said. “They’re thinking, ‘We need to beat Donna. We need to beat Donna.’ That would make their season if they beat us, but that won’t happen.”