Gonzalez had high hopes for season Central Falls senior was excited for fresh start on diamond
CENTRAL FALLS – When Luis Gonzalez went back to Central Falls just after Labor Day late last summer, he had an ambitious plans for his senior year.
He had it all figured out – at least in his dreams.
First, the talented quarterback wanted to defend the Warriors’ Division III Super
Bowl championship from the previous autumn, then he hoped to help propel the varsity basketball team deep into the playoffs this past winter.
And, when that campaign ended, he planned to star for the varsity baseball program, despite the fact he only had one season under his belt.
As it all panned out, Gonzalez and the Warriors football team ended the D-III regular season 3-4 and failed to make the playoffs. This past winter, the Warriors’ fought tooth-and-nail to earn a D-III playoff bid, achieved that goal at 7-11, but then suffered an early exit with a 68-55 loss to Toll Gate.
That’s all why Gonzalez had so looked forward to the baseball team this spring.
“I was a senior, I was going to be a captain with Darryl Fleurantin and Jaquell Christal, and I really couldn’t wait to play,” he said. “We were going to have a new coach (Tito Santos) and new assistants; we had some practices and looked pretty good. There was a totally different vibe this year, you could feel more energy, more excitement. Everyone seemed more focused.
“But then they canceled the season (due to the COVID-19 outbreak), and I was so disappointed,” he added.
“We were going to have a new coach (Tito Santos) and new assistants; we had some practices and looked pretty good. There was a totally different vibe this year, you could feel more energy, more excitement. Everyone seemed more focused.”
— Central Falls senior Luis Gonzalez
“I thought I was going to grow as a second baseman, and maybe even a pitcher. I thought the team was going to be so much better. Once they said we couldn’t go back to school, would have to get ‘distance learning,’ as each day passed, I could feel myself becoming more distant from the sport.
“I just didn’t care about the game as much as I had. I went from one end of the spectrum to the other; it’s too bad.”
Gonzalez indicated that he never took the game seriously as a freshman or sophomore, as he was delegated to the junior-varsity club.
“Those were the first years I had ever played baseball,” he explained. “I talked to some of my coaches, and they said I should play baseball. I knew if I didn’t do anything in the spring, I’d be out of shape for football, and I obviously didn’t want that.
“And my quarterbacks coach, Brandon Canuto, told me he wanted me to keep my arm fresh for football, and playing baseball would help with my passing,” he continued. “It made sense. I mean, football has always been my favorite sport, followed by basketball, but I had grown to love baseball. I started varsity (at second) as a junior, but I felt like a freshman.
“Everyone else had so much experience, but then I really got to know what I was doing last (spring), and I thought that this year, I could have grown to love the sport even more than basketball. I had developed such a bond for the sport. “Now a lot of that is gone.” What hurts even more? This would have been, he said, his final athletic endeavor ever. Now, with th cancellation, his high school sports career is over.
Gonzalez, however, defines resiliency, and he’s planning on dealing with his disappointment by throwing himself into his second love – carpentry. That’s one of the reasons he won’t attend college but MTTI; he wants to chase that trade. In fact, he’s already begun.
“I want to be a carpenter because I’ve developed a love for it,” he stated. “Woodworking, building things, fixing up homes; I like it because you can get so creative with it. It never gets boring. I don’t have my own workshop, but I plan to have one someday.
“I’ve been interested in it for the past four years now. A couple of years ago, I worked with a guy named Ken – he lives here in Central Falls – and my buddy Jason and I helped him build a gazebo. We also did some other odd jobs with him. We worked with him for a couple of summers.
“Then, my junior year, I worked for a guy named Kevin, and we did a home renovation. He had bought a house in Pawtucket and we wanted to fix it up, so we did. I helped with a complete home renovation, which is crazy to say. I learned a lot from working in the field. My eventual goal is to graduate, start my own business, buy some houses, renovate them and then rent them or sell them.”
When he does look back on his athletic career at CF, he says he won’t remember the statistics but more the moments before, during and after practices and games.
In his three football seasons as the Warrior varsity quarterback (he played for the CF Panthers youth team as a freshman), he accumulated 142 completions in 275 attempts for 2,770 games and 38 touchdowns in 25 games. He threw only 15 picks.
His finest campaign came in the banner year of 2018, when he – in 12 games – connected on 66 of 119 aerials for 1,412 yards and 23 scores while throwing only three interceptions.
For all that, he had a tremendous quarterback rating of 126.8.
This past season, in 10 contests, he went 65-of-132 for 1,265 air yards and 12 touchdowns with 10 picks. On the ground, he also finished with 194 yards and three TDs on 28 rushing attempts.
“The thing about Luis is that he’s just a student of the game,” noted Warriors’ offensive coordinator and athletic director Anthony Ficocelli. “He loves to study it, learn about it, and it shows with the way he plays. He’ll watch it on TV, he’ll watch clips on YouTube. He understands what the defense is going to do and why.
“That’s what makes him such a good leader.”
Gonzalez indicated he thinks about the possibilities spring had on the diamond, promises he won’t dwell on it.
“When I think about my career, it will be probably my best moment – the Super Bowl championship, by far,” he said, suddenly upbeat. “I remember looking at the scoreboard and realizing that I had a direct affect on the game. I also remember looking at the sidelines and seeing my teammates and coaches, that they were thinking the same thing.
“What a great achievement. That makes me feel great.” still this but