Weight of expectations
Cardinals have gone 32-5 in past three years, finishing the regular season undefeated twice, winning one title
Every morning, Leroy Gonzalez wakes up early and takes a walk around Las Vegas Robertson’s football facility and soaks in the scenery. Lined with aluminum bleachers on one side and a cramped visitors press box on the other, the crown jewel is what lies in between; a natural grass field that is, to put it mildly, the ugliest thing of beauty the state has to offer. It’s on that uneven, clumpy and muddy surface that the most dominant team in Class 4A has made a living the past decade-plus.
“Greatest home field advantage in the state,” he said as his cross-trainers squished around in fresh mud and wet grass during Friday morning’s practice.
Combined with this week’s rain and a healthy soaking from the morning dosing of sprinklers, the field was a combination of lush green grass and small bogs of mud. It turned the players’ white practice uniforms into shifting shades of tan and green.
“No one wants to play on this thing except us,” Gonzalez said.
This fall will be no different. The consensus top team in 4A this preseason, Robertson returns half a dozen starters on either side of the ball from a team that reached the state championship game for a second straight year. The Cardinals have gone 32-5 the past three years, finishing the regular season undefeated twice.
All they have to show for it is the fictional title of Best Team that Almost Won It. Three years ago, Robertson followed a state title run with a stunning firstround loss.
Two years ago, the Cardinals reached the finals but lost on the road at Hatch Valley. A year ago produced another 10-0 regular season that ended with a loss at Portales in the title game.
Each loss stung in its own unique way. Each of them has left an indelible mark on everyone within the program.
“We don’t want another one of those bus rides home with guys crying on the way back,” said quarterback Arjay Ortiz, a senior who carries the weight of expectations with every snap he takes.
A versatile runner who has developed nicely as a deep threat passer, he commands an offense that will spread things out and stretch the field more than usual this season.
While the Cardinals’ familiar ground-and-pound will be their defining characteristic, more speed at the skill positions will free things up for Ortiz.
At running back is Santiago Gonzales, a junior who will get the majority of the carries ahead of Matthew Baca and Antonio Padilla. Padilla will spend time at the slot along with a host of others.
Clearing the road is a physical line crammed tight with no-nonsense blockers like 280-pound guard Babatunde Okundaye, 200-pound center Juan Marcos Dominguez and 260-pound tackle Brooks Pavlic, not to mention co-captain Darian Duran at the other guard spot.
There were fewer than four dozen players in the team’s preseason camp, which wrapped up two-a-days Friday.
The lack of numbers compared to other programs has never been an issue and won’t be again this fall.
“I think we have the chance to be pretty good,” Gonzalez said. “Every year we lose seven, eight, nine seniors and every year we have a group of younger guys come through here to fill those positions like they never left.”
That trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
After having taught physical education at the nearby elementary, Gonzalez said the pipeline that has produced eight district titles and seven trips to the state championship game in the last 16 years will go on without a hiccup.
What he also likes is the unshakable work ethic. Despite missing about 10 players Friday because of the county fair, he pulled the team together after practice and told them he was rewarding them for two weeks of demanding workouts by giving them the afternoon off. The message was received in typical Cardinals fashion.
“Kind of sad knowing we can’t come back out here,” Dominguez said. “Every one of us wants to put in the work. I think we’d rather be here than anywhere else.”
“Small town like this, we want to be on this field as a family than sitting at home playing video games or something,” Ortiz said. “That’s just the way we think.” TEAM NOTES
The Cardinals will scrimmage Tucumcari at home next weekend. … The preseason varsity roster has only 40-45 players on it; standard fare for a school with an enrollment of about 400 students. … Gonzalez is 65-26 in seven years as the head coach.
The school’s all-time leader for wins is Art Abreu with 75.