BY GREG SELBER
EDINBURG – At about 11 bells Friday night, it was all over, a barely visible mist wafting silently over Cats Stadium and only a few ECISD policemen on the grounds. That, and a gang of custodians wearily scanning the litter that awaited them. While a stray hot dog wrapper danced around on the artificial turf, two players stood at the 50-yard line, taking it all in.
They were Heltrin Reyes and Alex Chavez, a couple of senior leaders on defense for the Edinburg North Cougars, and they had lingered long after the area-round playoff game had ended in victory, quietly catching their breath and slowly beginning to put the pieces together.
Both had keyed a stop crew that limited Sharyland to 330 yards and 24 points, both numbers well below the average the Rattlers had amassed in going 11-0 to date. Each had had a hand in stopping Scott Meyer in the Red Zone four times, including twice in the final five minutes.
The performance sends North into the third round of the state playoffs for the first time in school history, another comeback in a season of cardiac finishes that have kept the Gold crowd in tears of both kinds in 2009. But these two, old friends from way, way back, were more interested in a shared story of redemption.
As with all classic tales, this one is relatively unknown. For Chavez, it is a chronicle he didn’t mind parsing, because he’s the sort of garrulous guy, at times a bit of a wise apple, who will talk, and talk, and always say something insightful, indeed sometimes inciteful, if that’s a word.
“Every day I wondered, when was I going to come back, when was I going to come back?” said the athletic defensive back who made nine tackles and an interception in the 28-24 triumph. “Sometimes it was like, am I going to come back?”
The Observer was not interested in the particulars that led to Chavez’ exit from the roster out of summer ball. These are high school kids, remember, and as such, their personal business is, well, their personal business. But suffice to say that Chavez started the season by not starting the season. One of the team’s most promising kids was AWOL.
“I guess I had just lost the spark, you know what I mean,” he said pensively. “But as the year began I was watching, and I saw all my brothers – these teammates, I call them that, we all feel that way – and I began to realize that they needed me, and I needed them.”
At this point, Reyes, the tiny terror of a tackle who started slowly Friday but ended with a bang, leading the charge that turned Meyer and the Snakes away at the door when it counted most, interceded.
As irrepressibly gabby as Chavez is, Reyes stands alone at the polar extreme, a man of few words who makes up in 110-mph intensity what he gives away in debate points. But, he had something to add.
“You know what…I called him every day asking him, “When are you going to come back?’” With this, he looked at his pal, as if reliving those moments, and a hard glance from Heltrin Reyes is enough to melt through a bank vault door. Then he softened, as if in his mind he was remembering what it felt like to have his buddy back and in the fray.
To cap a story that could ramble on if we allowed it to, Chavez made the tough decision to try and work his way back onto the squad, starting at the bottom to win back his team’s respect and show that he was going to be a square shooter the rest of the way, which he has done.
“If you see your brother needs you, you charge in and you help,” Chavez repeated. “It was after we lost to Sharyland the first time and I said, ‘This is it.’ So I went in there and committed, worked as hard as I could to get back, and now, well, it’s all worth it.”
Chavez admits that one of the reasons he did the heavy lifting it took to crawl his way into a return had to do with a consideration of life down the road.
“I didn’t want to have any regrets, and I have seen a lot of guys, on TV or in real life, who are always walking around saying, ‘What if?’ Well, that isn’t my style, not at all.”
So often we reduce football to pragmatism, to hits and touchdowns, results or lack thereof. And by engaging in this sort of reductionism, we can whiz right by the truly inspirational tales. For Chavez’ return to the fold is somewhat a parable for all those kids out there who make decisions they wish they could have back, but then do nothing to make amends and change history. He went the other, tougher route and is beginning to make some key connections about actions and words in this life, and it is gratifying to see.
The growth is at once tangential and yet absolutely related to sports, because without football, perhaps the senior star would not be connecting the dots that will probably form a life’s picture a bit more clear than the one staring him in the face six months ago.
“I am not saying that the team is winning because of me, far from it,” he stressed, eyes widening for effect. “But what I am saying is that I wanted to be with the team, win or lose…if we lose, we go down together. That’s what it’s all about.”
WHAT’S THAT STUFF IN THE AIR, DUDE?
So fall, or what passes for it in the sun-kissed Winter Garden, arrived this week in earnest. Before North welcomed Shary to town for a rematch of the Week One battle won by the Rattlers 24-10, the rain teased everyone. It came in thin sheets, traveling nearly horizontally across the field out of the northwest, and while it wasn’t a very cold night on the thermometer, most of the packed house at Cats Stadium, unaccustomed to the routine, shivered consistently as the teams warmed up.
