By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos graduated a very good lineman last year, but his replacement is filling in nicely.
Last year, the Falcons had Michael Mendez at right tackle, and now senior Bruce Waters occupies his spot on the offensive line.
Mendez received a NCAA Division I scholarship to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Waters is hoping to help lead his team further into the playoffs than last season, when Los Fresnos advanced to the third round of the postseason.
“When Mendez left, it was very big shoes to fill,” Waters said. “I felt I had to really step up my game in order to fill his place, but I still don’t feel like I can take his place because he was such a good player. I just try to motivate my line, and tell them each game is a new game and you can win or lose.”
Waters doesn’t have the size Mendez had, but he has experience and has been consistent game after game.
“Bruce is a returning starter. He started at right guard for us last year,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “He’s really consistent, one of our better athletes. He has a lot of experience, and he’s doing a great job for us.”
Waters is one of three seniors on the offensive line, and he’s also the quietest one. He prefers to let his work in the trenches speak for him.
“He’s a really quiet guy,” Finley said. “He talks with his actions, he talks with his play. He doesn’t even talk to us, so he doesn’t do a lot of talking out there on the field either.”
No talk is needed when someone is helping anchor one of the best offenses in District 32-6A. The Falcons average nearly 400 yards per game offensively this season and have become quite balanced. Los Fresnos has averaged 183 yards on the ground and 215 yards through the air through four games, including the district opener against Lopez.
The Falcons don’t have the size on the offensive line they have had in years past, but the transition has been seamless.
“We pride ourselves to be a hard-nosed football team, We want to be run-first, that’s how we think, we want to set up everything off the run,” Finley said. “We’re not big, but they’re playing big to get the job done and they’ve done a great job for us this year.”
The Falcons’ offense needs linemen that can get off the ball, especially on running plays to be that lead block. Waters has taken over for Mendez in that spot, too.
“Bruce is powerful, he’s a very strong young man,” the Los Fresnos coach said. “We block down and kick out quite a bit. He’s our washer, we washes people down. He has great leverage, has great balance and that’s what we counted on him for.”
While Waters does his best to emulate Mendez at the same position on the field, the senior and his teammates have an eye on the postseason. Los Fresnos hopes to advance even further in the playoffs than it did last year.
“I think it’s always the mentality each year to do better than the last year,” Waters said. “I feel like we have that chance to do better than last year. We’re doing better than we were last year, but we have to keep that going.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.
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