By the numbers series in paper

[Ol' Buzzard]

Just click the link on the tab above for the rgvsports.com newspaper article....


nevermind.

[tigercrazy]

Former Mission High star quarterback Lupe Rodriguez, who is now the quarterbacks coach at Valley View High School, threw for 50 touchdowns in 1987. The mark still stands as a single-season Valley record


Eagle Air
Lupe Rodriguez's 50 TD pbuttes in 1987 remains benchmark
July 7, 2008
By ELADIO JAIMEZ/Valley Morning Star
PHARR - Nestled in an athletic office at Valley View High School, one will find a living history.

The Tigers' football team will play only their third varsity season in a couple of months.

The school has one win in two years and any records Valley View might hold now aren't the ones the school would want to boast.

But with the hire of one buttistant coach by second-year head coach Dave Evans, the Tigers have a legend.

Quarterbacks coach Lupe Rodriguez works with the Tigers QBs, hoping to develop a top-notch signal caller and bring success to this upstart program near the U.S.-Mexican border.

That's now.

Twenty-one years ago Rodriguez was the one wearing the pads and putting up with the Valley's blistering summer heat getting ready for the fall.

In 1987, Rodriguez led a Mission Eagles team dubbed Brigham Young Southwest for their penchant of the pbutting game.

At the time BYU lived and died by the pbutting game and under first-year head coach Rusty Dowling, the Eagles were expected to "air it out" every chance they got.

And they did as Rodriguez - who led Mission into the playoffs as a junior the year before - became the on-field architect of one of the most potent offenses in Valley history.

Rodriguez threw an astounding 50 touchdown pbuttes that season to set a Valley record that still stands today.

"We expected to do well that season, but at the end I didn't really expect to break all those records. "We still talk about it now when some of the guys (from that team) get together."

Rodriguez averaged nearly four TD pbuttes in a game and threw a Valley record seven against Harlingen. That record has been tied three times since then by McAllen's Steven Vallecillos, Brownsville Porter's Billy Garza and La Villa's J.D. Cisneros.

The Eagles went three deep in the playoffs that year, losing to Houston Woodridge to end their season.

Rodriguez pbutted for 4,179 yards that season, which is also a single-season record. He's also second all-time with 6,917 career pbutting yards.

But it's that nice round and magical 50 that Valley quarterbacks still chase today.

Others have come close to that mark. A few years after Rodriguez graduated, Koy Detmer continued the "pbutting" tradition at Mission and threw 43 TD pbuttes in 1990.

And most recently, Los Fresnos' Jeremy Springer (2006) and Cisneros (2007) threw 42.

"People are bringing up the record all the time," Rodriguez said. "When Springer was playing it was brought up. And I keep an eye out for it. If someone broke it, it'd be OK. I guess I hope they do if someone has an opportunity to get it."

Rodriguez's job was made easier with two of the Valley's top receivers at his disposal that season.

Then-junior Nati Valdez caught a Valley-record 104 receptions that season and then-senior Frank Hernandez hauled in 98 for second best all time in the Valley.

Rodriguez still keeps in touch with Valdez and Hernandez and all three reminisce about the memorable 1987 season. Valdez and Hernandez are both pharmaceutical salesmen.

"We talk and compare ourselves to teams from now," Rodriguez said. "It was a lot of fun."

Rodriguez has coached at his alma mater and most recently PSJA North before joining Evans at Valley View.

He would love to return as head coach of the Mission Eagles one day and return the program to the glory days of the late 1980s.

"That's always been a goal of mine," Rodriguez said. "Of course anywhere I'd coach I'd implement a pbutting offense. That's what I like to do."

Judging by the numbers and his legacy, pbutting is something he LOVED to do.

www.rgvsports.com/articles/rodriguez_2367___article.html/valley_one.html

[FootballGal]

Thanks for posting TC.

[tigercrazy]

you welcome

[Ol' Buzzard]

Told you...

[xlobo]

Anyone got todays???

[tigercrazy]

Dr. Celestino Avila stands proudly in his Donna office on Tuesday. Avila was named the All-Valley Most Valuable Player as a tight end/defensive back for the Redskins in 1959.

