11 minute read
Players to watch
4 • Football Preview 2021
Players to watch in 2021
P.J. Rivera, Edinburg Vela
The SaberCats’ lead back Rivera returns after playing in just four of Edinburg Vela’s six games last season. While he was limited to 221 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 48 carries as a junior, Rivera showed promise during his sophomore season as he finished with 1,057 ground yards and 10 touchdowns with a 6.6 average per carry. He’s also displayed the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield with two receiving touchdowns. With Edinburg Vela set to bring in a new starter at quarterback, expect Rivera to return to stand out form for the SaberCats running behind a powerful offensive line.
Ricky Reyna, Mission Veterans
The Patriots’ senior quarterback has upped his number each season. Last year, Reyna let it fly for 1,766 passing yards and 19 touchdowns in six games, exceeding his 2019 total by 668 yards and six touchdowns. He will work with a completely new receiving corp this year, however, with his top four receivers all graduated. The three-year starter still looks primed for another electrifying year, working with wideouts Mackopolo Cavazos and Dylan Velasquez during the offseason to build chemistry, as the Patriots aim to prove 2020 was an anomaly after missing the postseason for the first time in 11 years. AJ Chapa, La Joya Palmview
Chapa emerged as a playmaker for the Lobos as a sophomore, recording 451 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, earning 2019 District 16-5A DI Newcomer of the Year. As a junior, he elected to sit out amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapa is back in the fold for the Lobos this season, teaming up with last year’s starter George Speidon to run Coach Requeñez’s Slot-T offense. Expect the shifty Chapa to pick up where he left off, spending his time away working on his craft while adding size to his frame.
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Football Preview 2021 • 5
Players to watch in 2021
Michael Cisneros, Mercedes
Mercedes’ signal-caller Cisneros is primed for a sensational senior season running the spread offense. The dual-threat threw for 1,402 yards and 15 touchdowns while running for 514 yards and three scores during his junior campaign. He’ll have some of the top skill-position players available in running back Miguel Jimenez and wideouts Joseph Rocha and Tyrell Treviño. A three-year starter, Cisneros has grown into a leader on the field for the Tigers as they chase a district title in 2021.
Isaac Gonzalez, PSJA North Gonzalez, The Monitor’s 2020 All-Area Football Offensive Player of the Year, returns for his senior year
after leading the Rio Grande Valley in rushing (1,266 yards) as a junior despite the Raiders playing just eight games last season. The four-year letterman has run for 3,619 yards and 35 touchdowns, while also racking up 400 receiving yards and three touchdowns during his career. The explosive and shifty runner will once again be relied upon to lead PSJA North’s offense, which returns all 11 starters from a year ago. Gonzalez’s goals include repeating as the RGV’s leading rusher.
Graham, The Monitor’s 2020 AllArea Newcomer of the Year, blew the top off defenses with his blazing 4.4 speed as a sophomore, hauling in 51 catches for 1,075 yards and 13 touchdowns in nine games. The Dia-
mondbacks will look to get the ball into their playmakers hands anyway they can this season, with Graham in a three-way battle for the starting quarterback position. Regardless of where he lines up, expect Graham to serve as the Diamondbacks top offensive threat.
Chase Campbell, Edinburg Vela
The SaberCats’ quarterback spent his first three seasons on varsity playing behind former Vela quarterback AJ Sotelo. With Sotelo gone to graduation, it’s Campbell’s turn to run the show. The 6-foot-2-inch gunslinger can make all the throws across the field and is poised to lead a strong SaberCats squad in 2021.
Tyrell Treviño, Mercedes
Treviño splashed onto the scene last season as a sophomore and immediately became one of the RGV’s top playmakers. Mercedes’ offense schemed ways to get the ball in Treviño’s hands and he rewarded them with 630 all-purpose yards and eight total touchdowns in eight games. Treviño’s speed allows him to take the top off of opposing defenses, while his route running and strong frame often results in winning battles for contested catches. With an expe-
rienced three-year starter throwing him the ball in Michael Cisneros, Mercedes’ quarterback-wide receiver combination has the potential to be among the best in the Valley this season.
