By Ramiro Paez

956sports.com

PHARR – PSJA North coach Bruce Bush is keeping his message to his players simple.

“It’s going to be a distance race, not a sprint,” Bush said.

And that’s how the Raiders are approaching the upcoming season.

In what will undoubtedly be a challenging year, PSJA North isn’t looking to push the envelope. The Raiders welcomes six new teams to District 31-5A that hardly qualify as knock offs. In it are three district champions and seven playoff teams from a year ago.

So PSJA North knows what they are in for this season.

“It’s going to be a challenge every week,” Bush said. “We got a tough grind.”

But this is about the only time you’ll catch the Raiders peeking ahead.

Bush says this season is about taking one game at a time. The Raiders open up the year with formidable opponents in Donna and Edcouch-Elsa then follow it with a date against defending District 32-4A champion Weslaco East in their district opener.

How they fare in those games will tell a lot about the Raiders’ chances down the road. One that they hope culminates with a district championship and return trip to the postseason.

“We have to go all in every time,” senior tight end E.J. Ruiz said. “Everybody has to be all in. That’s the motto that we like to use around here so we can reach our goals.”

Ruiz is one of 12 returning starters that will try to help lead PSJA North toward its first district championship since 2008 and past the bi-district round, where it fell to Brownsville Pace one year ago.

The Raiders haven’t enjoyed a league title since it shared the District 31-5A crown with Harlingen High, which hasn’t suffered a regular season loss since PSJA North last beat them during Bush’s return to the program. That same year the Raiders advanced to the area round and one upped that the following year with a regional semifinal appearance.

It’s those high expectations this season’s group is working hard to attain.

“We’ve been working harder than ever,” Ruiz said. “We’re going to take game-by-game. We can’t look too far ahead. We have to pay attention to what’s in front of us and continue to work hard.”

In addition to Ruiz, the Raiders bring back senior tailback Caleb Silva, who was a 1,000-yard plus rusher last season, and will debut Ryan Guerrero at quarterback. Bush says with Guerrero’s development so far and a good set of receivers stepping up, it will allow for more passing in the team’s conventional Slot-T scheme, where it’ll once again use speed and misdirection to help carry them.

The strength defensively will come in the secondary with senior cornerback Christian Hernandez there to lead the way.

Bush says it’s vital his experienced players are able to come through early to get the season started off on the right foot and avoid a bad start any 31-5A team can ill afford.

“Our returning starters have to find that leadership,” he said. “We have to get better every week and got to start out playing well to help us gain a lot of confidence. We’re expecting to win.”

Returning Offensive Starters: 6

Returning Defensive Starters: 6

Offensive Players to Watch: Caleb Silva, senior, RB; E.J. Ruiz, senior, TE; Andrew Benavidez, senior, OG

Defensive Players to Watch: Christian Hernandez, senior, CB; Junior Barbarena, junior, LB; Rudy Chapa, senior, DL

Last Year’s Record: 7-4

Last Time Made Playoffs: 2011 (bi-district, Brownsville Pace)