BY GREG SELBER

Every year some of his old college teammates from Austin College make the pilgrimage down to South Texas to see his ball team play. And the fact that he still has such awesome camaraderie with a group of pals from 20-plus years ago has made a lasting impact on Carlos Longoria.

“That’s a big deal to me, because many of them are living all over the United States,” said the Rio Grande City head coach. “It reminds me of the time reporters asked Tom Osborne of Nebraska what it was like after he won the national championship. Coach said that he’d been to the mountaintop, and there was nothing there. What he remembered was the blood, sweat and tears in practice, the rides to and from the games, and seeing his players come together as a team. That made a big impression on me.”

After his Rattler team has rattled off a three-game winning streak in his debut season out west, Longoria can say that as the season progresses, his unit is starting to build the sort of character through tests of fire that its members will be able to use their entire lives.

“The kids are doing it, they are learning the system, it’s all mental for us, always has been,” he said, following last week’s dominating performance against area rival Roma in a key 32-4A contest that gained Rio significant buzz around the Valley. “But more than that, we are starting to see steady progress all around, and to me, that’s the deal. I tell my kids if they go out there and do what they can do, make the best effort they can, the wins and losses will take care of themselves. We have faced some adversity and the kids haven’t folded, they have embraced the challenge and I feel like they are showing a lot of character.”

It was going to take more than a little bit of that element after a dreary 1-9 season in 2010 and a 0-2 start to this one. The Rattlers began with a 41-0 blowout defeat to Palmview (“We just went out there and forgot everything, it was like a Chinese fire drill”) and then suffered a narrow loss to La Joya in which they had a chance late but saw the winning TD pass called back on a penalty and then a pick to end it.

Longoria made sure to commiserate with his quarterback, converted linebacker Jeremy Rodriguez, telling the 185-pound senior that no one wins or loses a game by himself. For his part, JRod has not flinched, win or lose, said his mentor.

“I am so proud of that kid, because he had a lot of work to do, having never played the position,” said Longoria, a Hidalgo grad on his third head coaching stint after successful runs at Raymondville and Mission Vets. “He has come back in subsequent games and corrected his mistakes. Right now he is reading the defense, making calls at the line, and really leading us.”

THE CLIMB BEGINS

Rio got on the right track with Ws against Valley View and Mercedes, rising to 2-2. The Rattlers trailed the Tigers 14-7 before scoring a late TD in the second period; on the play, Rodriguez went to speedy Orly Oviedo for 38 yards and when the latter fumbled, Sergio Trevino was there to recover in the end zone, a magical moment that eventually led to victory. Mercedes then fell 39-28 as Rio churned up and down the field with ease, as it became more comfortable with the wide-open attack Longoria has installed.

Then it was time to gird for Roma, another Starr County club that has improved greatly in 2011 and came into the match at Joe R. Sanchez Stadium wanting to clobber its neighbor. For the first time in many moons, Starr County was one of the epicenters of Friday Night Light, Valley style.

“I have to say, we were more prepared, focused for that game than any team I have been associated with in over 20 years as a coach,” Longoria beamed.

After trading the lead in the first half the Rattlers got a key TD pass before halftime from Rodriguez to Ivan Amador, after a great throw to Cesar Alaniz had set it up. From there they dismantled the Gladiators 61-28, scoring 60 points for the first time since 1993 against Pharr North (61-12 win). They put 23 on the board in the second period with Rodriguez going 15 for 20 and kids flying out of the woodwork to make play after vital play. Lopez galloped for 91 yards and crafty possession receiver Roman Salinas made six catches.

This was the game where a 2-point conversion right before the half, the famous “Coach’s Nightmare” that Longoria learned from mentor Jim Hite at Raymondville, made the scene, to much publicity around the Valley media. Rugged back Darryl Lopez tossed the ball backward over his head with his back to the line, and the unorthodox completion acted as the final spark Rio needed to torch the Gladiators after intermission.

All of a sudden, the sky seemed the limit for a long struggling program whose last playoff victory came during the three-deep glory season of 1998. As District 32-4A has become a real dogfight for spots behind league favorites Weslaco East and Edcouch-Elsa, the Rattlers, with a bye week ahead before an all-important road trip to East, are right there in the picture.

Longoria would quibble with two parts of the previous statement.