Dr. Donna: Redskins' Avila dominant force in Valley football 49 seasons ago

July 8, 2008 - 11:35PM
By ARMANDO GARZA/Valley Morning Star
DONNA - There's one name that has been synonymous with Donna Redskins football for more than 50 years.

And you don't even have to hear his full name.

To many, he's simply referred to as "Dr. Avila."

But before he became one of Donna's mainstay physicians, Celestino Avila was a gridiron standout for the Redskins.

As No. 49 in the Star's By the Numbers series, Avila's 1959 campaign (49 years ago) is one that definitely shines bright.

"We had a lot of good players on that team," Avila said of the 8-2 squad that finished behind Edcouch-Elsa. "Jim Easley was our coach. He was a very courteous man."

Avila, who's also been the Redskins' team physician for the past 29 seasons, was downright terrific as a both a defensive back and tight end for the Redskins.

"I always tell everyone that I would hit somebody on every down," said Avila, then a 6-2, 165-pound DB.

For his outstanding play, Avila was named the All-Valley Most Valuable Player in 1959 in addition to all-district honors.

"One thing I remember about '59 is when we were unbeaten and we played Edcouch-Elsa, which was also unbeaten," Avila said. "The opening kickoff was short and I fielded it, and took it for a touchdown."

Though Donna lost that game, people still remember Avila's game.

"That was one of the memorable plays for me that season," he said.

The ever-humble Avila said he wasn't dominant in any particular facet of his game, just a solid all-around athlete.

But make no mistake, he was fast.

One instance Avila recalled was against another local football star, Pete Castillo.

"He was running for a touchdown, but I had an angle on him and I caught him," Avila recalled. "One coach made a comment saying, ‘Pete was just running for another touchdown, but Celestino was running for his life!'"

Avila was All-South Texas and was an honorable mention all-state pick at defensive back. He also earned all-district honors in basketball and baseball for Donna.

Later, he was named to the RGV All-Millenium team back in 1999. He's also been elected to the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame (2000) and National Hispanic Sports Hall of Fame (2003).

A lot of accolades, but no question very much deserved.

He parlayed his schoolboy success to a sparkling career at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State).

At San Marcos, Avila was a 3-year letterman and was named all-conference each of those years.

In addition, he was a second-team All-America pick in 1963-64.

Perhaps most impressive, Avila also holds the distinction as the last Bobcat to achieve all-conference on offense and defense during the same season.

"That's something I'm very proud of," Avila said.

Upon finishing school at SWTS, Avila did some coaching before enrolling in medical school in Monterrey, Mexico. He also played sports there and earned his doctorate in medicine in 1975.

Three years later he began to give back to his alma mater as team physician. He's been seen roaming the sidelines at his beloved Redskins' games ever since.

"What's most gratifying is that I still get rush during the game," Avila said. "It just comes natural."

By the Numbers is a periodic series that corresponds the number of days until the start of the 2008 Valley high school football season with a memorable athlete or moment. Today marks 49 days until kickoff


www.rgvsports.com/articles/avila_2374___article.html/one_donna.html

[RPM]

the Doc.....

[Ol' Buzzard]

what a WEAK article!

[OlympFan]

Jul 8, 2008 8:08:34 GMT -6 FootballGal said:

Thanks for posting TC.

Thanks for the articles, Tigercrazy... I knew about Lupe's story, but now I know the Doc's too... Great stories!

[tigercrazy]

No problem i will post them as soon
as they come out

[~JUAN PRIMO~]

Jul 9, 2008 13:36:56 GMT -6 Ol' Buzzard said:

what a WEAK article!

What, no love for the Doc Ol' Buzzard? I thought it was a good article and a nice little piece of history some of us never knew.

[xlobo]

Jul 9, 2008 16:25:31 GMT -6 ~JUAN PRIMO~ said:

Jul 9, 2008 13:36:56 GMT -6 Ol' Buzzard said:

what a WEAK article!

What, no love for the Doc Ol' Buzzard? I thought it was a good article and a nice little piece of history some of us never knew.

Im guessing he meant it was poorly written....

[son of corb]

Weak article? That was a great article. If had been about the ring, the guff on here would have been unbelievable.

It was about a player, someone who came home, and someone who gives back to the team and community.

What more can you ask of anyone? What a great example to the kids and community!

[son of corb]

Hey Tiger crazy,

On that article about Coach Rodriguez, can you fix what the filter did to the article.