If it kept up, what alchemy would the wet stuff construct for the second-round war between high-scoring, athletic units? The Rattlers came to town after a 46-13 win over an overmatched Laredo Alexander bunch in bi-district. Led by their handsome senior signal-caller Meyer – a curly-headed Steve Young ringer with a body fashioned from part steel, part granite – they seemed like a good bet to make it two in a row against North, which came in 8-3 after dogging Los Fresnos last week, 60-27. Fred Sanchez brought the group to the second round as one of the top 20 scoring teams in Valley history, a senior-laden squad who had been to the third round of the dance in 2008, losing to San Antonio Clark.
All year long the Snakes had charmed their way to win after win, with Meyer rushing for over 1,500 yards, passing for better than 1,000, and getting outstanding contributions from a number of other stellar offensive performers.
“Harlingen, Harlingen, Harlingen!” (“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” for you ‘70s TV hounds). That’s all they’d heard all season, and quite frankly, Sharyland believed that it had a team every bit as good as the high-profile Cards. In order to prove it Friday, they would have to hew closely to the teachings of their mentor, Sanchez, a playoff regular with a crack staff of experts that perennially plumbs the optimal from the kids.
“We are not even thinking about the first time we played this team,” Sanchez said as he wiped a mist-drop off his generous goatee. One also landed on his glasses. “This is the playoffs, and the regular season is over, so we don’t talk about beating a team twice or whatever. This is a new game, plain and simple.”
North, meanwhile, was in the midst of the program’s third straight Second Season try, after having been walloped two years in a row in bi-district. To take the daunting step into the third round, the Coogs would have to beat the best, and Roy Garza would not want it any other way.
“Hey, we’re glad to be here,” said the North coach beforehand. “But it’s not enough to just be here, we have to compete and we have to give ourselves a chance to win. Your program sends a message every time it steps on the field. So here we are.”
Along with threatening skies, the fates also conspired to pit the combatants against a strong breeze, and as the game began, North was the first to run afoul of the ill wind blowin’ no good. The first of an alarming number of penalties went against the Cougars, holding, and when Munoz went back to punt from his own 9, he got off a sick child of a kick, going 12 yards to set the Rattlers up 29 yards away from the first scratch.
Meyer, who runs like a sleek train but also like the aforementioned wind (he’s an award-winning trackman, after all) made it look easy with thrusts of six and 14 down to the 9. But from there, he tossed an interception to the Prodigal Son, Chavez, dooming the initial chance at momentum.
Sanchez’ group made it to this stage unbeaten partly because it has been plus-22 in turnovers in 2009, but would give it away three times via interceptions Friday. Meyer takes an unfair rap as just an average passer; the truth is that he doesn’t have a super arm, but throws well against the grain and has a quick release.
Still, North had survived the first Danger Zone, and then set out from the 7, intent on starting fast, something it has just not done with much consistency this year. Munoz, who came into the game with nearly 2,000 yards passing and over 1,000 on the ground, moved the club to five first downs with a balance of run and pass, with the North o-line taking charge up front like the pundits assumed it might. Bruising senior Simon Edwards, who has become an integral part of the Gold run these days (141 yards versus P-SJ-A Memorial and 171 against Los Fresnos in bi-district) burst loose for a 25-yarder and North reached the Shary 25.
The Rattler D, strong in back for sure and with fast linebackers, came up big with some stops, as junior down lineman Robert Garcia and classmate Gonzalo Ordorica dumped Edwards for plus-1 on second down. After a third-down incompletion from Munoz (10 of 23, a pick…not his best outing, in fact probably his worst), Alan Guajardo trotted on to try a 42-yard field goal against the wind. He had made five three-pointers coming in, but this one was short, with Gus Cantu fielding the ball in the end zone and racing out to the Rattler 47.
It was a case of nerves early on for both sides, and the officials noticed. Shary was called for three penalties this possession, with North giving two first downs away on a personal-foul call (roughing on Meyer near the visitor sideline) and a defensive-offside boo-boo on 3rd and 4. Out of this mess, the Rattlers emerged at the 8, after a 24-yard pass to backup QB Bobby Moran (the junior in waiting for the job in 2010) was good for a first down.