Javi Garza, Weslaco East
Garza split time at the quarterback position last year with Avery Bowen. He will take full control of the Wildcats’ offense this season, with Bowen gone to graduation. While Garza won’t be asked to throw the ball much in Burget’s run-heavy offense, he’s shown he’s capable of airing it out, passing for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts last year. The first-year starter also showed his dual-threat ability, adding 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. With a veteran offensive line,
expect Garza to build off a promising junior year as the Wildcats’ eye their third straight district title.
Hunter Curl, McAllen High
Bulldogs’ quarterback Curl enters his third year running head Coach Patrick Shelby’s spread offense. Curl threw for 1,207 passing yards and nine touchdowns, while adding 466 yards and five touchdowns on the ground as a junior, earning him Dave Campbell’s Texas Football District 165A DI Preseason Offensive MVP. He’ll have a new group of receivers at his disposal this year, but Curl’s experience behind center has expectations high at McHi.
6 • Football Preview 2021
LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR
Dear student-athlete,
Welcome back. It’s nice to see you.
You’ve returned to the gridiron after facing a year, a season, and a moment in time unlike any other.
You said “I’m going to play,” last year with more fortitude than you probably ever imagined you would need. COVID-19 interfered with you in many ways, from delays to loved ones becoming sick. Some died.
Still, you were able to march on. Well, most of you.
Don’t forget those players – your brothers no matter where they go to school – that opted out. Remember, some entire teams missed out on a season.
I’ve heard those who didn’t play use words like “sad,” “angry” and “depressed.”
When one loves something so much and they lose it, those words oftentimes follow.
Now you’re back. For the sophomores, you may have not played football in a year. For those at the schools that opted out, you surely didn’t.
Last year, every interview had a response that included how lucky everyone was just to be able to play. We heard over and over that tomorrow is never given. Enjoy today.
Because you’re playing this year, right now, don’t forget that. Tomorrow is not a guarantee – it’s a suggestion, a hope that we can be blessed with another day of life and doing the things we love.
Remember, there is a virus lurking, refusing to go away and threatening our very lives. You, studentathlete, adjusted first. You were the guinea pigs to see if it would be all right for the rest of us to come out and play. I believe you are the reason many people were able to move forward. I thank you.
We’ll adjust. We always adjust. Like Weebles, we wobble but don’t fall down. We are resilient and we bounce back. But because we don’t fall down, because we bounce back it’s even more important to not take that for granted.
Be blessed this year in the classroom and on whatever your playing field is. Play hard, study hard and love those around you even harder. Hug someone today. Don’t take anything for granted.
Dear student-athlete. Thank you, and welcome back.
Henry Miller is sports editor for The Monitor and RGVSports.com. You can reach him at hmiller@themonitor.com
Table of contents
Players to watch .................................. 4 Valley schedule.................................... 9 Games to watch ................................ 10 Feature: Entire RGV back in action....... 12 District 31-6A preview ........................ 14 District 32-6A preview ........................ 23 Coaching changes.............................. 24 District 14-5A DI preview .................... 34 Feature: Offensive linemen set tone..... 35 District 16-5A DI preview .................... 36 District 16-5A DII preview ................... 51 Sub 5A preview ................................. 56
Sports Editor Henry Miller Sports Writers Ivan Palacios Bryan Ramos Design Staff Bryan Ramos Eddie Mirza Photo Staff Delcia Lopez Joel Martinez
Follows us on Twitter @RGVSports Like our RGVSports.com Facebook page. Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT FRIDAY NIGHT TYKES
Pictured Left to Right: Sr. DE Landan Guzman, Jr. MLB Cody Von Wald, Sr. OLB Jude Jaime, Jr. MLB Luis De Hoyos, Sr. OT Angel Bustos, Sr. DE Adrian Garcia, Sr. MLB Luis Balderas, Sr. WR Marckopolo Cavazos, Sr. Center Jayden Morales, Sr. OG Rico Rodriguez, Sr. QB Ricky Reyna, Jr. WR Josiah Guzman, Sr. SS Luis Briseno, Sr. OLB Justin Munoz, Jr. MLB Sebastian Balderas, Sr. RB Damian Cortez, Not Pictured: Sr. OG Ray Castillo, Jr. DT Ashton Guzman What ever happened to that Friday Night Tykes team from Mission TEXAS, that shocked the youth football world in 2015, by winning the 11u State Football Championship?
