Jaguars bring the pain (to each other)
As preseason practice begins in earnest, Capital players eager to prove themselves
They don’t have shirts that read “Hardcore 24” or have a catchy slogan painted on the walls of the locker room, but maybe they should. The two dozen Capital High football players who showed up everyday during the summer to lift weights and drag railroad ties around the dirt outside reported, as always, for duty first thing Monday morning.
Monday was the day high school teams from around the state were allowed to take to the field for official preseason workouts. The season opener is Aug. 24 against Pojoaque Valley and time, she’s a tickin’.
“It was the same 24 guys who came here every day, put in a lot of hard work and dedication,” said Jaguars lineman Rogelio Cruz. “Kids came and left. I mean, it’s expected. Some can’t take it and some want more. Really, what it is, is wanting to be here because once you start to like this, everything starts to become easier.”
Teams must conduct five days of practice before going full-contact in pads and helmets. Monday’s three workouts were just the start of what promises to be an intense buildup to what the players affectionately call the “Toilet Bowl,” an intrasquad scrimmage this weekend in which the coaches conduct a draft and have a regulation game Saturday morning.
“You gotta be a little bit psycho to play this sport,” said linebacker Jacob Jiron, a player whose intensity showed during full-speed non-contact drills with the offense.
As players like running back Luke Padilla tore through the line with the ball tucked under his arm, Jiron would wield a thick yellow blocking pad like Thor’s hammer at anyone getting close to him.
“You gotta love coming out here and hitting your friends,” Jiron said. “Man, I love when this guy right here [Cruz] and I hit each other. I love when he rocks me and then I get up next play and I try to rock him. We don’t shy away from contact over here.” Capital actually had more than 30 players show up to Monday’s initial workout. Jaguars coach Bill Moon said he expects somewhere close to 40 play-
ers by time the opener rolls around, but those Hardcore 24 who have formed the bedrock are what give the Jaguars hope that this fall will be a second consecutive district title.
The day’s second practice was even more spirited than the first. Held under sunny skies and increasing heat that had some players dreading a third workout specifically for special teams, the strain of it all was actually the magic elixir for the guys who’ve stuck around on a daily basis since school let out in May.
They’d spent countless hours the last three months in the weight room, as well as outside tossing tractor tires and dragging bulky railroad ties back and forth.
“You’ve got to push past that mental block that’s in your head,” Jiron said, referencing the team’s tradition of metaphorically ringing a bell like a washedout Navy SEAL when things get too tough and a player feels the need to quit.
“I’m pretty sure all the new guys, they’re feeling it now,” said running back Leo Guzman. “But they won’t. If they’re Jaguars, they won’t ring the bell.”
It used to be that only Capital linemen were required to flip those heavy tires and drag the ties. Now everyone does it. They’ve done it so much that the harness the players used on the ties snapped, requiring a replacement.
“Linemen go hard, dude,” running back Luke Padilla said. “They have the most respect out of me.”
Before long, the hitting will finally commence, making Monday’s helmets-and-shorts dry run a distant memory — and that’s just fine with the Hardcore 24.
“It’s really great to have a second family to come and, like, hit each other and fight,” Cruz said. “But we’re doing everything for the team and the school.”