(Photos by Mathew Zuniga)
Bobcat QBs
Rio Hondo Bobcat quarterbacks Eli Pitones, senior, and Joshua Gonzalez, junior are seen during two-a-days practice on Tuesday.
By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS
RIO HONDO – New classification, new district, new logo, but same tough Bobcats.
About 109 players hit the field Tuesday in Rio Hondo as workouts for the 2014 high school football season got under way the day prior.
Seventh-year head coach Rocky James (38-30 career record in six seasons) was upbeat as usual and with good reason. Although just four starters are back on offense, a whopping nine return for the Bobcat D, which will key a group eyeing to improve on last year’s 4-7 record.
“Everything’s been going great,” the coach said at Tuesday’s morning practice. “Our kids are getting after it and are in shape. Our offseason workouts the past three weeks had about 75 kids each day so it’s been great.”
Players worked in position groups and possessed something noticeably absent last year: Speed. There was plenty of it from the backs and receivers group to the linebackers and even offensive line, which James said will be a different unit this season.
“We’re gonna be a lot quicker this year, especially our o-line,” James said. “We felt that kinda held us back last year, but they’re much quicker and able to move better so our offense can do more things.”
Among the returners on offense is senior quarterback Eli Pitones, who threw for 1,244 yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago. Under the close eye of quarterbacks coach Ron Leach, Pitones was airing it out on Tuesday sans shirt, oblivious to the scorching sun. Pitones threw several crisp passes over the middle while alternating with junior Joshua Gonzalez. Gonzalez was also impressive, putting a nice touch on several passes as well.
“Eli’s looking good, and so is Josh,” James said. “Those two are battling it out right now.”
The running game looked familiar with senior Marco Garate and junior Alan Alfaro getting a lion’s share of totes at practice. Senior wideout Derek Salazar, one of the four returnees on offense, said taking their lumps as underclassmen has helped this year’s Bobcats become more seasoned as they eye a return to district supremacy.
“We’ve had a couple of rough seasons for us but our energy’s high right now,” Salazar said. “We’ve seen it all and learned from our experience like what to do and not to do and our juniors and young guys are hungry, too. We’re always expecting to go get a district championship and go deep in the playoffs.”
Defensively is where Rio Hondo expects to shine early. Nine starters are back and they are especially deep at linebacker, headed by middle linebacker Daniel Flores. Last year’s unit was depleted by injuries and saw some youngsters move up to fill the ranks. The good news with that is that many saw action and won’t be afraid of Friday nights.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats are in the new 16-4A Division-II district along with Orange Grove, West Oso, Port Isabel, Raymondville and Progreso. While last year, the Tarpons far and away took South Texas by storm with their season-laden group, many expect them to fall back to the pack to create an ultra-competitive group.
Rio Hondo will work in shorts, shirts and helmets until Friday, the first day teams are permitted to work in full pads. They’ll go until their first scrimmage on Aug. 15, when they will host Brownsville St. Joseph at Bobcat Stadium. Junior varsity starts it off at 5 p.m. while the varsity scrimmage will follow at 6:30 p.m.
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