Then the North D dug in, with linebacker Alan Garza (12 tackles to lead all players Friday) cranking Meyer for minus-1 and Josh DeLuna copying that move on third down. Shary has one of the area’s best legs in Joey Martinez, and the sophomore casually booted a 23-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead to begin the second period.
To this point, some chances, many mistakes, and so much for the scoreboard-igniting sprintfest most folks had anticipated. This happens in the playoffs, history reminds. The points get harder to come by as the rounds lap past.
Though they would experience nothing short of the torture of the damned in terms of special teams most of the night, the Coogs then got a fine kick return from senior Juan Ramirez, who motored from his 17 all the way to the Snake 48.
On the next play, Edwards was gone, 48 yards up the gut of the defense, for a 7-3 lead at 10:57. The burly back has now neared the 1,000-yard mark after 198, a career high, against Sharyland. After tearing Los Fresnos apart for 438 yards rushing last week, the Coogs have rediscovered the running game at the right time; with Munoz dashing into the secondary off the zone read and Edwards breaking long runs with his surprising speed and studied hole selection, the Coogs are anything but one-dimensional.
But as stated, North covered kicks wearing Swiss cheese pads, and only an illegal block in the ensuing kick avoided a Shary possession starting deep in Coogland. Meyer and mates went nowhere, with Moises Beltran making a big stick and Bryan Trevino (seven stops, three passes defensed) doing it on the corner against exciting senior Chris Zuniga (23 yards a catch coming in) for a breakup.
The Shary D has taken a backseat to its offensive counterparts this year, but has allowed just 321 yards per game. This unit held the foe well on the next sequence as engaging YouTube entrepreneur Sergio Raygada slamming Munoz down before he could get going. Munoz would account for 69 yards on the ground, and that is without 75 yards in gains called back by two of the 10 penalties the team suffered through.
As they look to the third round match against the winner of Saturday’s San Antonio Brandeis-Pflugerville match, the Coogs have some work to do on discipline and again, on special teams.
Having been held to three points for the half, a low for the year, Sharyland mounted a serious charge in the waning minutes of the first. Meyer gutted out a 3rd-down rush for a stick mover, and then Ricky Mata caught a ball. He is one of the unsung heroes this season, just ask Brownsville Hanna. In the season-opening win against the Eagles, the junior quickster had started the 2009 ball rolling with a 70-yard TD run and a 60-yard catch for six early in a 37-29 win.
To the 10 went Meyer’s Machine, thanks to a 26-yard gainer to Zuniga, a nice piece of faking at the line and tossing across his body by Meyer. But Beltran saved the day for the Coogs on the enemy’s third penetration (quaint old phrase, that) with a 7-yard sack of the QB. North has gained steam on D each week and was ready for the shifty Meyer, who would rush for 134 yards but need 27 carries to do so; he was held to negative-10 yards on his last five totes late in the game, stay tuned for that.
After the sack, senior Manny Garcia stole one in the end zone on an errant Meyer throw and soon the teams went to the lockers. It had stopped misting, as it often does in the Valley, where during what we call winter, schoolkids occasionally don their heavy coats in the morning but end up sweating bullets with their gear tied around their waists by leave-teaking time. The only people who comfortably wear Midwest togs around here are not people, they’re mannequins at the mall.
No rain, and no rain of points. What was going to happen next?
THAT’S MORE LIKE IT, PART TWO
After such a pedestrian half ending with North up, 7-3, surely there would be more exciting football forthcoming, although let’s face it, any time two teams get together for sudden death, it’s compelling, no matter that the score. This was the only game in the Valley, with Harlingen, Mission, and Pharr North playing out of area.
District 31-5A whipped its counterpart in the Lower Valley four times in bi-district, and by the end of the night Friday would be sending three of the four on to the third round (with Edinburg set to take in Del Rio tonight). Sharyland, the king of a 30-5A circus that resembled more the madcap, pass-crazy, defense-averse early-1960s AFL more than a little, was nonetheless determined to score one for the Upper Valley league.
The Rattlers came out raring to go and after Mata zoomed 65 yards with the opening kick it was first and 10 for the visitor at the North 33. This time the penetration drew blood, as in four snaps the Snakes had danced into the lead, with Mata scooting 21 yards left to right on the motion give at 10:07. He has to be one of the quickest players in the Valley, and is pretty tough for a little guy. Look for Mata to assume the lion’s share of the duties in 2010, along with Moran, a superb athlete himself.