“First off, we have goals, one to make the playoffs and the other to win district,” he noted. “You are doing a disservice to your kids if you prepare them to believe they are competing for anything less. That means although we are going up against one of the best teams in the Valley, we are going over there to win. If we fall short, but give all we have, that’s OK, but make no mistake, we never go into game thinking we won’t win.”

The other point: this is a long haul, and Rio will advance to the next challenge after East, with goals intact for the measure of the campaign.

“This is how it works,” Longoria explained. “We wanted the kids to celebrate after they beat Roma, because it was a big deal and they needed to be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But now that we are preparing for East, Roma is the past, and the kids understand that.”

To the coach, all these points on the curve are adding up to a line longer than simply sports.

“We have rebounded and shown improvement week to week, and we are starting to get healthy, the bye week will help us do that,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go, we’ve done something so far but I do not want us staying in that comfort space, we have to move forward.”

In essence, Longoria is teaching what he learned at Austin College and something that has always come in handy in his travels.

“Two things you can control, attitude and effort, and if the kids give their all, good things can happen. But what I am most proud of is that the guys are beginning to grow and change from the inside out. They are working hard, having fun, and showing what they are capable of. They’re unified. As educators, we cannot ask for anything more, they can’t pay us enough for that. It’s priceless.”

SCOUTING REPORT

The Rattlers can get up and down the field with the Spread offense, a new look for a program that has been an old-fashioned running team for most of its long history. Rodriguez and the offensive notables are running the new set better every week, and have become adept at crossing play-side action to spring misdirection plays into the open spots. They also employ motion (usually Lopez) to confuse defenders and set up all kinds of kinks and wrinkles from multiple angles.

It is easy to do that when you have power and speed like Rio does. The power is senior runner Lopez, who scored four times against Roma after having been slowed by a deep thigh bruise in preceding weeks.

“That’s ‘The Diesel, he’s really good,’” Longoria said of the 205-pound battering ram. “He also has good hands and vision, and runs hard. But he can also run away from you, he was the anchor on the 4×100 relay team last year. So he isn’t slow.”

The speed is another trackman, lightning-quick senior Orly Oviedo, a waterbug who can find the crack and exploit it with surprising force considering his slim build. He leads the team in catches and is a threat to go all the way every time he touches.

“We have some good weapons on offense,” agreed the coach, mentioning Alaniz and Joe Galvan as other receivers who have enjoyed considerable success on hookups from Rodriguez, a very accurate passer who is coming into his own at the right time.

“They are seeing things on the field now, and Jeremy especially, so that they can go up to the line and pick out a play, we have started to run 60 or 70 percent automatics right now, and that is a sign of learning.”

Longoria says the O-line has gotten better every day, and he praised its members

“If I had to pick out a few guys, maybe our senior guards, Luis Sanchez and Epi Chavera, they have done a great job so far…they all have, though.”

Defensively, Rio has been solid if unspectacular, with a horse up front in 245-pound lineman Ryan Garcia, and a hustling little cat at linebacker. Danny Garcia stands about 5-foot-5, but he has some bulk and will run and strike all night. He showed that against Roma, with quarterback pressures, hard hits in the middle, and a number of plays where he chased down pass receivers in the secondary. He’s a prime example of where Rio is at five games in: total effort, commitment to the program, and the will to play harder when the game gets close. The Underdog as Overachiever.

“So many ways we have shown improvement, from the veterans to the new kids,” Longoria said. “And when we have had some injuries, guys have stepped in and stepped up. We tell our kids that we have to keep moving, and that means everyone has to be ready to play.”

Before the Roma contest dawned, the Rattlers were clicking so well that the coaches cut their last couple of workouts short because they knew the crew was absolutely prepared.

“The hay was in the barn, you know what I mean? We were ready,” Longoria recalled. “That is the way it works when your kids are buying into the system, learning it, and using it, owning it. I don’t know what’s going to happen against East, they have a terrific program going over there and I go a ways back with their coach, Armando Cuellar. Got a lot of respect for that they have been able to do.

“Here we have a chance to compete in a big game, the kind of game a team wants to be in. Our kids here are starting to realize what they can accomplish, they’re seeing the big picture of the whole season unfolding. We respect East but we don’t fear them, and that’s the way it needs to be. We know that the outcome never truly determines who you are…the effort you put in does that. And yet, as I say, we are definitely going over there to win.”

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