RAYMONDVILLE – Raymondville coach Frank Cantu said his motto for the 2020 season was “find a way.”
The Bearkats did just that in their unusual season, which even differed from those of other programs in the Rio Grande Valley. They only played three games, but the Bearkats impressed every time they hit the field. Raymondville opened its season with a come-from-behind, 38-33 victory over Victoria West, a team that went three rounds deep in the Class 5A playoffs. Then COVID-19 halted the Bearkats’ season for five weeks.
Because of the other two teams in their District 32-4A zone, the Bearkats made the playoffs as the district’s No. 3 seed. Despite the lengthy layover, they showed their resolve to erase a 21-point first-quarter deficit and defeat Devine 48-47.
Cantu maneuvered Raymondville through a roller-coaster season to clinch a third consecutive bi-district victory and earned the Valley Morning Star’s All-STAR coach of the year award for his leadership.
“That’s a big honor. First and foremost, thanks to the man upstairs, my Lord and savior,” Cantu said. “Thanks to my brother (assistant coach Steve Cantu), he’s a reason why we have a lot of success here, along with the other coaches we have. This staff has been together a long time, and everybody takes it personal to do the best job they can. This award, to me, is truly a staff award. And it’s a credit to the kids that we have here. Everybody takes a big piece of this award.”
Cantu and his team faced a lot of adversity this season, including a 14-day quarantine after the coach and another person in the program tested positive for COVID-19. When the Bearkats returned to action, some parents decided to keep their children out. Raymondville suited up less than 30 players for its bi-district contest, but Cantu’s squad still found the will to win.
The seventh-year coach praised his team for the determination and never-give-up mentality it showed throughout the season. It wasn’t easy for the Bearkats to see game after game get canceled and wonder when, and even if, they’d hit the field again. But Cantu and his staff kept the boys working any way they could, and Raymondville took full advantage of the opportunities it got.
Cantu said the lessons he and his program learned from this challenging season will serve as motivation in seasons to come as they look to continue building and striving toward more success.
“It’s not the season we envisioned, but you grow from it. You can’t be resentful. Be thankful for the opportunities, then you move on and you don’t take anything for granted. That’s what we learned from this,” Cantu said. “There was a lot of give and take, trying to find the best and safest way to keep going. To go through that and be OK is a testament to the kids, the staff, the community for coming together to get the kids the opportunity to play.
“There’s nothing else like it, being in this profession and working with these kids,” he added. “Big credit to the people that work here with me and to the kids for believing in me. The whole thing is to have the right perspective and say God’s in control. I get that from my mom. Her whole thing was, ‘Ayale la manera.’ Find a way. Get it done. And that was this year, we found a way and we got it done.”