Now 10-7, and off we go, because North needed just three plays to go 70 yards, after Ramirez’ 17-yard run out of the slot, a rare breakout from Munoz for 28, and a beautiful laser beam on the post pattern to Jordan Quiroz, who sailed past Shary DB Jerry Cavazos for a 25-yard sixer at 9:09.
Hey, we have something here, people.
Next it was Meyer, from 49 yards out, after one play, after the kickoff.
Somewhere in the bowels of the Echo Hotel after the game, the Coog postgame party was on tap, and though the rooters, coaches, and community types who routinely gather at the iconic meeting place after each contest would be celebrating the first trip in school history to regionals, there was probably more. How about a collective WTF in regard to the team’s inability to cover a kick, and later, to even make one.
Three times in the second half the Coogs would blow a pooch-kick try, giving the Rattlers so much short field that they could/should have put six TDs on the board, instead of the three they managed.
Garza said that the team figured it could not contain the dangerous Rattler return men, and this was borne out from the first-half debacle. But the Coogs made a hash of their kickoffs and almost lost this game because of it.
After taking the 14-10 lead, North gave up the stunning Meyer run to the house, the drive starting at the Coog 49 after a botched pooch that looked more like an onside kick.
After the Coogs came roaring back down 17-14, scoring on Munoz’s 3-yard run early in the fourth (this after Marcos Perez had ended the previous North try with a pick at his own 16) they blew it again, with the Snakes in business at their own 49. The decision to kick short made sense, but the execution was not there.
So leading 21-17, the Coogs went back to work on defense, but from near midfield the Rattlers surged. Zuniga and Moran snagged balls for first downs and then seldom-used senior J.R. Rivera made the highlight reel with a tough run for a first on 3rd and 1, to the Coog 14. Came 3rd and 12, and Mata came through with a 16-yard score which gave his mates the lead once again, 24-21 at 6:49 of the fourth. From a hard-hitting but sloppy flagfest in the first, the teams had regained their composure and begun to perform like two of the top units in the Valley should.
Just then, more flaggery, a couple of personal fouls on one kickoff, with Ed North beginning at the Shary 42; the howling from the Red side was deafening, however, the makeup call was in the offing.
Munoz converted a 3rd-down run to the 30 and then he hooked up with Danny Cardenas for a 30-yard score that would stand up as the game-winner…but not before all kinds of confusing mayhem. Cardenas hauled in 22 passes the first 10 games, adding four for 77 against Los Fresnos with a score. Friday, the hurdling standout led the team with five grabs, good for 58 yards, as Munoz, struggling somewhat all game long, came up with the throws he needed to carry the banner high.
As North kicked off amid a hush from the stands, it was a blooper that was fielded by Shary, whereupon the Coog return team slammed into him for 15 yards extra; another 15 was tacked on for unsportsmanlike conduct, and amazingly, the Coogs had aimed at their foot and pulled the trigger. Shary was 23 yards away, with the win out in front.
Chavez had other plans, as he combined with Garza to deck Meyer for no gain, and Arthur Perez, one of the guys who sat out considerable time this year with injuries, made the play of his life for a minus-2 on Meyer, who was by this time running for his health against a North D that had found the range, siphoned off the use of Mata and the other weapons, and turned downright nasty. Beltran gloved a Meyer toss with 2:59 left after a killer rush, and it looked like curtains for the unbeatens.
However, Rattler teams are always resourceful, and clutch groups in the main. They held the Coogs to one first down, burned their timeouts down to none, and had one last effort from the North 31; Munoz’d thought about running from punt formation after a high snap on 4th and 20, and the hesitation burned him. His punt shanked sickeningly off the side of his foot, for a 7-yarder. Munoz had appeared to seal the deal with a wild 45-yard run on the possession, but the flag for holding went up even before he had cleared the line of scrimmage. Snakes alive, this ain’t over yet.
From the 31, Zuniga gained seven on a quick flip but second down was incomplete with Andrew Escobedo defending for the home side. Third down was the play of the night, as Reyes from one end and De Luna from the other caved in on Meyer as he dropped back and tried to spring through a sliver of a hole in the middle. After that minus-2, practically the whole North D chased Meyer from sideline to sideline on an interminable fourth-down play that symbolized the sort of relentless pressure the Cougars were able to bring for much of the night. They’d bent enough to break for four penetrations outside of the three scores, continually having to clean up the special teams mess and keep on truckin’.
