DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
The Hidalgo Pirates feel like they’re on the brink. On the brink of another win, on the brink of a breakthrough, on the brink of righting the ship.
Hidalgo is 1-5 heading into its District 16-4A, Division I, opener Friday at Zapata. The signs are there, however, of a team that can quickly turn things around.
“We’re extremely competitive, we just have to learn how to finish,” Hidalgo coach Taihi Jones said. “We’ve been in every game, but the last 3-4 minutes of every game have gotten away from us.”
The Pirates’ only win was a 47-13 decision over Progreso in Week 2. Otherwise, the results have been unfortunate. An 11-point loss to Sharyland Pioneer. A six-point loss to Santa Rosa in overtime. A four-point loss to Lyford last week. Close, but not close enough.
The Pirates have dealt with injuries — senior running back Adrian Ruiz, who was hurt during the Santa Rosa game, possibly has a fractured ankle and starting safety Francisco Garcia is out for the season — but Jones does not make excuses.
“Other teams are in the same boat,” Jones said. “It’s next man up. We have to utilize all the weapons; everybody has to step up and fill in.”
And now is the time for guys to show off.
“Everybody’s 0-0,” Jones said. “We’ve learned a lot and we have to grow. We have to understand it’s a brand new ballgame. We’re in a district where everybody’s competitive and it’s open doors. We have to not take anything for granted.”
GRULLA’S ADVERSITY
Entering the season, Grulla was considered a favorite in sub-5A ranks.
The Gators were coming off a program-best 2013 in which they fell a game short of the district title and finished in the area playoffs.
But injuries have decimated Grulla this year. A taxing non-district schedule hasn’t helped. And now the Gators are 0-5 heading into Friday’s District 16-4A, Division I, opener at La Feria.
“It’s always hard when you go winless in non-district,” Grulla coach Abel Gonzalez III said. “Of course we’d like some wins. But we had a tough schedule; we knew that. And too add on, we had to battle a lot of injuries. We had guys plugging spots, we didn’t have consistency and we couldn’t gel.”
Grulla’s non-district slate consisted of teams with a combined 19-6-1 record. Teams like Port Isabel, Rio Hondo, and Lytle. Add that Grulla has been without key starters in every game — and was out seven starters in its last game against Rio Hondo two weeks ago, a 40-0 defeat — and it makes for a tough climb uphill.
But the Gators have looked past that. Coming off an open week, they’ve had a chance for a lot of those injuries to heal. They’re still without leading receiver Leo Martinez, who is expected to return in two weeks against Hidalgo, but it’s better than being down seven starters. It’s all relative.
“I like the way we’ve worked. I like our kids’ mindset, and it’s a fresh start,” Gonzalez said. “We feel real good about where we are right now. It’s a little adversity, but we’ve always overcome it.”
Interestingly, the Gators will get their true bye next week. They were open last week because of a scheduling conflict and had to remove the game initially scheduled there not long before the season started. Because most Valley teams had already started district play, they could not replace the game.
But it’s worked out. This La Feria game will be sandwiched around open weeks desperately needed for practice time.
“These are tough kids,” Gonzalez said. “They want to win bad. We’ve been battle-tested, I think, and it’s been hard. But I’ve seen our kids be resilient and focus on the big picture.”
AILING CARDS
La Villa’s hopes for this season were moderate to begin with. With a young team and only 25 kids on varsity, the Cardinals were expecting a rebuilding year.
The process has been more demanding than imagined, as the Cardinals are 1-4 heading into Friday’s District 16-2A, Division I, opener at Three Rivers.
“Injuries haven’t allowed us to play how we’d like, but right now we have most of our kids back,” La Villa coach Joe Salinas said.
Receiver Arnold Salazar has been out since the Week 2 game versus Taft. He’s expected to be back tonight. The Cardinals are without an offensive tackle and guard Randy Cantu, but his twin brother Rodney is expected to be back from injury for tonight’s game.
Quarterback Macario Perez was out with injury for the Taft game.
“It’s been difficult,” Salinas said. “We’ve had to do a lot of shuffling around, kids learning new assignments, and we don’t have that many kids as it is. But it has allowed us to get a look at other players.”
Sophomores Mykael Cerna and Martin Perez have emerged as contributors on defense. Junior defensive tackle Aaron Diaz has stood out.
The Cardinals are not without talent. Macario Perez and Ramiro Cantu are strong out of the backfield, and Isaac Silva adds a dose of dynamic versatility.
And now the Cardinals aren’t going up against bigger, faster, stronger teams, like Lyford, Santa Rosa and Taft, and are going up against teams in similar shoes.
“These are teams in the same boat as us now,” Salinas said. “A lot of platoon, iron-man football. We’re all 0-0. We’d like to have won some, sure, and we’re not where we want to be, but we know this is an opportunity to get it together.”