SAN JUAN — PSJA High head coach Lupe Rodriguez experienced immediate success during his first three seasons with the Bears, making the postseason three straight years and winning back-to-back district titles (2018-2019).
The past two seasons have been rough for the Bears, however, tallying a 5-10 mark and missing the playoffs both years.
Still, expectations remain high going into the 2022 campaign, opening the year as the No. 8 team in the first RGVSports.com 5A/6A Top 10 Poll.
“It’s a positive experience. We’ve been down the past two years, but we know we’ve had the skill players to be better than what we have been,” Rodriguez said. “Finally, I think we’ve gotten the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together to be very successful. Our goal for this season, I strongly believe we’ll be district champs this year. Coming into this two-a-days, that has been the model of us getting back to where we were. Our first two years we won district championships and we want to add another to that trophy case.”
The man under center is a big reason for the Bears’ high hopes going into the year, with junior signal caller Jaime Lopez entering his third year as PSJA High’s starting quarterback.
Lopez finished the 2021 season as District’s 31-6A’s top passer, racking up 1,989 yards and 21 touchdowns through the air. The dual-threat weapon used his 4.6 speed to add 400 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
“Jaime was thrown into the mix as a freshman. Not many freshmen are thrown into the fire like that, especially in 6A football,” Rodriguez said. “He’s come a long way. He knows the expectations for him. The team revolves around him. We’ll go as far as he takes us. He’s matured over the years and learned a lot. He is finally comfortable with the system, and I think he’s going to have a big year with the help of some receivers to help guide him to meet our goals for this year.”
Lopez’s sophomore campaign earned him the district’s preseason offensive MVP honors from Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine.
The return of 6-foot-3 wideout Christian Gamboa and speedy receiver Andrew Castillo (4.6 40-yard dash) give Lopez a pair of lethal weapons on the outside. The duo combined for 1,039 yards and 12 touchdowns a season ago.
“Every day in practice we get to run 7-on-7 against this offense, and that helps our linebackers and secondary tremendously,” PSJA High defensive back Aiden Munoz said. “Jaime, I think he’s the best quarterback in the Valley. He really dots us up. Then with the receivers we got, we have some really good receivers, it makes it really fun.”
The defense will rely on several inexperienced players to step into starting roles, returning only three starters.
Senior defensive end Issac Sanchez (44 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble) and junior defensive back Johnny Martinez (39 tackles, two pass breakups, one forced fumble) are two of the Bears’ top returners on that side of the ball.
The road to a postseason berth will be less crowded for the Bears this season, with District 31-6A dropping from a nine-team district to six following the departure of Edinburg Vela, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and PSJA North to Class 5A-Division I.
PSJA High opens the year with five non-district contests, beginning with the 31st Tri-City Classic against PSJA North on Aug. 26 at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. The Bears’ non-district schedule continues with matchups against Weslaco East, Los Fresnos, Brownsville Hanna and Brownsville Veterans before jumping into district play Oct. 6 against Edinburg Economedes.
“The room for error is very small, the window is very small,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like two of the top teams in our district went down to 5A. That pretty much leaves everything up for grabs for the rest of us. … I feel like the least we’ll accomplish is we’ll make the playoffs. Our main goal, though, is to win a district championship and I think we’ll get it done this year.”
