Line on McCurdy? Improve in trenches
Offense must make up for lost summer workout time in order to pave way for veteran skill position players
TESPAÑOLA here’s a scar that runs diagonally from Raul Arroyo’s left elbow down toward the outside of his forearm. Discolored slightly from his normal skin tone, it’s a permanent remnant of a time he’d just as soon forget. It stems from a play late in McCurdy’s 2017 football season when the reeling Bobcats were en route to their seventh loss in eight games.
Arroyo was, as always, in on a play that involved an opposing ball carrier being dragged to the ground. The team’s leading tackler with over 110 stops in just seven-plus games, Arroyo had his season end in an instant when his hand planted into the grass to brace his weight and a lineman fell on top of him from behind. Broken arm. Surgery. Rehab. “Even after it happened, I wanted to keep playing,” he said. “I screamed for, like, three seconds and then one of the coaches told me to be tough so I quit yelling and kind of thought about it. I went to the sidelines and wanted to be back out there.”
It’s that attitude that McCurdy head coach Ron Gallegos hopes will spread to the rest of his players. After a 3-7 campaign ended without a playoff run, all 11 starters return to a senior-laden roster that has just 20-some players. “On a good day, 22, 25,” Gallegos said. Most others, it’s closer to 14 or 15. It’s frustrating for the core of seniors who make up the heart and soul of the team. They are players like Arroyo and Brando Lovato, Jacob Martinez and Nico Valdez, Clyde Ortiz and Ernesto Martinez. Four of those six were firstteam all-district a year ago while the others were honorable mention.
They all spoke Thursday about a summer spent with a handful of teammates,
namely most of the linemen, not reporting for offseason work. It has left the offense and its run-pass attack well behind the pace of the defense and it’s base 5-2 scheme.
“It’s rough because you only get to
do this once in your life, you know?” said senior receiver Ernesto Martinez, one of a handful of skill players who would benefit the most from having an offensive line block for him. “Most of us have been playing together since eighth grade so, yeah, it would be nice to have everybody out here when we need them.”
Gallegos is a big fan of his defense. Arroyo and Lovato are listed as linebackers, but they’re closer to the Brian Urlacher inspired Lobo position from his college days, one in which each player basically roams anywhere from free safety to the line.
That freedom to wreak havoc makes the Bobcats’ defense a well-adjusted, physical group with players like Valdez and Ortiz up front and Jacob Martinez on the outside as an edge pass rusher. “I was born a defense-kind of guy, so that’s always going to be my thing,” Gallegos said. “We’re not going to be one of those play-the-pass defenses because we really don’t have to. We’ve got a lot of speed and there are enough players there to cover the entire field when we have to. I’m not worried about the defense.”
What he is worried about is the schedule. Preseason numbers are so low for district opponents Questa and Newcomb that the 10-game slate might slide to eight. “I think a lot of us feel like we kind of got cheated out of a playoff spot last year,” said running back Jacob Martinez. “We’ve been thinking about that a lot and, yeah, we feel like maybe we can be a playoff team if people will let us.”
Team notes
Pumping iron: Gallegos was happy to get his team into its new weight room inside the gymnasium. It’s not fancy by any means;
all the equipment was just moved from one room to another, but the location inside the gym makes it easier for the players to access.
Gallegos also got a deal with a local 24-hour fitness center that
allows anyone 17 and over to work out for free. When asked if anyone has been taking advantage of that deal, a group of players at Thursday’s practice just laughed.
New surroundings: McCurdy
drops from 3A to 2A as part of the state’s latest realignment. The only team that remains in the same district is Dulce. Gallegos hopes it snaps a trend of losing records in four of the past five seasons.