Here's an example.

"That's always been a goal of mine," Rodriguez said. "Of course anywhere I'd coach I'd implement a pbutting offense. That's what I like to do."

It changed passing to pbutting. It's just a guess but I think that's a different type of defense.

[tigercrazy]

there is no new football article

[OlympFan]

Jul 9, 2008 23:37:53 GMT -6 tigercrazy said:

there is no new football article

TC, it's there...

[tigercrazy]

post it up my bad i erased it

[OlympFan]

Former Weslaco quarterback Bobby Lackey was a standout for the Panthers and later the University of Texas.
Courtesy photo

By the Numbers: WESLACO WHIZ
Lackey solid for Panthers, then led Texas to 1960 Cotton Bowl

By ELADIO JAIMEZ / Valley Morning Star
July 9, 2008 - 11:27PM

HARLINGEN - It's been 48 years since Bobby Lackey led the Texas Longhorns to the National Championship game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Nearly half a century later, Lackey is still active playing golf in Ruidoso, N.M.

Lackey, 71, calls Spring home. But during the summer months Lackey and his wife Judy move to the New Mexico resort town to escape the Texas heat.

Today, relaxing at home and playing golf top Lackey's priority list.

But at one time, Lackey was all about football.

Perhaps the most memorable of Lackey's schoolboy accomplishments came in 1955 as a senior at Weslaco High.

Lackey guided the Panthers to an undefeated regular season and a 13-1 final record.

The Panthers lost to Hillsboro in Waco that season in the Class 2A state semifinals for their only loss of that super season.

The Panthers defeated Sinton, Floresville and Nederland on their way to the semis that year.

"We had a group of seniors that just wanted to win," Lackey recalled. "Our head coach (Martin Stewart) was in his first year and they did a great job of coaching us too."

While it was almost the perfect ending to a stellar high school career, some might say it was just the beginning of Lackey's Legend.

Lackey passed on a professional baseball contract with the Baltimore Orioles for the chance to play football for the Texas Longhorns.

At the time freshmen weren't allowed to play on the varsity squad, so Lackey waited until his sophomore campaign to start for the 'Horns during the 1957 season.

Lackey starred at quarterback but he also played defensive back, punter and kicker for Texas.

That same year was Darrell Royal's first as UT head coach and the Longhorns finished 6-4-1 with a berth in the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss.

The Rebels routed Texas 39-7 that year.

"Ole Miss was better than us but not by what the score indicated," Lackey said. "Coach Royal was young and we were still getting used to his system."

The highlight of Lackey's sophomore season came in an upset win against rival Texas A&M.

The Longhorns won 9-7 as Lackey scored all nine points on three field goals.

As a junior, Lackey led the Longhorns to a 7-3 season but Texas elected to pass on an invitation to the Gator Bowl.

That year the Longhorns beat Oklahoma 15-14 thanks in large part to Lackey.

It was the first year the two-point conversion was allowed in college football. UT scored first in the game and Royal elected to go for two.

Texas led 8-0 but the Sooners charged right back.

"They scored two touchdowns and went ahead of us 14-8," Lackey recalled. "I came back and threw a short touchdown pass and kicked the extra point. I later intercepted a ball as OU was driving late in the game. That'll always be a good memory I keep from my college football days."

This all set the stage for an unforgettable senior season in 1959.

Texas was 9-1 losing only to TCU one cold fall afternoon in Austin.

Lackey still led the Longhorns to their first SWC Championship under Royal and a berth in the Cotton Bowl where Texas battled running back Ernie Davis and the Syracuse Orangemen for the national championship in January of 1960.

Syracuse prevailed that day with a 23-14 win but Lackey was typical Lackey as he completed a long touchdown pass and kicked both PATs.

Lackey went on to a very short run in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After just one week with the team, Lackey told head coach Buddy Parker he wanted to go back home to be with his pregnant wife.

Lackey would have started that week against the Green Bay Packers in an exhibition game.

But Lackey came home to be with his family.

And so the long and illustrious career of the Weslaco Whiz came to a sudden end in Pennsylvania.

But not before leaving his mark as a high school and college football legend.

www.rgvsports.com/articles/lackey_2376___article.html/texas_season.html

[tigercrazy]

Good job!