Armando's Answers

Last season,  I talked to Santa Maria coach Rudy Meza on a few occasions when he’d call in scores or we’d call him to get one. Very nice man, for those of you who’ve never met him.

At Saturday’s varsity scrimmage at Rio Hondo against the Bobcat JV, I met Meza in person for the first time to talk to him for a small story we wanted to run in Monday’s paper on the Cougars.

Not only was he gracious on a hot afternoon after his Cougars had a rough go, but he was corteous, polite and most of all, GENUINE.

I could tell what he was telling me was sincere. He’s optimistic about taking his young Coogs to the playoffs for the first time in school history. He really wants to help those kids get to the postseason.

As writers, we don’t really “root” for teams and I know most if not all teams really work hard to acheive their playoff goals.

But as a fan of football in the Valley, you can’t help but want for Meza and his Santa Maria Cougars to do it. They’re probably the Valley’s smallest public school team, but based on my talk with Meza and hearing the work they’ve put in, they deserve it.

The most popular question I’ve heard over the past week or two is something along the lines of “Who’s going to win District 32-5A?”

Being that 32-5A is almost exclusively in Cameron County, it’s a hot topic.

My answer? I’m not sure.

Everyone points to Weslaco and their star, Mishak Rivas. A good pick, especially if they played like they did a year ago. Coach Tony Villarreal and the Panthers were oh-so-close to taking the crown last year. But Los Fresnos pulled out a hard-earned win in one of the greatest games I’d ever seen. Despite that, the purple and white made it to the Alamodome and put up a heck of a fight.

But now teams aren’t satisfied with just going to San Antonio. They want to go further. Weslaco has got the weapons and ground game to do it. Will they? Only time will tell.

Then you’ve got San Benito, with a new, athletic quarterback in Abel Aguirre, a solid group of targets and an always tough Mario Peña-coached defense. They’ve lost a few key players, but it would not surprise me one bit if they made a serious run. They’re very athletic and have one of the best sets of coordinators (George Espinoza and Claude Bassett) in the Valley, in my opinion. Bad thing for Greyhound fans? They’ve only got four home games this year.

Los Fresnos? Well, there are a lot of questions there. They had all the answers last year, with one of the greatest quarterbacks I’ve seen in person in Jeremy Springer, and an all-star supporting cast, like a mammoth o-line, wideout Rivera and running back Luis Campos on offense. All but the o-line got their diplomas and are gone. They may not start out hot, but if the new kids get rolling for coach Scott Ford, Los Frensos will be in the hunt. Falcon fans will get to see San Benito and Weslaco travel to Leo Aguilar Memorial this year.

Finally, you’ve got the Brownsville Five (Pace, Porter, Hanna, Rivera and Lopez). One of them’s got to make the playoffs by default. It was disheartening to see the state of football in Brownsville last year. I only visited Sams Stadium a couple of times (not enough, if you’ve ever been privy to their hospitality) and both times longtime AD Joe Rodriguez was visibly disappointed. You could tell it hurt him to see the losses piling up. I like the new hirings at Hanna (Tom Chavez) Rivera (Jim Helms) and Porter (Robert Valdez). While I think any team from the Valley’s largest city is at least a year or two away from contending for the title, I do know that Brownsville football will be a heck of a lot better in 2007 .

 See, I told you I wasn’t sure.  

In talking to the Weslaco Panthers, you know senior running back Mishak Rivas is a special, once-in-a-lifetime athlete who reminds you of Reggie Bush.

But the rest of the team is pretty good, too. Just ask Coach Tony V.

“Coach Tony” has had some of the Valley’s best teams and athletes over his career, which includes successful stints at Port Isabel and PSJA North. You can add Rivas to the list of starts in Villarreal’s Slot-T system. But he doesn’t do it with just one player, and that certainly seems to be the case in Weslaco.

In talking to the team, you just get a special feeling about this squad. Sure, they’ve got Rivas, THE marquee name in Valley football now that Bradley Stephens has moved on to A&M.  But there’s a special air around this team, and they’ve got some athletes besides ‘Shak that will make an impact. Just to name one, junior quarterback Dylan DeLeon is set to add to his sensational sophomore season of a year ago. He’s a smart quarterback (smart being pretty much the only type that can effectively run the Slot-T) and he’s got great athleticism. He can make a lot of throws. If some of the Panthers’ wideouts can step up (a la Pepe Cabrera last year) this team will be dangerous once again. Oh yeah, and watch out for this Mishak Rivas kid. He’s pretty good too. 

This might be long for a blog, and I promise they all won’t be this long, but I’ve got something on my mind.

If you ever wondered how much of an impact high school football coaches (well, the good ones, anyway) have on their players and the community, put your ear to the ground right about now.

Whether it’s Edinburg’s Robert Vela courageously battling stomach cancer and defying death day after day, or San Benito coach Mario Peña suffering a painful broken leg/hip injury during practice,  just by asking around you can feel how much coaches, notably these two, are beloved, especially in the Rio Grande Valley.

Now by no means am I comparing Vela’s battle for life to Peña’s injury. We all know Vela needs more of our prayers at the moment. I merely mention both cases to prove that no matter what, the really good coaches (and these two definitely fall into that category) are beloved on AND off the field.

About Vela, I’ve only interviewed him once (last year after San Benito came back to win a 14-9 nailbiter win Week One) and he was gracious in defeat and really respectful, just like he’s always been to everyone. But this week I’ve heard so many stories of how he’s touched people’s lives and what people think of him. It’s truly remarkable. No doubt about it, Robert Vela is one of the good guys in Valley football. Always will be.

To see him on television earlier this week really saddened me. He’s lost a considerable amount of weight and the illness has taken its toll on him. But I just felt that he did not look like the Coach Vela we all know. That’s when the seriousness of this cruel disease sets in. I can’t even imagine how he and his family feel, but I know that I’m pulling very hard for him to beat this.

In Peña’s case, it’s painful to even imagine the pain he went though Thursday morning. It’s been a difficult year for the veteran coach, having undergone hip replacement surgery earlier this year, and now this? We always figured Peña was a tough, hard-nosed, no-nonsense kind of coach, but now there’s no doubt. He’s a strong man and I’m sure he’s appreciating all of the countless well-wishes he’s gotten over the weekend. I’ve talked to him on numerous occasions over the years and even though I don’t know him personally, I know him well enough to know that he’s a fighter and he’ll be coaching his ‘Hounds any way he can as soon as he can.

 Here’s to hoping both of these great coaches (and men) make it through these personal battles and back onto the field as soon as possible. One thing’s for sure: they’ve got the support of not only Bobcat and Greyhound fans, but Valley football fans in general.

{As it was reported Saturday, Coach Robert Vela succumbed to cancer at the age of 61. Being I only met him once, I’m glad and proud to say I shook his hand. Growing up on Valley football since I was a kid, it was like we all knew Vela.

Remember when local H-E-Bs had big blown up photos of the local football team as you exited the store? At Elsa’s small store (which I worked at for about 3 years) the photo of Vela in his black and gold leading La Maquina Amarilla long after he left in 96-97, five to six years to be exact. I remember asking someone why it was still up, and the response? “Cause that’s Coach Vela and the Jackets. That guy’s loved here.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. My condolences to the Vela and Edinburg Bobcat families. Coach, it was an honor and you will be missed. AG}

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