But when De Luna and Reyes flushed a madly cantering Meyer right to left, Beltran and junior Robert Rodriguez (eight stops) finally upended the Shary star on the Red sideline, a minus-4 for the visitor and the third round for the Coogs resulting.
SURPRISES ALL AROUND
This is how Sharyland missed out on setting the school record for wins (there were also 11 in 2003), and dropped to 14-15-3 lifetime in the Second Season. Sanchez knows his team could have very easily won this one, save for the failures inside the 20.
“We had too many turnovers to win, that’s obvious,” said the well-respected leader whose team has been a classy contender for many years now, and a district champ in 2009 for the first time on the Class 5A level. “You can’t expect to have a good game, especially in the playoffs, when you turn it over and come away with no points like we did. Give credit to North for some of that, because they had a solid game defensively.”
His counterpart, Garza, was thankful to have survived amid the kick tricks which went awry; he praised his defense and was interested in discussing what the win means for the program.
In five years at North, Garza (look real fast at Sanchez and back again at Garza and you might be seeing double, at least in the face) has patiently constructed a winner. The Coogs were in the dumps, with an 8-29 mark from 2003 to 2006, averaging a paltry 14 points a game. Garza took over, began to teach the kids what it takes to win on a consistent basis, and his last three editions have banged away at a 31-point clip through three postseason appearances.
“We were always trying to get our kids to leave something behind for the younger ones, to show them what it’s all about as far as work ethic goes,” said the amiable Garza, who is known for his almost fatherly manner and yet for summoning a stern taskmaster mentality when he needs it. “This year we have a lot of character, we have come back many times when people thought we would lose and the seniors are playing like they don’t want to stop playing.
“That’s what it takes, a total commitment to football and the team. Yes, our kicking game was an eyesore, but we got those defensive stops when we needed them. When your program is a winning one, you are able to make it out of some of those troubles and still win.”
As he spoke in the postgame din, Garza received a firm handshake from a legendary man who knows all about building a winning program. Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Famer Richard Flores, who piloted the Edinburg Bobcats to three straight third-round appearances in the 1980s, congratulated the Coog mentor for his squad’s accomplishment.
“Coach, you are the first to take the Cougars into the third round,” said Flores, as Garza smiled silently. “Way to work!”
All the Coogs were fired up while many Redclads were crying on the other side of the divider. Playoff football tends to bring out the best in us all, from coaches to fans, to the kids themselves. The Rattlers left zero out on the field Friday, and though they are through for 2009, can head into the holidays knowing that they’ve made a good-size sent in the Valley football record books. Watching Meyer writhe in anguish at the sudden fact that his illustrious high school grid career was at a close was almost too much to bear. However, it is definitely part of the ride and difficult to handle, yes, but it must be handled.
The kid has skills but also character, and he is much-loved in the Sharyland universe. Someone had to take the gas Friday and it was No. 13’s crew.
It was not, on the other hand, No. 43’s turn to expire. Alex Chavez, the free spirit who bounced into the program with a bang and exited as quickly, only to return in a blaze of glory, has shown what the sport of high school football means to those with the patience to glean its nuanced textures from the pile of clippings exhorting numbers, numbers, and again, the torrent of numbers.
When Garza showered his group with accolades for having the character to come back and win this area-round thriller, he was surely including his mercurial safety in the mix. He’s earned it.
So there were Reyes and Garza, probably playing their last game at Cats Stadium (flip details unknown at this wee and weary hour) and not wanting to miss a drop of future nostalgia.
They slapped hands, laughed over some such yuck – something no one will ever know about, and it doesn’t matter – and then it was time to take off. It was akin to the last day of junior high school, where kids hang around mainly because they are uncertain of what will come next, and are apprehensive about the journey to come. But again, it was not like that, because for now the Coogs know where they’re headed. To the storied heights of the regional round of the state football playoffs.
So when one of the district cops hollered at Reyes, each of the Coogs knew that he wasn’t in trouble. Cool!
“You wanna take this, Heltrin? It’s the flag.”
And yes, there was the symbolic cloth, which the team has carried out onto the green with every challenge in 2009, the waving gold icon that stands as a reminder of why the team is doing what it’s doing. Somehow, it had been left behind amid all the hubbub.
The defenders of the realm glanced at one another. Chavez nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll take it,” said Reyes, trotting over to the sidelines where the officer stood, pointing down at the flag.
They’ll take it, and they’ll be able to use it next week, further they will need it. Because the North Coogs are movin’ on, brother. Movin’ on to the rare air!
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