In Memory of Coach OMAR TRUJILLO
In this season’s annual “Battle of Conway,” 18 of the 25 young men on the Mission Mustangs football team, who were featured on the nationally televised show, “Friday Night Tykes”, that gained nationwide popularity from 2013-2016. Most of these boys grew up playing in this organization from 6 years old through spring football in eighth grade. The highlight of their youth career peaked on the 11u Mustang Juniors team where they became the first team from the Rio Grande Valley to win a Division-1 State Championship in the Texas Youth Football Association (TYFA), The most competitive state-wide league for youth football in Texas. The league features more than 350 youth football teams from around Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and the MidlandOdessa area. The fall season comes to an end with a state-wide Playoff system where the last team standing is crowned State Champion. Friday Night Tykes covered the journey of these boys from ages 8 to twelve years old.
Now, six-years later, 13 of these young men will be starting their senior seasons, and 5 will be starting their Junior Season, at two different Mission high schools. They will face off for the final time in their high school football careers when The Mission Eagles play against The Mission Veterans Memorial Patriots in the “Battle of Conway”, taking place in Hidalgo, on Thursday, August 26th at 7pm. Arranging a photo shoot was easier than expected – they were eager to see each other and get together again before their final face-off with them all on the same field. Although they don’t all have a ton of contact with each other these days, you could see they all share an unbreakable bond. Before last season, they lost the man who helped teach football to them, when their former Mustang Coach, Omar Trujillo, passed away from Covid-19 in September 2020. This was the first time they have all been in the same place at the same time (when not in competition with each other) since the 2015 State Championship game. In talking to the boys, we learned that several of them have never lost contact with each other, and they all had one thing in common to say- None of them want to walk off the field after the “Battle of Conway” without bragging rights for life after this season. Judging by the accolades these athletes have earned, Coach Omar Trujillo would be proud. Omar Trujillo will have the best seat in
~ Coach Trujillo
the house from up above watching these boys in their final slug-fest. If he were here to talk to these boys one last time before this game, he would tell them all how proud he is of each one of them and their accomplishments. “Leave it all on the Field, Gentlemen! No Regrets!” These Boys can play!
MISSION VETERANS MEMORIAL PATRIOTS Ricky Reyna - SENIOR
Honorable Mention All-District QB (2019) 1st Team All-District QB (2020) Cody Von Wald - JUNIOR
2nd Team All-District ILB (2020) Adrian Garcia - SENIOR
2nd Team All-District DT (2020) Justin Munoz - SENIOR
Honorable mention All-District OT (2019) 2nd Team All District OLB (2020) Luis DeHoyos - JUNIOR
16-5A D-2 Defensive Newcomer of the year (2020) All South Texas 1st team ILB (2020) TSWA Honorable Mention All-State ILB (2020) MISSION EAGLES Jayden Morales - SENIOR
1st Team All District Center (2020) Angel Bustos - SENIOR
2nd Team All District OT (2020) Luis Briseno - SENIOR
2- time all district honorable mention (2019 & 2020) Luis Balderas - SENIOR
30-6a Defensive Newcomer of the Year (2019) 1st Team All District LB (2020) 2nd Team All Area LB (2020) 2x All State All State Honorable Mention (2019 & 2020) Damian Cortez - SENIOR
