Former Edcouch-Elsa standout and Baker quarterback Marco Aguinaga was named an All-American honorable mention by America Football Coaches Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, Baker announced Thursday.
Aguinaga threw for 2,442 yards and 23 touchdowns while also running for 190 yards and one touchdown during the 2021 season. He surpassed 200 yards in seven games and hit a season-high mark with 404 passing yards against Grand View on Sept. 11. Aguinaga also threw at least one touchdown pass in 10 games with five scores in a 34-21 win over Evangel.
“It was a great feeling to know all the hard work I put in paid off,” Aguinaga said. “Playing at Edcouch, there’s a lot of pride and tradition that goes into there, so playing at the next level just made me work harder and try to give back to my community.”
Aguinaga played five seasons at Baker and totaled 9,313 passing yards and 75 touchdown passes. He also piled up 10 rushing touchdowns and 460 rushing yards. Aguinaga helped Baker finish the 2021 season 9-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
He’s part of a recent wave of quarterbacks from the Rio Grande Valley who have starred in high school and gone on to play at the college level.
“It takes a lot of preparation, a lot of focus,” Aguinaga said of his time spent as a starting quarterback. “At Edcouch-Elsa, football is pretty big in that community, so just the love for the sport helps a lot. When you really like something, you tend to put your all into it, so me just loving the sport, that helped me along the way, especially in college. Having that love for the game that comes from my community just pushed me to work hard and really be successful. That’s really what I focused on.”
With his collegiate career in the books, Aguinaga said he’s proud to see Edcouch-Elsa return to its winning ways after two years of missing out on the postseason after his graduation in 2017. He helped the program to multiple playoff appearances during his tenure and threw for 2,166 yards and 30 touchdowns while running for 948 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games as a senior for the Yellow Jackets.
“Leaving home, seeing my alma mater pick up where we left off is a great feeling. It’s a great feeling when you left a legacy there and they’re playing to that standard,” he said. “I’m excited to see them push the bar even higher than where we left it.”
